May 11, 2014

AHH Disney, the most magical place on earth. There is no other place like it in the world…that is true. We went to Disney with my parents and our niece, Lucy for 5 days. Oh so much to pack into one little blog post, but I figure I would touch on all the highlights from each day…and of course show all the super fantastic photos of our vacay. It was also the celebration of my birthday, so a double-whammy for me!

Sunday: Day 1

We left pretty early this morning for the airport. It was a pretty uneventful journey that lasted from 6AM until 3PM when we rolled up to our hotel in Orlando…Bay Lake Tower, which is one of the newer hotels in Disney. It is also conveniently located right next to the Magic Kingdom. We met up with ‘Nana’, ‘Papa’, and Lucy, who travelled from Chicago. Although jet lagged, we took a bus to Downtown Disney for some dinner and shopping. It was PACKED. We ended up eating at Wolfgang Puck out in the setting sun of the day while chasing Lucy around the square and taking lots of pics. After a few hours of walking around, we headed back to the hotel where we quickly passed out from the day’s travels.

Monday: Day 2

We woke up to another perfect day in Florida. Today was a day for the Magic Kingdom. All-in-all it was probably the most crowded of the parks that we visited, but that’s probably because it is the quintessential Disney attraction; and great for small kids. The whole morning we walked (or ran in Lucy’s case) all around taking pictures with characters (Alice in Wonderland, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Merida from Brave and several others), and riding on a few rides: Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea w/ Ariel and of course the classic “It’s a small world”. By the end of that boat ride, we actually had Lucy singing the tune with us.

Lucy was full to the brim with energy so it’s safe to say that she sufficiently wore all of us out. Jake and I were her favorite (well I probably was since I spent the most time talking, walking, playing with her – many people mistook her for my daughter, but it was really cute nonetheless) and Jake spent most of his time roughhousing with her (which she also throughly enjoyed)…while Nana and Papa were just “okay” because they had to be the responsible ones! Needless to say, it was a very busy and full morning, with Lucy more excited than I had ever seen…which was really adorable.

We took a snack break around 11am, so that Papa could get his favorite beverage which is basically like a slushy apple juice with a pineapple marshmallow cream topping. It was mighty refreshing in the 90 degree heat, but a little over sweet for Jake or I to handle more than just a little bit. After our snack, Jake and I went over to ride “Thunder Mountain” while Lucy and the parentals met with more characters. It was a refreshing break, but both Jake and I were sweltering and exhausted with the crowds and heat.

After our break, we all met up at a small roller coaster called “Barnstormer” which was Lucy’s very first roller coaster experience. I didn’t know if she would be able to handle it, but it turns out she LOVED IT! As soon as it was over she cried, “again, again, again!” over and over because she had so much fun (and the biggest smile ever!). But since it was super crowded and we were pretty toasted from the sun, we decided to head back to the hotel for some pool time. We were in the right place at the right time, because there was a train that actually took us back to the front of the park (so we could get a little break off of our feet – thank god!).

We got on the monorail (which Lucy loved) back to the hotel, got on our suits and headed to the pool. It was nice because it wasn’t super crowded. The pool had a huge slide and a tiny slide as well as a little water-fountain area. We sufficiently played on everything! I think we spent about 3 hours at the pool, starting with the small slides and fountains, and quickly moving to the big slide. Lucy went down that big slide about 30 times, with Uncle Jake helping her at the top, and myself (Aunt Jill) catching her at the bottom. And sure enough every time I caught her, she would scream, “again, again, again!”

Nana and Papa also joined in on the fun – they took a lot of the pictures and even played w/ Lucy in the water (not the norm for Nana with any risk of getting her hair wet). There was a hoola-hooping contest that we all partook in (even Jake and Papa), which was about as hilarious as you could imagine. Lucy and Jake continued to play this game where Lucy would run from the shallow end to the deep end and fall into Jake, and then do it again (and again and again). She was enthralled with the water – and with Uncle Jake. Mom and I played catch with water toys (and one particularly funny moment when Mom tried to throw the ball so high up she accidentally threw it backwards) and Papa sat and took pictures of us.

