Disney World. Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Day 3

This was probably the least exciting day. In the morning we headed to the Animal Kingdom Park. The highlight was meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Lion King show. Disney shows are superb, that's for sure.

 The kids are patiently waiting to greet Minnie Mouse

Here she is. Kira goes first

 Then Aaron gets a kiss:)

 Meeting Mickey the Ranger

After taking these pictures we watched Lion King show. It was awesome! I'll post a video later. Kira sat through the entire show quietly. Aaron got a bit antsy by the end.

Then we visited their "zoo" which was not very impressive. The safari rides, though, was fun. We passed hippos, flamingoes, elephants, rhinos, lions, ostriches, etc. The ride was bumpy and fun.

If you look closer, in the background you'll see a safari truck just like the one we were in.

After the ride we headed to the hotel for lunch. Kira was having a bad day, everyone was tired and hot. I think the naps were not successful that day either, at least with Aaron. So when we visited Epcot in the afternoon it was Aaron's turn to have a bad evening:) We rode Space Ship Earth, Nemo Ride, ran into old friends of ours who we knew from Indianapolis years ago and who now live in FL, had dinner, rode Grand Fiesta Tour (and all this with unhappy kids) and headed back to hotel. I am hoping to come back to Epcot some day when the kids are a bit older. It seemed like a fun place to visit.

Disney World. Magic Kingdom. Day 2. Cliff's Birthday

On Friday we woke up early to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom for our breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and his friends.

Tip#1: There is no good way to get to Magic Kingdom. That day we decided to take a bus (the bus drops you off right at the entrance gate) and waited for it for a long time. Every other bus came but not to Magic Kingdom. We decided to drive, which is not the most convenient way either because you have to park your car in a huge parking lot, either walk a long way or take a tram to the transportation center where you take either monorail or a ferry to the park:)

Tip#2: If you want to take great pictures in Magic Kingdoms before the park gets flooded with people, make an 8:05 am breakfast reservation at a restraunt in the park.

So, here is the Birthday Boy and the kids waiting for the Magic bus which never came. That day we all dressed in Mickey outfits to celebrate Cliff's Birthday.

 Finally, got on monorail, on the way to the park.

This trip I have more pictures of myself than any other times because Cliff was behind the camera.

Hold on, the princess needs a moment (one of many:)).

 These pictures were taken before the park was open to the public.

At breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and the Gang. One of the best meals we had.

 Kira's kissing Tigger. We were the first table for the characters to visit.

And then Cliff had his Magical Birthday Celerbration. He got a Happy Birthday Pin, a signed card from Winnie the Pooh and the Gang, and a cupcake, and a Happy Birthday song from the staff. He was ecstatic!

And then we started the race:) On the flying carpets of Aladdin.

Then we watched a part of Pirate Show. The guy looked very much like Johnny Depp.

On the Pirates of Caribbean ride. Normally we wouldn't take a picture of this but we were stuck on this ride for about 1 hour before evacuated (Cliff ate too much breakfast the the boat wouldn't move:)) "Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, the Pirate's Life for Me..." On the bright side as a compensation we got 4 special Fast Passes to use anywhere any time.

Good thing Kira fell asleep right when we got stuck otherwise I am not sure what I would do with a baby who is trying to climb out of the tiny boat for 1 hour.

 After lunch at Cosmic Rays Cafe where they also sang Happy Birthday to Cliff we drove around to get the kids fall asleep.
Tip#3. Not news flash but napping kids=happy afternoon, not napping kids is a recipe for a disaster afternoon.
Every day we would break for naps during the hottest time of the day.

While driving we spotted an airplane writing in the sky

Kids having a snack at the hotel after a nap.

 And the rest of the evening at Magic Kingdom. Riding the Mad Tea Party. Kira rode every ride she was tall enough for. A brave little monkey.

 It's been a long day at Magic Kingdom

 The Cinderella Castle lights up at night with different colors. The park is the best at night: the lines are shorter, the weather is cooler, and the park is more beautiful.

Disney World Day 1

It was a busy day. We woke up at 5:30 am. Kira woke up seconds later. We had to wake up Aaron at 5:50. The taxi was waiting outside to take us to Dulles Airport. We flew Jetblue Airlines to Orlando, FL. That's probably our new favorite airline: spacious seats, unlimited snacks and drinks, tv screens in front of each seat. The kids did great. By tradition we had breakfast at Potbelly's at the airport.
Upon arrival, we rented a car (Nissan Rogue) and drove to Coronado Springs, our Disney resort. It's a moderate category resort, and that's exactly what it was-I don't have anything bad to say and nothing particularly good. Just average. Kira took a nap while Aaron and Cliff checked out the hotel's pool. I never got to see the big pool because the hotel is so big that you'd have to drive from our section to the pool section.  And that day was the only day we used the pool. The rest of the vacation we were busy running the race to the rides:) As we look back we realize that the vacation could have been a bit more relaxing if we didn't make a goal of hitting every ride and beating the crowds, but just letting the kids loose and enjoy the surroundings. Magic Kingdom is a magical place.

Aaron taking a bath after the swimming pool

Kira just woke up from her nap.

Chugging her afternoon milk at the hotel

After brushing up we went to explore our hotel. In the main lobby of Coronado Springs.

Kira's pointing at the fountain. Aaron's looking at all the money on the bottom of it.

That  evening we decided to take it easy and went to Hollywood Studios. We watched the Jedi Training Academy show where they take kids from the crowd (you actually have to sign up the very first thing in the morning when the park opens if the child wants to participate) to train them to be Jedi (from Star Wars). Then suddenly Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers appear and the kids fight him with their light sabers. I thought it was one of the coolest shows. I thought Aaron would want to participate but he said he didn't like the lady (Jedi Master in the  background)because she talks too loud. It was probably the whole show that made him a little timid.

Then we watched Muppets 3-D movie/show, and had dinner at ABC Commissary which we didn't particularly like.

 Spotted the Green Army Man from Toy Story and took a picture with him.

 

Our little Jedi with light saber on the way to hotel

That's how the kids fell asleep that night. I put them to bed while Cliff had to go to Target (we can't travel anywhere unless there is Target nearby because we always forget something)