Arrival and the First Day

After Sacrament meeting last Sunday, we came home, changed our clothes and left to make our flight! Matt from Pro Build, very kindly agreed to drop us off at Dulles.  My parents were catching their flight to CA, so it was fun to get a little more visiting time with them-- especially because I was sitting in the back of the van with them :)

I think this was the first flight, I didn't have a lot of entertainment options for the kids.  I wanted to save the batteries on my phone, we don't have a tablet anymore, so there was just the in flight TV, which after about 20 minutes, was only a steady stream of United Airline commercials as we did not want to pay the 8 bucks to let them pick channels.  Because, the flight was so short though, and we were all so excited to arrive, I wasn't too worried.  And the kids really did do just fine.

These pictures are actually of us in Dulles before we took off.  So going through the airport with 3 kids and SIX carry on bags is quite a feat.  Janet and Robert were ushered to the "special line" for people that fly more, so they didn't have to deal with our craziness.  Luckily, we did make it through security in one piece :)

Anna ended up falling asleep.

And stayed asleep on the "Disney Magical Express," our bus that was taking us to our resort! :)

The instant we walked into the Art of Animation, I knew I was going to love it!  The theming throughout the resort is so perfectly Disney.  It's the only resort that has such a strong Disney theme, which I guess some people would be sick of, but I love it.  The fact that Art of Animation is a "value resort" makes it all the better :)

At Art of Animation there are three sections of family suites (Cars, Finding Nemo, and Lion King).  We chose Lion King and the room was really cute.  There was a bedroom with a bathroom attatched.  And then, a kitchenette with an eating room that has a table that turned into a full sized bed.  The living area had a couch that turned into a bed as well.  There was also a second bathroom.  Plenty of room for our family, that's for sure!

Another section of the resort has only single rooms and that is where Janet and Robert stayed.  That section has a Little Mermaid theme which was cute as well.

After unpacking, we hit up the cafeteria for some dinner.  There were some great options: lots of Indian food, pasta, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and burgers.  Oh and a chocolate gelato that was sooo delcious!

Right away I felt like we treated to what I had kept reading about: the special pixie dust that gets spread around Disney World.  A worker (or "cast member" in Disney World speak) walked up to Anna in the front lobby and told her that a prince had left her a flower.  Anna's face just lit up holding her flower, and she couldn't wait to show the flower to her Dad.

After dinner we let the kids check out the arcade for a bit.  Wyatt was in seventh heaven.

While we unpacked I realized something I forgot to pack: socks for the boys!  Jackson still had his church socks on, and I knew I wasn't going to wash them out every night in the sink so I bit the bullet and paid the ridiculously high Disney price for three pairs of socks!

One thing we did to save money and make things easier was right off the bat, tell the kids that we wouldn't be buying any souvenirs the parks.  I told them that every morning Mickey would leave them a little souvenir. Monday morning's gift form Mickey was authograph books and sharpies.

Bright and early Monday morning, ready to take the bus and be at Magic Kingdom 20 minutes before it opens.  Yes, we were very serious theme park goers this week. :)

Wyatt's camera ready faces he pulls makes me laugh.

As you can see we were in SHORTS.  And T-SHIRTS. And SUNGLASSES.  It was warm and sunny!!!!!  The first two days were truly summer like, and I was relishing every moment.

We were thrilled that Erik's parents agreed to come on this vacation with us.  I was a little nervous about planning everything for everyone (I don't mind dragging Erik around to things he may not be thrilled with quite as much).  However, they assured me they were OK with going along with our plans. :)  They were always so helpful with the kids, and I'm so glad that our kids' special memories of this trip will include their grandparents!

I loved the little opening show before they do before they let everyone into the park.  It's the little things like this that make the place feel magical.

Anna was cracking me up with her reaction to the show though!  She didn't look too impressed.  I honestly think she did like it a lot, but seeing all of the characters and the singing and dancing may have been a little much so early in the morning :)

I kept debating back and forth whether I would pay the extra money to have access to all of the pictures that Disney photographers take.  Most of the time I was thinking that is pretty ridiculous to pay money for someone to take our picture.  However, a few days before we left I realized that if anyone would appreciate this service, it would be picture obsessed me, and I bought it. I'm really happy I did too.  It ended up being totally worth it!

