Disney World 2014 - Travel Day and Downtown Disney

*Last spring/early summer, John and I started talking about taking the girls to Disney World. We knew Meyers was the perfect age and that Emery would be free until she turns 3, so we had some time. I randomly ran into a Disney planner at a birthday party this past summer and that got the ball rolling. We were thinking January/February 2014, but I had been putting off any planning because I was SO overwhelmed. I haven't been since high school, and John had never been. This girl is a Disney World expert!!! She was fantastic, and the best part is she's free. Disney pays her to plan your trip. There is no way we could have done this without her. I highly recommend her!! After meeting with her, we pinned down some February dates making sure we were 180 days out to get exactly what we wanted. I don't think that is always necessary, but if you want certain reservations, it is. She guided me through everything taking in account my girls' ages and what they liked (ie. Disney Jr. characters, princesses, etc) and planned our entire day every day we were there around that. I LOVE a schedule, so this was a dream for me! And it was even better that I didn't have to do it. She knows more than I do, so I totally trusted every suggestion she gave to us. Her name is Jean Bostic and her email is jean.bostic@offtoneverland.com. I can not say enough great things about her!!! She lives here in town, but can plan your trip even if you live out of town! So that's how our Disney trip came about:)*

 

I am still shocked that we made it out of our house on time to get on the plane to Orlando. Between our ENTIRE family having the stomach bug spread out the week before we left and the Le bonheur Generositea that I was helping with that was the day before we left, I really didn't think we would make it. After our family was better and I was done with the tea the Saturday before we left on Sunday, I still had ALL the errands to run and ALL the packing to do for three people. I left the tea around 2:00 on Saturday and ran errands like a mad woman. I came home, packed, and altered some of the girls' Disney outfits. They were precious, but they arrived on Friday afternoon leaving me little time to make sure they fit right. Somehow I got it all done and managed to even get like 6 hours of sleep that night:)

waiting on John to check our luggage

sleepy but excited!!!

Getting through security was rough. My jacket kept setting the alarm off, but it took like 5 tries to finally figure that out. Emery wanted me to hold her during all of this, and was screaming the whole time. This is after we finally made it to our gate!

already busting out all the goodies in their backpacks for the plane ride!

Originally NONE of our seats were together, but John called the day before and got us on the same row - 3 and 1.

Kindle Fires are worth every penny!

I'm obsessed with this picture of my sweet girls holding hands on the plane!

There was a lot of switching around on the plane. I'd get up and move to sit with them or one of them would sit in my lap on my side:)

NO one napped on the plane, but they both did great! Emery had a few fits, but did far better than I thought she would (which turns out to be the theme of the trip - thank goodness)! Meyers had flown before, but she didn't remember it. She thought it was super fun and loved when it was bouncy:)

What I didn't quite have a concept of before our trip was the HUGE benefit to staying onsite is the Magical Express. We did nothing once we landed except find the magical express. We waited briefly to get on our bus and they drove us to our resort where our luggage magically appeared in our room a few hours later. Worth.Every.Penny. to not have to deal with your small children, carry ons, AND all of your luggage. The magical express section of the airport is decked out with Disney employees/cast members waiting to greet you. It was a fun way to get the trip started. Oh, and it was so hot when we got there. I really studied the weather before we left, but I didn't expect it to feel so hot. In reality, it was probably 75, but when you arrive in long pants and long sleeved shirts, that is HOT!

all smiles on the magical express - still no nap!

Our room wasn't quite ready when we got there, so that gave us a chance to look around the gift shop and eat a late lunch. I don't have a lot to go on, but the Art of Animation's quick service eating area was great. It was laid out so well and was perfect for families. You can just roll your strollers all around in there without feeling like you are going to bump into tables, people, etc. The eating area was packed when we got there, and we weren't quite sure how everything worked yet (magic bands, our mugs, etc). Things started to get a little wonky. I was kind of "done" at that point feeling the exhaustion from everything the week before, and traveling with little ones set in. While we waited (for what seemed like forever) for John to get our food, Emery sort of lost it. I can't say I blame her. She was hungry and exhausted. I kind of wanted to pitch a fit myself in what is supposed to be the happiest place on earth:) It put me a little more over the edge when some people wanted to stare at us like their child has never had a meltdown before!

losing it

this was right before she took the stroller down

After lunch, we were all in better moods. Our room was ready, and we went to bell services to pick up our double stroller that we rented. They also were holding our groceries that we ordered beforehand, but they brought our groceries to our room with our luggage and even kept our cold things cold. Disney customer service is amazing!

