Last Day at Disney

Elyse and I had one goal on our last day at Disney and that was to meet Rapunzel!  Elyse loves the movie Tangled and after Marie, Rapunzel was the character that she most wanted to meet.  I had read on-line that the best thing to do was go to Rapunzel's meet and greet first thing in the morning. So, Elyse and I went to Magic Kingdom first thing and headed right to where Rapunzel would be.  Unfortunately, Jeff was still not feeling good so he stayed back at the hotel and I sent Andrew with grandma and grandpa and the rest of the gang to Epcot.

We still had to wait to meet Rapunzel but we were in the first group to be let into the meet and greet area.  It was decorated so cute with lanterns and purple banners.  Since we were the first group in we had to all say together "Rapunzel, Rapunzel - let down your hair!" and then she appeared!  All the little girls cheered when she came out!  Elyse had her Rapunzel shirt on and a Rapunzel hairbow in her hair and Rapunzel commented on both of them and told Elyse that she was her new best friend!



Elyse with Rapunzel

Never too early in the morning for a Mickey Ice Cream bar!  Yummy!

Elyse got to meet Mary Poppins!

Then we stood in line to meet Mickey and Minnie!

Then we stood in line to meet the princesses.  Elyse got to meet Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine.  She was excited to meet Jasmine because she has a pet Tiger - lol!

Elyse and I had a lot of fun spending the morning meeting different characters.  She loved it! 

We met up with the rest of the gang around lunch time and rode a few rides and had fun at a dance party!

Elyse dances with Stich.



I think Stich is mad that Goofy stole his dance partner!

Dancing with Chip or Dale?

We went back to the hotel so the kids could swim in the pool.  I was glad to see that Jeff was actually out of the hotel room and sitting by the pool.  He had been so sick for the past 24 hours - definately worse than I was and I felt so bad that he had missed out on time with me and the kids.  It was nice to sit and relax by the pool for a few hours.  After eating dinner - we headed back into Magic Kingdom.  One of the things that Jeff and I had been looking forward to was watching the fireworks tonight because they were a preview of the New Years Eve Fireworks!  Unfortunately, Jeff was still not up to walking around the park.  The atmosphere at Magic Kingdom was so festive - it was like it was already New Years Eve!!!  It was very busy, people everywhere, dance/party music playing throughout the park, etc.  We rode a few rides and then everyone else wanted to head back to the hotel.  Elyse wanted to meet Tinkerbell and the other Fairies - so I stayed in the park with her.

Here she is meeting Tinkerbell.

Elyse was really tired and wanted to go back to the hotel after that.  Of course, I wanted to stay and watch the fireworks but I headed back to the hotel with Elyse.  I was wishing Jeff had been feeling better and I'm sure we would have put the kids to bed and went back to see the fireworks (we had an adjoining room with his parents so we could have just left the door open).  Despite Jeff and I being sick part of the time we had a great time!  The 2 nights that we had something special planned, everyone was healthy - so thankful for that!  And so thankful that no one else got sick on the way home!



Disney Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Day 4 was spent at Disney Hollywood Studios.  When we got to the park, Jeff and Matt headed to Toy Story Mania to get Fastpasses to use later and the rest of us waited by Tower of Terror.  We rode Tower of Terror and we were hoping to get on Rockin' Roller Coaster but there was already a 60 min wait!  So we decided to go to the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show.  We had some time to kill so the kids played in the Honey, I shrunk the kids playground.

Here is Kailey and Andrew in the playground.

Andrew loved the stunt show!!  He was smiling the whole time!  We missed this show last time we were at Disney due to rain - so glad we were able to see it this time!

Once we were done with the stunt show we could go get another set of Fastpasses so the guys headed to Rockin' Roller Coaster to get more Fastpasses and we rode the Backstage Tour Tram.  Then we decided to get some lunch at Pizza Planet (from Toy Story!).  Pizza Planet was packed - it was crazy!  The park itself was so busy at this point that Jeff and I and the kids decided to take a break and go back to the hotel. Everyone else stayed in the park.  Unfortunately, when we got back to the hotel Jeff said he wasn't feeling well . . . and he never made it back to the park.  The kids took naps and we did a little shopping in the gift shop at the hotel.  After we were sure that Jeff was not going to join us, the kids and I headed back to Hollywood Studios.  Kailey and I rode Rockin Roller Coaster in the front seat - it was awesome!  Then we had some dinner and went to ride Toy Story Mania. 

Andrew and Christopher ready for Toy Story Mania!  The ride is in 3D - so cool!



Elyse and Kailey on Toy Story Mania!

