Disney World

Wow what a trip!  Disney used to be so much fun...now I think it is more fun and more work with kids in tow!  Taylor had the best time ever.  I think he wants to live there (who doesn't?)  The weather was still extremely HOT (which is annoying because the day after we got home temperatures in AL dropped dramatically).  However the lines weren't too bad.  Most everything was walk right on or just 5-10 minutes.  Probably only the biggest rides had a 30 minute or more wait (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Toy Story Mania and the big roller coasters)  We walked right onto Pirates of the Caribbean three times on three different days and times!

We rented a scooter for mom and dad to share so they wouldn't get to worn out.  Lilly had her stroller and Taylor could hop on the back of it anytime.  However both of them would rather have been running around!  Taylor's favorite ride was Peter Pan.  The first time we rode it we got on quickly because we had mom, dad and the scooter so we entered the handicapped side.  That saved about 30 minutes.  The second time we were with out the grandparents but it was only 30 minutes into the park opening so we got on in about 20 minutes wait.  Taylor's second favorite thing was Mickey and Minnie's house.  He loved walking through those.  He also liked Winnie the Pooh (Fast Pass for that one!) and Dumbo (rode it once b/c there is not a FP available and it's always a 30 minute plus wait).  

We ran into several characters for Taylor to hug (I never did this as a kid I was terrified.)  Lilly wasn't too sure what to make of them.  We never stood in the long lines.  We mainly had character meals to meet them or we found them in odd places.  Daisy was the one Taylor kept wanting to see but she was right at the front of the Magic Kingdom with a mile long line.  The last day she got off in the corner during a parade and we just happened to be on our way out when we heard the character guide saying that Daisy was all by her self over there.  We ran and Taylor was the first to get to her!

Lilly was pretty alert on most of the rides she got to be part of.  She took naps in the stroller or during some of the shows.  We tried to go back to the hotel for naps but the first two days neither kid napped at the hotel.  Wednesday Taylor took a 2 hour nap but Lilly had napped on the bus and was wide awake while we were at the room.  Oh well.  

We got the free dining plan with our package and it was awesome!  There was way too much food and we actually ended up with a meal left!  We weren't sure how to use it at first, but then we caught on with the snacks and quick serve meals.  We even split a few meals to save up on the quick serve meals.  The best use was on the last day when we were at Epcot for the first day of the International Wine and Food festival.  They had extra booths set up in the world showcase where you could taste different foods and wines.  These food options were considered a snack on the dining plan and we had tons of those left.  So went tasted 4 different ones and one was a fabulous lobster roll.  It would have cost $7 without the dining plan!  Imagine you could use a snack on a $2 coke or a $7 lobster roll!  We paid for the coke and got the lobster roll free!

I think Ohana's was my favorite but maybe it was because I was starving by the time we ate?  Our reservation was for 8:30pm so it was time to eat!  By the time we left there we were all exhausted and Lilly crashed on the way out.  We also ate at the Garden Grill in Epcot.  That was good food and I was surprised to see Mickey there.  I thought the only characters would be Chip and Dale, but we got Mickey and Pluto too.  The food was good homestyle cooking.  The next day we ate breakfast at Hollywood and Vine at Hollywood Studios.  We had to get up early but it was fun to see the Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath.  (I don't know why they still have JoJo there because I don't think that cartoon still comes on?  Taylor may have only seen it a handful of times.)  The food was ok but it was a typical breakfast buffet.  

Thursday we ate at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  That was a good buffet with some different food options that were similar to foods we have eaten in Africa.  Notice I said similar.  We have never had salmon in Africa but we have had peri peri sauce.  Tusker House had a peri peri salmon so it was close but not really.  The nice thing about this was that we booked our meal for 1pm.  They gave us the option of seeing the Nemo musical at 3:15 without waiting in line.  The line probably wasn't much of an issue this time of year but instead of having to arrive 30 minutes prior to the show we could get there at the latest 15 minutes and go in a back door and sit down.  The last day we had lunch at The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore.  It was a typical American buffet and was really nice atmosphere.  We enjoyed it and by this time Lilly was warming up to the characters.  She actually petted on Piglet, but we didn't get the camera out in time for it.  

All in all we had a great trip.  You can see some of my favorite pictures in the slideshow below.