Disney World 2010- Day Five

Up today…Hollywood Studio’s! I still have a hard time calling it that…I think it will always be “MGM” to me…ha! I knew Toy Story Mania was a hot ticket ride, so as soon as we walked in I pretty much RAN there to get us fastpasses. Matt and the girls stayed behind to watch the High School Musical show.

Sami was super excited to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It was a really neat show…it took everything in Sami not to sing along! Next we went to learn a little more about animation, and ran into some fun people on our way…

Lotso…(who smelled wonderful!)

Mr. and Mrs. Incredible

Sami and I learned how to draw Donald Duck…we learned it is a lot harder than we thought! Ha! Matt and Skylar explored and came across some animators…they thought Skylar was pretty cute. They were trying to talk to her through the glass…Matt said it was fun!

We rode some more fun stuff…then it was time for our reservations at Sci Fi Dine in Theatre. This was SO neat! It is just like being in a real drive in! You even eat in little cars!

This restaurant makes you feel like you are really outside at the drive in, so we were pretty surprised when we walked outside to discover it was POURING rain! Not too big of a deal with the exception that the stroller was outside, and now soaking wet. Matt and Sami decided to run through the rain and puddles to go see the Muppets 3D…which is his favorite thing in all of Disney! Skylar and I were waiting at the restaurant…it got REALLY crowded as people sought refuge from the rain…so we moved outside to the hostess stand (it had an umbrella) to people watch. We were dry, and not being touched by strangers…win-win for us! Ha!

The rain let up so we went to meet Woody…

Then our time opened up for us to ride Toy Story Mania…the regular line was 100 minutes long! YIKES! We waited about 10 in the fastpass line…and I have to admit…this ride was fun, but it is NOT 100 minute wait fun. I would have been really disappointed if we had waited that long for it.

We hit the Great Movie ride next…Sami was excited to see Hannah Montana’s clubhouse thing from her movie…but I didn’t have the camera out to snap a picture…

It started raining again…and with a wet stroller and 4 wet people…we decided to call it a day…

We did have fun splashing in the puddles waiting for the bus back to the resort though…

Disney World 2010- Day Four

On Day 4 we went to Epcot. I wasn’t sure how Sami would feel about this park…I will admit…it is probably my least favorite. As soon as we walked in we went to Spaceship Earth. Sami thought it was pretty neat…

I made a mad dash to Soarin’ and grabbed 2 fastpasses…then we went to the “The Sea” to see what Nemo and his friends were up to. Finding Nemo has always been one of Sami’s favorite movies, so this cute ride didn’t disappoint. We spent some time looking around at all of the fish before a showing of “Turtle Talk with Crush”…it is SO funny!!!

It wasn’t quite time for our fastpass time, so we went over to the Land and rode the Living with the Land boat. Sami spotted a lot of hidden Mickey’s while we were on our little ride! It was finally time for Soarin’, so Matt and Sami went off to ride while Skylar and I ate some cotton candy. We could have “baby swapped” for this ride, but I’m not really a fan of Soarin’…so I opted out. Sami LOVED it!!!! I would say if she had a “Top 5” favorite rides list…Soarin’ would for sure be on it!

She, however, had NO desire to ride Test Track. I was a little disappointed because I think this one is fun…but we had said from the beginning this trip was about the girls…so maybe next time she will be up for a fast ride. =)

Next we spent some time in Innoventions…

Matt and Sami testing out some uh…stuff???

Sami learning about safety during a storm, and planning ahead…

Sky enjoying a snack…

There was a neat game about saving your money for something you REALLY want…Sami chose to save up for a new room…

It was almost time for our late lunch reservation at Akershus. This is the castle in Norway where you can meet all of the princesses. Sami was super excited to meet Ariel! She changed into her Ariel (the mermaid) costume…and off we went.

When you walk in you meet Belle. You have your picture taken with her, and they bring it around to you while you are eating. They actually do this at all of the character meals…but here the picture is actually included in your meal. (It is at Cinderella’s Castle as well…) Belle gave Skylar a kiss on her head…it was hard to get a picture of the lipstick marks…but it was SO precious!

