Disney Day 4

 Today's destination....Animal Kingdom!

Animal Kingdom is normally only a half day park for us.  No matter how hard we try, we just don't stay interested enough to keep us there for a full day.  However I thought this trip could be different because the boys are finally tall enough to ride Avatar Flight of Passage!!!!  We were so excited!!

Since you can only get a Fast Pass for one of the Avatar rides, we had to rope drop Flight of Passage, which meant another early morning and getting to the park right as it opens.  You can see just how busy things are with people trying to do the same thing we are.  Crazy!

We made it in and walked (okay...maybe walk/ran) as fast as our legs could carry us back to Flight of Passage.  Miles was still too little to ride, so he and I kept busy exploring while Ryan went first with Owen and Joe. 

They came off the ride and LOVED it!!  In fact, Ryan crowned it his new favorite ride.  They were more than happy to go back through the line with me and ride it again.  That's one of the best things with Rider Switch.  If Miles decides he doesn't want to go and one of us stay back with him, the boys get to ride the rides twice in a row with barely any wait.

I mean, how cool is this ride queue??  They did such a great job with the design for Pandora!

 And the ride itself is SO amazing!  It's a simulator ride, which is a bit of a stretch for my motion sickness limits, but I actually did OK.  You sit on what I would equate to a saddle, or one of those motorcycle rides in an arcade, and there is a giant movie screen in front of you.  You strap in, put on special goggles and the ride starts.  It's like you are on a banshee flying through Pandora.  You dip and dive, all while the saddle you are sitting on is inflating and deflating as if it were a real banshee breathing.  Seriously, such a cool ride.

Then After Flight of Passage we made our way over to one of our other Must-Do's, the Safari.

It's so cool, and I know I should be in complete awe, but I think we're somewhat spoiled by having two amazing zoos so close to use at home.  We go often and are able to see similar animals.  So even though this is a bit different and shows the animals in more of their "natural" habitat, it falls a little short.  Don't get me wrong, I really like it, but there are just things at the park that are more exciting to me.  Like if you told me I had to pick between the huge, delicious cinnamon roll we typically get for breakfast here and the safari...I would probably pick the cinnamon roll.  😋  Maybe that just speaks more to my love of sweets!

Speaking of deliciousness, no trip to Animal Kingdom would be complete without lunch at Tusker House.  It's one of Ryan and my favorite buffets.  There are a lot more unique food choices than you find at the regular buffets.  And seeing the characters in their safari gear is an added bonus.  

While we were walking around after lunch we came across these artists with hand made puppets.  They moved around just like real animals.  The boys thought they were super fun.

We then went on Kali River Rapids and got absolutely soaked!!  I had every intention of trying to stay at Animal Kingdom for the full day, but the troops were fading fast.  We've had multiple late nights and early mornings and everyone (myself included) needed some rest.  After waiting for our bus for nearly 20 minutes, we headed back to the hotel and all fell asleep for 3 hours!!!  That's not even an exaggeration!  Clearly, the long days were catching up with us.  Napping never felt so good!  

When we all woke up we decided to venture to Magic Kingdom for the night.  

We had no plans and it was fun to just play it by ear.  We ate at Cosmic Ray's for dinner and then Owen bought the souvenir he wanted - Rey's staff.  He's been eyeing it since Monday and couldn't wait anymore.  Then we went on a few rides...

As we were picking out rides, we passed by the teacups.  There are a few things you should know about me.  #1) I get super motion sick.  Spinning, reading in a car...even swinging these days. But #2) I love creating special memories. I remember going on the teacups when I was younger and laughing hysterically.  I remember looking at the pictures after the fact and remembering how much fun it was turning it as fast as we could with our parents on the ride.  So as we passed by the teacups, I thought what the heck?  We're doing this!  So I gave Ryan the camera, took the boys and we went.  

I did it!!  I survived without vomiting all over the ride!!  It actually wasn't too bad.  I mean, I wouldn't ride it multiple times in a row, but once I can handle.  Seeing the boys smiles made it all totally worth it.  :)

I even felt good enough to finish out the night with one of Joe's favorite snacks....churros!!

When we had enough, we went to catch a bus to come home.  Waiting for the buses at Disney is one of my least favorite things.  It can feel like you are waiting FOREVER!!  That's actually one of the reasons we started staying at the deluxe resorts...to minimize our bus travel.  I know I keep talking about the benefits of staying over by the Boardwalk, but I have one more to add.  There are 4 different buses you can catch that all bring you back to essentially the same area.  We can catch the Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk, or The Swan & Dolphin bus.  No matter where we get dropped off we are just a short walk to our hotel.  It makes it much quicker and SO nice when all you want to do is get back to your hotel!  

Another fun-filled Disney day in the books!

Disney Day 3

Today is our Magic Kingdom day!  We started the day off with breakfast at O'hana.
It's a character breakfast, featuring one of the kids favorites...Stitch!!

Then it was just a short ride over to Magic Kingdom on the monorail.

We watched the welcome show while waiting for the park to open,

then tried (key word, TRIED) to get a quick family pic on our way over to Tomorrowland.  

We had never done Space Mountain with the boys before because we figured it was a little too fast and dark, but this was the year they decided they wanted to try it.
Owen, Joe and I went first while Ryan waited out with Miles.

No joke, I rode the whole ride like this, with an arm on each of them, to help them feel more secure.  In their defense, it's pitch black for the entire ride, so you have no idea when you're going to dip or turn.  It's a little unnerving for anyone.

After the first ride, Joe decided he would sit it out while Owen went back on with Ryan.

I was honestly SO proud of him for even going on once!!  Last year he would barely get near a roller coaster, and now he was going on Space Mountain!!  So brave!!

While we waited for them, Joe, Miles and I took a spin on the People Mover.

 Next up...Splash Mountain, 

 and Thunder Mountain.

I have been so incredibly impressed with how brave Joe and Miles have been.  Owen has always been fearless, but Joe has grown so much this year.  He is going on all of the roller coasters, and even Miles is at least trying them one time.  Most of them terrify him and he doesn't want to go again, but at least he's attempting them.  SO proud!!

We rounded out the morning with Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh.  

 Then we went on Mine Train....twice!!  Ryan wasn't feeling the best, so I used his rider swap to go a second time with the boys.

 This picture below is probably my all-time favorite ride picture.  Knowing how scared Joe was of this ride last year, seeing how incredibly excited and happy he is in this picture makes me smile so big every single time I look at it.

We had some snacks, met some characters, then went back to the room to swim.

For dinner tonight we went back to the Polynesian and ate at O'hana.  I've been trying for years to get a dinner reservation there and have never been able to.  So I didn't even care that it was on the same day we had breakfast at the same restaurant.  I was excited to go!  

We walked from our hotel (here's another great picture of it below) through Epcot, 
then took the monorail to the restaurant.  

The food did not disappoint.  They serve it family style, and there was honestly SO much of it!!!!  They start you off with pineapple coconut bread and a salad.  Then bring a plate of dumplings and chicken wings.  Next up, the main course.  They walk around with skewers of chicken, shrimp and steak and give you as much as you want.  Then there is a huge plate of stir fried noodles and vegetables.  We were so incredibly full and we didn't even eat everything they brought.

As if that wasn't enough, they brought out a huge piece of bread pudding and rice krispie treats for dessert.  SO good!!!!

After dinner we took the monorail over to Epcot so we could walk back to our hotel.  By this time it was getting pretty late, but we're on vacation and figured we may as well take advantage of the shorter ride times.  Plus it was kind of fun exploring the park at night.

Ryan and the older boys went for a late night ride on Test Track, 

while Miles and I explored the aquarium.

 

I don't think we made it back to our hotel until almost 11PM that night, but it was such a fun day and totally worth the crabby kids we'll most likely wake up to.  ;)