Our Trip to Disney–Day 1

Last Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) we headed to Florida for our Disney trip. We were all so excited about this time together at “The Happiest Place on Earth” but first we went to Tampa. We stayed with Lance’s cousin Claire Friday and Saturday night. While there we helped pick out their Christmas tree, ate a lot, watched football, had some girl time, and visited with my cousins who also live in Tampa.

Bright and early Sunday morning the six of us headed to Disney World. Reese was SO excited! I was able to check us in at the Contemporary first thing that morning so that we could leave our cars there. We didn’t even go to our room or empty our car, we just jumped on the monorail and headed in to the Magic Kingdom.

The weather was amazing and the day was perfect! While waiting to ride Dumbo we saw a plane writing in the sky and thought this was just perfect for the day.

Right after we walked in to the park there was a show on the Castle stage that we stopped to watch. Throughout our week we saw this same show two or three more times. I don’t think it ever got old for the kids.

Sunday was definitely the busiest day but it was no where near as crowded as when we went a couple of years ago.

We were able to fit in a ton of rides! Reese had such a blast with Claire and Bryan there. Any chance she had, she rode with Claire on a ride.

Sam was in awe too. I wasn’t sure what to expect with him but he soaked it all in.

Reese was tall enough to ride most of the rides. There were only a few that she wasn’t big enough for. We talked Reese in to riding Big Thunder Mountain. This picture was from the first time we were getting ready to ride. She didn’t actually hold her hands up or smile while the roller coaster was in motion. Her face was very serious through out the whole ride but as soon as it was over she would say how much fun she had. She rode it three times during the week. She said it was her favorite ride.

Sam’s favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride. I don’t think I got one single picture on that ride though. I was too busy shooting the targets. After every ride, Sam would grip on to anything he could grab, cry and say “Again, ride again!”. It was too funny!

After a wonderful time in the park we headed back to the room to check it out, get unloaded and rest a few minutes before dinner reservations.

We had reservations at Chef Mickey which is in the Contemporary. Dinner was a complete bust. Our kids spent the entire time looking like this…

They were both terrified of the characters dressed up. Reese said it was because she couldn’t see their faces. I am surprised we actually got a picture of Reese’s face because she spent most of the evening under the table. At one point we begged her to sit in her seat and wave to the characters as they walked by. She agreed. Mickey came by, she waved, he moved on after we told him that was all she wanted. Next Minnie came by. Minnie noticed that Reese was wearing a dress similar to hers and snuck through our barricade of chairs before we could tell her no. She got way too close to Reese and she screamed, “Go away, Minnie!”. It was hilarious!! We might have won some money from America’s Funniest Home Videos if we had recorded it.

We had a great first day and were very excited to start Day 2 in Animal Kingdom.