Wednesday, February 3, 2016

It’s been a long time since we’ve been to Disney [or anywhere!] with a seven year old...

and it was fun. 
 
Some of you know that we spent last week in Florida with my brother, 
sweet sister-in-law , and their little one… 
IT WAS A TRIP. 
And this post will share some highlights – 
Warning: it is photo heavy.
Day 1: Travel – we flew; they drove. 
Y’all, I’m just not the best car passenger and my sweetheart and I have finally figured out that if we can avoid long car trips my anxiety will be better. 
It was nice to trade snow for sunshine and WIND. Ha.

My super-shopper had finagled our tickets so that we had a couple of extra days in the parks for only $30 so we headed to Hollywood Studios and enjoyed a few things, including a meal at Fifties Prime Time [a first for us – thumbs up.] 
 
We also took the time to watch Beauty and the Beast – something we haven’t done in years, and it was just as good as we remembered. 
[And of course my sweetheart rode tower of terror a few times…]
Days 2 and 3: LEGOLAND Florida with the little one. 
Who knew there were Lego characters? 
MK knew – and she LOVED them. 
It was so fun to see her eyes light up as she interacted with them.
 
There were so many fun things to do – all made out of Lego bricks! 
The horsenado!
 Merlin's roller coaster!
And so much more! 

There were even lego bricks floating in the pool!
[photo cred: mom]   

It was a nice [not so] little park to start off with -
Day 4: They headed to Universal for some time with Harry 
while we had a lazy start to our day and spent the evening at Epcot… 
 We had dinner in England – fish and chips and bangers and mash – both delicious! 
And we ended our day watching the magic kingdom fireworks 
from our off-site room. Fun!
Day 6: Animal Kingdom.  
A bust. 

The rain was horrible – everyone was tired and the little one was DONE. 
[See her behind us - ]


 We saw these beautiful macaws, rode dinosaur, and walked a bit … 

then Donald saved the day at lunch as MK shared over and over how much she enjoyed seeing him get stuck in the wall during the Mickey’s Philharmonic show.  
 It was fun to see Mickey ready for a safari too - 
After lunch we watched The Lion King [always a favorite!] and called it a day.  
I think we all needed a break to just relax a bit.
 
Days 5 and 7: Magic Kingdom. SO FUN. 
The first day was a little rainy so there were no crowds at all 
and we enjoyed all of our favorite places. 
Loved seeing MK enjoy Dumbo, giggle through Mickey’s Philharmonic, decide just exactly where we would each sit to ride Pooh the second [or third?] time…
And we especially loved hearing her interact with Ariel [her favorite princess] –
 “Oooo, Ariel – your fin is so glittery… then wrapping Ariel’s hair around her finger… 
your hair is beautiful – how do you get it so curly?"
And she LOVED meeting Pooh during lunch! 
And Tigger and Piglet and Eeyore too!
We did too - 
 I hope we never grow up!
 We watched a couple of parades while we were out and about - 
something we haven't done for years... 
The colors were bright and fun!  

 
One of the best things was when we found ourselves standing inside 
the circle of fireworks by the carrousel.  
They started while we were on It's a Small World 
[it sounded like they were exploding off the roof!]
So we rushed out to see them - 
WOW!
I think it is the best place to really EXPERIENCE them!
Speaking of fireworks --
BEST MOMENT NOT RECORDED ON FILM: MK sitting in Craig’s lap watching the 
 magic kingdom fireworks from our room on property…  
Saying in her softest voice, “Look at that one…” ‘Beautiful,” 
“Oh my gosh, look…” "So pretty..."
SO PRECIOUS.
Day 8: Up bright and early to pack for home 
[it was neat to see two monorails parked at our hotel.] 
 
We had a luau breakfast with Lilo and Stitch before we headed home. 
And y’all know our girl loves a luau. 
It was a  wonderful end to a magical adventure. 
Much thanks to my brother and sis-law for letting us tag along! 
Thanks for putting up with my bossy schedule [and snoring – 
I may need to explore the possibility of the c-pap afterall…
I'll always remember that sweet sleepy voice, 
"Aunt Judy - please stop making that noise..."]
Y'all know we love Disney -
but the best thing about this trip was just
having the time to talk and share and really BE together. 
Good times - 
Go here to see more photos and hear MK's take on the trip - 

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