Disney World

We just got back from a trip to Disney World. We stayed for 8 days 7 nights...and Disney world still left us wanting a few more days, we had such a great time as a family. This post is MASSIVE so if your name isn't Grandma or unless you are planning a trip to Disney World you probably wont make it all the way though...if you are by chance planning a trip to Disney World give us a call, because it is pretty much all we want to talk about right now.


Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party:
Super fun night!! The Magic Kingdom was only open to those people going to "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party", from 7pm-midnight...and yes we kept the kids out until midnight, all made it still awake except Brock. The kids got dressed up in their Halloween costumes, Trick-or-Treated throughout the park (mega amounts of candy). So many activities were going on...Dance parties (we did the "chicken" with Donald), face painting, and so much more. The rides were so empty they would ask you if you just wanted to stay on the ride and go again...and we did again and again! The parade and fireworks display was especially good that night (we enjoyed a parade and fireworks almost every night we were there)!

The Magic Kingdom:

We spent 3.5 days just in the Magic Kingdom. To quote Matt, "This place really is magical". The first day we were there Gavin said, "This is the best day of my life". We literally rode every single ride in the Magic Kingdom, some we rode multiple times...our favorite in the Magic Kingdom was Space Mountain, I lost track of how many times we went on that! The kids were able to get so many character signatures and pictures with the characters. They gave the kids "First Visit to Disney World" buttons, people singled them out all the time to do extra fun things or to give them little souvenirs. Brock's new favorite word is, "Mouse", he says it over and over. Too dang fun. Disney World was so uncrowded this time of year, we were flying on rides!

Breakfast at "Chef Mickey's".

Calee and Gavin being "guest conductors".

Dinner at "The Crystal Palace", with Pooh and Friends.

Animal Kingdom:

This park was so pretty! We went on a fun Safari, the animals were so amazing to watch. Brock loved seeing all the animals that we have talked about at home, I think the elephants were his favorite...he kept making the noise over and over again. Best ride at the Animal Kingdom...Expedition Everest, that roller coaster was AWESOME!!





Hollywood Studios:

Here we got to meet some of Gavin's favorite characters...Power Rangers, Lightning McQueen and Mater, and plenty of other fun action types. We got the kids on the Tower of Terror (loved it!), Calee was big enough to go on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (staring Aerosmith...love roller coasters, love Aerosmith...we think it was a great combination!), we saw Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, we really enjoyed the Extreme stunt show (involving high speed cars!...Matt is pretty excited about the great picture he snapped of that show.), and lots more. Brock's favorite show at Hollywood Studios was "Muppet Vision 3-D"...he was so happy watching it, we were all happy watching it...Kermit is so dang adorable! And oh my goodness "Fantasmic", AMAZING!!

Photography by Matt Toomey.

Epcot:
Gavin's very favorite ride was there..."Mission:Space", Dad liked it too...Calee and Mom not so much (it made us a little queasy). We all loved "Soarin", and did that quite a few times. This night we stayed up until Midnight enjoying the festivities.
Breakfast at "Princess Storybook Dining @ Akershus Royal Banquet Hall". Calee loved this one!

Calee at the Potato Bar...The "Mr. Potato Head Bar". Calee picked this for a special treat, you get the potato body and a box and you can stuff the box with as many items as you can...as you can imagine Dad helped Calee stuff and insane amount of accessories into her box...it looked as though it was a bomb.

Dinner at "Mickey's Garden Grill".

Dinner at "Ohana", the restaurant inside our hotel. This was Mom and Dad's favorite place to eat....YUMMY!!! They had coconut races for the kids, hula dancing, limbo, and dancing with Mom's and Dad's...Oh and for some reason they gave the kids a ton of those little drink umbrellas, it was a hit with the kids!

Polynesian Hotel:

We stayed at the Polynesian Resort. And we would totally stay again. It was so beautiful, the rooms were so great, the pool was awesome. Pretty much we wouldn't change a thing! The outside pictures are of the grounds of the hotel. We could either take a monarail to the Magic Kingdom, or they had a ferry boat to take across to the Magic Kingdom...the important thing was no matter what form of transportation we could get there FAST!!

Inside the Hotel.

Treasure hunt:

Matt made up a cute treasure hunt the morning we were leaving to go to Disney World. The kids had no idea they were going until then. He did a really cute job! And the kids were so excited!