The sun began to set and our dinner reservations at Tony’s (the Lady and the Tramp restaurant) were just around the bend. We got cleaned up and headed back to Magic Kingdom for some tasty italian food while I entertained Lucy the whole time. One funny thing happened when I took Lucy to the bathroom, the toilet flushed while she was sitting on it and she thought that was the funniest thing in the universe…then bumped into my head when she jumped off, which was even funnier…(you had to be there to appreciate it). But we were cracking up for days afterwards about that!

After a few more characters, Nana, Papa and Lucy decided to head back to the hotel, while Jake and I got on Buzz Lightyear (a shooting game) and Pirates. We snacked on a corn dog and icy water before heading back to the hotel to crash for the night. It was a great first full day in the park, though we could tell that our energy was starting to wane already! We really are getting old.

Tuesday: Day 3

Today was an Epcot day. We had a much later start than yesterday but I guess we all needed it. Even Lucy slept about 13 hours, which was great! We had a casual breakfast in the room and played while getting Lucy ready for the sun and fun (basically I had to do everything since she wouldn’t let Nana help). It was another HOT HOT HOT day and there was not much reprieve as soon as we got into the park.

Since we had a late start, we headed right over to Norway, where Lucy had lunch with the Princesses (and a few pictures along the way), and Jake and I had our first solo meal at Germany. Our food was spectacular as usual, and so were the huge German beers that we enjoyed.

After we stuffed ourselves and shopped a bit, we headed over to “Imagination” where we met with the gang and hopped on the ride. Lucy LOVED this ride! She was even more excited to play with all the interactive things outside of the ride. She made her very own figment designs (about 10 of them) and danced around on all the interactive music block things. We didn’t mind hanging out there since the A/C was pumping nicely.

Our next visit was Under the sea with Nemo, which was a bit less exciting, but we did have a lot of one-on-one time with Lucy looking at fish and playing games with her…a little downtime is a good thing for a kid after being overly stimulated for hours at a time!

The last visit was to “The Land” where we watched a Lion King mini-movie before Lucy and Nana went to see more characters, and Jake, Papa and I went on Soarin’. As we left, we decided to go on Space Ship Earth (which is housed in the Epcot globe). Lucy actually really liked this ride (especially the interactive funny pictures at the end, which we tried to email but we sent to the wrong address – wooops!).

Our trip back was a little fretful, because Lucy had to go to the bathroom and our monorail was stopped but it was all okay and we got back just in time! That night we ate in the room, though I wasn’t super hungry since we chowed so much at lunch, and then Jake and I took an evening stroll on the tiny beach that was right outside our hotel. It was really nice just sitting outside in the pseudo quiet (which you don’t get much of in Disney) watching birds, ducks, cranes and pelicans.

Here are some “character” highlights:

Wednesday: Day 4 – Happy Birthday Jilly

Whew! Day 4 already! We are TIRED TODAY! OH YEAH – Happy Birthday to ME!!!! Today is my birthday, and also a day of minimal activity for Jake and I (at least in the morning). We decided to take a little break and not go into a park today, rather hang out at the hotel reading by the pool and relaxing a bit. We woke up a little earlier than yesterday, and had breakfast (actually Jake made pancakes for breakfast). Lucy and the parent’s went to Hollywood Studios today to see a bunch of performances (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, a few Parades, etc).

We tried to relax by the pool, but all the umbrella spots were taken, and love bugs (which are actually these gross beetle-like bugs) were everywhere so it was short-lived. We walked around a bit, shopped a bit and then went back to the room to read and relax (and nap). We had dinner plans in Epcot at about 5pm, so we decided to go a little earlier to check out the butterfly exposition and a few other things.

We headed over to Epcot about 2pm, walked around in the hot sun (yet again) and took pics of flowers and butterflies. We needed to cool off so we went on Captain EO (the Michael Jackson show), which is always nostalgic and fun (and super cold). Then we went on the “Living with the Land” ride which is our favorite! It’s actually quite lame, but we love it. It’s basically a boat ride through a bunch of greenhouses.

We had a small snack and then decided to do a backstage tour of the land (which was about an hour long) and perfect timing for we were meeting the family here in about an hour. We learned tons about how they grow things in the land, cultivating veggies, plants, even fish and other animals (crocodiles). I got to “Feed” ladybugs to plants, which apparently helps keep away bad bugs…One of the coolest things was this plant called a sensitive plant, which actually closes up when you touch it. It’s a protective reflex that they are engineering in plant life, and we took some pictures of this, though it may be hard to see – but the little fern-like stems actually close up when something touches or agitates them. Kinda freaky!

