Disney World Vacation – February 2016

Well, we’re back from our latest Disney vacation! It was so much fun, and went by entirely too quickly. That is a pattern that always seems to happen. I started this post thinking I would be able to write everything about our 7 day stay in one post. I uploaded all the photos I wanted to include…and then I figured it would be best to break our vacation recap up into a few posts. There were over 50 photos in my original post. I want to tell you all about our vacation, but I don’t want it to be too overwhelming 😉

So. I will be breaking my posts into the four different parks we visited. We visited all of the parks multiple times, with the exception of Animal Kingdom. We only spent half a day there.

This way, I can share all the photos I want, without feeling like it’s too much. Make sense?

Today I’m sharing photos that were not taken at the parks. We had a few dining reservations, and had Disney’s PhotoPass, so we were able to get a lot of nice shots — not to mention the photos we took with our own smartphones!

We were really unsure how Avery would do on the trip…specifically, the airplane. It has been over one year since we have traveled. And, well. He’s two. He sat in-between Jared and me on the flight, and really could not have been more perfect. My parents joined us on our trip, and Lincoln sat with them on the flight. He was able to get some homework done, and kick their butts in checkers a few times. He is seriously a SHARK in checkers!

 

He actually slept the entire flight down. We had an early 6:30 AM flight. He woke up when there was about 30 minutes left, but he was great! The flight home he was awake the entire 3 hours, but we kept him busy between snacks, his LeapPad, and other activities. Lincoln’s always been a rock star traveler, and it looks like little Avery’s following in his footsteps!

When we arrived to the Orlando airport, it was impossible to control our excitement! While Avery didn’t understand what was in store, Lincoln was in full-on Disney mode! …and so was I!!

We were able to check into our resort early. I have mentioned before that we are Disney Vacation Club owners, so we are able to stay at the deluxe resorts. This particular trip we were at Bay Lake Towers. It was our first time there, and my husband and I have already decided this is where our next DVC contract should be. We loved it there. And it was really super convenient being right on the monorail. But our favorite was the view from our room. Watching the Magic Kingdom’s Wishes Fireworks every night from our room was truly magical.

We booked a few dining reservations. One is an old favorite of ours, “Chef Mickey’s.” It is probably my favorite character breakfast. It has all your favorite original Disney characters; “the fab five” — Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald. The breakfast offers something for everyone, and the ambiance can’t be beat!

I had heard amazing things about dinner at 1900 Park Fare, at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. This is another character meal with Prince Charming, Cinderella, and the Ugly Stepsisters. The meal was spectacular, but to be honest, I was a bit disappointed in the character interaction. The ugly stepsisters are known to be hysterical….they just didn’t really do anything. We still enjoyed ourselves, and like I said, the food was delish, maybe we hit them on an off night, who knows.

We always try to spend a few hours at Disney Springs, formerly Downtown Disney, during our stay. If you’re looking to shop, that’s the place to go! The kids can get a little bored there, but we break it up for them between the train ride, carousel, Lego, and toy store.

Our first night there, we had a dinner reservation at Ohana, located at the Polynesian resort. We ate there on a previous trip, and definitely wanted to go back….it was that good! It boasts a delectable Polynesian cuisine. Don’t let that hold you back though if you have picky kids! They offer grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, among other offering for the kiddos.

I indulged on this super yummy drink that is INSIDE A PINEAPPLE!!! It was soooo good. If you ever eat at Ohana, make sure you save room for dessert. They serve the most amazing bread pudding!!

Like I said, the kids could not have been better while on vacation. It’s a bit insane how many meltdowns you see from children while in Disney. I think as long as you listen to your kids, and go at their pace, it will make it much easier on everyone. For example, on our last night there, we had dinner reservations at Disney Springs. Lincoln was just so done and tired. He said he had a tummy ache, and really just wanted to go back to the hotel. You know what we did? My parents headed to Disney Springs, while Jared and I went back to the hotel with Lincoln and Avery.  We ordered dinner in, and relaxed with the boys. There were no meltdowns. Just two happy little boys.

 

I mentioned we had dinner at the Grand Floridian. Can I just tell you all how exquisite that hotel is? It’s absolutely gorgeous!! While there, I wanted to see if the “teddy bear lady” was there. If you don’t know who she is, you can read her story here. I was shopping in a gift shop, when my mom came running in saying, “Kami…she’s here!!” We walked over to where she was sitting and just casually sat down with her. We also had Lincoln and Avery with us. We said hello, and she did the same. She had all of her teddy bears dressed up for Valentine’s Day. She said she only recently started to dress them up for the holidays. Halloween is when she began. She was very quiet, so we didn’t stay too long. We resisted asking to take a photo with her, because I’m sure she gets that quite often. It was pretty cool to meet her, though!

Like I said, the Grand Floridian is beautiful. We had to snap a few photos while there. I think my mom and I appreciated its ambiance more than Jared or my dad, but whatever. We just have good taste! Also….my mom and I are totally rocking matching shirts 🙂

I’m sure we will book a vacation there one day. It’s one of the resorts we can stay at with DVC! I love how this accidental photo of Jared and me came out. My mom was just holding her phone and accidentally pressed the shutter button. I think it looks pretty cool!

We were in Disney for 7 days. Personally, I would love to do a 10 day trip one of these times. I’d like to have a couple of days to just relax around the resorts. There’s so much to see and do! My poor sweet Lincoln cried the morning we left. He just didn’t want the magic to end. Me too buddy, me too!

I cannot tell you enough how much I enjoyed just watching Lincoln and Avery together. They were just so incredibly sweet with one another the entire trip. There’s a 4 year age gap between them, so sometimes it’s hard to get Lincoln to pay much attention to his baby brother. I think he really saw how much Avery looks up to him that week. Avery idolizes Lincoln so much.

Lincoln thought it was pretty cool that my Mickey ears matched his Sorcerer Mickey hat! He was ALL about Sorcerer Mickey this trip. He also ended up with a light-up wand, as well as a stuffed animal and shirt.

Avery took a good hour or so nap every day while strolling around the parks. Our Joovy VaryLight Tandem stroller could not have been more perfect. Avery found it quite cozy, and if I’m being honest, we all appreciated the generous basket underneath to hold our belongings. Folks, THIS is what “Disney wasted” looks like…

 

Aren’t you glad I didn’t cram all of the parks into this post?! I cannot wait to share the rest of our vacation with all of you. Stay tuned!!