Anybody that knows me knows that I LOVE Disney. I've been wanting to take the kids there for so long. We just couldn't ever seem to make it work. For some reason I just decided that this year we would really try to do it finally. We were planning an October trip when Addison was out of school, the crowds were lower and it was a little cooler. Well, my mom had emailed me a coupon code she got from Disney offering free dining if you stayed in a Disney hotel for April. I deleted the email because I didn't want to go in April and I felt like I wouldn't have had enough time to plan everything. A few months later, Phillip brought up the idea of going in April since it would be a good time to go for him and we really had no idea what things would look like in October. He was the one I've been trying to convince to go so I was surprised he wanted to go ahead and do it. I told him that I really didn't want to go so soon, it was going to be hot, etc... but I would look into it to see if we could get any good deals. I asked my mom to email me the coupon again but she didn't have it so I kind of just let the subject drop. I'd plan for October and that would be fine. Well a few days later my mom found the email and after looking at the pictures of the hotel we could stay at and realizing that I was still able to get most of the reservations I wanted, I talked to Phillip about actually going a month from then. He said to go ahead and do it and I still can't believe I actually did it. I was SO excited! It was going to be the same cost as I was planning for October but a MUCH nicer hotel so that was a plus. I spent the entire rest of the day making reservations, researching the hotel, switching stuff around and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we were actually going. I am actually glad I didn't have 6 months to plan. I would have lost my mind. I spent the next 3 weeks getting things ready, picking up a few shirts for the kids, getting an autograph book ready and trying to keep my mouth shut to Addison as I wanted this to be a surprise. I still can't believe we put the trip together this fast when I thought it would take months to plan. I'm just glad we actually did it! And I'm glad Addison is in year round school so we could actually do something like this without her having to miss school. One of the main reasons I wanted her to go to year round is specifically so we could go to Disney at off-peak times. Sounds silly but it's true!
It was finally time to leave! We left around 4:30 Saturday morning hoping the kids would sleep for a while. They both fell right back asleep and slept a full 3 hours. It was nice. We were able to stop at my grandma's for the night which helped so much. It only took 7.5 hours to get there so the drive was not bad at all. Zero traffic and thankfully no speeding tickets ;) They live about an hour and a half north of Disney so it's super convenient. The kids were able to swim in their pool all afternoon and get a good night sleep before our long day the next day.
Yay! Finally crossing the Florida border!
Happy kids
We completely surprised Addison. We have it on video if I ever take the time to post it. I had wrapped up this shirt and an autograph book and when she opened it she was excited but it didn't click that we were going to Disney. I told her she would need the book for tomorrow because we were going to Disney and she freaked out. She kept asking if we were really going and saying "thank you" a million times. It was really cute. She talked about it and asked a million questions for the rest of the drive. It was fun being able to finally talk to her about it!
LOVE this sign. It just makes me feel happy.
Ever since my mom and I went to Downtown Disney when Addison was a baby and I saw a bunch of little girls getting princess makeovers, I wanted to take her when she was older. I was so glad I was able to book a reservation and it was literally the last one that was available to get for the entire week. We went straight there and Addison was so excited that I remembered to pack a princess dress for her.
Hair all done!
Manicure time
She picked the blue makeup to match her dress
My little princess all done
While we were doing the makeover, Phillip took Cooper to the Lego store next door and he especially loved the Buzz made of legos. The store was awesome!
Right after her makeover and lunch we headed off to Epcot. I originally hadn't planned to go to Epcot at all since there isn't a ton of stuff for little kids to do but I was able to get a reservation at a restaurant in "Norway" that has all of the princesses to meet so I thought that would be perfect after her makeover. I'm really glad we went to Epcot at least for a half day because the kids did have a lot of fun. Addison loved Spaceship Earth, the ride inside the big white ball.
She did not however like Mission Space. She thought it was scary even though her and Phillip went on the mild side of it.
They both loved The Seas that had a lot of Nemo stuff with a show and a cute ride
We were looking in the aquarium when one of the workers came up and got a couple of dolphins to come "talk" to the kids. It was awesome. They danced and spun and we loved watching them.
Cooper was afraid to take a picture with this shark so we had to get Phillip to go in there with him.
So I thought Cooper was going to be totally terrified of the characters but I couldn't have been more wrong. He was SO excited to see them. I originally didn't want to wait in line to see these guys because we were going to see them all at different character meals but we had some time so we decided to and I'm SO glad we did. It was by far Cooper's favorite thing. He could barely wait to see Mickey. He was leaning over the rail just to get closer so he could wave. It was so cute.
Great pic of the kids!
Addison making her crazy face with the Norway troll
Addison wanted to take a picture of us in "Italy"
Finally what Addison had been waiting for all day. She loved this princess dinner. We got a professional picture of the whole family with Belle but I have to scan it in when we get home. That was Phillip's favorite part. He LOVES Belle. ; )
This is her face every time a princess came out. It was awesome to see her so excited.
Loved Snow White. She even talked with that super high pitched voice.
Twins! Cinderella told Addison that she must have gone through her closet that morning. Addison thought that was so funny.
Loved Ariel!
We are staying at the Carribean Beach Resort and I got a Pirate room. It looks SO cool. The kids love it and they've been playing pirates for the past few days. We got back to the hotel SO late after the fireworks the kids went straight to sleep. Great first day!
No comments:
Post a Comment