Disclaimer – this is a long, image heavy post. Photos are either my own taken with a Canon 5d mk iii, Fuju x100t, iphone5 or from photos purchased from photographers with the Disney Memory Maker Photo Pass.
Welcome to part two of our vacation…
Sunday morning we woke up early to eat a super quick breakfast before disembarking. Our ship had reached Port Canaveral, Florida (after a slightly rocky night) – and our luggage was already leaving the ship. We took the last few minutes in our cabin to tell the kids the next surprise in the dream vacation… we were on our way to Disney World! It was pouring rain as we rode the shuttle bus back to the Orlando airport where we picked up our rental car. We got to our hotel, unloaded the suitcases, then headed out for lunch at Olive Garden and to pick-up a few essentials from our favorite places Target and Trader Joes. After unloading our essentials, we waited out a thunderstorm, then hit up Downtown Disney.
Of course the kids bee-lined it for the Lego store. We had a 40 minute wait for our table at the T-Rex Cafe, and all of that time was spent inside the Lego store. Then we had the world’s loudest dinner sitting next to two baby woolly mammoths, and watching asteroids hit the very life-like dinosaurs every ten minutes or so. Surprisingly enough, the Brachiosaurous bruchetta was some of the best bruschetta I’ve ever had!
We then had to stop and shop inside the largest World of Disney store. Liam promptly picked out the mouse ears he wanted for this trip. Disney + Superheroes = Very Happy Liam! All the running around also meant he was a very tired Liam. So yes, the last part of our Downtown Disney trip was a little like this.
The next morning we had to wake up our kids to go to the Magic Kingdom. Like, literally, we dragged them out of bed. Then we found out why the Park Hopper tickets are not really recommended for Disney World. Getting to the Magic Kingdom is an experience in itself: park in the lot, shuttle from the lot to the ticket gate, go through security, catch a ferry, bus or monorail – then you finally get to Main Street! Try hopping parks when you have to go through all that! While on the ferry over, I realized I forgot to switch my camera battery and only had 15% battery life left. (Photographer fail!… But through some very carefully planned photo timing, I made that battery last!)
(These next two photos were taken with Liam on my shoulders watching the “Wishes” Show. Due to the height of the construction fencing Liam couldn’t see – so I gave him a boost. Then, while keeping one hand on him, I would focus the camera and hold it still, and he’d hit the shutter button. I think we did pretty good together!)
We rode all our favorites and a few new ones. Liam and Caleb did their first little coasters, then Caleb rode a few bigger ones with Adam. We did get a little rained out and the park closed the outdoor rides for a few hours while a thunderstorm was happening. But it was a fun day. That night 3 of the 4 of us got to watch the classic Main Street Electrical Parade. Liam fell asleep during the fireworks before the parade!
The next day we let the kids sleep in a little bit, then we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This was my favorite park. The safari ride was amazing. They also have a great program for kids called Wilderness Explorers. Just like Russell from the movie UP, our kids became Wilderness Explorers and had a handbook filled with activities to complete. These activities ranged from identifying animal tracks, to knowing five characteristics of gorillas, to learning about deforestation. Each activity earned them a badge (sticker) in their handbook. It was a great way to keep the learning interactive and fun.
I did use my 135 1.4L lens to get most of the animal safari shots. It was a ridiculous lens to drag along on this trip for one day of use. But I am glad that I did it. It was a bit of a feat trying to keep my gear dry on the Kali River Rapids – but that ride was so much fun. Adam also rode on Everest. We saw the Bugs Life show, under the Tree of Life, and watched Nemo the Musical. We ended our day at Animal Kingdom watching the Lion King Show. It was incredible. The kids got picked from the audience to participate in one of the final numbers.
Since Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00 we left and actually managed to park hop to Epcot. Park hopping does required shuttling back to our car, driving to EPCOT, and thankfully we were parked close enough we did not have to shuttle to the entrance gate. But it was still about 6:00 when we got in! We did a whirl wind Epcot experience, and even split up a little to do a few separate rides. Adam went on the test track, and we did Nemo. We also did Spaceship Earth and Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure. The kids loved this interactive adventure game. We met a few characters along the way too. We then watched the fireworks performance – and Liam stayed awake for it this time!
Wednesday was our last Walt Disney World day and we spent it at Hollywood Studios. During the summer, there is a really big emphasis on the “Frozen” summer here. It’s really hard to, um, let it go! Despite that we still had lots of fun. This was the hottest day yet. We took the boys on Star Tours, which they loved, and Liam got to battle Darth Vader – something he has wanted to do, since Caleb did it in Disneyland in 2013. The kids met Phineas and Ferb. We saw some amazing shows, although we only got to see about half of the park. The night ended with a Frozen Summer dance party with DJ Chill, and fireworks that summerized the storyline of Frozen. Even Adam was impressed and agrees these were the best fireworks we saw in all the theme parks. In true Disney magic, at the end of the fireworks, Princess Elsa made it snow in Florida. My two Canadian kids thought it was great! We closed out the park!
And of course our last Disney day couldn’t have ended without Liam falling asleep on the shuttle tram back to the car.
He missed out on the announcement of our third surprise for the last part of our dream vacation. To be continued…
Part three of our dream vacation continues here.
(If you missed it, part one of our dream vacation can be found here!)