Back from Disney!

Well, we survived our trip and made it home safely! We had a great time, even though the excessive heat and some rain tried to cause some problems. But we weathered it all (no pun intended) and had so much fun! Here's a rundown of what we did!

Day 0: We drove this day. 7 hours. It went by pretty quick. When we got to our hotel, the Best Western Lakeside, we played in the pool and just relaxed.

Day 1: We headed off to the Magic Kingdom!


We rode a bunch of rides and saw a bunch shows. The best moment of the day for Ella was meeting the Little Mermaid!


She wouldn't talk to her, or smile for the photo, but when we walked away she was so excited!! It was so cute. We took an afternoon nap break (thankfully the hotel was close enough for this) and it was much needed as evidenced by the photo below.


They were so hot and tired. It was in the 90's everyday we were there. It was very draining. That's why we took the afternoon breaks and went back in the evenings. When we went back that afternoon Ella got to meet Mickey Mouse. Again she was excited until we actually saw him, then she was terrified. The only way to get her up there was to carry her. Poor kid. But she was excited afterwards.


While she may be afraid of giant mice, she definitely isn't afraid of roller coasters. She dragged me on this little kid one and loved it!!


That night we stayed for the electric light parade. It was really cool and the kids loved it!


Lots of fun!

Day 2: MGM Studios! I really liked this park, but it was the hottest day yet. We thought that since there were a lot of indoor shows we would be OK, but no such luck. But we did manage to get some fun things in. Ella had a blast playing in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area.


And she was so excited to meet the Little Einsteins!! She was scared again, but was really happy to see them.


But we gave up after lunch and went back to the hotel to cool down and rest. That evening we took advantage of the hotels free mini golf. Ella got the hang of it real quick.


Then we went out for dessert at Fridays. They had a balloon guy there who made Ella a princess crown and she loved it!


Day 3: Sea World! We were going to just stick with Disney on this trip, but Sea World was letting military in free, so we couldn't pass that up! We were a little disappointed in the shows, they spent way too much time trying to be dramatic and too little time showing off the animals.


Half way through the day it began thunderstorming and pouring rain!! We waiting it out in the Ray Lagoon and in a circus show. Luckily we had ponchos. But we had to stick around because we had reserved a luau dinner show. It was a really cool show and the food was really good!


Day 4: Animal Kingdom! This was our favorite by far. That park is so cool! The kids loved seeing the animals and we loved riding the rides. (Can you see the kimodo dragon?)


The new Everest Ride is so fun!! Don't miss this one!

We got everything done in that park by early afternoon. That night we went to Universal City Walk to eat at Hard Rock Cafe. Anton collects their take home glasses and had to get one in Orlando. While we were there we picked up these cute shirts for the kids. I couldn't pass them up!


Day 5: Epcot! I thought this park would be slow and a little boring, but I think besides the Magic Kingdom, it had the most kid friendly rides and activities. And since it was 90% less crowded than MK it was a lot of fun. They have a Nemo ride that Ella loved. We rode it multiple times, of course.


Also while we were there the space shuttle launched. Unfortunately I was on a ride at the time and totally missed it!! I was so sad. But I got a picture of the smoke trails afterwards!


We stayed that night for the Illuminations fireworks and laser show. It was a little on the short side, but cool nonetheless.


Day 6: Drove home. This felt like the longest drive ever!!

Overall this trip was great. I want to go back, but when we do it will be in February, both for the weather and the crowds. The hotel was decent. It had 2 pools and mini golf and restaurants on site and you could buy your Disney tickets in the lobby. It was only 10 minutes from the parks which made it perfect for nap time. The rooms weren't fancy, but for $47 a night I'm not complaining. So if you are headed to Disney on a budget, check out the Best Western Lakeside.

The Makahiki Luau dinner show at Sea World was really cool. The kids were free and they got kid meals. The show itself was very similar to the show you can see at the Polonesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. Very authentic. They danced with fire, sang songs, all the good stuff. Definitely worth it.

Sea World was not our favorite, as I said above. It seems like they are trying to make the shows more artistic, but I just wanted to see the animals. We had fun in the rain though.

So to end a long post. We had a wonderful trip and can't wait to go again when the kids are big enough to ride the rides with us!! That'll be 4-5 years from now. It'll take that long to save up for it again!

If you stuck through this long I hope you enjoyed out vacation recap!