Trippin' Thursday... Disney Travels and Day 1

To keep all things Disney in one place, I'm going to re-post 2010 trip here.

Life is a Highway

We visited Walt Disney World last April. It was Gregg's 3rd trip and Belle's 1st and I don't even count myself, because I spent the latter years of my teen life working for the mouse at MGM Studios. I am an old Disney pro....

I am a big chicken and wasn't ready to stick my baby girl on an airplane. This meant that we made the 14 hour drive to Orlando and stretched it out over 3 days. I wanted to take it slow...

We left on a Thursday evening and drove to Hattiesburg, Ms.

Shout-out to Foxy and Papa (my grandparents, who live in Start, La.)
Crossing the Great Mississippi.


On Friday, we woke up early and drove back into Louisiana (thanks to my awesome navigating skillz) and then headed back through Mississippi and finally into Alabama. Gregg and I both have such fond memories of driving through 'the tunnel'. Unfortunately, Belle slept through her first tunnel experience.

We made it to Florida an hour and 1/2 behind schedule. (Whoops...) We were in for a long day of driving. That evening we arrived in Ocala, Fl where we spent the night at the Hilton.

We woke up SUPER early on Saturday morning and drove the final hour and 1/2 to Disney World!

Belle was all decked out in her Disney apparel.

We were giddy when we arrived at our resort. It was only 9:30 am.

We went straight to our rooms to unpack....

And jump on the beds....

And then we were Magic Kingdom bound!!!!

Cat, Please Exit Bag...

As expected, but not hoped for, the surprise didn't get a huge reaction.

In my head I had planned to open the gifts on Christmas Day, after snuggling together in our jammies and watching the Disney Christmas Parade.

That was the plan...until I realized that Christmas fell on Sunday.

Sunday meant that we would need to leave the house at 8 am for the church service and leave town immediately after that for Christmas with Gregg's family.  Because of that we did Santa, Christmas at my grandparents, my parents and the Disney surprise all in one day.  We were all very overwhelmed to say the least.

Belle was heading into spoiled brat mode by the time we got around to the 3 Disney gifts.  She had been opening gifts all day and hadn't napped for days.

Evie just wanted to steal Belle's Hello Kitty slippers.

Gift 1 Reaction- 'Seriously, clothes???'

Gift 2 Reaction- Utter Excitement.  She squealed. 

Gift 3 Reaction- I cried.  She hugged me and squealed again.  Then she got really confused. 

She told us that she didn't want to talk about Disney World.  She just wanted to wear her costume.

And little Snow White, who was having quite a traumatic hair day, got dressed up, too.

If that's not the look of Disney excitement, then I don't know what is... Haha.

It took a few days for it to sink in, but Belle is in full-on Disney mode now.  She has been watching videos on YouTube and has already planned out her first day in the parks.  At the moment, she wants to go to Hollywood Studios first to see the Beauty and the Beast Show. 

We've started our count-up calendar, too. 

Come on January, fly by!

Day 5 + Baby Wear...

Are you ready for our extensive Day 5 plans???

This is going to be very long...  you might want to grab a snack.

Our Day 5 plans include...

LUNCH

And that's about it...

I really couldn't be more excited about the schedule.  I'm sure we will need a day of rest by then.

Now that I've bored you to tears, I'll move on to a more fun topic.

I just sent one of my best friends home with 2 onesies and some ideas that I found on Etsy.

Etsy Credit

Etsy Credit

I've also started making hair bows, so it will be fun to put together a few outfits. 

 Hobby Lobby and it's 40% coupons are great friends on mine.

I am literally on the edge of my seat over here!  A few more days until Christmas and our surprise.  I can't wait to talk Disney with Belle.

PS- I'm not sure if you check out my blog, but we tried out the ear muffs on Belle recently and they worked great.  We are very hopeful that we are finding solutions to her problems.

I'm so excited...

And I just can't hide it...

(Sorry, that will probably be stuck in your head all day.)

The girl's Christmas presents have all been bought and now I painfully await Christmas Eve, when we gets to spill the beans...

'We're going to Disney World!'

We plan to tell the girl's (ahem, Belle...) with her three Christmas gifts.

Gift 1-  A Mickey tee for Belle and a Mickey dress for Evie 

 I think Belle will like it, but will probably have the normal reaction of a 4 year old- 'uh, clothes... bring on the toys'.

Gift 2- Costumes

For Belle

Belle is going to flip out over this!  She has been asking for a Jasmine costume for so long.  We always had 'modesty issues' with previous costumes, but this one covers the tummy pretty well.  I can't wait to see her reaction.

For Evie

Evie is going to be such a sweet Snow.  I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that I have a fair skinned, dark headed baby.  But, oh, how I love my little Snow White.

Gift 3- Disney Countdown Calendar & Surprise

My dear friend Emma is a fantastic artist and she created a really cool countdown calendar for us.  

With each passing day, we will add a piece to a puzzle of Ariel.  We will first fill in Ariel's mermaid tale and then she will transform into a human.

It's going to make the weeks leading up to the trip extra special.

Countdown calendar's are a super fun way to prepare your kids for a big trip.  If you are interested check out Emma's store on Etsy.  I'm pretty sure she takes custom requests, as well.

Day 4- Hakuna Matata & Rooftop Fireworks

Animal Kingdom was the biggest hit on Belle's first trip.  She felt very comfortable amongst the animals and most of the rides at AK are outdoors.

Our favorite adventure was Rafiki's Plant Watch.

Belle was able to hold elephant dung and she still talks about it to this day!

We can't wait to visit AK again this year!  There are several things that we missed - Festival of The Lion King, Camp Minni Mickey, Finding Nemo and The Dig Site, to name a few.

Sadly, we are taking a break eating at Yak & Yeti.  It's one of my very favorite places to dine, but it's far time that we branched out a bit. 

After a day in the wild, we will get all dolled up and dine at California Grill.  (Gregg's favorite restaurant in the world!)

We are so looking forward to watching Wishes from the top of the Contemporary Resort.

If you've never done this, it's a must!!!

Day 3- GOOD MORNING!

Enjoy the show...

It's that time again!

A Magic Kingdom morning.  

There's really not anything else like it, is there?

Magic Kingdom 'For Sure' List-

Dumbo (didn't do it last time)

Tea Cups

Carousel

Aladdin's Carpets

Swiss Family Robinson Tree House

Tiana Meet & Greet (The girls will be wearing Tiana and Evangeline costumes that day.)

Meet Rapunzel (Which should be super exciting!)

Fingers Crossed List-

Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh

Splash Mountain (she wants to try it)

Liberty Square Riverboat

Tiki Room (also wants to try it)

Pirates of the Caribbean

Tom Sawyer Island

The 'no way, now how, not for me' List-

Jungle Cruise (alligators)

Pirates of the Caribbean (fire)

Haunted Mansion (ugly ghosts)

Dole Whips (because we are the only people on the planet who find them gross)

That evening we are having dinner at Akershus.  

Belle is going to dress like Belle.  (Love saying that...) 

 Evie is going to dress like Snow White.  (I melt just thinking about it...)

I'm so excited about this day!