We just got back from the happiest place on earth, so I thought it would be fun to make my February Family Favorites a DISNEY theme! Mila and my sweet nephew, Braxton both have February birthdays, so we decided to skip the parties this year and go to Disney! The last time we all went together Mila was in my tummy, so we were due for a trip back.
Mila:
Elsa (& all the characters!)
We hit the Magic Kingdom first thing Saturday morning. It was rainy but we still got there right when it opened, with one name in mind. ELSA!!! We tried to book Fast Passes for her before even getting to Orlando, but they were already gone. We had heard horror stories of 5 hour waits, but Donnie and I were determined that our sweet girl would meet the Ice Queen she so desperately loves. Well, I don’t know if it was the rain or our early arrival… but we only had to wait about 25 minutes! The moment Mila walked into the room and saw Elsa.. she lit up! (and tried to bum rush through the velvet ropes and the 5 people in front of us to get to her) Mila was in awe… she just STARED at her. She gave her a hug… and continued to stare as Elsa spoke to her. She could barely nod her answers. She had basically the same reaction to every character. Jumping around with excitement in line.. then a hug and blank stare for the actual meeting. It was seriously the cutest thing ever.
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| So sweet! |
Hudson:
Space Mountain
By big boy was thrilled when he found out he was 48 inches tall at his last doctors appointment, since as he put it, “Now I’m tall enough to ride all the big kid rides!” Hudson has never been the timid type, and when it comes to trying new things he is always game. He knew right away that he wanted to try & ride Space Mountain. He was asking about it before we went and I even showed him a video of it on YouTube, which was hard to see since it was basically a dark video. Donnie, his dad, Jeff (his brother), Heather (Jeff’s wife), Hudson and I all went together. Hudson decided he wanted to sit in the middle, with Donnie in front and me in back. I could tell he was nervous, but he hopped on like a champ. When the ride was over he screamed, “THAT WAS AWESOME!” The rest of the trip he kept saying, “I can’t wait to tell my friends I went on Space Mountain!” Love him.
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| Brave boy! |
Lauren:
Disney at night
We left around 1pm on Saturday since the rain just got too bad. Even the kids were asking to leave. Our shoes and socks were soaked, Mila was tired and miserable in wet clothes, and the weather radar didn’t look good. We went back to the room to regroup. My husband decided we would throw our shoes in the dryer.. get freshened up (AKA: drink WINE) and go back around 6pm. I hate to admit this, but I really didn’t want to go. Donnie gave me a pep talk and promised Hudson and I that if the rain didn’t stop soon, we could leave the park and go hang out at the Contemporary. (they have a good arcade and an indoor lounge with a great view of the fireworks) I am SO GLAD I have such a POSITIVE and MOTIVATING hubby. About 20 minutes after we got there the rain stopped. For good. And we had the BEST time. We got to meet more characters, go on TONS of rides and catch the show on the castle. (which is BEYOND awesome) Mila fell asleep right before the 9pm parade, so we took turns going on rides with Hudson. It was so slow, they would let us stay on some of the rides a few times in a row if we wanted. It reminded me how much I LOVE Disney at night. The way the whole park is lit up makes it even more magical… we had a awesome time.
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| Disney at night! The castle show is AMAZING! |
Donnie:
Disney app
I know he had fun doing everything on the trip, but I have to say he was obsessed with the Disney app and it helped make our visit run smoothly. You can manage your Fast Passes and plan your itinerary. The best part of the app was you can see the current wait times on every ride. It helped us plan our next move. So we didn’t have to walk to the ride to realize it was a one hour wait. We just scrolled through current wait times and selected from there. Very handy.
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| My hunk is so serious when it comes to wait times! 😉 |
Even though we had a few minor weather glitches, we ended up having a wonderful trip. Mila enjoyed all the rides and characters, she was never afraid. Hudson had a blast with his cousins and going on all the roller coasters. I love that we get to take trips like this with our family since it is so much fun making these memories when we are all together! Here are a bunch of pics from our trip!
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| Mickey Mouse!! |
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| Family!!! |
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| Two Goofs! |
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| Fast Track fun! |
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| In awe of Minnie! |
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| Why we love Epcot. |
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| Mickey Mouse! |
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Dumbo, it’s a classic!
