Settle in folks, this will be a long one! We finally got to enjoy our long awaited trip to Disney World. Our friends the DeCiccos are member's of the Disney Vacation Club and kindly let us join them for a week in Florida. They go to DW regularly and know all of the ins and outs of this place, including where all of the lesser used restrooms are located. They were truly the ultimate tour guides.
We flew into Orlando on a red eye after catching half of Travis' football game. To our surprise and enjoyment, we were bumped to first class for our second flight from Detroit to Orlando. This was the first any of us had enjoyed the amenities of first class flight and it was hard to go back to steerage for the flight home. The kids even got to go up to the cockpit and sit in the captain's seats. This was especially exciting for Mason who wants to be a pilot when he grows up. Unfortunately, we lost our camera on the first day so pictures of this (and the princess dinner) are still lost somewhere amidst the vastness of Disney.
We had park hopper passes and got to visit each of the parks several times. This is definitely the way to go as there are certain days that are preferable for different parks and different times of the day that are better for visiting certain attractions. Most of these pictures are chronological but it may not look like it since we were bouncing about DW quite a bit.
The epitome of the Magic Kingdom - Cinderella Castle as seen from Main Street. It was a sight that catches your attention every time you see it. The clouds in the background are deceiving. We had nice weather most of the week. Just a little bit of rain off and on the last day and a half.
Mason and Siena give the Oregon Ducks "O" while in line for Pirates of the Caribbean. This Pirates ride is a little different from that at Disneyland. No big drop at the end but it's still great and recently updated to include one of Mason's favorite characters Captain Jack Sparrow.
Yo ho ho and a barrel of Rum!
This was a common sight throughout the week. As Chris put it, there is walking pace and there is Disney pace. He has Disney pace down pat whereas the Cruzes, well, we didn't. Chris got good at flagging us down though.
Waiting at one of the many bathroom breaks.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got Mason on this ride...once.
He more preferred the slow pace of the steamship Liberty Belle, though I think Star Tours was his favorite ride.
Siena, Mason, Sharon, and Giada on the Liberty Belle. The Disney parks require a fair amount of walking (we estimated we walked about 10 miles a day) so it was nice to find spots to rest our feet.
The Haunted Mansion! The kids especially liked this ride as well. And the house is pretty cool too.
Giada and Mason by the horse drawn hearse outside the Haunted Mansion.
Chris and Luis show off their scaredy faces as we're about to board Space Mountain.
Waiting for the afternoon parade to start at Magic Kingdom. Many characters came by to give kids high 5's during the parade. Siena, our fearless one (or so we thought) was afraid of a number of the characters so she kept shrinking back whenever they'd come by. She'd pop back out front to wave to the Princesses though. Mason and Giada got a lot of high 5's.
Luis got a haircut at the Disney Barber Shop.
Looks good honey!
The People Mover experienced a bit of a malfunction as we were in the middle of the darkened area of Space Mountain. Doh!
Have I mentioned the food at Disney? It's incredible! We invested in the Disney Meal Plan which works out great as each family member gets one snack, one walk-up meal, and one sit-down meal a day. Trust me, this is more than enough food. Many of the sit-down meals are buffets, and are incredibly good buffets at that, so we left every meal completely stuffed. Even the non-buffet meals were good sized and came with sides and dessert. This was from O'hana at the Polynesian resort where they just kept bringing us meat on a skewer. It was topped off by the most incredible bread pudding with caramel and banana sauce with ice cream. Oh. My. Goodness. Had to wash it down with a tropical drink in a fresh pineapple.
The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, known to most as Epcot. The kids called this the big golf ball. They especially liked the Spaceship Earth ride inside.
The Animal Kingdom first thing in the morning. This is Mount Kilimanjaro, home of the Everest ride. This was my favorite ride in all of DW. The roller coaster has a way of making your intestines feel like they've been tied into a bow.
Chris and the kids on they flying dino ride at Animal Kingdom.
The kids also got their faces painted.
Giada became a Rainbow Princess, Mason a pirate, and Siena a Kitty Princess.
Another shot of Animal Kingdom. This was a very scenic park. It makes you feel like you're in Asia and Africa.
This is the centerpiece of the Animal Kingdom - the Tree of Life. There are 325 animals carved into the Tree of Life.
Animal Kingdom features a safari featuring numerous jungle animals and plants. Here's some crocs sunbathing.
These giraffes came right up to visit our jeep.
Mr. Elephant came out to say hi. There were also lions, cheetahs, rhinos, and hippos but those pictures didn't come out quite as well. After all, it was a moving vehicle.
Siena at the Conservation Station...
where she and Giada got to meet Pocahontas! All of the Disney princesses were very nice and spent some time talking to the girls. Mason mainly avoided the princesses.
He enjoyed meeting the other characters though, which Siena was a bit scared of. Giada liked them all. Here's Mason and Giada meeting Rafiki from The Lion King.
And everyone's favorite insect Jimminy Cricket! Yup, face paint is still going strong.
