We have promised the girls for several years, since Sarah became knowledgeable of WDW that we would go to Walt Disney World (WDW) one day. Each time we would say, "One day we will go - we promise!" We surprised the girls with a scavenger hunt a couple weeks before we were set to leave with clues at each location about WDW. They found the last clue and discovered a new pair of Minnie Mouse sunglasses for both of them to take on the trip. They were ecstatic!!! Every day leading up to our departure date, we would be asked, "How many more days until we go to WDW?" We left the day after Sarah's Kindergarten graduation - Mother's Day weekend!
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| We loaded up the van and left home by 9:15 - I think. We were only about 10 miles down the road when we realized little Miss Hannah was shoeless!!! WHAT?????????????? Oh well - I guess she'll get new shoes from WDW! |
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This was our last pit-stop before entering WDW. We just had to have a little chocolate milk fuel! We arrived in the late afternoon to our first night at Baymont Inn and Suites.We decided to stay the first night in a hotel outside WDW, because it was less expensive. The girls were ecstatic about being in a hotel room. I forgot how exciting it is as a kid to be in a hotel and collect the pens with notepads - at least that's what I
used still do. So we bedded down early the first night, so we could wake up early to make our way to WDW's Pop Century Resort where we will spend the next 6 nights.
Here we go - waiting on the bus for our FIRST day - MAGIC KINGDOM!!!
Here we are - Day 1 at Magic Kingdom!!!! Look there's Cinderella's Castle - look there's Mickey - look there's Minnie - look there's Snow White - look there's ..............................Whew! It was quite overwhelming at first for all of us - especially the girls, but we all quickly adjusted and rolled with it. We visited Magic Kingdom's City Hall the first day to obtain a handicap sticker which turned the stroller into a "wheelchair" for Hannah. It definitely made life easier while we were there! Kudos Disney!
One of our first rides was Dumbo, which QUICKLY became Hannah's FAVORITE!!!! Like Mommy - like daughter! My favorite ride as a child was Dumbo as well! Each time Hannah wanted to choose one with a different color hat.
Rest time!
Sarah's all time FAVORITE at MK was the Mad Hatter's Tea Party - aka Tea Cups! I rode it with her 2 times in a row, and I thought I was going to vomit. I don't know how she stood it so many times over and over again!
Day 2 was spent at EPCOT where we met Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Daisy. The girls were elated about meeting the Disney characters and having their autograph books signed.
Goofy totally made up for his rudeness towards me when I was a little girl. He snatched my blankie from me when I was 4 years old, and then he proceeded to pretend he was throwing my blankie into the water fountain. Of course, what would a 4 year old do???????????? CRY!!!!!! I have not forgotten it obviously!
Well, Goofy I can forgive you now for your rudeness, because you totally melted my heart seeing you interact with my little Hannah.
As you know, the Goofy character does not speak, so he gestured to Hannah with his hands saying, "what happened?' He knelt down to her, lifted his big floppy ear up, leaned into her, and Hannah leaned into Goofy with these big wide eyes and a quiet whispering voice and speaks into his big ear saying, "I broke my leg." Goofy then gestures with his hand over his mouth, and gives her a kiss on her head. PRECIOUS!!!! I began to weep!!! Goofy then gestured to the cast member for a sharpie pen so he could sign her cast!!! The girls were watching in amazement while GOOFY signed Hannah's cast!!! It was an incredible experience!!! I know it sounds completely cheesy, but that's okay, because sometimes it's okay to be a little cheesy!!! Goofy you are now my all time favorite character - I forgive you!!!!
We just happened to see Daisy outside so we were to able to meet her as well.
This was one of our long days. We stayed for the fireworks, and they were AMAZING!!!! We visited Mexico and China.
We walked around all of the countries at Epcot. Next time we go, I would love to spend more time in each country. This time of year WDW has the Garden and Flowers festival. There were beautiful sculptures created with plants and flowers. Sarah is standing in front of Beauty and Beast.
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| DAY 3 - The next morning we made our way bright and early to back to MK - again! Our goal today was to meet the princesses and other Disney characters. So we saw Mary Poppins first and decided to meet her. |
Then,of course had to take in another DUMBO ride!!!
Here we are finally meeting the Princesses at the MK's Storybook Princesses Meet and Greet - with a fast pass! The girls and I were all ecstatic to be meeting these beautiful fairytale princesses!
Cinderella was first of course!
Then Bell! Excuse my pointing! Bell's dress was beautiful!!! We couldn't stand super close to her, because her dress was so BIG.
Then, Sleeping Beauty!
