Disney Day 6

Friday was our last day at the Parks and we enjoyed another hodgepodge day amidst the rain. In the morning we headed over to Hollywood Studies to meander the park, enjoy Toy Story a few last times and partake in the 50s Prime Time Cafe for lunch. We stopped to pick up an ornament cookie cutter at one of the shops and then made the trek over to Epcot.

The rain turned into a bit of a downpour by the time we got to Epcot so we enjoyed a number of the indoor shows including the Energy Show narrated by Ellen DeGeneres. It was nice to sit down for a bit while we watched the shows, the last 5 days of 15+ miles a day plus all the standing in lines had started to take a beating on our joints, I felt like I was limping like a pregnant woman!

We ducked into to a Character spot to take photos with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Chip & Dale.






(Goofy had to give me a kiss lol)

One of the chipmunks was a big flirt and gave me his phone number, hah! The actors fit the characters so well. :)



One of my teen brothers was particularly forlorn that he didn't get to go on the trip with us so we took some photos with the characters and the "insert Nathan here" text and sent them to him.

They also had tvs playing old black and white Disney cartoons that got Brent and I all nostalgic, we ended up picking up a number of Disney Treasures when we came home (which we love to pull out every now and then to reminisce).

After the Character signings we headed over to the World Showcase for one final tour. Of course we had to grab food which included churros in Mexico, Schoolbread in Norway, wraps & fries in America and cheese tarts and chocolate eclairs in France.

After dinner, we headed over to enjoy one final Magic Kingdom parade and fireworks display. We also stopped in Liberty Square at the Christmas shop to pick up some ornaments. Every trip we take, we always try and pick up an ornament or two to commemorate the trip. Hanging the ornaments every year is always so fun. :)









It was a happy but tired couple that headed back to the Contemporary that night. There is something about a trip to Disney World that truly feels magical. We found the whole experience quite romantic. Love love love.


(The Contemporary Resort lite up at night)

The next morning our flights were scheduled to depart at noon. In order to use the Disney transportation service you have to check in 3-4 hours ahead of schedule. We were so tired we narrowly missed being able to have them check-in our luggage for us that morning and were told we would just need to check it ourselves when we got there. This ended up being a total Godsend because when we got to the airport, there was horrible weather in NY (we were scheduled for a layover there) and all flights had been scheduled. By the time we got to the airport all American Airline alternate flights had been booked both that day and Sunday and no rental cars or hotels were available. It was a mess. When we got to the front of the line we somehow got a super nice attendant who checked other airlines without us even having to ask and he managed to rebook us on another airline home at no cost to us! Meanwhile people on either side of us were having borderline screaming matches with other attendants who were not offering any assistance or alternate bookings. Total blessing!

The only catch was we head to get to the other side of the Orlando airport with all our baggage in 20 minutes to get it checked in and make it on our flight. Talk about booking it through the airport! We were literally running through the airport. We just barely squeaked in under the wire and got our bags checked.

It was a slightly stressful way to end the trip but thank goodness for that nice person at the check-in desk! And the fact that we didn't have time for Disney to check our luggage for us! If they had checked our luggage, AA would have had no way to retrieve our luggage for us in time for us to make the alternate flight. It's amazing how God even takes care of the little things! We were home by Saturday night and had a full day Sunday to unpack and get back into the groove before heading back to the work. It was perfect. There is no other way to describe it. I can't way to go back one day! Particularly when we had children of our own to share in all the magicalness. :)

Disney Day 5

Our last two days were glorious hodgepodge days where we parked hopped all day, the timing worked out perfectly as our last two days we experienced rain on and off.

Thursday we kicked off the morning at Magic Kingdom. Mickey's Philharmonic Magic, Carousel of Progress, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Snow White and the Swiss Family Robinson Tree-house all took up most of our morning.




We also had to stop for a few photo-ops! :)



By 11:30 we were on our way over the Epcot where we enjoyed meandering around and enjoying the gorgeous statues completely composed of plants and flowers (the International Flower and Garden show was going on the entire time we were there).













This is just a small colletion from our stay!

Another photo-op or two. ;)


We stopped and did Mission Space and Honey I shrunk the audience before stopping for lunch at France.


We weren't overly impressed with the food at France for the cost. We both got the french onion soup and macaroni and cheese and both were so heavy that we couldn't finish either and we struggled to even enjoy dessert. Bit of a bummer but you win some you loose some. We stopped and did Figment Imagination on our way out and were done with Epcot by around 3:30/4ish.

From there we made the trek over the Hollywood studios for the express purpose of watching the incredible Fantasmic fireworks that only take place 2 times a week. We arrived with plenty of time to spare so we rode Toy Story a couple of times, took in the Narnia show next door and enjoyed dinner at the 50s Prime Time Cafe.


The Fantasmic show almost ended up being rained out but thankfully was only delayed for awhile. It was just as good if not better than everyone had told us! We were so happy we were able to see it. They shoot fireworks off from an island while boats and characters parade the moat and fight out a story on the Island. The fireworks and light effects combined with music are just spectacular. You really get spoiled at Disney with all the fireworks every night. The hardest decision each night is just picking which one to see!

Disney Day 4

Wednesday we took a bus over to Hollywood Studies (formerly MGM studios) and arrived around 10AM. All the walking we were doing each day was starting to wear on our legs and getting up in the mornings was starting to be a bit slower some mornings. :)

We immediately grabbed fast passes for Tower of Terror and then headed over to ride the new Toy Story ride. This became an instant favorite and we rode this ride more than 10 times over the remaining days of our vacation.






After Toy Story, we grabbed fast passes for the Rock N Roller coaster before riding Tower of Terror.


There was a family that rode behind us, mom & dad and two little girls and the mother screamed like a banshee the entire time. The little girls were more terrified of their mother than the ride!

Rock N Roller Coaster was next (we had excellent fastpass times)




While our bodies returned to normal after riding the roller-coaster, we stopped to enjoy the Beauty and the Beast show. It was so well done, it really is like watching a Broadway show!








One final stop at The Great Movie Ride before we stopped for lunch at the 50s Prime Time Cafe.



We LOVED eating at the here! It has a great diner atmosphere and the waiters will yell at you to chew with your mouth closed or get your elbows off the table, it's hysterical! They have black and white tvs playing old shows scattered throughout the restaurant and it's all around just fun. We ended up eating here quite a few times.

After lunch we enjoyed the Muppet 3D show, Lights Motor Action, Indiana Jones, Toy Story (second time!), Little Mermaid show, Toy Story again (#3) and lastly we watched the American Idol performances for the evening. Winner gets a free pass to audition for the real American Idol. The winner this night did a dead on impression of the Little Mermaid Things song followed up by some good old Carrie Underwood (the songs are picked randomly for them).



We headed out around 7:45 and got to Epcot by 8pm for dinner at the World Showcase again. This time it was quesadillas in Mexico, chicken Caesar wrap and fries in America and Chocolate Eclairs from France while we watched the Illuminations show.

We were back to our room by 10 and happily crashed for the night.