Yep! We got down to our last day at Disney World and decided to forgo our plans to visit Animal Kingdom. We just hadn't spent enough time at MK and didn't want to go home feeling like we missed something.
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| So, we got up bright and early and were there by 9am. All of us were awake and not too sweaty yet, so we got our family picture on Main Street in front of the castle. Yay!! |
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| Then we raced by it and had our sights set on The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Lila had been talking non-stop about it and really wanted to ride it again. I couldn't get us a fastpass, though, so I thought surely if we got there by 9:10, we could get a decent spot in line. Not so fast. There was already an hour wait! So, we looked around and spotted the Tea Cups. |
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| The kids were all about this ride, but Jared and I had our doubts about the amount of spinning that we had just signed up for. |
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| Sure enough, we were right! Way too much spinning for this mamacita. Lila didn't really like it, either, so after it was over, us three got off and let Jackson and Maddie spins their hearts away on the next ride. |
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| Next, we walked over to ride Dumbo again. This time, Cami got to ride, too. Not sure what she thought about it, but she didn't cry. |
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| Lila loved it. |
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| Onto the Barnstormer we went. Daddy, Jackson, Boom, Maddie... |
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| Lila and I all were excited about this one. No fear at first--hands up!! She didn't really love it and told me it was too fast on some parts. |
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| It was heating up very quickly, so the kids all enjoyed getting cooled off at this splash area. Maddie soaked herself completely--she looked like she had just jumped in a pool! |
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| We decided to check out Frontierland since we hadn't been there yet. First up, we used our fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Remember the little girl who said Barnstormer was too fast? Well, it was a miniature roller coaster. This was the real deal. I asked many times if she was sure that she wanted to ride it. Each time she said yes. We got put in the last car, which is the fastest one, and were racing around the mountain. And guess what? She loved it! I was so relieved! |
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| Jackson and Daddy did, too! Such a cool ride. |
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| Since that was such a big hit, we decided to run over to Splash Mountain. There wasn't much of a line and all three big kids said that they were game. We got in line, then we saw the signs that read, "warning--50 foot drop." Uh-oh. I was definitely rethinking this plan. Jackson and Boom rode in front of me, Maddie and Lila. The ride was so cute and lots of fun--they had tons of singing frogs all throughout the ride and then it was time for the big plunge. I put my arms around Lila and told both girls to hold on. Maddie said she didn't want me to put my arm around her--she was so brave! And then we did it! When we splashed in the water, Lila asked me "was that the big drop?" Yes! She said, "I want to do that again!" |
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| #1 Splash Mountain Team! |
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| It was lunch time for Cameron, so she, Lila and I went to the Baby Care Center near the front of MK. They had these centers in every park at Disney World and they were fantastic. There were dimly lit nursing rooms, complete with rocking chairs. There were also restrooms, changing rooms and even a movie room to entertain older children if they were with you. While we were in there, the others went in the Swiss Family Treehouse... |
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| and then on the Jungle Cruise. They said their tour guide was hilarious and they enjoyed being in the shade for a little while. |
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| Jackson wasn't feeling great at this point--he got a little over-heated, so this was a nice break for him, too. |
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| We met them after the cruise and Lila rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin with her daddy. After that, we ate lunch at Pecos Bill's and then headed back to our resort for some pool time. |
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| I wore this snazzy hat for my walk out of the park so that Cami could get some shade. She had fallen asleep inside the restaurant and I didn't want to put her in the hot stroller, so I carried her the whole way back. I'm pretty sure I have arms of steel after this trip! We went back to the pool for the afternoon and the kids went down the slide 33 more times. They loved it and it was refreshing for all of us. Then we got cleaned up for dinner and headed downstairs to Whispering Canyons in our hotel. |
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We cancelled our reservation at the Grand Floridian because we had heard that this restaurant was really fun, and I'm so glad we did. They give you the option to play along with the shenanigans or just sit back and watch. After observing for a few minutes, we decided to play along. Right after we did, our waitress came to our table and threw straws everywhere, yelling "straws!" Then we asked for napkins and she put the whole stack on Lila's head. The kids did not know what to think for a while!
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| If you needed ketchup, you had to yell "WE NEED KETCHUP!" and the table that had it would bring you 27 bottles. Ha! |
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| Dinner was family-style, like Babe's, which was so good. Everyone also got the option of having a milkshake instead of a drink. What do you think the kids thought about that? |
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| There was a stick-horse ride-around, as well, completing our rowdy time at the Whispering Canyons. After dinner, Dad, Jared and the big kids headed back to MK one more time. My mom stayed with me and Cami for a while and then joined them at the park. |
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| They got to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain again and loved both of them even more. Such little daredevils! |
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| They saw some of the Main Street Electrical Parade, but were more interested in riding rides than watching that. They also got to see the fireworks show... |
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before Lila gave out in the stroller. It was 11pm and she was exhausted. They rode It's a Small World one more time, went souvenir shopping, and then got back a little before midnight.
Go hard or go home! |
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| Unfortunately, our trip had to come to an end sometime. Sad faces. Lila's first words when she woke up that day were "I won't get to see any more characters today. I miss Disney World already." They really did have such a magical week. |
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| I told them that we'd come back when Cameron is 4 years old, though, and got jumps all around for that:) |
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| Everyone did great on the plane. We made it back to Dallas and the only party foul was Cami's in-flight poop. She went right to sleep after, so I couldn't get her a new diaper until after we landed. It was a bit foul-smelling, but at least she wasn't crying! Such a fitting end to our week. What do you expect with 3 little kids and an infant?! It wasn't easy, but it was so very cool. We made memories to last a lifetime. And that's what it's really all about. |