Mason meets a goat.
Taking a lunch break at the Animal Kingdom.
Chris and Sharon had some other friends, Kevin and Mona, who were also visiting Disney while we were there. We met up with them several times throughout the week. They were very nice and also highly knowledgeable about all things Disney. Cheers!
Chip and Dale...actually, Dale and Chip with Mason and Giada.
Some sibling love.
Little G! She's already a Disney pro, having been several times before. She's still too small for a lot of rides but when she hits 44 inches, she'll be maintaining Disney pace with her Daddy.
The kids with Daisy Duck. Siena wasn't scared of Daisy, which was good since she dressed up as Daisy for Halloween several years ago.
That's my head under the welcome sign at Animal Kingdom's Dino-rama.
Woof! It's Goofy and Pluto!
Another of Mason's favorite rides was the rapid ride at Animal Kingdom. He managed to get one of the drier seats each time we went on it. Luis and Siena weren't so fortunate. Siena got the soak seat every time.
A "cast member" (that's what all Disney workers are called), asked the kids to sign Mickey's autograph book when they came into Epcot. They thought that was pretty cool.
By the big golf ball! After the raft ride, most of Siena's face paint is gone but Mason's is still holding strong.
One of our favorite spots was the Coca-Cola sponsored Cooling Station. Here visitor have the opportunity to sample soda's from around the world. Luis is giving thumbs down to Italy's Beverly. It is a bit unique. The kids liked the sweeter fruity ones.
In addition to sampling soda, I took the tequilla flight at the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. The one on the far right isn't alcohol but is rather a salsa chaser. It was probably the strongest of them all.
Donald Duck!
The Chinese pavilion was beautiful.
And the girls got to meet another princess, this time Mulan.
This was the Germany pavilion. The shop to the left is the Werther's caramel shop. I love this shop. Everything made my mouth water. The kids and I left with a bag full of confectionery goodies including a huge caramel apple, chocolate and caramel covered marshmellows, and a German mousse caramel.
We had dinner one night at the United Kingdom pavilion. The kids were given the special thrill of helping Mickey start the Illumination fire work show. They were given crowns and buttons for the occasion and got to wave a shining light saber to kick off the occasion. They thought this was pretty special.
Back to Magic Kingdom. All of Main Street was decorated for Halloween, including Town Hall.
And of course some Mickey pumpkins.
The kids in front of the Main Street central park.
Back to Epcot! Told you we jumped around a bit. Ring ring...English phone booth!
The DeCicco family with Belle and Beast at the French pavilion.
Luis got to meet one of his crushes, Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) also at the French pavilion. He let her know that if things didn't work out with the Prince, he'd be willing to step in.
It's foliage Lightning and Mater at Hollywood Studios.
And the real Lightning and Mater...
Mason found a few cool cars along the strip at Hollywood Studios.
We ate a really good lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios. The cafe is themed to be like eating in your mom's dining room in the 50's. There is no fussing at the table and no elbows allowed on the table.
And there are lots of vintage tv's showing scene's from 50s tv classics throughout.
Also a hit at Hollywood Studios was the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Mason's favorite spot was this one where water intermittently squirts.
There is a specific game plan that must be followed upon arriving at Hollywood Studios in the morning. Due to the immense popularity of the Toy Story Midway Mania ride, we would split our party in 2 with the 2 fastest (Chris and I) making an immediate beeline to the fast pass line while the others got in the stand-by line. In each case, we still didn't make it to the fast pass line fast enough to get passes to the ride any sooner than 4 hours out. However, getting in the stand-by line worked since an hour after the park opens the wait on that ride is 60-90 minutes long.
There are a number of photo op spots at Hollywood Studios, including this backdrop of New York.
Siena and I with the Tower of Terror in the background. Both kids were tall enough to ride the Tower but were both too scared to. Luis only rode it once and was so freaked out at the initial drop that he grabbed onto Chris's arm next to him. I think Luis' grab scared Chris more than the ride. The Tower served a great purpose for us on this trip as every time the kids were acting up or not listening, (which to their credit wasn't very often) we'd threaten to make them go on the Tower.
Siena and I waiting to enter the Enchanted Tiki room.
Back on the Liberty Belle!
Here's a better view of Siena's face paint.
And Mason's.
The pirate had to try on a beret at the French pavilion.
Of course Sharon and I had to order black and tans at the UK dinner. Aren't they pretty?
On the carousel.
Another happy horse rider.
My least favorite ride...the tea cups. Somehow we managed to squeeze 6 of us into this cup.
The kids were about an oil can and a half from being able to drive the cars alone but were plenty tall to steer while a grown up held the gas pedal for them.
Meeting Piglet on the last day before having to head back home.
We made it home around midnight Oregon time last night, which was around 3 AM the time our bodies were used to. We're all pretty much lounging around today, which is nice.
Many thanks to Chris and Sharon for all their planning and tour guiding. They were great to travel with and we certainly had a blast!
