DISNEY
Hi! For those of you who have been asking about our trip to Disney… we survived! What an adventure to drag 12 people through 5 parks… 4 families, to be exact, and still have everyone speaking at the end! Actually, we had a great time. We planned on several meltdowns (children AND adults), and we were pleased that we predicted incorrectly… NO adults melted down! ha.
The kids were amazing little troopers! We began our journey with just “The Originals” (as the girls call us), and the guys joined us Thursday night late. We planned a special Princess outing just for the girls, and a special Pirate evening for Grayson. We had SO much fun dressing the girls up in their princess attire and enjoying fine dining whilst being visited tableside by each of the Disney princesses (except Cinderella; Her stepmother must have had too many chores for her to do.) Their eyes grew wider and wider with each Princess sighting (Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, and even Mary Poppins!) They were SO adorable, and it was truly a treat to see their precious little believing hearts. They were meeting the REAL princesses, straight out of the storybook!
The next night was Gray’s special night. The highlight of his outing was a choreographed lesson by Kareem, Hakeem, and Gus, top palace guards for Prince Aladdin. The boys learned a routine to music using their invisible swords that was sure to deem them victorious should Princess Jasmine ever need their protection! Shannah has the video of this, which you MUST see. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Gray is so serious as he swishes left, swashes right, jumps, ducks, criss-crosses and finally returns his sword to its sheath, all in time to the music, while the speakers provide the swashbuckling sound effects for each move. Absolutely adorable… and no one was injured! Even MORE amazing! (Disney thinks of everything!)
We also spent a full day each at Seaworld and Typhoon Lagoon (Disney’s waterpark). The kids loved both of them. We spent a full day at Magic Kingdom and some of us split the rest of the time between Epcot and Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM), while some of us napped. The little ones are saving Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (and much of Epcot) for the next trip. Just too much to see for one trip. Basically, we tried to think like they do and chose which attractions they would enjoy and remember most. We figured one highlight per day was even more stimulation than they could tolerate and we guessed just about right.
Each family got one evening and the entire day Sunday to themselves (in case anyone was overdosing on too much family). The Duncans chose a Downtown Disney shopping and dinner trip for their evening, while the Christies spent a quiet family evening at the hotel for Viève and the pregnant Mama to rest. Shan accompanied Papaw and Grayson to the Pirate Extravaganza and Gigi and Berkley played salon and spa in our hotel room, ordered pizza delivery and an in-room movie (The Chipmunks – ha). And yes, we ate pizza IN BED in our jammies with almost dry nails! (Memories!)
The kids were amazing little troopers! We began our journey with just “The Originals” (as the girls call us), and the guys joined us Thursday night late. We planned a special Princess outing just for the girls, and a special Pirate evening for Grayson. We had SO much fun dressing the girls up in their princess attire and enjoying fine dining whilst being visited tableside by each of the Disney princesses (except Cinderella; Her stepmother must have had too many chores for her to do.) Their eyes grew wider and wider with each Princess sighting (Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, and even Mary Poppins!) They were SO adorable, and it was truly a treat to see their precious little believing hearts. They were meeting the REAL princesses, straight out of the storybook!
The next night was Gray’s special night. The highlight of his outing was a choreographed lesson by Kareem, Hakeem, and Gus, top palace guards for Prince Aladdin. The boys learned a routine to music using their invisible swords that was sure to deem them victorious should Princess Jasmine ever need their protection! Shannah has the video of this, which you MUST see. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Gray is so serious as he swishes left, swashes right, jumps, ducks, criss-crosses and finally returns his sword to its sheath, all in time to the music, while the speakers provide the swashbuckling sound effects for each move. Absolutely adorable… and no one was injured! Even MORE amazing! (Disney thinks of everything!)
