Disney for Valentine's

Tyler and I have spent many Valentine's Days together. Always doing something different; never having a set tradition. I can remember one of our first in high school, we were on a ski trip. Others were simply dinner and a movie. Then children came and it got even simpler, sometimes celebrating a weekend after or before. This year, we just happened to spend it in Disney! It wasn't planned necessarily. We choose that weekend because of the holiday the Monday after. Somewhere after making the reservations, it dawned on me we would be gone Valentine's Day enjoying our first day at Disney. It may sound cliche but it will be one I'll remember. Not because of the cards or chocolates (which neither of us got) but because we were all together, having fun, with no worries!



So on to the real topic of this post....Disney! We started out going to a breakfast with Lilo & Stitch at the Polynesian, Hawaiian style breakfast. It was very yummy! The kids were just ecstatic to be at Disney and the atmosphere was a fun start to our trip.

 {Ansley displaying her excitement}

 {Stitch}

 {Lilo}

{Mickey, we also saw Pluto that morning}

Afterwards, we rode the ferry back to Magic Kingdom. First up, we watched a little bit of the parade going as soon as we walked in. Then we went and got some Magic Kingdom Sorcerer Mickey cards. A game that uses the Disney villans and heros characters. Garyn was super excited to learn about this from a little boy on the ferry. The first ride we rode was Pirate's of the Caribbean. Next, Ansley and I went to see Ariel while I believe Tyler and Garyn went to barnstormer or Phillarmagic, or both....! We quickly realized we would be splitting up some in order to allow Ansley to see Princesses' while Garyn got to ride some rides Ansley couldn't. I didn't get a picture of Ariel with Ansley. I think I was too taken aback by Ansley asking her what her shells were.....Ariel couldn't stop laughing!

Right afterwards, we went ahead and rode the Ariel ride. Ansley and Layne both loved it, despite their bewildered look in this picture!

The rest of the day was Buzz Lightyear ride, Stitch ride, people mover, go carts and Pooh ride. We stayed for the light show that night which meant we were super tired when we got back to the hotel. (in which we had not unloaded the car yet!)

{Gaston's chair}

{Parade watching spots since we didn't get a closer spot early enough}

{Tinkerbell}

Day two, we went back to Magic Kingdom. We got a later start since we had had a later night. But we rode Peter Pan, Barnstormer again, Dumbo, Phillarmagic again, people mover, Ariel again and Buzz Lightyear again. Ansley and I saw Rapunzel, Merida and Snow White. Ansley loved seeing the princesses and didn't get the least bit scared. Garyn never wants to voluntarily go see characters. The first trip he acted more scared. This trip he wasn't scared and would take a picture with them but he wasn't just biting at the bullet to go. Back to Ansley....she felt a little too comfortable with the princesses. I already said she was asking Ariel about her shells, well then we went into see Rapunzel and Snow White. She literally tried to look down their dresses at their "bobs" as she called them! They both chuckled, not really knowing what in the world she was doing! She has just gotten inquisitive about everything lately. She tries to feed her babies and tells me she wants "bobs" of her own. We get a lot of chuckles over this girl! Layne just chilled and got shuffled around, nothing really bothered him, as usual.

{Dumbo}

{Ansley didn't take naps the whole trip, once we got past naptime though, we chose to avoid the whining and fits and let her have her paci!}

{happy boy}

{Merida. blurry}

{Ariel ride}

{The three trying to all sit in stroller.....despite the fighting, 

they wouldn't know what to do without each other!}

Not long after the above picture, we decided to try Layne out in the carrier. Tyler insisted on holding Layne and pushing the stroller.....super dad!

{Rapunzel}

{Snow White}

{Peter Pan ride}

Moving along! We went to dinner with the Cinderella crew that night at 1900 Park Fare. This was a good dinner and the cast were all talkative and funny. Drusella, one of the step sisters, claimed Layne with a kiss. All the others commented on the lip mark on his cheeks, knowing he had been claimed already. The prince was even calling him his future brother n' law. They were a great character group!

{kiss mark}

{Ansley was just beside herself in all these!}

Day three was Hollywood Studios. We had breakfast at Hollywood and Vine with Disney Jr. characters, most importantly Princess Sophia.

{She wore her Sophia dress and couldn't wait}

{Dancing with Doc}

Garyn couldn't wait for this day because we were going to do Jedi Training at Hollywood Studios. We went straight there after breakfast and waited to sign up for a time later in the day to come back again. He got to learn more about Jedis' and fight Darth Vader! He loved it!

{receiving his certificate}

We also saw the car stunt show, Indiana Jones stunt show, Muppets show, rode Star Tours, saw Minnie Mouse, saw Sully and Mike and rode Toy Story Mania. It was another great day. We were tired but pumped. All the fun makes it easy to keep going! The weather was cool in the mornings but warm and sunny during the day. Perfect, since we had just left 7 inches of snow at home!

That night we stayed and watched Fantasmic. The funny part was that Garyn got scared mid ways through (that is funny, but just listen...). He had his head covered, was shaking and all. Even mentioned that he wanted to leave. Then as soon as it was over, he got up and said "I liked that; I wasn't scared at all!" I couldn't help but laugh! He was super scared the first trip then wouldn't go the second trip. We talked him into it this time. He was glad he went but did obviously get scared again during it! He is getting braver, though!

Day four was Animal Kingdom, swimming and Downtown Disney! Despite all this, it was the most relaxing. We had a short visit at Animal Kingdom this time. The kids really wanted to swim and didn't want to do all we normally do. Mostly, we rode the safari, saw some of the animals, and saw Baloo and King Louie. Last but not least, we rode the Mt. Everest ride with Garyn! He had never ridden and was brave enough to ride it twice, once with daddy and then me! We were so excited that he rode it since he hadn't ever wanted to. And it gave Tyler and I a riding partner!

{Animal Kingdom is the only sign we can remember to take a picture in front of!}

{These characters were so fun and interactive. We just got the Jungle Book movie 

so they were so excited to see them!}

 We also had breakfast at the Tusker House where we got to see Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey!

Next, it was on to swimming and finally looking around our resort some.

{Her new Ariel bathing suit}

{First time swimming}

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{We stayed at All Star Movies}

{Thought this was cute}

{Attempted to get our picture in it and this is what we got, hahaha}

 Downtown Disney was fun, too. We ate a yummy dinner at the Wolfgang Express, got some souvenirs, and ate ice cream. Then got back to pack up for our long trip home! It was a great trip and I just love all the family time we were able to have!

And I can't wait til the next trip!