We5Kings of Disney: Magic Kingdom Christmas

Well, we ended where we began and headed back to Magic Kingdom for our last day at Disney. 

I'm not sure I was prepared for just how happy and sad I could be at the same time. On one hand, we were at Disney, at Christmas time, in Mickey Rudolf shirts (thanks, Taylor!) with Christmas music playing...HAPPY! On the other hand, it was our last day and we didn't want it to end... sad. 

Once again, we were actually inside the park before it opened so we got the lovely surprise of Mickey and Friends welcoming us to Magic Kingdom! Seriously the best start to any day ever. 

We had our sights on Space Mountain in Tomorrowland so we didn't want to move any closer - but we still had great seats for this morning treat!

While Radley and Ryan took on Space Mountain, the girls and I found a "roller coaster" made for Landry. And of course by roller coaster, I mean the People Mover in Tomorrowland that's just a train ride through that section of the park - ha! They loved it so much they convinced Ryan and Radley to join us for round two... 

I couldn't believe how empty the park was this day. We didn't wait in line for more than 10 minutes for any ride - we did the tea cups four times in a row. Correction - THEY did the tea cups four times in a row. I did it twice then volunteered to take pictures. 

We stormed the barn with Goofy (Landry did not love that ride), flew the skies with Dumbo... 

and then headed to a special surprise visit with one of our favorites. Enchanted Tales with Belle was a delight - every single person in the room could participate if they wanted and Radley was pumped to be chosen as "Belle's dad". :) 

And then I saw Landry smile bigger than I'd ever seen her smile before!

I was just so amazed by how open the park felt - we really got to see and do so much that morning which was an amazing gift because we knew we were going to head back to our hotel for lunch and naps!

We had fast passes to the 7 Dwarf Mine Train and tried as hard as we could to convince Landry to go. She refused, so away Emmy and I went while Ryan and Radley waited for their turn with Landry. This may have actually been one of my favorite rides - so fun!! And the ending with the Dwarves was just adorable. Emersyn was all smiles and tried to convince Landry to go with Ryan and Radley... 

but all her smooth talking didn't work and the boys braved the first row all alone!

We finally sat and watched a parade - well at least part of one - the kids weren't that interested in stopping during the day so we never pressed them. 

We made our way back toward the front of the park...

and stopped for just "one more" picture... 

before heading back to the hotel for lunch, swimming and mandatory naps! I took the most amazing two-hour nap of my life... better than the day I got back from Fish Camp. Better than the first post-baby nap at home. Better than the random nap on the couch after church on Sunday. Seriously, this nap was glorious and so needed because we had big plans that night... 

that included dinner with a princess...

Emmy's fingers were crossed for who the other guests to the party would be!

And she wasn't disappointed at all!

After dinner, we had tickets to the biggest Christmas party of the season and the kids were thrilled! We got an additional wristband to wear to show that we got to be in the park for extended hours. Radley made it his job to be on wristband patrol, because he doesn't love a rule breaker. I tried to gently remind him that the Disney employees were perfectly capable of patrolling the park and that nobody likes a snitch!

We made our way through the park sampling cookies and hot chocolate and getting on our favorite rides just one more time. Then we heard a special guest was making an appearance to light the castle using her magic ice powers. I was honestly too caught up in watching them be filled with excitement to try and take pictures. I did manage to capture Landry's attempt to get Anna's attention "ANNA! ANNA! ANNA!!!" 

(Can we also pause and appreciate that their hair withstood the Florida humidity all night long with zero product.) 

Since were right next to Tomorrowland and Radley wanted to ride Space Mountain "one more time" and there were hardly ANY lines because everyone was waiting to meet their favorite characters tucked away in some part of the park, we took that as an opportunity to get some rides in. Landry was especially thrilled to be back on the "roller coaster" - haha!

The Christmas Party was awesome - at times a bit overwhelming because you really had to choose what you wanted to do and see. There was a party or parade or show or character meeting nearly every minute of the entire event... we really just tried to focus on each other and enjoying the magic of it all. There is nothing like Cinderella's castle all lit for Christmas and we enjoyed every minute of being there. 

Radley and I went on a mission to find THE spot for the big firework show ... 

and I think we nailed it. 

Here's a little peek into the live show...

We still had three hours left in the park but we noticed that lots of families with young children were leaving which freed up the lines to meet some of the "secret characters" that were making a special appearance for the Christmas party only. When the girls noticed Moana they absolutely FLIPPED OUT. She is one of their favorites simply because she looks like them. Dark hair, dark skin, brown eyes... they were absolutely meeting one of their heroes. 

And then we turned around an Jasmine was just across the way with her friend, Genie. A character spot for all to enjoy. I managed to whisper to the cast member that helps with the meet and greets that we had just met Jasmine at dinner... as soon as the girls walked up, she said, "Oh, Genie, look... these are the friends I was telling you about. We just met at dinner with Cinderella." 

Y'all. They were in heaven. 

We rode Aladdin's magic carpet (three times), braved a jungle boat tour, and Ryan and Rad hit Big Thunder Mountain one more time before we really had to say our goodbyes. We were walking out of the park at 12:30am with happy/sad tears in our eyes. 

I've dreamed about taking my kids to Disney World since before I met them. And while this was a Christmas present to them, the gift was really given to Ryan and me.

Merry Christmas!

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...