Mark and I have always loved Splash Mountain, so he decided to introduce Sarah to her first log ride. There they are above as they are heading up the mountain.
Here they are heading down the mountain about to get soaked!
And after the ride - all smiles!
Next mission - meet Princess Jasmine and Aladdin. We waited entirely too long for this one - at least 45 minutes - whew! The things we do for our little princesses!
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| Now it's time for the WDW must have of each day - Mickey's Premium Ice Cream Bar - found no where else on earth except for WDW!!!! |
YUMMY!!!!!!!!!
Love these pics of Mark and Hannah as they watch the parade go by.
Worn out from a long day of fun at WDW's MK!!!!!
Love this pic of Sarah and Mark as we hike across MK!!! Sarah handled all of the walking beautifully - like such a little lady! I know her legs were extremely tired by the end of each day, but she barely complained at all! Mark and I both said we wish he had worn his Garmin to calculate how far we walked each day. It had to have been a long way.
Sarah and Mark in front of the Mad Tea Party's sign as we were leaving MK for the day.
Here we are back at the hotel, and trying to figure out how in the world to bathe our sweet Hannah with her pitiful little cast. What do we do??? - We improvise with an ironing board to get her high enough to sink!!!!
She was loving it wearing her protective eye wear!!! I am still amazed at how she just rolled with all of it without any complaints!!!
Cast Signatures - YAY!!!! Princess Jasmine
It's hard to read, but it says, "Aladdin loves Princess Jasmine!"
And GOOFY - the first signature!!!!
The girls wanted to sleep together one night, needless to say it did take longer for them to fall asleep.
There's our girls - love me some Sarah and Hannah!!!
Okay - what day are we on??? Oh, that's right - Day 4 - Hollywood Studios!
Sarah having fun in the play area. Everything was made to look huge so the kids looked smaller running the yard as they played. Here she is sliding down a roll of film.
Mark and Sarah climbing the ropes together!
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| Funny Faces while we wait to see the show Beauty and the Beast - front row - thanks to handicap access! |
Sarah thoroughly enjoyed this part. We actually took part in a Disney drawing class where an official Disney cartoonist taught a lesson on how to draw Pluto.
Hannah doing her artwork!
There it is Sarah's first Pluto -with a little bit of Daddy's help. There's Hannah's artwork!!!
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| We were on the back lot tour of Hollywood Studios when all of a sudden they stop the ride to tell us we have a flat tire. This was the quickest service I have ever seen. Within seconds there was a truck there with servicemen there to take care of the situation. Only at Disney do you get promptness like that! |
We met Jessie from Toy Story!
We stood in line to meet BUZZ Lightyear and Woody. BUZZ was a little stunned about trying to write on a cast with a Sharpie pen. He had his little stamp pad for autograph books, but trying to use a pen was a bit challenging with his robot like gloves.
So glad Mark finally wanted to get in one of these pics!
This was our all time family favorite ride - Toy Story! It was fabulous!!! We ALL loved it! We were able to ride it 3 times while we were at Hollywood Studios. The first time Hannah was not too sure about it; however, after the next 2 times we rode it - she was in full exuberance!!! Hannah was saying, "Let's go shoot those aliens!!!!!"
The girls had been noticing other hotel rooms with special window decorations created by the hotel housekeeping service. So, with a sweet little note and of course a tip, the girls came home today to find our window was "decorated" with their very own Dumbo and Lady! They were so happy!!!
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom!!! Mark and Sarah riding the River Rapids ride - which was Sarah's favorite ride at AK. I want you to notice in this photo - Everyone in their boat is completely covered with ponchos - EXCEPT for Mark and Sarah! Sarah felt so brave when she noticed everyone was wearing protective gear - EXCEPT for she and her Daddy. She said, "Mommy, we were the only ones not wearing ponchos! Why would you ride it, if you don't want to get wet?" Good point - Sarah!
Here they are after getting soaked! They LOVED it!!!
Here we are waiting for "It's Bug Life" in the Tree of Life.
We met Pocahontas and Meeko!!!
The girls were paleontologists - digging for dinosaur bones!
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| Mark and Sarah rode a Dino - ride that spins around as it goes up and down. Neither one of them wanted to ride this one again. |
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| We made it to the Veterinarian Animal Hospital at AK towards the end of the day. Sarah and Mark took part in a nature scavenger hunt while we were there. |
We were able to meet Rafiki from the Lion King while we were at the Veterinarian Hospital. Bless Hannah's little heart she was passed out sleeping the whole time. I told Rafiki he better not wake up a sleeping "baby".
