Oh Disney...

You didn't think I'd leave out some photos from the trip did ya?  I have to admit though, when I uploaded them I realized I really didn't pay much attention to the camera on the trip.  I was too busy living in the moment I suppose.  I did however watch in AMAZEMENT at how people totally documented their entire trip through a camera, camera phone, video cameras....even on roller coasters.  I wonder if once they got home they realized they missed half the trip because they only saw it through a viewfinder.  Anyhoo.....Oh Disney....the land of a million wishes. 

We stayed on property at the Pop Century Resort.  It was a giant playground of giant stuff.  Literally.  See:

It was the funnest hotel I've ever stayed in...and for the price, we'll be staying there again.  (They also had the best sangria I've ever tasted....mmmm....)  Below has to be my favorite giant sculpture on property.  Seeing as how I used to totally rock the big wheel and the big wheel break 360' spin.  Oh yeah.

We are big Lego fans in this house.  I've mentioned before that while my sister Molly was getting Barbie's for Christmas I was getting Legos. The Downtown Disney Lego store never disappoints with its' sculptures!  This time around it was full of Toy Story Characters.  Awww....the Toy Story Memories.  That was William's favorite movie at age 2. 

So we spent 3 days in the parks, all 4 Disney parks that is!!  Sunday was Hollywood Studios.  A BLAST I tell ya!  The new Star Wars area rocked.  That ride....man I felt like Princess Leah hanging with C3PO.  Luv.  I also loved the Tower of Terror.  The element of surprise is my favorite kind of ride.  Roller coasters I can see the loops on...not so much. 

Monday we spent all day in the Magic Kingdom.  Which....well.....I think we've kind of missed the magic years on this park.  Because while I was ooooing and ahhhhing and wanting to ride Peter Pan, my tweens were not.  Thank goodness for Space Mountain....Mailey rode it over and over hands in the air yelling woohooo the entire time!   The other special moment here was our dinner in the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends for Mailey's 10th Birthday.  We'd never done that before, it was beyond worth it to see her face LIGHT up when she saw her favorite characters come to life.  Like tears happy.  Like she jumped up everytime they reached our table and gave bear hugs like I've never seen before.  Magical. 

See Pooh?  He's totally giggling and loving her bear hug too!!  They all signed her a Birthday card too.  That'll be something she keeps forever!

It was absolutely perfect weather for the trip.  Not hot at all!   We also hit Animal Kingdom and Epcot.  I think we all want to go back to Epcot.  It was an amazing park.  Highly recommend every ride in that park.   And yummy food!!  The Space shuttle mission literally feels like you are taking off in a space ship and flying through the atmosphere!!

Billy did have to leave early, which was a bummer.  The kids and I took advantage of Downtown Disney again with movies and more food.  I think we ate our way through the week!!  Oh, and the hotel arcade was a huge hit.  We had such a wonderful trip overall and are super, super glad we went.  6 days away felt like the blink of an eye.  I am very glad we went with no real plan, because we had no expectations to be disappointed about afterwards.  We just got up and went.  And then crashed...and then got up and did it all over again!  But here are a few things from the no plan gang you may want to know if you are planning a trip:

1.  All the time you'd normally spend packing cute outfits to wear....don't waste time doing.  Seriously pack all your work-out clothes.  I am wearing a fashion ekkk....with tennis shoes above but am SO thankful I thought to pack them last minunte.  Because Disney is like a giant track.  And cute shoes and outfits are not noticed by anyone.  Seriously.

2.  Back pack must.  Another thing we did last minute was dump Mailey's school pack and take it along.  Everyday I packed snacks and water bottles we refilled.  Because peeps, water is $2.50 a bottle.  And I didn't see that many healthy snack options along the way.  (Although my hubby ate I think 2 Mickey Ice Cream sandwhiches a day!!  Mr. Healthy eater cracked me up!!)

3.  Upon entering the park decide right then the most important rides and run to get a fast pass.  And then wander and enjoy other things.  We missed out on the Soarin' ride because we didn't get the fast pass soon enough.  And guys a 210 minute wait is just stupid.  Yes, that is 210 minutes I said.  That would be a 2.5 hour wait for a ride.  Luckily my kids were rolling with the punches too so any ride too long or fast passes not available said, oh well.  Next time.

I've got a trillion things on the to-do list this week.  Mailey and I head to Virgina Beach Thursday for Art and Soul.  Woohoooo!!  I'll be back with some shorter posts later this week.