 
Dinner rolled around, and we met up with everyone. We ate at another character place, for Lucy, who was in mass-overload by the time the first ones came out. She was so excited jumping up and down and clapping with the biggest smile on her face! It was pretty cute to see, though I didn’t get to eat much since I had to entertain her, but it was still a great meal from what I did get to eat.

After dinner, we went back to Imagination, then Jake and I went to “Test Track” and Lucy and the grandparents headed back to the room. We got back around 8:30pm (Jake and I took the wrong monorail so we had backtrack a little bit), just in time to meet up with Jochy and Christine. We went up the top of the hotel to enjoy fireworks and drinks (and an AMAZING view of the castle), until they kicked us out at midnight 🙂 — it was a really wonderful birthday and that was icing on the cake.

Thursday: Day 5

Holy heck we are so tired today. Thank goodness today was a solo Jill and Jake day. We needed a little break from all of the excess energy of lil’ miss Lucy (I have so much empathy for Joe and Julie, and all parents who have to rear these little balls of constant motion and energy). The clan went to Magic Kingdom, while Jake and I went to Animal Kingdom (also my favorite!)

We took a bus out there around 11am, after an easy low-key morning. We got to the park 45 minutes later and were immediately hit in the face with the heat of the sun – I think today was the hottest day of them all. Our first goal was to find reprieve from the heat, anything would do! We walked over to the very first attraction we could find, which was A Bug’s Life…a 4D movie experience which is actually really cute (and kinda scary)…but nice and refreshing and cold and dark. After that we went on the main attraction, Everest ride, which is a super fast roller coaster..and one of our favorites because of all the climbing stuff.

After that, we had about an hour to kill and needed another cooling break, so we went on Kali River Rapids ride, which is basically like white water rafting on these huge rafts. You can get soaked or barely wet at all, we were hoping for the former…I’d say we were about halfway to soaked, so we felt much better! Then we hit up the Safari Tour where we scoped out tons of African animals and snacked on Edamame. Our last ride was “Dinosaur” and then we headed over to Sanaa for lunch.

Sanaa is in the Animal Kingdom Hotel and is our favorite restaurant in all of Disney. It’s rarely ever crowded, has the best view of any place in the parks, and has some of the best Indian food ever! We sat right by a huge window overlooking zebras, antelope, giraffes and tons of funny looking birds, while chowing down yummy Naan, masaalas, chutneys and paneer. Our dessert was the sweetest chocolate mousse coffee treat; A-MA-ZING!

We were sufficiently stuffed by then, and had about 30 minutes before our bus back to MK, so we sat outside in the shade (and the quiet) and took a cat nap. It was so peaceful and refreshing – something we desperately needed! We got back to MK and met up with Lucy and the gang, to go on the last ride, Winnie the Pooh again (which she loved even more the second time). On our way out of the park, we saw a parade and decided to dance in the middle of the street with all the characters (which Lucy loved to do). I love when impromptu fun things pop up!

We made our way back the hotel, and ran up to the room to change into our suits for our last swim of the trip. Though we could tell Lucy was tired, she was not about to pass up her favorite activity, so we all headed to the pool, and played for another hour (by now it was past 7pm)!

 
Then it was back to the room for some cleaning up, packing and snacks for those of us that were not stuffed (basically everyone but me). We had a mini-“pizza party” for Lucy which was really cute. By the time we went to bed, we all passed out in about 5 seconds! I think we passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillows, because before we knew it, Friday morning reared its head and we were out the door before 6AM to catch our bus to the airport.

Recap

It was a fantastic trip with my mom and dad and Lucy, though I have a greater appreciation for the “adult-only” trips! It was so cool to experience Disney through the eyes of a child; and it brought back a ton of memories of my own childhood going to Disney. I also have a great appreciation for parents in general, having to deal with kids is A LOT of work, and though I do not believe I am cut out for that job, I know many people who do it every single day…my hat goes off to you!!!

The biggest highlight was bonding with Lucy. She was my BFF on this trip for sure! I also loved playing in the pool with everyone, it was as if we were all kids again! There were so many great little things it’s hard to say each and every one of them, but overall the food, company and activities were top-notch. Though we were exhausted by the end (we are still in recovery mode even 3 days out), we were so happy to have been able to have this time with our family!

Some more Rando Pics: