We woke the kids up early Sunday morning for our first official Disney day!!
Hollywood Studios had an extra magic hour that morning, so we woke the kids up at 6:45 (5:45 Oklahoma time Eek!) to get in line for the buses and to the park before it opened.
So, we got to Hollywood Studios early, but not early enough and I kind of still regret it. I just assumed since there was an extra magic hour that getting there 10-15 minutes early would be fine, but I was wrong, and I also didn't realize how popular Jedi Training was (which was silly of me, because if it was such a big deal to MY five year old, I should have known it would be a huge deal to EVERY boy (and girl) around his age).
By the time we made it inside the park and to the line for sign ups for Jedi Training, the line was over an hour long. womp. womp.
I was mostly frustrated because we really needed an early show time since we had lunch and dinner reservations and fast passes at Magic Kingdom. Matt took Samuel and Elisabeth to do something else while Nathan and I waited, and Matt and I decided that since it was so important to Nathan we needed to figure out a way to make it work no matter how it interfered with our plans, so that's what we did. We waited in line, and Nathan was a great sport. He enjoyed being surrounded by lots of little Star Wars fans.
Finally getting close to the front of the line. There weren't any show times left for the morning, so we chose a late afternoon show that worked around our lunch and dinner plans at MK. It meant for a lot of park hopping, but we hoped it would be worth it!
Samuel and Elisabeth got to meet Woody and Buzz Lightyear while Nathan and I signed up for Jedi Training. I love these photos since I missed getting to see the kids meet their first characters (I got PLENTY of opportunities to be with them at character greets as the week went on).
Matt said Elisabeth was a little scared and wouldn't let go of him.
After we got Nathan signed up for Jedi Training, the boys rode Star Tours. They all loved it!
Elisabeth and I ran into Chip and Dale while we waited for the boys to ride.
Then we headed to meet some Disney Jr. characters. My kids watch Disney Jr. shows all the time, and Elisabeth was especially excited about meeting Doc McStuffins. It's funny that when Matt and I came to Disney World last time, I didn't even know who the Disney Jr. characters were. We totally skipped that part of the park. Not this time! Ha!
We also caught the March of the First Order while we were there. Nathan was pretty star struck and a little frightened when the guns fired. He talked about that march a lot that week!
We also got a chance to watch the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show. Everyone loved it. It was so fun watching the mesmerized look on all three kids' faces during the show. And the real bubbles were a hit too!
When we signed up Nathan for Jedi Training, they gave us a fast pass (for our patience in waiting so long I guess), so before we left Hollywood Studios we all rode Toy Story Mania. It's one of my favorite rides!
Then, about noon we hopped on a bus and headed to Magic Kingdom for a bit.
Elisabeth was excited to finally get to see the Princess Castle!
We had lunch reservations at Be Our Guest, so we headed straight there. I was REALLY excited about this restaurant, but unfortunately it ended up being a bit of a bust.
We had to wait awhile in line just to order, and I ended up with a really bad headache, so I didn't feel much like eating. It was just more crowded than we planned which took some of the magic out for us, and I didn't feel good and everyone was really tired from our busy morning.
The enchanted windows were really cool, and so much about the restaurant was neat. I think it just wasn't a good time for us to go to really enjoy it all.
The food was delicious at least the part I ate before I got sick.
I was super excited about the desserts, but about all I could stomach was a bite or two of the grey stuff, which was delicious!! I wish I would have felt better to eat more of the yummy cupcakes.
This is pretty much how everyone felt at lunch.
I ended up drinking a lot of water and laying my head down for a bit, and I started feeling better. After Nathan's stomach bug, I was terrified I was getting sick too, but I think I just ended up being a little dehydrated.
After lunch we got in line for It's a Small World. It ended up being one of Elisabeth's very favorite rides (top three for sure). She said she liked seeing the babies dancing and singing. She insists on listening to the song every day. I love that she enjoyed it so much
We had fast passes for Seven Dwarves Mine Train at 3:30, and thankfully, the boys had time to ride it before we had to go back to Hollywood Studios for Jedi Training. I was really glad that worked out, because I don't think the line would have ever been short enough to ride if we would have lost that fast pass. They loved it, especially Samuel. He asked to ride it again as soon as he got off.
Elisabeth and I rode the carousel while we waited for the boys to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train.
Then we headed back to the buses to go to Hollywood Studios. Lots of bus riding that day! Elisabeth fell asleep on the bus and stayed asleep all through Nathan's show. I was okay with that. She needed the rest, and I needed to focus on my big boy for his big performance!
He was excited (and a little nervous). He REALLY wanted to fight Darth Vader, and we tried every way we could to ensure he'd get to, but he ended up being too short, and they stuck him in the bottom row.
I think he was nervous to fight the girl from Star Wars Rebels because
he thought she had two light sabers. At one point, he wanted to back out
and not do it, but there was no way I was going to let that happen
after the ordeal to get him signed up!
He was ready to go when it was time for the show to start!
The show was really fun to watch, and his face just beamed the entire time.
All the future Jedi trained with a master and then they opened up the
temple and Darth Vader and the other bad guy (I don't even know her
name!) came out to fight the kids. They each got to fight her individually using the moves they had just practiced.
And then the biggest surprise came out! I was genuinely shocked. I had no idea Kylo Ren was in the show. I'm pretty sure Nathan's mind was blown too!
It was so fun to watch Nathan's dream come true. I even got a little teary eyed at the end, because I was just so thrilled he got to experience that and will have that memory for a long time. Disney World is so magical!!
After the show, the boys and I used our Rider Switch pass to ride Star Tours again. I didn't think Samuel would like it. He looked so little in those big 3d glasses, but he loved it. I think I just watched his expressions for most of the ride :). I've never been a huge Star Wars fan, but I love making my boys happy.
Matt and Elisabeth headed to meet Princess Sofia while we rode. The line had been too long to meet her earlier in the day. She was the first official princess Elisabeth got to meet.
They had time to visit Doc again too :)
Then it was back to the buses for another trip back to Magic Kingdom. Whew, busy day!
We had about 30 minutes to spare before our dinner reservation, and even though our Winnie the Pooh fast passes had expired, the ride attendants still let us use them, thankfully. Samuel and Elisabeth had been so excited about riding in a honey pot. I'm so glad I asked about the fast passes, so they could ride it before dinner.
I wasn't crazy about the ride (Matt and I both thought it was a little weird), but the kids loved it!
Then we were off to dinner with the Pooh characters. Samuel is really into Winnie the Pooh right now, so this dinner was all about him, and it was awesome!
He was SO excited about all the characters. He never stopped smiling the whole night. Oh, how I love Disney Magic!!!
Elisabeth was a little timid at first and just wanted to see the characters from a distance. She warmed up though as the evening went on.
The restaurant was pretty slow,, so we ended up getting to see the characters a couple of times. It was definitely one of our favorite dinners.
The food was great and the characters were awesome. It was a great ending to our first day.
After dinner we said See You Later to the castle,
and boarded our last bus of the day. We were exhausted but so happy for a great first day. We headed to get some rest and get ready for another big day!
So we had a rude awakening Saturday morning. Around 3:00am Nathan came over to my bed and said he didn't feel good. A few minutes later, he threw up. Ugh. Samuel had randomly thrown up Wednesday night in the hotel, and then was fine, so we prayed that it was another fluke incident and he would be fine. Since we were all awake anyway, we decided to load up and get an early start on the second leg of our road trip.
Nathan perked up during the drive, and we breathed a sigh of relief.
And then after breakfast, around 9:00, he threw up again, all over the car. We pulled off, cleaned him up the best we could and got back on the road. It ended up being a stressful drive. I was worried about him, worried that others would get sick, worried about missing out on all our fun plans at Disney World. It was definitely not our best travel day.
During the day Nathan would have moments of feeling and acting totally normal, and then he'd throw up and just look awful. He ended up throwing up about four times in the car during the drive. Not fun, but we survived.
We made it to Orlando, stopped at the store to pick up some medicine for Nathan and some milk and yogurt for breakfast for the week and then finally arrived at Disney World!
We checked into our hotel. They had a movie playing in the lobby that the kids thought was awesome, so they watched it while we checked in. Then we unloaded the car and unpacked a bit, changed clothes, and debated whether we should continue with our plans for the evening. At this point it had been about two hours since Nathan had last thrown up, and he seemed to be feeling okay, so we decided to give it a go. But I did make him carry his throw up bucket around the whole night. Poor guy...
Even being sick couldn't contain his excitement about his button and his magic band.
The kids were all excited about their first Disney ride... The bus! Ha!
We took the bus to Disney Springs where we had dinner reservations at the Rainforest Cafe. Samuel had been so excited about eating dinner at the rainforest. He kept saying, "Nathan do you feel okay, so we can eat dinner at the rainforest?"
We sat down admired all the animals, ordered our food, and then dinner went downhill fast. Nathan threw up while we waited for our food, so I took him to the bathroom to get him cleaned up, and then he had to wear wet shorts the rest of the night.
Then he seemed fine. He ate and seemed famished. He had pizza and I just knew we were going to see that pizza again. Amazingly though, he was totally fine after that last episode at dinner. I was SO SO SO thankful even if I was terrified the rest of the night and the next few days that someone was going to vomit.
Even though Nathan ended up being fine, Samuel had a big problem with the noise and the animals at dinner. He cried and covered his ears the whole time. Eventually, we had to take him out of the restaurant and Matt and I traded off watching him (and Elisabeth who was a little skittish too) and eating our dinner. It didn't work out the way we thought our first Disney dinner would, but it was memorable at least.
After our crazy dinner, we walked around a few of the shops. It was pretty crazy since it was a Saturday night, but we did manage to get a good look at the Lego store and a few others.
Poor Nathan was shivering in those wet shorts.
To make up for his crummy day and for being SUCH a trooper in the car all day while he was sick, we let him pick out a new lego set.
We headed back to our hotel around 8:00. Everyone was tired and the shops were all really crowded. I think we all just wanted to rest and relax and take baths before our busy week ahead. Nathan insisted on building with his Legos before bed though, but we still managed to get everyone down at a decent time, and everyone was dreaming about all the fun ahead!
Friday morning was pretty much a repeat of the day before except the weather wasn't as nice. It was cooler and windy. Wind and sand don't mix very well, so we got sand blasted several times throughout the morning, and Elisabeth was NOT a fan of that.
The boys didn't mind too much and they had fun playing and even braved the cold to swim in the ocean with Matt.
Elisabeth played some, but she spent most of the morning wrapped in a towel in my arms. I really didn't mind though. I soaked up the snuggles and enjoyed watching the boys play.
Elisabeth even took a little nap in my arms that morning. Sweet Baby Girl!
Matt and the boys built a fun castle complete with a bridge and moat.
We didn't stay as long as we did on Thursday. Everyone was cold and a little grouchy, so we packed up around 11:00 and headed back for baths to warm everyone up. We went to McDonalds for lunch and ran to the grocery store, and then rested in the hotel for a couple of hours.
After naps, we went to the mall to play for awhile. The kids loved the Ocean playground. They are still talking about it and asking to go back.
We ate pizza for dinner, and then went back to the hotel to pack and get ready for bed and an early morning travel day to Orlando!