We also spent a full day each at Seaworld and Typhoon Lagoon (Disney’s waterpark). The kids loved both of them. We spent a full day at Magic Kingdom and some of us split the rest of the time between Epcot and Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM), while some of us napped. The little ones are saving Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (and much of Epcot) for the next trip. Just too much to see for one trip. Basically, we tried to think like they do and chose which attractions they would enjoy and remember most. We figured one highlight per day was even more stimulation than they could tolerate and we guessed just about right.
Each family got one evening and the entire day Sunday to themselves (in case anyone was overdosing on too much family). The Duncans chose a Downtown Disney shopping and dinner trip for their evening, while the Christies spent a quiet family evening at the hotel for Viève and the pregnant Mama to rest. Shan accompanied Papaw and Grayson to the Pirate Extravaganza and Gigi and Berkley played salon and spa in our hotel room, ordered pizza delivery and an in-room movie (The Chipmunks – ha). And yes, we ate pizza IN BED in our jammies with almost dry nails! (Memories!)
Sunday, we all started out to separate locations, but by lunchtime, we all managed to hook up in Epcot for the rest of the day… funny how that works!
I did have one lapse in Grandmother judgment while I had 3 of the girls by myself so the parents could ride some roller coasters. I promised Berkley and Savannah they could ride a kiddie roller coaster, but when we got to that area, Simone was still too little to ride, even if I rode with her, so in a weak moment, I let the girls ride alone. Yikes! The longer they waited in line, the more nervous I became… especially when I saw they weren’t completely primed yet on waiting in lines, following the guiding lines between bars, going all the way to the end of the platform to the “next number” railing and NOT stepping beyond the yellow lines too close to the returning cars. And as if that weren’t enough… I had forgotten that swinging and flipping on the crowd control bars was as much fun as the ride itself, even if the entire line passes you by and you get stuck having to wait another ENTIRE trip, when you were really NEXT in line!!! All because there was no way in the world two little giggly girls could hear Gigi shouting instructions over the roar of the ride! Hilarious! All I could do was take pictures and laugh hysterically, wondering if they’d EVER make it on. But somehow they did, and they LOVED it!
We all had a great time. No children were ever lost or injured (save a few scrapes or pinched fingers), however, someone stole Savannah’s special blankie Gigi made her and her Nalgene water bottle, along with a sweatshirt of La’s from the bottom of their stroller. That was a downer, but Gigi promised to make another.
Obviously, I can’t post all the pics, but I’ll show you a few highlights. We’ll share more in person sometime.
Love to all you fellow Mickey lovers from the Happiest Place on Earth… truly.
I did have one lapse in Grandmother judgment while I had 3 of the girls by myself so the parents could ride some roller coasters. I promised Berkley and Savannah they could ride a kiddie roller coaster, but when we got to that area, Simone was still too little to ride, even if I rode with her, so in a weak moment, I let the girls ride alone. Yikes! The longer they waited in line, the more nervous I became… especially when I saw they weren’t completely primed yet on waiting in lines, following the guiding lines between bars, going all the way to the end of the platform to the “next number” railing and NOT stepping beyond the yellow lines too close to the returning cars. And as if that weren’t enough… I had forgotten that swinging and flipping on the crowd control bars was as much fun as the ride itself, even if the entire line passes you by and you get stuck having to wait another ENTIRE trip, when you were really NEXT in line!!! All because there was no way in the world two little giggly girls could hear Gigi shouting instructions over the roar of the ride! Hilarious! All I could do was take pictures and laugh hysterically, wondering if they’d EVER make it on. But somehow they did, and they LOVED it!
We all had a great time. No children were ever lost or injured (save a few scrapes or pinched fingers), however, someone stole Savannah’s special blankie Gigi made her and her Nalgene water bottle, along with a sweatshirt of La’s from the bottom of their stroller. That was a downer, but Gigi promised to make another.
Obviously, I can’t post all the pics, but I’ll show you a few highlights. We’ll share more in person sometime.
Love to all you fellow Mickey lovers from the Happiest Place on Earth… truly.
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