 So excited to see Mickey! |
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| See you real soon! |
"why we love Epcot" is why I love California Adventures!!! 🙂 I've never been to Disney World, but we have passes to Disneyland, and I stood in line for two hours with a newborn for my daughter to meet Elsa! The things we do for our kids, right?
I know it! I was just happy that SHE was actually happy & excited to meet her. It was awesome!
good to know – going next month! (to LAND)
I hope you get much better weather than we did! 😉
I think my trip with the boys to Disney will come sooner than later, so I love reading about other families and their experiences and what they liked…storing it in my mental bank!!! 🙂
We took Hudson when he was barely two as well.. we just can't help ourselves! I know she wont remember but I dont care! 🙂
epcot and disney at night is our favourites as well
Yes it is so much fun!! Even if there is the same amount of people, it just doest seem as crowded for some reason.
Oh we just took a trip to Disney this past October. It was SO much fun. Epcot is definitely the best. It's even more fun with grandparents who will take the kids back to the hotel! hehe
That sounds fantastic! Our kids never sleep so they outlasted the grandparents! They never even went back to the park after we left the first time!
We are about 4 hours away from Disney in LA. I'd love to go back to have fun. Of course Sammie wants to bring a friend. We'll see. It's been way to long since our visit. Love all the pictures!! Looks like you had a great time.
We did, it is always fun but these types of trips are also exhausting at the same time! But I love seeing my kids enjoy it! Have a great week! 🙂
So fun! I am dying to take our girls to Disney Land:)
They will love it I'm sure!!
Ahhhhhh this post makes me miss my old home 🙁 I lived in Celebration (the town Disney once owned in Orlando) for 8 years! Went to Disney at least once a week…. Sad I haven't been back yet to see Elsa!! Hopefully this summer 😉
Disney once a week sounds AMAZING! The kids would love that! ha!
Mila is seriously the cutest thing! I love the pics of her staring at Elsa-so sweet!! I'm so excited to take our kids to Disneyland! Since we're so far, we're going to wait until they're a bit older because it will be a huge event. I love the Disney app, that sounds so awesome! Looks like you guys had a great time!!
yes, if we lived further away we def would have waited. I forget how lucky we are to have something like that fairly close by! I took both kids for the first time at 2.. even if they won't remember it! Ha!
How fun I can't wait til I can take my little ones. So many great tips to! Never new about the app sounds very useful. Also Disney at night looks amazing!!
We used that app way more than I would have thought.. and the wait times were very accurate!
Next time I go to Disney– I totally need to download that Disney app. It's so hard to get everything squeezed into one weekend.
Yes we wanted to do the new 7 dwarfs ride but we never got to it since the lines were too long everytime we checked. A weekend is pretty short for Disney.
You can't do Disney without the Fastpass app – best thing ever! And space mountain?! Big boy- we were lucky to get both girls on Thunder and Splash Mountain. I need to stay later for disney after dark…maybe next year! Looks like you had a wonderful trip!
Yes we usually do a split day when we go. Get there first thing.. then go back to the hotel to the give the kids a little break and then back to the park around 6. The kids love the night parade and castle show. 🙂
Disney is just amazing. Period. I can't wait to take my little one. With it being right in our back yard, I can't believe we haven't made it over there yet!
Oh how fun! Looks like the whole family had a blast ;)!! We have yet to go to Disney, but I can't wait 'til the kids are a little older to finally book a trip!!
Love this post–makes me want to go to Disney so much! We plan to go in 2 more years when my little guy is 3. Thanks for linking up on the #HomeMattersParty! (I'm a co-host this month!) http://www.thequinntessentialmommy.com
SO JEALOUS!!!! We have never been. It looks amazing!! Great pictures.
The ones with your daughter and Elsa are adorable. Frame them!!
Ok, question for you. Your daughter looks pretty young. Our daughter is 3 1/2 and my hubby thinks she's too young to go. What are your thoughts on taking a toddler? It looks like you all had a great time!
These photos are just adorable! It's great to read about visits to Disney. I haven't been yet but it on my bucket list 😀
Thanks for linking up at the Talented Tuesday Link Party! Hope you join us again tomorrow 🙂