Disney World 2014, Day 4

Mission for Day 4 at Hollywood Studios: Jedi Training!! Unfortunately, our time slot was right in the heat of the day, and poor Frances never was able to fight Darth Maul.  She was about to pass out in the hot robe and ran over to stand with us during the training/fighting.  The Jedis leading the training were surprised when she popped right back in the group of kids at the end.  She wasn't going to miss out on receiving her Jedi certificate!

 

Rock 'n Roller Coast...my favorite!!!

Kathryn and I were the only ones brave enough for Tower of Terror!

Sadly, after lunch at Backlot Express, we all hit a wall!  Poor Matt had come down with a pretty bad cold and was pretty much barely hanging on.  He and Walker headed back to the hotel, and the girls and I stayed to take in a few more attractions! They especially enjoyed playing on the ice at Wandering Oaken's Frozen Funland.

I'm sad to say we didn't quite recover for the rest of the day.  Even though Matt was able to get some rest, dinner that night at Ohana was the only thing we managed to do the rest of this day.  Although it was a full, fun day, we also knew that Magic Kingdom was open until 2 AM, and we know how short the lines can be on nights like that.  We just couldn't pull it together though:(  It this was the only time I wished we were back on the monorail side of things.  We might have worked up the energy to travel that short distance to Magic Kingdom, but being on the Epcot side of things, it just seemed like a bit much.  Everyone hit the bed early and got some much needed rest!  We were also able to pack, and make sure we were up and ready for our final day at Disney!

Disney World 2014, Day 3

Day 3, we finally made it to Epcot! Just a short walk from the Yacht Club, we arrived at opening and high tailed it to Test Track for one more ride! Fast Passes this day were for Soarin', Mission: Space and the character meet and greet.

 

 

 

The one thing I had on my list of "to dos" for this park was to have our picture taken with Santa Clause.  The last few years, we've barely made it to Bass Pro Shop for a quick Santa picture.  Let's just say their Santa's aren't the best;)  Leave it to Disney to do it right!!!

Mission accomplished!

 

Kathryn is a big Duffy fan, so we made the effort to wait in line to see Santa Duffy too!!

 

 

Matt and I stopped for a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower.  The photographer asked us to kiss which was quite awkward, so you can see us trying to look a bit more lovey dovey in the next picture. Park PDA isn't really our style;)  I was just glad to have a picture of just the two of us! 

We headed back to the hotel around 3:00 because we had early dinner reservation at the California Grille followed by a late night at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

 

Matt and I LOVED the California Grille when we ate their on our parents only trip in the spring.  The food was fabulous and the view is to die for.  We were a bit nervous about taking the kids to a more upscale restaurant, but our waiter Walter calmed all of our fears.  He was quick to keep food and drink flowing to the table and to keep us updated on the castle lighting which we could easily see from our table (he literally had it down to the minute!!). 

 

We were able to snap a few shots before being seated.  Can you believe that awesome view?!?

 

 Kathryn awaiting her dinner!

 

 

 

After a fabulous dinner, we made the quick walk over to the Magic Kingdom!  The Christmas party did not disappoint.  Here, Kathryn and I are seated enjoying the inclusive snickerdoodles and hot chocolate!



 

Some fun characters!  We had just missed Aladdin and Abu! Loved seeing all of them in their winter wear!

 

 

A few Main Street shots of the "frozen" castle!

 

 

We were able to ride all the rides we wanted to with very little lines--especially those in Adventureland which we had skipped our first day at MK.  But top priority for this evening was meeting Anna and Elsa.  We were unable to get a Fast Pass to see them, so this was our chance.  After the final parade of the night, we hustled over to Princess Fairytale Hall where the wait was thankfully only 30 minutes!

 

Unfortunately, this was at 11:30 at night, so 30 minutes was just enough time for Kathryn and Frances to fall asleep!  Needless to say, they didn't really appreciate us waking them up and were a bit groggy to boot!  These pictures absolutely cracked us up.  We all are looking like a little rough!!

 



 

But once again, mission accomplished!!

Disney World 2014, Day 2

Day 2, our first day in the park, had to start at Magic Kingdom!  We had a bit of a glitch getting into the park--our tickets didn't register because we had made a change to our original reservation!! Panic set in, but Disney took care of it all, and we even gained a free round of Fast Passes out of the deal!

It also meant, Main Street was a little more crowded than we would have liked for picture taking, but I think these shots turned out well regardless!

 

 

 

First stop, Fantasyland!  We rode Dumbo, Barnstormer (multiple times), met characters at Pete's Silly Sideshow, then on to the teacups before the crowds even picked up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The long awaited ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!

 

 

Frances still loves her some Alice, and this Alice was worth the wait!!!

 

 

 

Frances' first ride on Splash Mountain!!

 

 

Goofing off in Tomorrowland is one of our favorite past times!!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner this night was at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall...Frances' first dinner with the princesses!

 



 

 

We were able to sneak in a ride on Test Track too!