Monday morning was all about Fantasy land!  Our first ride was Dumbo, which I think ended up being a favorite of Wyatt's and Anna's for sure.

I love Jackson's expression here :)

Next up was Winnie the Pooh.  Anna was a little nervous during the heffalumps and woozles (sp??) part, but the ride was quite charming.

It was fun seeing how excited Anna was for the carousel.

Next attraction was a cute 3D show called Mickey's Philharmagic.  Everyone enjoyed it.

Let's see, we hit up Peter Pan (one of my favorites!), It's a Small World, Hall of Presidents, Tom Sawyer Island, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and lunch at Columbia Harbour House.  It pays to get there early!

Loved the cute little Rapunzel area we ended up at one point.  With a newly potty trained toddler, two other kids, and a Mom with a tiny bladder it seemed we were always on the hunt for restrooms!

While Janet, Robert, and Jackson rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, I was able to use my cheap bubbles I brought.

Anna was pretty good at falling asleep in the stroller when she got tired.

Walking back to the buses.  We had planned to take an afternoon break and head back to the hotel.  Because it was so warm that day, we told the kids that they could swim during our break.  They were sooo excited!

A little out of order . . . Taking more pictures in front of the castle on our way out of the park.

The main pool area at Art of Animation is so cute!  I was happy that we had just watched Finding Nemo, because the characters were all fresh in everyone's mind.

This girl loves to lounge!

And so do I!

Wyatt wanted to check out some of the other sections at the hotel, so I walked him around a bit.  We never went to the Cars section, however.

Little Miss walking back to our room, so we could get dressed for our evening at Magic Kingdom.

Monday evening was all about Beauty and the Beast.  We had fast passes for Enchanting Tales with Belle, which is a really cute interactive storytelling time with Belle.  Wyatt was picked to be Phillip the horse, Anna was the wardrobe, and Jackson was picked to be the Beast!

Wyatt's job was to "neigh."  He took his job very seriously and did a wonderful job :)

Jackson had to roar and scare Belle.  He was so great!

And then Jackson danced with Belle!  Knowing Jackson made this just too unbelievable to be true.  Jackson is not one to dance unless he is trying to get some laughs and be silly.  I guess he couldn't say no to Belle! ;)

OK, I am being serious when there was an audible "Aww," when Anna broke out into a smile on cue for the picture.  She is a cutie!

These are the pictures I took while waiting in line for Enchanted Tales.  

Getting picked for their roles and receiving instructions.

I was surprised that Anna stayed in her spot the whole time and followed directions like she did.

So that was all the perfect precursor to having dinner at Magic Kingdom's newest restaurant: Be Our Guest.  This was one that starting at 180 days before our trip, I called several times a week to get a reservation and I finally got one!  I was so excited to see how they did the Beast's Castle.  It was absolutely gorgeous!

I was very happy that we were seated in the main ballroom.  There were two other rooms, "the West Wing," and the "library" that I took the kids to see while we waited for our food to come.  It was fun browsing around and seeing all of the details that came straight from the movie.

Happily for any readers of these insufferable posts :), I forgot to take pictures of our dinners.  I did however, remember to snap some of our desserts before they were devoured.  The food was delicious.  I will say however, it seemed a little salty though.  I usually like a salty tasted, but it did seem a little much.  The whole experience though was just wonderful.  It was especially fun to visit with the Beast after we were done with our meal :)

After dinner we made our way over to Space Mountain.  I couldn't believe how willing Jackson was to go on any roller coaster.  With the child swap pass we got on each one, he was able to ride them twice too!

While we waited for Robert, Janet, and Jackson to ride Space Mountain, I couldn't help but get caught up with Incredibles Dance Party that was going on in Tomorrow Land.  This pretty much sums up why I love Disney World so much.  I can let my freak flag fly proudly and dance around like a crazy person and I don't look out of place!

We finally made it back to the hotel around 9:00pm.  We were smart and brought Anna's pajamas with us, so she could just fall asleep and be put right into bed.  We forgot to do this the rest of the nights however!

Honestly, it was a perfect first day of our vacation and I'd say, my favorite of the whole week!