Hotel AND Hollywood Studios

We surprised the kiddos this past week with a trip to Florida. They were under the impression we were driving to TN for a few days in order to check on our rental house there. The thought of driving over 20 hours in two days did not excite them. Little did they know we had packed and planned for an entire week at Disney, and for so many reasons, it was one of our favorite vacations yet. First, we had the chance to introduce Azure to the world of Disney. In times past our trips have been shorter and the "baby" has stayed with family or friends. This trip was the Ballard family in it's entirety, and they were all perfect ages to enjoy the magic of Disney. Second, the planets aligned and snow fell from the sky, so instead of the kiddos missing five days of school, they only missed one. Third, not one of us got so much as the sniffles on this trip. Finally, our kids are just awesome. They were happy and positive and fun. We love making these memories with them that will last a life time and beyond.

After checking in we headed straight for Hollywood Studios. One of the kiddos favorite parts of Disney is here where they run free around the set of Honey I Shrunk The Kids. They love it! We also got in the Muppet's Show (which Azure loved) and a very nice worker gave us fast passes for the Toy Story ride (which Haley loved). After enjoying a late lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater, Steven, Kadyn, and Thatcher had a go at the Tower of Terror. Once Thatchers legs stopped shaking, I grabbed the kiddos some ice cream while Steven and Kadyn enjoyed the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. By that time the parks were closing and we headed to our hotel for bathes and dinner. It was a fantastic first day.

 

 

 

 

 

Animal Kingdom

I can guarantee that anything with the word "animal" in it will for sure be a hit amongst the Ballard children. The Kilimanjaro Safari alone was pretty darn amazing. Elephants, White Rhinos, and Giraffes were just a few of the beautiful animals on their preserve. Mix that in with a petting zoo, amazing rides, a some fantastic shows, and you've got a park that will keep our kiddos busy for hours. Literally! We did run into a few hiccups this day when Haley realized her height deficiency would not work in her favor. She was very sad to have not made the cut this year for "the yeti ride". Things took a quick turn for the better when we rediscovered the dinosaur play ground and dig site. From there it was smooth sailing and smiles all around. They eventually had to kick us out and we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner at Wolfgang Puck.

Epcot

We have a renewed respect for Epcot after our last visit. Not that we didn't before, but we never really had the chance to spend an entire day there and discover what awesome attractions Epcot had to offer. We visited Crush from Finding Nemo and spent a good amount of time in their massive aquarium. We went Soarin' over various beautiful sights from around the world, built planets in the future, and assembled full race cars that we later got to test drive against fellow builders in order to see whose vehicle would perform the best. Any riders that couldn't ride (based on heights or no desire) got to hang outside with Mom or Dad and eat Mickey Bars, Pretzels, and Ice Cream Sandwiches. Personally, I thought it was a pretty sweet deal. At lunch time we ran over to Japan and enjoyed our first experience at a Hibachi Steak House. Steven and I loved the entertainment and the food. The kiddos mainly just loved the entertainment. While they ate pretty well, they admitted later that Japanese food would not make their "favorites" list by a long shot. Oh well. It was a fun experience to try out as a family. As evening approached the sky grew dark and rain began to fall. Steven and Kadyn took this opportunity to ride a few more attractions with everyone fleeing the park. The remaining kiddos and I took this opportunity to flee the park. Twenty minutes later we were safely inside our hotel room with hot showers running from both bathrooms. A perfect ending to a fantastic day.

Magic Kingdom

We saved the Magic Kingdom for Thursday, knowing that Disney's "magic hour" would allow us sixty minutes at the start of the day to enjoy the park at it's emptiest. While the hour was fairly beneficial, the week we had picked to visit was one of Disney's "down" times anyway. Add that fact in with their new Fast Pass method and we could pretty much go on any ride, at any time, with very few lines. It was heaven. We met princesses, enjoyed their famous cinnamon rolls, and rode ride after ride. We defeated Zurg, met Stitch, and discovered that Azure loves fast rides and Haley hates scary ones. We enjoyed a lunch buffet at the Crystal Palace and were surprised to find Winnie The Pooh and his friends walking around to greet everyone. It was awesome. Our families favorite new attraction was Enchanted Tales with Belle, when the kids got to recreate the story of Beauty And Beast for Belle herself. Steven and I would divide and conquer into two categories at various moments in the day. Those who wanted to ride the adult rides, and those who didn't. The "adult rides"  group included Steven, Kadyn, and Thatcher (when tall enough). They rode Pirates multiple times and jumped on Big Thunder Mountain on numerous occasions. By the end of the night us "slow riders" had attended Monster Inc. Laugh Floor fives times and could circle in our Dumbo elephant as long as we wished. It was truly a magical day.