Back to Disney posts!!!
Wednesday morning the kids both woke up right on time to start the day which I had been a little nervous about. After the mega late night two nights in a row…I was worried we’d have some grumpy children on our hands for our third day at the parks!!! However, they both woke up happy as could be and Zach bathed them while I made breakfast. We are night bath type people but there was no way they could get a bath that late at night so it worked out well to bathe them the following morning instead!
Britt was in a super silly mood and wanted to wear her hooded towel and sunglasses for breakfast 🙂
Posing for the camera!
Ideally I would have set up our trip to do two full days at the parks then have a day off followed by two more days at the parks. I think it’s nice to take a full day break if possible. However, the way the crowd levels worked out it just made the most sense for us to do four park days in a row! Both Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are “half day” parks. Meaning, you can hit the highlights of them in half a days time if needed. With the way it worked out this trip, we did our half day at Animal Kingdom followed by a half day at Epcot. I planned for us to hit up Hollywood Studios the morning of day 3 and then just hang out and rest that afternoon. Downtime was much needed by that point!
Much like our day prior at Animal Kingdom, we decided to get to the park early in hopes that they would also open the park early and we could get on Toy Story Mania! as quickly as possible!
Both at Animal Kingdom and at Hollywood Studios we didn’t see any type of morning opening show??? However, both parks did have several characters out front to do meet and greets. My plan is to next time go even earlier to these parks so we will have time to do the meet and greets! We wanted to get in the lines for the opening and therefore had to miss saying hey to Stitch and even our beloved Donald! We waved as we went by and the kids weren’t upset or anything by not stopping. It was cool to them just to get to say hey 🙂
We did not have any fast passes for Hollywood Studios. When we have them next time I still won’t get a fast pass for the first time slot of Toy Story Mania. Instead, I think we’ll always just make the mad dash to that ride and will use the fast pass for it to ride it a second time later in the day. Honestly, Hollywood Studios is the worse Disney park. They were smart to put the BEST ride out of ANY of the parks at Hollywood Studios b/c it’s the only reason many people even go there. I know it’s our only reason for visiting!!!
In the past we have had the medical pass to be able to ride it so we haven’t ever gone through the official line for the ride. I enjoyed getting to see all the awesome details that went into the line area. It really is so awesome! Both Zach and I really, really love all the Toy Story movies. Kye was ALWAYS super obsessed with them and it’s sad that he’s completely out of that phase now. But that doesn’t mean Zach and I have to move on from it anytime soon 😉 Britt is just starting to really like them and it really is one of the best Disney (Pixar) movies! Who doesn’t cry at Toy Story 3?!?!?
Trying to get a picture with Potato Head
G-Mama and Britt rode together, Kye and I rode together, and Zach was able to focus on his intense gaming on his own. Last time we visited Hollywood Studios Kye couldn’t really hardcore play the game but this time he LOVED it and I’m so glad I got to ride with him!
Kye was Player 2…I may have scored more points but he beat me on accuracy!
I wish we had been able to ride Toy Story Mania more than once but they were already out of fast passes for it by the time we checked and the line wait time was already over an hour just after we rode it! CRAZY!!!
Our “things to do” list at Hollywood Studios is very, very short. Toy Story Mania, Disney Junior Live, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. That’s it. We did a few other things last time we visited but weren’t impressed by any of them. I was also sad to hear that the Pixar Parade isn’t take place anymore. That was one of my favorite moments from Kye’s first visit!
Of the things we enjoy at this park, Toy Story Mania is actually the only ride. The rest are shows. Which upset Kye some when he found out…but thankfully they are all very, very different types of shows and he did enjoy them all! Since they are all shows they have specific show times and I planned our itinerary around the earliest show times possible. We had a GOOD bit of downtime that morning and would have really been able to leave the park much, much earlier if there were more showtimes available. Instead we just enjoyed the leisurely time together! Zach went ahead and hopped in the line for Disney Junior so we’d have good seats and Mrs. Charlotte and I let the kids run and play while we waited 🙂
Kye’s shirt is from Old Navy, I found Britt’s skirt at Gap Outlet last year for $3! Her shirt and leggings are also from Old Navy and Green Feet Boutique did the Mermaid on her shirt as well as the matching bow! It was a rather cool morning so I was glad it worked out to be the day where Kye had on the long sleeves and Britt’s outfit had the leggings and long sleeves too. It was even the day I had already planned to wear a jean jacket myself! It was BEAUTIFUL weather!
One guess why we were pumped for Disney Junior?!?! 🙂
Again, the notepads (from the dollar store!) and Disney pens came in handy! As we waited for the show to start the kids drew some pictures. Really, Kye could do these types of activities all day long and be content. Britt needs action! She would have done better for the length of the show if she’d been able to run around some while we waited. She is more of a “boy” in that sense. She requires activity to be able to focus!
The day kinda started out on a bummer note. Remember how I talked about the Roxy book bag I’ve owned for about 16 years now?!?! And how that beast is still going strong?!?! My new Mickey bag didn’t last four days, let alone 16 years 🙁 Only my third day using it and it had a nice big hole in the bottom corner!!! I was shocked and sad!!! I had my receipt and I called Disney that afternoon when we got back. They told me I could take it into the Emporium on Main Street the next day when we were at MK and exchange it!
