W5Kings of Disney: Animal Kingdom

 We were up dark and early once again - we had "magic hours" for Animal Kingdom which meant we got to enter the park an hour early, which of course meant we'd be there at least 45 minutes before that to get through security and wait in line. And y'all, that TOTALLY paid off because by 7:30am this was our view!

We (and hundreds of our new best-friends) headed straight for Pandora. I've never seen Avatar, but according to Ryan, this felt like you were walking in the movie. Everything was overwhelmingly beautiful - so colorful and larger than life, from the feel to the size to the detail of every piece of the park, just walking around was amazing. We weren't able to score fastpasses for "THE" ride at Animal Kingdom, so we were hoping to beat the crowds and do it first thing before the heat set in. 

Twenty-five minutes later, we were near the front of the line and lo and behold, Landry was an inch too short (even with the shoe lifts we snuck in her) (yes, I was THAT mom for this ride) (judge). Turns out, Emmy didn't really want to ride it either, so the girls and Ryan hit the gift shop while Radley and I took our rider switch passes and headed to Flights of Passage. 

I can only describe this ride as Soarin' times one MILLION. Again, I've never seen the movie, but this experience feels as if you are riding a banshee through Pandora. You straddle the seat like a motorcycle and a bar comes behind you to hold you in place. Then you zoom in and out while dodging prehistoric sharks and creatures. At one point, I really thought we were going to run into an animal and pulled back on the ride as if I was able to stop what was coming next. 

We still had tons of time to kill before breakfast so we walked around the practically empty park (whoop for those magic hours) and hung out with some friends while making our way to discover just how tough life is as a bug. Ryan's reaction at one point during this 3D experience had the girls laughing all day long. 

Out of all the parks, this is the one I wanted to stop and look at all the details most. I'll admit that I have a thing for zoos - I really wanted to get married in one - so all the lush landscape, exotic plants and animal themed movie details had me swooning. 

This picture is proof that the littlest things in life bring the biggest smiles - they thought they were so grown up drinking their chocolate milk out of these disposable coffee cups. 

They quickly put those down to squeeze our guests of the hour...Daisy being the character they were most excited to meet. 

These other guys were old news by now. Ha!

The Tusker House buffet was our favorite breakfast of the trip...lots of our favorites with African infused flavors that were just amazing!

With lots of full bellies, we were ready to discover the African safari. I tried to snap a picture of me and each kid and Ryan and each kid every day of the trip (I totally forgot in HS because we were having so much fun)... I just want to remember their smiles exactly how they are now. Filled with wonder and excitement and gratitude and joy. 

We loaded our open air truck for a tour filled with some of our favorite animals...

we lucked out and spotted every single one except the lions (boo) who were already taking their 18 hour nap of the day. But that baby elephant - oh my word, if I could have figured out how to take him home, I would have. 

Landry had made it perfectly clear that she did not like roller coasters. At all. She didn't like the drops and turns or the darkness that some of them included, so we thought that she'd love all the things we had planned at Animal Kingdom.. ESPECIALLY the dinosaur ride. I thought the ride was similar to Pirates of the Caribbean or any of the "boat" type rides where you sit and look at all the fun things around you. 

Ha. As we were getting closer to the front, Radley noticed a little warning sign explaining that this ride was for time traveling thrill seekers. And then Claire Huxtable shows up with a video explanation of what we are about to experience... so we just tried to distract Landry so she wouldn't back out at the last minute. 

But our girl is BRAVE and made it through the whole thing between Ryan and Rad!

And then we went to a dance party in the street!

At this point, the boys wanted to go back and use their rider switch pass for Pandora and the girls were begging for more face paint away we went... 

Mission accomplished.

Radley kept telling me he didn't need his face painted or any more souvenirs.  "Mom, I get to ride everything twice, so it's only fair the girls get to do stuff like that while they wait for me to finish on a ride..." Sometimes I really think I hit the parenting jackpot with these kids. 

For those that have asked, I have been purchasing shirts and other fun things for months leading up to the trip. One of my favorite finds were these Hakuna Matata shirts from Target.  I bought one for each us (I found a tank in the women's section for me) and had the girls' made into a dress from FernbirdFrocks on Etsy. Can't recommend her enough - I just mailed the shirts, she added the embellishments and shipped them back within two weeks!

We made our way through the park trying to find hidden paths and were actually pretty successful at taking the less beaten path.

All of a sudden we heard this crazy sound and looked up to see tons and tons of parrots flying over our head. Parrots just happen to be Emersyn's favorite bird (because who doesn't have a favorite bird) so she went nuts!

She maybe wanted to take a parrot home more than I wanted that baby elephant.

We took a break in the day to shop for a few more gifts and Radley of course asked about the shop's pin board... when the cast member pulled out this giant bee hive they went nuts. We searched and searched and searched for a Belle pin because we heard the best princess pins are actually in Animal Kingdom, but she was impossible to find. 

After a quick ice cream treat we headed back to Africa to hang out with our favorite lion. 