After Toy Story Mania, Elyse wanted to go see The Little Mermaid.  Everyone else went to go see the Osbourne Dancing Lights and I sent Andrew with Grandma and Grandpa. So, it was just me and my girl - off to see the Little Mermaid.  It was a cute show and Elyse loved it!  Then the 2 of us went to see the Osbourne Lights - they were fantastic and they even had snow machines going!!!  We loved it!!

There were photopass photographers around so Elyse and I had our picture taken with all the lights.

It was another fun day but I was bummed that Jeff was sick!  He missed out on 2 of his favorite rides - Rockin Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania.

Here is a link to a video of the dancing lights that I took:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEquU3dt80

Enjoy!

Meeting Marie!

When we went to Disney in June 2010 Elyse was bummed that we didn't get to meet Marie. Marie is a kitty from the movie Aristocats and you can find her in Epcot in France. As we wandered back to the different countries - meeting Marie was top priority for Elyse! It couldn't have worked out more perfect as we walked into France and basically right in front of us was where you could meet Marie! And she had a very short line - Elyse was so excited!!! All the kids got in line to meet her.

Here is Elyse giving Marie a hug.

Marie signing Elyse's autograph book.
All the kids with Marie.
I had Elyse wear her Marie shirt today just in case we got to meet her. So, I told Elyse to show Marie her shirt and Marie got sooo excited! Marie started jumping up and down and pointing to Elyse's shirt! Elyse thought it was so funny and Marie gave her another big hug!

Elyse wanted to call Grandma Lindholm and tell her that she just got to meet Marie!This was definately one of Elyse's most magical Disney moments!

Disney Day 3 - Epcot

We spent our 3rd day in Epcot. I was still not feeling 100% so I stayed at the hotel in the morning to try and get a little more sleep (since I hadn't slept much the night before). I ate a banana and some dry cheerios to see if I could keep some food down and hopefully meet up with everyone later in the day. We had a big surprise planned for Jeff's parents tonight and I didn't want to miss it!!!

The 2 top priorities at Epcot were Test Track and Soarin and both get very long lines! So the plan was to get Fastpasses for Test Track to use later and head right to Soarin. Soarin is one of my favorite rides at Disney and I was bummed that I missed it!

Here is Andrew the tour guide - he loved looking at the maps and making sure we were going in the right direction!

After Soarin they headed to the Finding Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. This is a really neat ride and exhibit and the kids enjoyed looking and learning about all the fish, etc.

Although I was still tired - I had kept the food down and decided to join the rest of the group in Epcot. I actually made it into the park before lunch time - so I didn't miss out on too much.

This year the boys were both tall enough to ride Test Track!

Here is Tric, Christopher, Matt, me, Andrew and Jeff in one car.

And Kailey, Elyse and Grandpa in the back seat of this car.

Afterwards we asked Andrew if he liked it and he said that it "dazed" him! He did not want to ride it again but Elyse loved it and would have rode it again!

We wandered through the countries and the kids enjoyed stopping at the Kidcot stations. They got a cardboard disney bear on a stick and they could color it at each of the stations. They also had someone who was from that country at the Kidcot stations and they would stamp the backside of the bears with the country name. Sometimes they would also write the kids name in their native language. We also went on the Viking boat ride in Norway which was fun.

Here is a picture of Elyse meeting Mulan!

After dinner it was time to head to the Yacht and Beach Club resort where a special evening awaited us! I am so thankful that I was feeling better and didn't have to miss it! As a thank you to Jeff's parents and for their Christmas present we booked a boat ride to watch Illuminations at Epcot. Illuminations is a fireworks, music and laser light show.

Here we are on the dock ready to get on the boat.

We took a boat ride past a few resorts and to Disney Hollywood Studios. Our driver told us all about the history and other interesting facts about each resort. It was a chilly night but it was so fun to ride around with all the resorts lit up and decorated for Christmas! It was definately one of my favorite nights! Plus, we had the best seat in the house to watch Illuminations and we didn't have to wait for hours to save our spot!

Here is our view of the show!

Of course pictures don't do it justice but the show was great! Another wonderful day in Disney!

Stay tuned for a post on Elyse's favorite part of Disney!

