Disney Review!

So, it has been almost 2 years since I checked in here...life has been crazy!  But good.  So good.  So many people have asked to hear about our Disney trip, so here ya go!  I will do the best I can to remember everything! 

We left on a Friday morning...at 1:17am, to be exact.  Chris is nuts.  the drive to Orlando was estimated to be around 20 hours, so we planned on driving through to Valdosta (17 hours) to spend the night, then finishing up the drive the next day.  The closer we got to Valdosta, the more Chris started talking about "what if we just went the whole way..." because the kids were doing so great.  We stopped for dinner near Valdosta, asked the kids if they were down to finish the drive that night, and they said they were, so we did!  Although the last 4 hours we were both contemplating jumping out of the car because the kids were regretting their decision and were being fools in the backseats!!  BUT we made it.  We stayed in a Holiday Inn near Disney that night...and then it was on to Disney in the morning! 

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside on Disney property.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  It is one of the "smaller" resorts (but really, NOTHING is small at Disney), and our Disney vacation planner had a great room in a great location reserved for us.  We were on the first floor, super close to a bus stop...it was perfect!  After we got checked in to the resort, we headed out to Epcot!  We debated on weather or not to go to epcot, but in the end, we are glad we did!  The Nemo Ride, Turtle Talk with Crush, Soarin', and more were a lot of fun to ride, and it was a great way to start our vacation before the madness of Magic Kingdom.  We ate lunch at a quick service restaurant in China (sooooooo good!) and for dinner we went to Akershus Royal Banquet Hall for dinner with Belle and other princesses.  The food is traditional Norwegian...it wasn't our favorite meal of the week, but the fact that liv got to meet 4 princesses in one evening was pretty great! 

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom.  It rained all. day. long.  And not just a "summer rain" rain...but a bone-drenching monsoon rain.  The plan that day was to ride rides, and eat lunch at Be Our Guest.  We went to BOG around 11:00 to eat, and there was a sign out that they were already full for lunch that day!  I was so disappointed!  I tried getting a fast pass for our last day there, but they were already gone.  So we wound up having hot dogs and fries for lunch.  Not the same!  :) Everyone was really tired and grouchy and wet and overstimulated...I will never forget chris and I pushing that double jogging stroller through the pouring rain, all 3 kids inside the stroller covered by the rain guard, Livy having a Toddlers In Tiaras-worthy temper tantrum while were going allllllllll the way across Magic Kingdom.  Talk about Walk of Shame!!  We had late dinner reservations that night for Ohana at the Polynesian.  That was the best meal of the week!  they had coconut bowling and racing for the kids, and the food was amazing!  so we ended day 2 on a high note! 

day 3 we went to Hollywood Studios.  we LOVED this park.  there was so much to do and see.  we started with breakfast at Hollywood and Vine with the Disney Jr characters.  the food was really really good, and they had coffee!!!!!!!!  wade did jedi training, owen rode rockin' roller coaster (wade was too short), they rode tower of terror, the star wars ride, the toy story ride, so much!!  we ate an early dinner at Mama Melrose and rode more rides, then went and watched Fantasmic in the VIP section...thanks to our vacation planner!  Fantasmic was fun! 

day 4 we started at Animal Kingdom.  We did Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House, and we HIGHLY recommend that!  The food was so good!   the boys rode everything they wanted to, and we were done there by lunch time.  we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios again so the kids could ride more rides (they LOVED that park!), then a few hours later we went back to epcot so they could ride a few more favorites, then we ate a quick service dinner at a little place in Morocco. 

Day 5 was our last day!  we spent 13 hours at magic kingdom, and I am happy to report that it went so well!  livy did the bibbidi bobbidi boutique and we almost died because it was so freaking cute!  on a whim, early in the day, we walked back to Be Our Guest (it was around 10:00) and the lady told us that we could get in line and wait for the place to open for lunch!  so we took turns...one of us would stand in line and the other would take the kids on rides.  :) when they finally opened for lunch, we waited for 5 minutes and got in!  it was SO COOL.  for those who don't know, BOG is in "The Beast's" castle from Beauty and the Beast.  The details in this place are amazing and we are so glad we got to go!!!  by the time we got in, the line was alllllll the way into Fantasyland.   The food was really good, the best quick service we had all week.  the desserts were even better...I had a cupcake topped with "the grey stuff" ('try the grey stuff it's delicious, don't believe me ask the dishes!') and it was really yummy!  for dinner that night, we went to Cinderella's Royal Table.  Chris died a little, spending $200+ for dinner (we were out of our meal plan credits...whoops!) but it was fun.  The restaurant is surprisingly small, which is probably why it is so difficult to get reservations.  We made these reservations 185 days before we ate there!  the food was....okay.  definitely not worth $200+. but we have eaten in the castle, liv got to meet princess jasmine (who she hadn't met yet!) and that is that.  if we go back to Disney...we won't eat at the castle again.  we rode rides all day, watched livy transform into a princess, wade become a knight, we got to see owen just be a kid!  it was so much fun! 

I am going to do another post about tips for Disney...but my brain is fried for now.  :)

so, it was a whirlwind week!