While we waited for the princesses to make their rounds we went to the cold buffet and got some meats and cheeses. Then…it was time to order. The girls were safe with their kids menu choices…and Matt will eat ANYTHING, but they serve authentic Norwegian food at Akershus. Sigh…I ordered some chicken thing and could only stomach two bites… But the interactions the girls had with the princesses totally made up for my lunch of cold meat and rolls! Ha! First up…Cinderella…

Followed by Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Then Snow White…

Then I heard a huge gasp…because Ariel was making her way over…

Ariel LOVED Sami’s hair things (they were her!), and loved when Sami told her she is her favorite…

She spent a LONG time visiting with Sami…

Then Sami got her own lipstick kiss…(it is on her forehead…the flask kinda washed it out…)

Mmmm…..dessert with every meal…

When we left here we back tracked one country to Mexico so Sami could do the Kidcot stations. We rode the boat ride inside the Mexico pavilion and Skylar loved it! It features Donald Duck…and she loves ducks!

I made Sami a Passport before we left. At each country someone wrote her a little message in their native language. She also made a mask which she progressively worked on in each country.

Right before we got to Japan we stopped to get a funnel cake. We were sharing it when a couple of ducks approached. We knew better than to feed them, but apparently other visitors haven’t been so wise. One duck got REALLY close…flew up onto the ledge we were sitting on and STOLE the funnel cake right off of Matt’s lap! I had a similar run in with a Canadian goose at a zoo once, so I was ready to head to Japan!!! My main excitement for Japan- picking pearls! It is something I had done all both of my other trips to Epcot, so I was excited to share this with Sami.

Sami picked the bigger pearl-hers is even a pinkish color! We didn’t get them set there because I bought Cinderella cages for necklaces before we left. I look forward to picking pearls with Skylar one day…

It started to sprinkle a little bit so we took refuge in France…and look who we came across…

No one else was in line to see her…can you believe it??? Sami spent a lot of time talking about books with Belle…so sweet!

Then she posed for some pics…

Here is Sami at the Kidcot station in the United Kingdom…

I just happened to look around the corner of this little shop, and I found…

Traveling to all of those countries in one day sure does make you tired…and it is always fun to come “home” to fun surprises…

Disney World 2010-Day Three

After our late night at Mickey’s No So Scary Halloween Party we slept in a bit-then headed over to Animal Kingdom. As soon as we got there we took a safari ride. I didn’t take any pictures of this, but we had fun! Ha!

Then we took the walking tour. Sami has been really interested in birds lately, so this was right up her alley!

Since we had slept in it was already time for lunch! We had a nice lunch at Pizzafari then headed to Camp Minnie-Mickey to meet some fun characters!

Miss Bunny Koda

Brer Bear

Minnie loved Sami’s shirt! =)

Skylar kept kissing Mickey’s nose…SO cute!

Goofy was so…well…goofy! He got down on the ground and played with Skylar!

We had put Skylar in the stroller at this point, and didn’t plan on taking her out to see Chip and Dale…they felt sorry for her though, and made sure she got to meet them! She loved them so much she didn’t want to let go of their hands! They motioned they were going to just come with us, but their cast member didn’t think that was a very good idea! Ha!

Next we went to Asia where Sami and I rode Kali. She loved it so much she wanted to ride it again with Matt-so off they went. Man I love baby swap! While they were having their fun I let Skylar play in a fountain while I enjoyed a frozen coke from a snack credit…

When we were done playing and exploring in Asia we took the train to Rafiki’s Watch Planet. You see where they take care of the safari animals on the way there. We also met some fun people…

Pocahontas

Rafiki

Jiminy Cricket (who played peek a boo with Skylar for a long time)

It was really hot that day, so it was nice to let Skylar stretch her legs and explore in the air conditioning. This building has a lot of hidden mickey’s as well, so I enjoyed looking for those.

Then it was time for another cool snack…

Everyone was pretty hot by this point, so we went back to the hotel. Sami and I went swimming while Matt and Skylar had a nap. I had decorated our room window with hanging Mickey heads when we arrived. This day when we came back to the room we discovered mousekeeping had added to our window by hanging up Sami’s Alice dress and laying her tutu on the bottom! Skylar’s Mickey is in the window as well…

That evening we went to Downtown Disney. We had dinner at Planet Hollywood. It was incredibly slow, but Sami loved the loud music. She also thought all the memorabilia was pretty neat!

Don’t you sing into your spoon like a microphone????

Playing in the fountains…

Matt and Sami had so much fun playing in the water…and the other little kids thought he was a pretty cool daddy for getting in on the fun!