Day 2--Epcot

Our day at Epcot was a short one.  The kids were tired from the day before and they got very cranky.  The few things we did do the kids had a blast with though.  We started our day out at the Chevy Test Track, where you design your own car and specs then you ride on a track and your car 'design' is tested and you are ranked among everyone else in your ride.  The 'car' that went around the track held 6 people, so you could be compared to up to 5 others!  The boys (all 3) had a blast building their own cars, and see how they compared at each test of the track.  Even after the ride, they had interactive activities using your car you designed.  This is where the Magic Band came in handy, the kids had their bands, just had to swipe them and it would load.  I didn't have to worry about pulling out tickets and making sure I swiped the right ticket for the right kid, cause that would have caused major issues.  So the kids had fun.  And then at the end, there were photo spots, we didn't do because the kids weren't interested, they were more interested in climbing in the brand new Chevy cars there they had for advertising purposes.  We rode this ride 2 times and it was cut short because my oldest thinks he is a gymnast and went to swing on a bar, missed and slammed his face on the bar.  I have never seen so much blood come out of a little nose.  I am sure they have cleaned it...but if you see 2 blood stains on the carpet near the gift shop..ya...that's us!

After we visited the first aid station, which was close and learned that it probably wasn't broken because he could still breath, we moved on.  Now I was thankful for the wrist bands and the meal plan.  We were able to cheer him up with a promise of ice cream.  So since I only had to swipe our wrist bands and not our credit card, it didn't hurt to much to pay $4.75 for a mickey mouse chocolate coated ice cream on a stick!.  So we pretty much did that every day.

Once calmed down, we went and foiled Dr. Doofenshmirz in Mexico.  You got a cell phone and Major Monogram sent you clues as to where to find Dr. D, because Agent P was on vacation.  My oldest loved it, he saw someone else with a phone and excitedly told that family, 'Look, we are secret agents to'!   We only did the 'Mexico' adventure, because the kids were ready to go.  They enjoyed it so we are glad we stumbled upon that adventure.

We made it to the Finding Nemo exhibit and visitied the small aquariums there and the kids fun.  After that we headed back to the resort to rest and relax.  We thought we were done for the day, but the kids rested, we ate and then headed back out to hollywood studios--but that is another post!

 Very excited to be designing their own cars!

Disney--Day 1, Animal Kingdom

Our first day at Disney was a whirl wind.  I thought it would be a great idea to fly out of Pittsburgh at 6 am and get to orlando at 8:30 and get to disney by 10.  I didn't account for the fact that we would have to wake up at 3:30 ish to get to the airport between 4 and 4;30 for the allotted 2 hours of time to get through security. It went pretty fast through from the shuttle, through security and to our gate.  We ran back to a Mcdonalds to get some breakfast and by the time we got back to our gate, my sister was freaking out that we were there and might not board the plane.  We fly there, the flight was good, the kids were great, then we have to navigate an airport with 2 kids pulling luggage trying not to get caught in the monorail doors, but we survive and get to the Magical Express and get to Disney and Check in.  Our room wasn't ready yet, so we head right to a park.  Animal Kingdom!  One of the kids actually fell asleep on the bus to the park, but that is ok, he needed.  We didn't get to fully experience this park as much as we would have liked, but what we did get to do, we LOVED.  The kids didn't like the Dinosaur ride, but everything else was fun.  They had a blast playing in the dinosaur graveyard play ground, and the Kilimanjaro Safari.  They  had all the Christmas decorations up, so all the parades were decked out for Christmas, and the kids liked watching pardades, so we watched quite a few.  The AK one was very different and fun!  We were able to watch the 'It's tough being a bug' bugs life show and were able to catch the last show of the day of 'Finding Nemo-the Musical'.  Both shows are a must see if you ask me.  The adults took turns through out the week to head back and hit the Escape From Everest Roller coaster--which is awesome to.  You quickly learn that Disney is not just about the rides, but the experience and really making you feel like you there.  It was great to be there and watch the kids have a great time!  But I had a great time to.  Here are a few pics of our day at AK.

Already tired of posing for pics and it is only the 1st day!

 He just had to get his picture taken under the picture of Dung, because Dung beetles are cool!

Family Vacation, part 1

I decided that while my husband was deployed, I was going to save up and we were going to take the kids to Disney.  I didn't really know what to expect.  I never went as a child, and only went with my work one time a few years back and got about 6 hours to explore the 4 parks!  It was a little bit overwhelming to plan this trip.  And then, if that wasn't enough, the resort we were staying at is a test pilot for the new Magic Band +...a wrist band that helps you organize your life at disney.  A wrist band you wear that has your meal plan, door key, credit card and fast pass and a ton of other info on it, and you just swipe your wrist band instead of a ticket and a key and a credit card.  It is quite convienient, however, with never going to disney and having access to set up my fast pass up to 60 days before I get there, I had no clue what to do!  We just set it up when we got there and it all work out.  And once I looked at the maps and got a basic game plan down, we were good to go.  We did a meal plan, the quick service--2 meals and 1 snack/person/day, and that was plenty of food, and we didn't need reservations for any meals.  My kids climb under the table still, so I didn't wan to be that family at disney, so we lived off of pizza, pasta and burgers while we were there.  Before I get into the parks in successive blogs, I am going to chat a bit about the resort we were in.  We were in the new Art of Animation resort.  It just opened up a year ago.  We stayed in the 'Cars' section, complete with Cozy Cone pool.  Disney does it right, you felt like you were staying in Radiator springs along with all of your Cars friends.  There were 4 movie areas to live in Cars, Nemo, Little Mermaid and Lion King.  While we only got photos of the outside of the others, I can only imagine the magic Disney worked to create an awesome living space while there.  Here are a few fun pics of our resort.  Yes, I feel the resort should gets it own post!   Once you see the pictures, you will understand why.   We stayed at the Wheel Well Hotel.  It was pretty cool.  It was a great week.  I will add a blog for each park and some of our memorable moments of those parks.