We got to Disney on Sunday afternoon, right when it was time to check in. One thing that surprised me after driving under the infamous Walt Disney World sign was that you still go a looooooooong way to get to the parks! The entrance is to like a whole other system of roads and hotels and parks and restaurants that are a part of Disney World. Silly me thought as soon as we drove under the sign, we'd be at our hotel. WRONG! It's HUUUUUGE.
We stayed at the Disney All Stars resort. We met Aunt Brookie (she'd flown out to meet us) there. Once we found it and got checked in, we made the kiddos take a picture on the red carpet. They were so excited (and so were we)!
We didn't have tickets to get into the park until the next day, so Sunday night we let them explore the resort a bit and swim in the pool.
Tommy was SO excited that we were in the Mighty Ducks wing of the resort. He LOVES watching hockey and EVERYTHING was hockey themed, so it was right up his alley!
After we swam, we got on the bus that takes you to other Disney resorts. Even if you aren't staying there, you're able to go into them and look around and have access to the shops and restaurants. We had decided to go to the Polynesian to eat and get a Dole Whip. It took awhile to get loaded on the bus, drive to where we'd get on the train and then get unloaded. They had a security check point as soon as you get off the bus. Nick pulled me aside and was all, "Uhhh, I gotta go back." And I'm all, "Uhhhhh.....no. That took forever. Why would we go back?" Long story short, Nick has a conceal and carry license. And he had for some reason decided to use his conceal and carry. In all fairness, he thought we were just going to Disney Springs, which does NOT have a security check point.
So he had to go all the way back to the hotel. We went ahead and got on the train to the Polynesian (the kids LOVED getting to ride that). We had dinner at a cafe there. The food was okay, but not great. It was fast food for a fine dining price--ha! We were going to get Dole Whips, but my kids were being naughty and mouthy, so that didn't happen.
After we were done with dinner, we rode the bus to Disney Springs and met up with Nick again. We walked around for a bit before deciding to take our kids back to the hotel. They were both really grumpy and still not feeling 100% and we knew they needed the rest.
We got to the resort and got to sleep. Everyone else had decided to meet early in the morning to get to the park before it opened. We decided to let the kids sleep in a bit before going so they would be happy and well rested. And we were SO glad we did that! I was bummed at first to get there a little later, but it worked out great! By the time the others got on the bus and through security, we weren't really that far behind them.
We rode one ride before meeting up with everyone else. It was the Space Ranger alien shooting game and the kids loved it! The line took awhile, but wasn't TOO bad--about 45 minutes.
After we met up with them, we rode the Astro Orbiter. Brylie was my riding partner and she was a little nervous!
After the rockets, we went back to the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger game. We hadn't realized we had a FastPass for it when we rode it the first time. But the kids liked it so much that we were happy to ride again. And it went SO much faster with the FastPass.
My brother, sister and I took a picture to send to my mom and it made her SO happy. Even as old kids, she's happy to see "her babies together."
We rode Space Mountain at some point. My mind has intentionally blocked that out because it was TERRIFYING!!! It's an indoor roller coaster and you go through it in the pitch black. NEVER. AGAIN. It was a fun coaster, but the whole "not being able to see anything" aspect of it had me sick. I screamed like a little girl the whole time! My kids and Nick loved it, though!
We all went on Splash Mountain but had to take turns watching Ty guy because he was too little. Tommy got to play with him on a little playground and I think he thought that was just as much fun as riding rides!
We also road the Pirates of the Caribbean--it was so cool! There were some animated robotic characters in there that looked so real we had to really pay close attention to see if they were or not. It was a good ride to relax on and for the little kids to be able to go on.
We rode the Little Mermaid Under the Sea. It was neat--it was animated robotic scenes of the movie. Very nostalgic and sweet for the kids to watch. As you can tell from the picture below, Tommy was THRILLED.
At that point, we split up a bit because the little girls all wanted to meet a few characters and Tommy, Nick and Brooke wanted to ride more rides. They went and rode the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder.
And we got to meet................Elena of Avanor and CINDERELLA!!
It was so funny--when we were talking to Elena, she was so sweet and friendly. She was talking to Brylie and Brylie looked at her and said, "I want to see Belle." HA! We were dying! Elena managed to not act too offended, but you could tell she was a little put off!
After we met them, we rode the carousel. It was a LEGIT carousel. It went WAAAAAY too fast for my liking. I can do roller coasters okayish but the spinning of the carousel really got to me.
And then it was time for the Tea Cups! I was so glad we rode them! It's an iconic ride and although I could have done without the spinning again, we were glad to be able to say we'd done it!
After the Tea Cups, we met back up with the other group. Nick, Tommy and I rode Barnstormer because there was hardly any line. And then we ended the night with the infamous fireworks in front of the castle! They really were beautiful and it was a neat moment being there for something that you dream about doing as a kid. I was glad we were able to give our kiddos that experience!
We FINALLY made it back to the bus stop and managed to snap a group picture of all of us. It was such a fun (but exhausting) day!
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