Sarah wanted to ride the River Rapids ride more time before we left, but she wanted me to ride with her. So, what does a mother do - she rides it! It was so much fun riding it with my sweet Sarah. We were completely soaked afterwards!!! Completely worth it!!!
Here we are leaving AK for the day - completely wet, tired, and hungry!
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| Mark and Sarah enjoyed their evenings after dinner in the arcade room of our hotel. They literally hit the jack-pot with an enormous win! |
Day 6 - This our last full day at Disney! BOO!!! We wanted the girls to experience Mickey waffles before we left, so we ate breakfast in the hotel cafeteria this morning. Hannah was in a mood - for some reason -so she was hiding.
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| We spent our last full day at MK. Mark insisted we stop at the candy store to indulge ourselves in some sweet goodness. Sarah bought blue cotton candy, and Hannah bought a twirly lollipop. |
We spent most of the day meeting the few princesses that we hadn't met yet. Rapunzel was a MUST do!!!
Ariel was a must - Sarah's favorite princess of all!
We were given an opportunity to meet Rosetta and Tinkerbell by going to the front of the line with Hannah's handicap disability. So we couldn't pass them up!!!
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| We rode the Aladdin ride one more time! |
We happened to be passing by the newest Disney princess, Merida, from the movie, "Brave". So we decided to meet her while we were there.
We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and our boat was stalled along, with about 4 other boats, right in front of the "lovely" pirate skeletons with the music repeatedly saying, "Hay-Ho-Hay-Ho- A pirates life for me!" We were seriously stuck there for 15 minutes. I had Hannah in my lap covering her eyes so she wouldn't see the scary skeletons! I was screaming inside myself - GET US OUT OF HERE!!! So, all of that to say this... The above photo is right after the Pirates of Caribbean ride when Hannah is telling Mark about how she didn't like it, because it was "CREEPY". I would have to agree with Hannah!
Sarah and Mark one last time on BUZZ Lightyear ride.
One last time driving cars!
One last time on BUZZ Lightyear!
Day #7 - LAST DAY :(
We woke up this morning feeling blue with the thought of it being the last day of our magical dream vacation coming to an end. We scheduled a Royal Table experience inside Cinderella's Castle with Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Snow White, and Auora to celebrate the last day of our WDW vacation. So, we spent the morning at MK riding Dumbo and Mad Tea Cups - again! We arrived at the castle at 12:45 for our Royal Table dinner. They invited us in by saying, "Welcome Royal Farley Family!" Sounds so dreamy!!!
These are beautiful stained glass windows along the staircase heading up to the Royal Dining Room.
While we ate our Royal dinner we had special guests come to our table! The girls were so excited about each princess before they came to speak to us; however, when the princess actually sat down, they both were tongue tied.
Snow White
Belle in her casual attire.
Princess Auora
Princess Ariel - with legs!!!
We enjoyed a fabulous dinner - pot roast with greens and yummy dessert.
Sarah chose a cupcake for her dessert, and she decorated the cupcake with sprinkles and chocolates. Hannah chose ice cream for her dessert, and she made a sundae with sprinkles and chocolates.
Mark and I both chose a chocolate pyramid dessert. I am sure it had a fancy name, but I can't remember what it was - oh well. Whatever it is called - it was delicious!!!
Between our main entree and dessert, we were escorted downstairs to meet the Royal Princess Cinderella and have our Royal photo taken with her. It was a fabulous experience! I was all giddy inside, and I am 35, so I know Sarah and Hannah were tingling inside as well. The whole Royal Table experience was fabulous!! I am thrilled we were able to end our vacation with such a memorable occasion.
As we were walking out of MK, we blessed to take in one more parade. It was an extraordinary experience! I was holding Hannah, and Mark had Sarah on his shoulders. We were all waving excitedly to the Disney characters as they went by. I found myself tearing up thinking about: What an awesome family vacation we've had - dreaming about it for years bringing our children back to experience WDW - it's finally here - it's ending - and oh dear - we're getting old - the next time we bring the girls they'll be older - we'll be older - less time with them at home - dreams of bringing them back with their own families and kids - oh my goodness - the flood of thoughts in my head and emotions in my heart!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! Fighting the tears back!!!!
We rode the fairy boat to the parking lot where we parked our van. So we took every mode of transportation WDW had to offer while we there, just so we could experience a little bit of all of it.
Mark and I both said this was by far the BEST vacation and week of our lives - post kids of course!!!! It was everything we had dreamed of and more! Next time, we are planning on a 10 day Disney vacation!!!! We are so very thankful for all of our blessings that made it possible for us to take our family for such a memorable vacation. It would not have been possible without God who continually blesses us!!!
