Orlando Day 5

We woke up bright and early on our last full day in Florida ready to head to DisneyWorld.  We wanted to get there around 9:00 when the park opened so that we would have as much possible time  there.  It was the perfect day to go! The lines were not at all long.  We had also researched the best route to take in the park.  We headed to the back of the park to hit Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad first thing.  The lines were really short and we actually got to ride Big Thunder Mountain because there wasn't a line.  That ended up being Luke's favorite ride.  After that we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean.  I had talked to the twins before we went and told them that there were some rides that Mom & Dad knew they would like even though they might not be so sure.  Pirates was one of them.  I knew it wasn't scary and they would like it, but they just had to get on it first.  It's dark when you first walk in and they both started to get nervous and wanted to back out.  We ended up having to carry them onto the ride.  I felt a little bad about it, but they ended up liking the ride and Lauren even wanted to go again.:)  The rest of the day anytime a ride was dark, Drew would get nervous...even on Toy Story (his favorite!) and the Little Mermaid.:)  We were there from the time the park opened until the fireworks that night.  A storm started to come in that night, so they had to cancel the lighted parade and they did the fireworks at 9:00 instead.  We pretty much hit every ride we wanted to go on.  We saw a few of the characters and had a fabulous time.  Reagan was crying when we had to leave, because she liked it so much.  The bummer of the day was that after we got off the Pirates of the Caribbean ride we couldn't find out camera.  We had rented a stroller, so we aren't sure if it got put on top and it fell off.  Ryan went back to the two rides we had been on, but he didn't spot it at all.  Thankfully Mom & Dad had their camera, so we still got pictures of the day.  Before we left the park, Ryan checked in the Lost and Found area and it was there! It had gotten turned in.  We were so excited, not because our camera is anything special, but every picture from the entire trip was on there.  It was a terrific day and one I hope the kids will never forget.  I know that they loved it, because when I asked them where they would like to go on our next vacation, they said, "Disneyland?".:)

The Aladdin ride

Meeting Tinkerbell-She talked up a storm, but the kids were silent!

The kids had read about the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars, so while we waited for the afternoon parade they had a cool treat.

We took the ferry from the parking lot into the park because they were doing routine maintenance on the monorail, so this was faster.  We took the monorail back at the end of the day, so the kids got to experience both.  It was raining when we got there, which is why the bigs have ponchos on.

Grandpa & Grandma with the kids by Cinderella's castle.

I like this picture of the kids with Chip & Dale because the only character picture I have from the first time I went to Disney was with Chip & Dale! These were actually the only characters we saw walking around the park the entire day.  Kind of a bummer they don't do that anymore!

Our first ride...Splash Mountain! Luke opted out, so he was watching for the others to come around.  Reagan is the only kiddo that when on this ride.

 Inside Cinderella's Castle

 Luke's favorite ride, Big Thunder Mountain.  Drew actually rode it the first time.  He said it was fun, but he didn't want to go again.

The Jungle Cruise

 Meeting Rosetta-another one of the fairies

This was after the Hall of Presidents.  Before we went, Luke said the first ride he wanted to go on was the Hall of Presidents.  Ha! We told him we would go, but it probably wouldn't be first.  It was actually very interesting.

The Haunted Mansion.  Drew & Lauren opted out of this one, so I stayed back with them.

While we were on Space Mountain, Grandma had Drew & Lauren's faces painted.:)

Before the Buzz Lightyear ride.

 In jail with Zurg (the bad guy from Toy Story 2)

Buzz Lightyear!

 One of my favorite parts of the day came during the fireworks.  Drew was sitting on Ryan's shoulders and he suddenly said, "My wish came true, Buzz Lightyear is real." 

This picture cracks me up.  They were going through the dark on the People Mover and Drew was quite concerned.  Not such a scary monster now!

I tried to get a picture of them coming down the hill on Splash Mountain, but it's too hard to know when they're coming.  This was after the hill instead.:)

Watching the fireworks

What a great day and a spectacular end!

Ready to head home.  Lauren had already fallen asleep in the stroller, but we didn't realize it.  She conked out right after the fireworks.  Ryan put her on his shoulders and she went right back to sleep on his head.

 

What a day!

Orlando Day 4

Our plan on Monday was to hit Disney World for the entire day.  The kids woke up looking dazed and completly exhausted.  We were concerned that they wouldn't enjoy the day at the Happiest Place on Earth, let alone make it all day.  We nixed our plans for Disney that day and decided to take a day to rest instead.  We went to Downtown Disney in the morning for just a little while.  It worked out well because we let the kids pick out their souveniers at the Disney store there and then we didn't have to carry them around the park the next day.  Reagan had also really wanted to go swimming at the resort pool, so we went there in the afternoon for just a while.  We ended the night watching "Brave", which the kids hadn't seen yet.  They were able to rest up (and so were the adults!) in preparation for our most anticipated day:)

 The Lego store at Downtown Disney has some really fun creations made out of legos. 

Luke wanted to sit on the Harley's at the Harley Davidson store.  Maybe someday, kiddo!

This is outside of our house that we stayed in.  The kids all ended up picking out a stuffed animal for their souvenier.

 The resort pool had a slide that the big kids (and Grandpa) had fun going down.

 

 

Orlando Day 3

On our 3rd day in Orlando we wanted to take the kids to experience the ocean.  We took off for a 2 hour drive to the Gulf of Mexico.  Ryan had heard about a cool place called Caladesi Island.  You take a ferry over to a completely uninhabitated natural island, so the shells were numerous.  The kids had a great time shelling and playing in the waves.  None of them would venture out too far because they had warned us on the boat that there had been quite a few sightings of sting rays recently.  None of them wanted to take any chances! We were there for a few hours and got plenty of sun and saltwater.  Drew managed to lose his flipflops while we were there.  He must have taken them off too close to the water and they got pulled out to sea! We didn't realize they were missing until we went to grab some lunch and we couldn't find them anywhere.  They sold swim shoes so we bought him a new pair so he wouldn't have to be lugged all over the island.  Another fun fact that the kids thought was cool was the sign that said beware of rattlesnakes. Yikes! We definitely stayed on the path.