The month couldn't go by without a trip (or two...again) to see Mickey (I feel like I am on repeat). This time we headed with a group of friends, I think there were 33 of us going to dinner Saturday night. We headed up that Friday after the girls got out of school, checked-in to the hotel, got settled in and then headed to Epcot for the evening, we've been so much to MK late I figured we needed to go somewhere different. Of course the girls screamed when they saw the Mickey arch (even I get a little giddy) and when they saw the Epcot Ball they screamed even louder! Of course they had their list of what they wanted to do, mommy was prepared and had FastPass for what they wanted, even though we really didn't need them. The front of the park was nice and somewhat empty, everyone was in the back since it was the first night of the Food and Wine festival. In just over two hours time we were able to ride Figment, the Nemo ride, see Turtle Talk with Crush, hang out in the Seas and see the animals, meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy (and get their new autograph books mommy made signed) and of course ride the giant Ball. We then grabbed a quick bite to eat before we headed back to the countries (and chaos).
We had a hard time navigating the countries with the double stroller, it was packed and dark. Not sure what I was thinking heading back that way, we had no interest in the festival (mommy and daddy get to go in a few weeks without the kids), we just wanted to get to Norway to meet Anna and Elsa in their new Summer House. We stopped at Mexico along the way and rode the boat tour with the Three Caballeros, we hadn't done this ride yet with the girls and they LOVED it! They love Donald and think he is so silly but I think they might love Jose Carioca, the parrot from Brasil, even more. We have a DVD with the Three Amigos Grandpa brought us back from Brasil, it is a favorite of theirs to watch in the car when we go to Disney and this ride was a lot like the two films. They really enjoyed it and wanted to go again, we have to remember this is here for next time! We got to see what all the hype is about over the new Frozen area (last time we were there they were still building and the construction walls were up), the line for the ride was too long but we waited to see the sisters. Of course C wanted to rush right to Elsa, she loved their shirts and noticed them right away.
I broke down and got the girls light up necklaces, mine that I brought from the Dollar Store must have been old and didn't work. We attempted to walk the countries, have a beer and wait for Illuminations but by the time we got around to France the girls were bickering at each other (and overly tired) and we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. Miss J was fast asleep before we reached the ball. Trying to give them showers after getting back from the park late is not fun!
Saturday we started our morning off with the free buffet breakfast at the hotel and Mickey waffles, of course we had to put some chocolate chips in them. After breakfast we headed over to The Art Of Animation hotel to meet up with the group (most of them were staying there, we chose to rack up some Marriott points) and have some swim time! The girls had fun and it was just enough activity to hopefully let them take a nap! We stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch and then headed back to the hotel to shower and rest up for dinner.
What can I say about dinner in an outdoor pavilion in the middle of September except that it was HOT! I don't know what we were thinking booking Mickey's Backyard BBQ at one of the hottest times of the year! For a BBQ the food was pretty good, I'm glad we were one of the first in and to eat since the music and dancing started right away, gave us all some time to at least eat some food before the chaos started. The kids had a blast dancing their little hearts out with the characters (they were both scared of Goofy), they got some autographs and we ate unlimited Mickey Bars (after all the sweating I did I felt I deserved two!). Definitely a different type of character dining experience and fun, I would definitely go back when the weather is cooler! Before leaving we made it to the bathroom where I discovered the A/C, why hadn't I ventured their earlier in the evening! We had a fun two days making memories and as always everyone is sad to go home.
Our second trip we took on a Friday when the girls were off school. We were up and out the door bright and early to Animal Kingdom with Nana for the day. She had never been and we had only been once and we kinda rushed through it so we were hoping to leisurely enjoy the park. There isn't much for the kids to ride since they are small so we mainly took in the shows and saw the animals. Our first stop was the Tree of Life and to see the Bugs Life show. I had seen this show many years ago when the park first opened but didn't remember it at all. There were signs warning about small kids but we didn't pay much attention to them and marched right in. Well about 30 seconds into the show J was screaming bloody murder and trying to hide from the "bugs", let's just say the next 10 minutes were filled with crying, screaming, hiding, coddling, nurturing and a little laughing. C wasn't as bad but wasn't a fan, I guess we won't be seeing this show again! Afterwards we walked around and saw some animals while we waited for the Lion King show. We saw gorillas, monkeys, birds, giraffes (I think the baby we saw was a giraffe too), elephants, rhinos and other animals I can't remember. We live about an hour from the Tampa Zoo and have never been so this was C's only second time to see animals like this.
We had to do a little coaxing to get J to go inside the Lion King show, she was still freaked out from the bugs and very hesitant but once the show started her eyes lit up and of course she put her fingers in her ears from the loud music, mommy was smart and brought her ear muffins with us, once she put those on she was good to go. Both of the girls were mesmerized with the show, they sang and danced to the music and really enjoyed it. For a 30 minute show they did very well! After the show we headed to the Safari and got to see lots of animals, we saw some ostrich eggs and a zebra pretty darn close (mommy didn't have her camera out)! The girls loved trying to locate animals and calling them out when they saw.
We went and found some A/C for lunch and relaxed a little while we ate. After lunch we went and met Safari Mickey and Minnie. When we went to the BBQ Mickey and Minnie were signing autographs and taking pictures together, at AK they do the same, it's nice to get a different picture and both of them together. The girls love Minnie and run right up to her, I felt a little bad for Mickey as he got passed up at first but then got some hugs! We found Donald, Pluto and Goofy over in DinoLand and got to meet and take pictures with them, we still haven't met Daisy, we need to find her next trip. We had an ice cream break, ice cream and Mickey sprinkles for the girls, Dole whips for the adults and mommy with rum this time! Before we knew it was 3pm and time for us to leave. It seemed like we had been in the park for a long time but as I think back on our day we didn't really do much, if we would have been in the MK our list would have been a lot longer. AK is growing on me, I think it's more worthy of a day trip the way we did it than wasting an entire day when we go there and spend the night. There are things that we didn't get to do so I guess we will have to go back!
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