Magic Kingdom #2 (Day 5)

We did Disney, and we did it big! We knew we couldn't hit everything- and didn't want to- but with two 5-year-old girls that love Disney Princesses, we knew that one day at Magic Kingdom wasn't enough.

I must say that we planned it perfectly. We hit the must-dos at Magic Kingdom on Day 2 and had more time for tooling around and window shopping the second time around.

One of my most favorite surprises was with the talking trash can outside of the exit of Stitch's Great Escape. It's one of those random things that comes and goes, and maybe even moves around, but my kids were SO tickled by it! The man with the headset microphone speaking nearby went completely unnoticed by the kids and the trash can's interactions with them was hilarious. Definitely one of the kid's most talked about experiences!

Here we are riding the classic Mad Tea Party teacup ride!

We spent some time in Storybook Circus, opting to watch the water fly from the animals in the water park instead of getting wet in it!

I love, love, love the bright, colorful and creative treats around Disney. So cute and yummy!

Mickey ears are always on the menu, of course!

With hands up the girls are ready for a thrill upon Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster!

Upon a big win and being named MVP of Super Bowl XLVII, Joe Flacco exclaimed, "I'm going to Disney World!" It just so happened that we were there too and caught the celebratory parade with Mickey and Flacco riding and waving to the crowd.

Back on Main Street we captured a nice family photo in front of Cinderella's Castle. It was nice that Flacco had come to Magic Kingdom because there had been a giant crane directly beside the castle everyday leading up to his arrival and was finally taken down for just a few hours during his visit. It made for a much better photo op.

See what I mean? But thanks to photo editing, it wasn't too big of a deal for pictures anyway.

It's hard to tell with Spiderman, but that is Tinker Bell there in the girl's hands!

Hayden loved these balloons and this scene felt very Walt Disney World-esque to me!

What's that? Yep! Another parade and opportunity for Mommy and Daddy to SIT!

Madison was so proud of herself after using her money to buy her very own (and expensive) green Arial dress just like Arial wore around WDW. And she was giddy with excitement when Arial spotted her and her matching dress and blew sweet Madison a kiss!

Well, hello, Tiana!

On our way to meet more princesses, we took a break by a TV near the Town Square Restaurant and Theater. It only took a few minutes for our littlest princess to crash out.

Hayden had all sorts of important things to discuss with Rapunzel.

Meanwhile, the real sleeping beauty (i.e. Madison) was unknowingly greeted by Sleeping Beauty, the character.

She slept through all of her meet-and-greets until she heard Cinderella's voice. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in front of a TV only to wake up just a few inches from her favorite princesses' sweet voice and smile. I've never seen her wake up happier!

For dinner, we dined at the new, popular Be Our Guest restaurant inside the Beast's Castle. It is quite a hot ticket to get your hands on.

We sat in the West Wing where we experienced the sounds of storms and thunder, the flashes of lightning and the falling of petals off of the enchantress's rose. Strawberry cream cheese, triple-chocolate cupcakes and cream puffs in chocolate cream or passion fruit were our dessert options- how can a princess ever choose?

And the Beast was our host, of course!

We were able to overlap our trip with a few friends so that the kids could attend sweet Claire's 5th birthday party at Goofy's Candy Company in Downtown Disney on our last day before departing. So we met up with them for the three big evening shows at Magic Kingdom on our last night.

Here are some of the kids all gathered and ready to enjoy the Main Street Electrical Parade!

Tink waving to the kids!

Although we had watched the Wishes nighttime spectacular firework show from our hotel room each night, nothing compared to being able to view the Celebrate The Magic nighttime show that played upon the castle walls accompanied by music. Experiencing the magic of Disney up close and personal like that was the perfect way to end our trip. Absolutely beautiful and thoroughly entertaining.
(See Madison's little Minnie ears?)

Goodbye, Walt Disney World! Thank you for the memories!

Epcot (Day 4)

Destination: Epcot. Time for some science and culture!

Kids? What kids?

First stop: Soarin'. Twice. Our favorite Epcot ride!

Daddy and Hayden ridin' the clamobile through the The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

Turtle Talk with Crush was the coolest interactive experience at Epcot. Such a funny dude! No pictures allowed inside so here are the kids checking out the real Nemo in the waiting area.

Here we are testing our custom vehicle on the Test Track ride as a family. The kids were quite brave as many of these rides at WDW aren't for sissies (or 5-year-olds, really)! 

My favorite part of the day was our picnic lunch and playtime on the lawn between France and Morocco.

Giggles.

Exercise.

Playtime. (Where's Hayden?)

Games.

Hayden sure loves Paris a lot for a girl who has never been there. But this Eiffel Tower made for the next best thing!

Such a fun day! Goodnight for now!

 UP NEXT: Magic Kingdom #2

Animal Kingdom (Day 3)

Since we don't expect to make trips to Disney World regularly, we chose to hit up all of the major parks on this trip. Animal Kingdom was the only park that I didn't visit as a child so I didn't really know what to expect. So naturally I was quite surprised to see this view of an Amazonian-like river with a "snow"-covered mountain in the background.

Our first stop was the Festival of the Lion King where the kids were called up to participate in the Circle of Life. They loved it!

Here are the kids hangin' with Chip and Dale. During the entire trip we heard a lot of questions and contemplations about whether or not certain characters were real (because some, they believed, without a doubt were), why some didn't talk, etc. But surprisingly I never heard questions about their size. I mean these are some mighty large chipmunks! Is that not a dead giveaway?

The kids burned some energy and got in touch with their musical side as they explored and played the bongo drums.

Tree of Life

Sweet boy.

The Finding Nemo musical alone was enough of a reason to go to Animal Kingdom. It was a phenomenal production with a beautiful set, original costumes and talented puppeteers.

Just beautiful.

Payson enjoying time with his Daddy while he takes in the show and catches bubbles.

Hayden rode Expedition Everest with me and we experienced first hand that if you can't go forwards...you gotta go backwards! This was my favorite roller coaster at Disney World.

And while daddy took his turn, the kids played and explored in the lush garden.

Yep, you guessed it - another parade! This one is Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade.

Rafiki greeting the kids!

The animal puppets were so vivid and unique.

Next, at the Flights of Wonder show, an owl was directed to fly to a perch just next to our heads.

Over at the Kilimanjaro Safari, Madison and Daddy discussed the animals, what they eat and their habitats.

The safari brought back our wonderful memories of traveling to Africa for our own safari not long before the babies arrived. We definitely hope to take the kids back there one day!

We have some curious Georges who oftentimes like to debrief after activities, and Keith and I love their eagerness to learn! Here you also see Hayden carrying her notebook in which she took "notes" all day long.

And, like every other evening, we ended our day in our jammies taking in the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our hotel balcony.

UP NEXT: Epcot