Disneyworld

We arrived in Orlando on Sunday, January 16th around 12pm, got our luggage, and headed toward the rental car place. Because my parents would be meeting us there we decided to rent a van and, surprisingly, we LOVED it! There was so much space and everyone was comfortable, Nick even enjoyed driving it. If we had more kids I think we'd consider one. Anyway, my parents didn't get in until around 4pm so we drove to a nearby Babies R Us to pick up some things we needed for the kids, then headed back to the airport to pick them up. After stopping at a Disney discount ticket business to get our tickets we were off to find our condo. The next time we go on a vacation we will definitely look into renting a condo again. You just can't beat having 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a full kitchen to utilize. Every morning we made our own breakfast and packed up snacks, then headed for the parks. A few times we made dinners at the unit as well which saved a bunch of money! One of the bedrooms was decorated with Mickey paraphernalia, and had two twin beds so we thought why not let the kids sleep together in the same room? Big mistake! Josh was so scared and woke up every few hours until finally he and Nick swapped places. Even then, J would not sleep next to me. Needless to say, we were exhausted the next day!





On Monday morning we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom, even though there was a 90% chance of rain...really, what were we thinking?? We got there and tried to get on a kids' ride but were told that we couldn't ride because of the lightning. At that point it started to sprinkle so we took cover in a gift shop for 45 minutes, hoping it would stop. It didn't, it just got worse, so we decided to leave. On the way out Nick decided to ask about receiving a rain check. The customer service lady said, "it's raining but the park is still open" DUH! We are all drenched (including our small, cranky children), does it look like we want to hang out and get rained on!? Nick kept pushing it and we got some day passes for free. We ran to our van and went back to the condo where we all just relaxed and watched TV. That night, when the weather cleared up, we went to Downtown Disney and looked at some of the shops then ate at Rainforest Cafe, afterward we went to Ghiradelis Chocolate shop and got hot chocolate and sundaes! Yum!!!!


Trying on hats in the gift shop with Papa Stan










Tuesday we went to Disneyworld!!! It wasn't very crowded and the weather wasn't bad. We decided to stick it out as long as possible since the park closed at 6pm. I had two favorite moments that day; one was watching the "Dreams Come True" show with Mickey and friends, and most of the princesses, then watching the Monsters Inc. comedy show. The Mickey show was cool because Maya looked so happy and excited as she watched the characters...it was just how I remembered experiencing Disney at a young age. The Monsters Inc. show was awesome because there are real comedians backstage who play the characters in the show, and they improvise as the audience plays along. It was very entertaining! We headed home around 4pm for a swim while my parents took a break from us :) . Poor Josh was so tired, but he slept great that night! Thankfully, the condo owner had a porta-crib and a large walk-in closet, Josh was so happy to see a baby crib and hugged it after Nick set it up for him in his new "room".






Sweet little face watching the Mickey show.


Wednesday we attempted the Animal Kingdom again, along with every travel group visiting from Brazil. It was crazy BUSY!!! We waited the longest for any ride at that park, the safari ride was an hour and a half wait, and BRUTAL with kids. Maya was all over the place and probably driving the people around us crazy. My parents took the kids to watch a parade while Nick and I went on the Everest ride. So fun and scary! We found an awesome jalapeno-cheese filled pretzel, which was by far my favorite park snack! It was like going on a mini-date with my man. When we met up with the rest of the family, the parade was still going on and we watched our sweet kids giving fives to all of the characters in the parade. That's what it's all about! I'm sure a lot of people question why we'd take such young kids to Disneyworld, but seriously, they loved it and all of the hard work/money was worth it! Maya still talks about our last trip to Disneyworld last year when she was almost three so I'm hoping she'll remember this trip for a long time as well, especially since we won't be going again for awhile!



I love this picture...well, except for the fact that I cut Nick's face in half. The kids both have cute faces. This was on the Safari Ride.


Taking a break. Notice J is trying to put his arm around me. LOVE HIM!


The kids with my cute mom, Debbie

Playing at the condo with my dad. Maya and Papa have a funny relationship. He loves to tease her and she dishes it right back to him. The night before we left they were cuddling/wrestling and all of a sudden Maya stops and says, "Papa, I love you but you are stinky." She is a freak about smells right now! If your breath isn't minty fresh, she'll tell you all about it.

Thursday we went to Hollywood Studios which has a few rides, but mostly you spend your time going to various shows and tours. Nick and I went on the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster and had a blast. Then my mom, dad, and Nick got fast passes to the Tower of Terror. I refuse to ride this one because I hate being dropped from the sky. While they went on the ride I took the kids to see The Little Mermaid musical. It was a great show...Maya has been obsessed with Ariel for some time now. Before leaving we decided to watch a car show - Josh was in Heaven! (& Nick too) They had 4-5 racecar drivers doing different stunts and scenes. Josh's face was priceless! When the cars went behind the large building props he'd say, "Where go??" and shrug his shoulders and put his chubby hands up. Then when they'd come speeding around the corner he'd say, "WoW!!!" He absolutely loved it. Maya, on the other hand, was bored after a few minutes. She did have a ton of questions about everything going on though. After naptime and a swim we headed to Giordano's Pizza! We first found out about this place when Nick and I visited Chicago over Thanksgiving, 2005. There is no relation so we didn't get a discount :( Awesome deep dish pizza, we also tried a thin crust which was just as good!


Josh loving the car show


Josh playing with Nick in the pool. Of all things to forget at home, I left his swimming suit! So we just used some jammie bottoms.





Giordano's Pizza


On Friday and Saturday we spent half days at Disneyworld. We were able to go on everything that we wanted to without waiting in the morning, then we saw the Monsters Inc. show again since they are always different with new material. My dad even got put up on a large jumbotron before the show started..underneath his picture they put something about how he will buy churros for everyone after the show. It was funny.















Our last monorail ride. Don't you just love Josh's 'coon skin cap? My mom had to get him one!


My mom came home with us on Sunday, January 23 to FREEZING temps and lots of snow. We were sad to say goodbye to my dad who had to get back to work. We had a great time in Florida!!! We originally planned on going on a romantic getaway, just Nick and me, to celebrate his graduation but decided the kids had sacrificed too by not having a dad around for awhile. :) Hopefully we will get away on that romantic trip this summer or fall.