Saturday, June 18, 2011

Disney World 2010

We just spent a phenomenal week in Florida at Disney World with my parents. My parents invited us to go and we are so thankful because we wouldn't have been able to go on our own right now. We really enjoyed getting to spend the time with them and experiencing Disney World with Lillie. I must say she was the perfect age. She was amazed by everything and wanted to try it all. My mom had shirts made that we wore on the first day that all had our relationship to Lillie on the back. Here is my Mom and Lillie waiting for the bus to head to Animal Kingdom our first day there.
The funny thing about these shirts was that on the river ride three other people got on our boat and the guy said to Lillie, " I bet you are Lillie and that's your Grandpa, Grandma, Mom and Dad." and Lillie was shocked. She never figured out how he knew her name. It was really very funny!
This is us after the boat ride and getting sopping wet! We then headed over to the bugs' life 3D show. We watched many shows because it was so hot in Florida the cool air conditioning was a nice break!
This is Lillie and I waiting in line for the Ariel Show at Hollywood Studios (formally known as MGM) They have really added a lot to Hollywood Studios and it was a lot of fun to be at that park. I was not able to ride any of the roller coasters due to being pregnant so Eric and my Dad took Lillie on all of them. They rode Rockin Roller coaster and loved it, Tower of Terror (several times). Our favorite at that park and probably all of the parks was the Toy Story Pixar ride. You shoot a pop gun at 3D screens and try to win the most points which is really a lot of fun.
At Epcot we rode Soarin, the amazing flight ride and Living on the Land. This picture of the tomato tree is from Living on the Land. Lillie loved this ride! It went through how our land gets nutrients then you go through a green house and fish farm. It was pretty amazing but there was NEVER a line and I can't really say that probably many kids would like this ride. It's very scientific and Lillie found it fascinating. I think she rode it about five times!

Two things about this trip that we have never done before is the pin trading. Disney employees all wear pins and you can trade with any of them. Lillie got a lanyard and some pins and the trading began. I think she loved looking at all of the pins and the general interaction with the employees. She also told my Mom one night that she would really like to get a princess dress and wear it at the park. The problem is that their dresses are 69.00! So my Mom and I went in together to get this 45.00 Alice dress. She loved it and wore it for two days. (I washed it in between :) ) She got so much attention and she ate it up. Everyone would say, "Hey Alice!" or bow to her like she was a princess. They definitely have their employees trained to treat the guest (children) with class.
The Nemo ride was so much fun and then you come out to a huge aquarium, here my Mom is caught in Bruce's mouth. Swim Sparkle Swim!

One thing we have tried to do the past three times we have gone to Magic Kingdom is the character dinners. They are expensive but it is worth it to get the characters to come to your table and not have to stand in a 30 minute line. We didn't make reservations before going and everything was booked. They told us to check in every day to see if there were possible cancellations. It turned out that we were able to get one for Friday at 3:15 so we took it. This year we went to the Crystal Place at Magic Kingdom where Pooh and Friends came around for pictures and autographs.

This was such a fun vacation and we really are grateful to my parents for taking us with them. I know it was a trip that none of us will forget. We did four parks, swam, and stayed at a beautiful resort. We laughed and laughed and laughed. These are moments that are so precious!

3 comments:

Serena said...

So, so, so fun! We just did one day at Disneyland last summer and I'm still enjoying the wonderful memories. Glad that you got to go with your parents!

Also - I'm so jealous that you will get to take Eric to Brasil this summer!!! Marc has still never been there. I'll be praying for you guys.

Higdon LIfe in Madeira said...

What a fun week.....wish we could do that someday! Your parents are awesome!:)

Unknown said...

So very generous of your parents. So glad you could share these special memories and that your sweet girl got such a treat. We hope to take all three of ours one day when sister from China is old enough.