We were really pleased with our room when we got there. We stayed in the Lion King suite. We had originally booked a Finding Nemo suite, but our planner let us know (back in October) that we could save $300 to switch to a Lion King suite. The girls have not seen Lion King and had only seen Finding Nemo once, so it really didn't matter to us, so we switched. When we first started planning, John was not interested in staying at a "value" resort, but I talked him into it after hearing about the Art of Animation resort. It opened in 2012, so it's basically brand new. It also gave us the ability to stay in a suite (we knew we wanted a little more room) without spending a gazillion dollars. There are also two bathrooms in the suites, so that is nice, too. It is so geared to kids our age with the four sections Cars, Finding Nemo, Little Mermaid, and Lion King. The pool areas were amazing!!! If we had realized it would cool down at the end of our week, we would've swam the first day we were there, but we didn't. I'm sad we didn't get to experience the pools, but they were so fun to look at. I think the downside to staying at a value resort is that they are further away from the parks with Magic Kingdom being the furthest - probably about a 20 minute shuttle ride. Even with that, John and I both agreed that this is the place to stay when you are going with small children. We would definitely stay here again unless we don't go back until the girls are teenagers, and then we would stay somewhere that isn't a value. The girls loved the room, but I think their favorite part was the telephones. We don't have a house phone, so they loved pretending to use the phones. Meyers also loved that she could reach all of the light switches:)

I have no idea why I didn't take ANY pictures of our room, so I stole these from google:)

this is what mine and john's room looked like

this is the den area - the kitchenette is to the right of the couch and that couch folds out if you needed it to

this is where the girls slept - a table/murphey bed

this is how it stayed the whole time we were there - we didn't need the table

outside of our building - every little detail is so perfect and thought out!

We tried to get girls down for a nap, but that didn't happen. Our luggage and groceries arrived not too long after that, so we headed to Downtown Disney. I had never been to Downtown Disney, so I didn't know what to expect. I knew I wanted the girls to get Mickey ears, so we let them pick them out and this is what they picked. Their names are on the back in the traditional scripty font and that just melted me. John didn't get that because he never had Mickey ears, but I did (even though I have no clue where they are), and I loved that the girls will have these ears to remind them of their first trip to Disney World

our girls in their "Minnie" ears

We walked around for a little bit, and tried to figure out if we wanted to eat dinner there or not. It was getting late with no naps, so we headed back to our resort to grab dinner there, but not before we rode the choo choo train.

I have no idea why this picture is red! But the girls loved this little ride, and I kept thinking "the magic kingdom is going to blow their mind tomorrow!"

Back at our resort, we all grabbed snacky foods and went back to our room to eat, and that began the week of the girls eating complete junk ALL week. I rationalized that it was vacation and they could eat whatever they wanted. They are terrible eaters anyway (Meyers more so than Emery), and I was not about to ruin our vacation by being hardcore mean mommy like I am at home about eating - and that's just to get them to eat period - not even healthy. Ughhhh.....


After what I can loosely call "dinner", we got the girls bathed and in the bed. I wasn't sure how this would go. Emery still sleeps in a toddler bed (with a gate on her door so she can't escape at night), and they have never slept together. The resort provided bedrails, so that was good. After a few minutes of giggles, and then Meyers crying because Emery was getting up, John went in and laid down the law, and they crashed. It was amazing! They slept all night until 6:30/7:00. It was so nice to be able to shut our door and veg out watching TV without disturbing them. We crashed not long after them since we were getting up bright and early to get to the Magic Kingdom the next day:)

*Favorites*
John: magical express
Beth: getting the girls' hats
Meyers: phones in the room
Emery: phones in the room