We spent a couple hours at Art of Animation then headed back to Downtown Disney. I’ve never spent a solid amount of time there but knew it would be super fun for the kids to do more exploring and make the end of our trip more magical for Britt since she didn’t go to the park! I also needed to get an ornament for our Christmas tree (our travel tradition) so it was a good excuse to do a little shopping 😉
I also wanted the kids to get a chance to ride the little rides they have at Downtown Disney. They had a choo choo and a carousel. If you ask Britt what rides she wants to ride when we go to Disney? She says “choo choo” and “horsey.” It’s been two months now since we rode these rides but she remembers them well and associates them with Disney! Since she enjoyed it so much, it does make me feel a lot better about waiting for her first visit. If she thought these rides were cool, she will LOVE the real deal!!!
I can’t remember the exact pricing of these rides, but adults did ride free to help with the younger child. Casey and I traded off and we all enjoyed each ride!
Between the rides I wanted to let Britt “meet” Mickey and Minnie. We passed them on our way to Rainforest Cafe the first night but it was raining and we didn’t want to stop. I wanted to be able to give her a chance to warm up to them and she did! I know the legit characters are going to be a little more intimidating since they are WAY bigger and actually are real, but this was a good test run!
She LOVED Minnie and kept hugging her and didn’t want to leave her!
After the rides we wanted to have a picnic lunch but there wasn’t really a good place to have a picnic. I asked a cast member if we were allowed to eat our own food inside the restaurants or not. At the parks, you’re totally allowed to do it and they even give you free ice water but I wasn’t sure if Downtown Disney worked the same way. Sure enough, she said she thought we’d be fine if we ate in one of the casual restaurants. We chose a sandwich shop and didn’t have any issues! And yes, they even gave us the water 🙂 We sat on a little patio area and it was a beautiful day so we just enjoyed each other and enjoyed listening to all the wonderful Disney music!
Of course when it was time to leave, Britt was suddenly in the BEST mood and didn’t want to go! She really takes so long to get completely comfortable with her environment. I felt bad that she was having so much fun and we had to leave so we all took a quick potty break and then I let her dance her little heart out to “Pirates Life for Me.” She lived it up!
The town home we stayed in was located about 15 min away from the parks and on the way we passed this yummy looking ice cream place. I mean we passed that junk multiple times during the trip…how could I not stop and test it out?!?!?!
We all look all cute with our yummy tasty treats but it got ugly and it got ugly FAST!
Being that it was real ice cream it melted much, much quicker than any of us could even attempt to eat it. I instantly regretted getting a cone and really actually regretted getting any ice cream at all. We all had to fend for ourselves. We were on our own against the ice cream! I think it’s safe to say the ice cream won!!!
All those sprinkles on the ground were 100% from US!
The difference in my children: Britt just enjoys her ice cream and is oblivious to the MASSIVE mess she’s making all over herself! Really though, I think she had the right idea b/c she is probably the only one of us who truly ENJOYED her treat!
And Kye was stressing about it trying to figure out a way to eat it without getting it everywhere. He asked for a bowl and tried to use napkins and basically fought the ice cream battle the entire time!
End results:
We fit a LOT into our morning! Cleaning up from the ice cream disaster was intense and we ended up being a little late putting the kids down for naps. But it all worked out in the end! Casey and I spent their nap time watching our wedding videos 🙂 Neither of us had seen each others before and it was a great chance to watch them!!! Brought back lots and lots of wonderful memories 🙂
As soon as the guys walked in the door Jordan and Casey had to head back home. Casey had to be at work the next morning for school so they needed to get back. We stayed that last night and went home the next morning. For dinner I cooked a feast to end our trip on! We had pasta, green bean casserole, and even bread!
Apple smile!
We ate an early dinner and then went down to the pool one last time. I was SO SAD to be leaving that pool haha! We really, really enjoyed the resort as a whole and truly hope we are able to make things work so we can stay there again in Feb! The more I research the place, the more I realize I got what was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime deal for our stay!
Sportin Daddy’s shirt 🙂
Saying goodbye to Royal Palms!
The next morning we loaded up and headed out and the kids were SUCH big helpers!!! BOTH of them carried things out to the car and it truly made the loading up process much easier! I’m so thankful for trips like these. I love getting away. I love spending time with my husband and my children. I appreciate Casey and Jordan so much for coming along with us and hope we have many more trips together in the future!!!
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Are your lunch photos at The Earl of Sandwich? I kind of became obsessed with that place while we were there! Seriously the BEST sandwich of my life! We stayed at the resort just across the lake from DD, so we could walk over to the sandwich place and pick one up to satisfy my craving. Yum!!!!!
@ChelleyN YES!!! We didn't eat any of their food though haha I'll have to add that to my list to try next time 😉 What resort did you stay at? Was it a Disney resort?
We stayed at Saratoga Springs (yes, it's a Disney resort). LOVED it! And since we stayed for free, the price was definitely right ;).