Besides being an amazing opportunity to sit for 30 minutes, the Festival of the Lion King was so much fun! The pageantry was incredible - each inch of the auditorium had something to look at with awe. 

By the end none of us wanted to leave, and kept hoping for a little encore of entertainment!

And when that didn't happen, the next best thing was OF COURSE to put on their own show. Ha!

Our day was quickly coming to an end, so Radley and I headed to tackle Mt. Everest. He had ridden it once with Ryan early in the morning and couldn't wait to take me. Radley's preferred seat on all the roller coasters was front row and I love that he loves the thrill so much!

We headed to get our seats with Ryan and the girls at the River of Lights and lucked out with an awesome view for the early show which meant we bid adieu to Animal Kingdom ....

in PLENTY of time for pizza at the pool before calling it a night!

Once again, here's a live peek into our day...

We5Kings of Disney: Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios may have been the family favorite park day. Maybe because we had gotten plenty of rest, maybe because the weather was flawless, maybe because we had perfected the timing of the fast pass, or maybe because the force was on our side. No matter the reason, we had an absolute BLAST all.day.long.

We got to the park early so we'd be at the front of the line to sign up for the ever popular Jedi training and absolutely lucked out and got the first group available! Our padawans lined up and were ready to work on their Jedi skills that included...

mastering the light saber... 

and honing their use of the force. 

Then just as they had finished their lessons... 

Darth Vader appeared!

The mini Jedis would be put to the test... 

I was a little shocked that Emmy jumped out to take him on with such confidence. She was out to teach him a lesson!

Landry wasn't as sure of herself but I was so proud that she did it and got as close to him as she did. 

Radley needed zero prompting to attack... 

This was a really awesome start to the day... the whole experience lasts about 30 minutes and the kids had a great time being Jedis. Landry completely bought into using the force and could not believe that all the kids were able to push Darth Vader away with just their minds! Ha! And they had plenty of time to work up an appetite before heading to breakfast with the Disney, Jr. crew!

At first they acted like they had outgrown all of these shows but when each character showed up, so did their smiles. This breakfast buffet came with an ice cream machine... waffles, syrup, ice cream... basically the best meal ever. 

We had some time to spare before our first fast pass time so Ryan and Radley headed to Tower of Terror while the girls and I made our way to hang with Ariel and friends. After stopping for a picture, of course. 

The Little Mermaid was the first movie that my mom dropped me off at the theater. I remember feeling like such a big kid and also loving every second that movie. 

It's still one of favorites... right down to the villain. 

Tower of Terror got shut down for a bit while the guys were in line, so they scored an extra fast pass and headed back to meet us and a few other friends.  

I'm pretty sure we could have spent the rest of the day in that room and been perfectly content. They were completely true to their characters and had such a fun time cutting up with the kids. I wish pictures came with sound because the girls giggles were priceless and Radley was absolutely star struck. 

And then we hopped across the way and went on our first spin through Toy Story Mania for the day. This was voted FAVORITE RIDE by We5Kings... we loved it so much that we rode it FIVE times. Seriously, it's just so much fun. You're trying to shoot objects to score points so you want to pull your string as fast as you can... we are basically a ball of giggles the entire time. Ryan had the highest points almost every time, but Landry had the highest accuracy. 

Next up ... Star Tours...and proof that Radley has mastered the family selfie. 

As we were leaving Star Tours we ran into Miss Kelsey on her way to work! 

(Cue, It's a Small World After All...)

Next up was a sing along with our favorite Frozen friends... Ryan and Radley took this opportunity to nap. Emmy and Landry took this opportunity to put on a show for everyone around us and I took this opportunity to "let it go" and just enjoy the moment. 

We switched the groups up a bit and Ryan took the girls to make light sabers while I took Radley for a major milestone moment. (After stopping to take a picture of course). We headed to Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster... his first with a loop ...

I think he liked it!

I liked that it combined two of my favorite things: Aerosmith and roller coasters. Well, and I guess that 10 year old is pretty awesome, too!

This park is so easy to manage - probably smaller than even Six Flags and filled with fun around each corner. The crowds felt really low - I think the longest we waited in line without fastpasses was 35 minutes. 

At some point in the day we managed to grab ice creams, dinner, snacks and a few drinks. 

And kept bumping into people and clones and things from our favorite galaxy far far away.

As the day was winding down the girls and I scored seats for the Star Wars fireworks while the guys headed for their redo on the Tower of Terror.

Top row, back left!

Protectors of the universe!

And keepers of the bubbles!

Radley noticed Ryan and I's desperate attempts to take a selfie with the Hollywood Studios sign behind us... 

so he grabbed the "real camera" and did a pretty awesome job!

After two rounds of fireworks we asked them if they wanted to stay for the late show or go home. Their response? "Neither! Let's go back to Toy Story Mania!!"

And then Ryan begged to take a turn on the Rockin' Roller Coaster...

and then we stopped for one more picture before heading home.

If a dream really is a wish your heart makes, then all my dreams have come true and all my wishes have been granted and I couldn't be more grateful!