Even though our family doesn’t watch Disney Junior…the show is super cute and fun! I love interactive things and they do a great job of keeping the kids in the audience involved. They have also updated it since we last visited and the show includes Mickey and the gang along with Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Princess Sophia, and Doc McStuffins. We first learned who Jake was when we came last time and this was our first time learning about Sophia and Doc. I’ve heard of them…but haven’t ever seen either character’s show or anything. Britt, being the random child she is, fell in love with Captain Hook. I mean, of course, right?!?! He and Donald Duck were the stars of the show for her!
Bubbles!!!
The Little Mermaid is located directly across from Disney Junior so it makes the most sense to see them as close together as possible. I forgot that The Little Mermaid is a live show and I had forgotten how neat all the visual effects were. I really enjoyed it! We were a bit worried that we wouldn’t make it in for the show since the line was out the door for it when we got there but it worked out just fine!
After The Little Mermaid we had a BIG chunk of time until Beauty and the Beast. Zach had noticed a character meet and greet spot so he suggested (who is this man?!?! I love it!) we go check it out! Wreck it Ralph and Vanellope were there when we walked in. The line was pretty long so we didn’t wait to meet them, but in hindsight we totally should have. We didn’t realize just how much time we’d have before Beauty and the Beast and didn’t want to risk not making it! The kids LOVED seeing them but I was pretty disappointed in Ralph. I mean we love that movie and the soundtrack. Ralph is nine feet tall. Um. He was def not that tall in person. And he should have been WAY bigger compared to Vanellope too! Of all the characters we passed by on our trip, Ralph is the one the kids mention most often!
My goal was to get a family picture in front of each symbolic park spot. Castle at Magic Kingdom, Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom, Big Ball at Epcot, and the hat at Hollywood Studios! Mission accomplished!
Once we got to Beauty and the Beast we planned to let the kids eat lunch in the stadium while we waited for the show to start but they weren’t even letting people into the stadium yet! I was shocked that people were sitting along the curb waiting. I mean, really? It’s a HUGE stadium! There is no need to sit and wait like that on the ground! Especially when right across the way is a great little area with picnic tables and such. I had a RANDOM pregnancy craving for chili cheese fries and we were able to get some there for a snack for the adults while the kids enjoyed their lunches!
And we drank LOTS of water too, obviously 😉
I know I’ve mentioned this before but leading up to the trip I fully expected some Britt meltdowns. I was shocked that we NEVER had to discipline her the ENTIRE trip. Zero fits. Zero misbehaving. No issues! What is the most shocking was that the only one who even had to get a spanking the entire time we were at Disney was KYE. After we ate some of Kye’s blueberries spilled on the ground. He was standing in front of them and had his foot raised to smash them (typical boy thing of course). He looked me in the eyes and I told him “do not smash them or you will get a spanking” and, while still looking at me, he smashed them. Oh how I wish he hadn’t made that choice! It broke my HEART that he had to get a spanking at Disney. Like truly Mrs. Charlotte and I felt so, so sad about it. Even Britt was super upset. But consequences are consequences and poor choices are poor choices. And him looking me in the eye while disobeying isn’t something we can just “let go.” So he got a spanking and was pretty upset going into the show. I think G-Mama didn’t mind the extra cuddles from him though 🙂
This is the same Gaston who was there when we saw the show several years ago…he’s awesome!
Kye was mesmerized by the entire show. We all loved it, but Britt just can’t sit still that long! She got up and down and up and down and sat with me then sat with Zach then got up and down and up and down some more. Silly girl!
Even though we had very little to do at the park, we still ended up leaving there later than we did any other day to come back for naps. Simply because the show schedule didn’t allow us to leave earlier! Once we got back G-Mama had a special surprise for the kids so she gave them their gifts then. Britt LOVED her Dumbo and Kye equally loved his Peter Pan!
While the kids napped we all ate lunch and I called Disney about my book bag. Zach and I even were able to watch some Parks and Rec and have a little snack together 🙂 I originally planned not to nap that day since we were back later and I had to make that call for the book bag, but the exhaustion hit me so I went to lay down while both Zach and Mrs. Charlotte were getting some work stuff handled.
I heard Britt while I was sleeping and wanted to go ahead and get her up so she wouldn’t wake up Kye. It was another surprising thing about this trip. Britt, who always is the one that requires her sleep, didn’t sleep as much as Kye did! He slept later than she did for many naps which surprised me especially since most days at home he no longer falls asleep at nap time! I was so sleepy I just got Britt and brought her into bed with me for cuddle time. Some magical moments at Disney don’t involve the park at all…and this was one of those. We cuddled and tickled and played together and it was just so sweet and wonderful and something we don’t often get to do!
She can’t stay too sweet for too long though…the crazy child comes out fast 😉
Once they were both up from naps we went downstairs and got their prizes from Mommy and Daddy for the day! I gave them quite a few little toys to be able to actually play with since we had the afternoon off and would just be hanging out at the condo!
We were all in mega chill mode that afternoon and the rain had come again for a visit so we just played and hung out and put the kids to bed nice and early to be ready for our last park day the following day!
It is SO wonderful having SO MUCH space! Kye had his own room and Britt also had her own room 🙂 Kye loved his special Disney bed!
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