Disney Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

The kids were so excited to go back to Magic Kingdom for the day. Even though we were up late - we got the kids up early, ate a quick breakfast and we were on our way. We knew that the best time to get on rides without much of a wait was first thing in the morning - so we (Jeff and I and the kids - the rest of our group slept in a little bit) were waiting for the bus a little after 7am! We were able to get on 4 rides in an hour: the Astro Orbiter, Buzz's Space Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland Speedway and Stich's Great Escape. It was crazy how fast the park filled up with people after that! The rest of the gang joined us and we got Fastpasses for Space Mountain to use later and some went to ride the Astro Orbiter and some went on Space Mountain (since the wait was still short). Then we headed to the Speedway again and after that over to Fantasyland to ride Small World and Haunted Mansion.

Andrew driving me around on the Tomorrowland Speedway. I'm not ready for Andrew to drive - that's for sure!
Popsicles - yum!
Elyse drives Kailey around the speedway!
We rode several more rides, had some lunch, collected some Fastpasses and then decided to head back to the hotel for a break and naps since the park was getting extremely crowded at this point! I was especially ready for a break as I was starting to feel a little of an upset stomach. I was hoping it was something I ate and that after a nap I would feel better . . . well, needless to say I never made it back into the park this day. It was so hard to watch Jeff and the kids leave to go back into the park and know that I was missing out on making memories with them! The minute that hotel room door shut I started crying and once I composed myself enough I called my mom to ask her to pray that I would start to feel better and that no one else would get sick (especially the kids!) I spent the rest of the day in the hotel room with severe stomach pain and multiple trips to the bathroom - not my most magical Disney memory for sure!

Andrew, Christopher and Elyse on the teacups - not so sad that I missed going on this ride but missed watching the kids enjoy it!
Kailey and Elyse met Chip and Dale!
They enjoyed a fun evening in Magic Kingdom!

Next up - Epcot!

Evening at Magic Kingdom

After leaving Animal Kingdom, we got back to the hotel and brought all our luggage to our rooms, ate dinner and then headed to Magic Kingdom for the evening. Do you think someone is excited to be at Disney!?!

Here is one of the many pictures that we had the Disney Photopass photographers take of the whole group. I added the border afterwards.

A view of Main Street USA all decorated for Christmas!The reason we went to Magic Kingdom this evening was because we had reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party. It is an all you can eat dessert buffet and then you can stay right there to watch the Wishes Fireworks. Since we were there during the busiest week of the entire year - it was so nice to have a place to sit and relax while waiting for the fireworks to begin. Plus - the dessert's were yummy!!! Here is a view of the castle from the dessert party.

And they had a photopass photographer at the dessert party so you could get a pictue with the castle all lit up behind you. Unfortunately, the kids were tired and don't look too thrilled in this picture.

After the fireworks, we rode Buzz's Space Ranger Spin - one of Andrew's favorites! On our way out the light parade was just starting so we decided to stay and watch - here comes Mickey!

And here is Andrew getting a 2nd wind at 11:30 at night!!

It was a very fun day!!

Animal Kingdom

We spent part of our first day in Animal Kingdom. We checked into All Star Movies so we could get our tickets. Here are the boys ready to go!

The girls are ready to go too!

We headed straight to the safari ride while Jeff and Matt went and got Fastpasses for Expedition Everest. We were so surprised to find that there was only a 20 min. wait for the safari!! The week between Christmas and New Years is considered to be the busiest week of the entire year at Disney - so we were anticipating long lines everywhere! When we were at Disney in June 2010 we waited for an hour to go on the safari - so only a 20 min. wait was great! Andrew said the safari was one of his favorite rides. My favorite part of the safari was seeing this baby elephant!

You can't see it in the picture but the baby elephant kept chasing a flock of birds - the birds would land and then the baby would run after them and they would fly away - it was super cute!

One of my favorite things at Animal Kingdom is the Finding Nemo show! This is definately a well done show and I think could be a hit on broadway! Love it!

Andrew was really looking forward to riding Dinosaur! Here he is in front of the sign looking so brave!

Well - some consider Dinosaur to be one of the scariest rides in all of Disney and we warned Andrew that it was dark inside, etc. But - he was determined to ride it . . . he was very brave and didn't cry but he announced as we were exiting the ride that he was never going to ride that ride again! The huge Carnataur at the end of the ride that comes towards you from the ceiling did him in I think! He still talks about the ride but whenever you ask him if he wants to ride it again - the answer is always NO!

And a day at Animal Kingdom would not be complete without a ride on Expedition Everest! Since Matt and Jeff used all our tickets to get Fastpasses - those of us who wanted to ride could go multiple times - fun! But - 2 times in a row is enough for me! We were hoping to convince Elyse to go on it but she opted out. The landscaping around the ride is so cool!

The kids enjoyed a few other rides and they enjoyed playing at the playground before we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

Next post will be our night at Magic Kingdom and the Wishes Dessert Party!