On Christmas Day in 2016, we surprised our girls with a vacation to Disney World. We called it our "mystery trip" for 2017, and Alan cleverly made them guess where we were going on Christmas morning. Their response was fantastic, and we left just a few days later for our adventure together, on January 1st.
I like to take photos and videos, and I took 35 minutes worth of footage, in total! So excessive! I guess as a theater person I was impressed with a lot of the shows and music and got a little carried away. Anyway, I managed to cut the video down to 20 minutes, which is still really long, so once again, I've included a few of my favorite photos below as well. But if you want to see the whole experience, complete with reactions from the girls throughout, check out the video here or below. The best parts in my estimation are at the beginning when the girls realize they are going to Disney World and at the end when both Moira and Hannah give their commentary on what they liked most!
We started our week off with an early flight to Orlando, and then we headed straight to Animal Kingdom. My favorites of Animal Kingdom included the safari, of course. It's the only place where I've seen hippopotamuses lately, so who wouldn't love that, right? Also, the Lion King show was spectacular, and the music is so joyous, but I also loved the street performers who were out in full force on New Year's Day representing African and Indian music. We all had fun on the Mt. Everest roller coaster as well although Moira was a bit nervous that first day. And we embraced the fact that Disney is masterful at separating us from our money, so it was helpful to have a generous dining plan that we paid for in advance that allowed us to have reservations at many yummy restaurants as well as a generous gift card from Uncle Scott and Aunt Kristin that allowed the girls to buy souvenirs. Hannah purchased her Minnie headband within minutes of being at Animal Kigndom. She is definitely our shopper!
Waiting in line for the Lion King
Meeting Mickey and Minnie characters
Hannah loves getting her face painted (and Moira joined in too)
The next day we hit the Magic Kingdom, and we managed to make it to the park before it opened (a first for me). That means that we saw all of the characters begin the day by singing "Zip A Dee Doo Dah" at the Main Street Station before heading out to their various locations throughout the park. Magic Kingdom was by far the most "magical" day for the girls (and for us). We were able to ride a lot of rides because we were there so early, and they also met a few characters and received autographs--something I wasn't sure that they would be into, but I was proven wrong. Hannah did NOT like space mountain, but otherwise, we had a blast at the Buzz LightYear ride, Dumbo (twice)!, Splash Mountain, Tom Sawyer's Island, the Haunted Mansion (made the girls a bit nervous but was okay), and so many more places. Moira's favorite was the Enchanted Tales with Belle where she played Phillipe the horse, and they both lived the Snow White and Seven Dwarfs Roller Coaster. I loved taking them on It's a Small World...mostly because it brought back memories of the times I was little on that ride with my parents.
We also left in the middle of the day, went swimming, took a quick nap, and then came back to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks and road rides after the fireworks show too. It sounds like we did a lot, but it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it might be.
Hooray for a beautiful day!
Alan having fun on the Buzz Lightyear ride
Meeting Ariel and getting her autograph
Enchanted Tales with Belle featuring Moira as Phillipe and Hannah as a plate
The Dwarfs' Mine Train Ride
Swimming at our hotel!
Fireworks show family photo!
Our third day at EPCOT was a bit of a mixed bag, if I'm being honest. It was a very hot day for January, and the crowds were epic. I think the Disney Marathon was happening, and Christmas season was still in full swing (I had naively thought that the season would end on December 31st), which was fun in some ways but meant big crowds in others. Because of our late night at the Magic Kingdom, we were all a little tired. In fact, Moira learned at the pool that EPCOT stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired, and we epitomized that reality!
I do love Epcot, though, and we still managed to have a good day. I think the highlight for the girls was the fancy dinner in Norway where we met all of the princesses and then afterwards met Elsa and Anna from Frozen. The Frozen ride was also pretty good for the girls--I remember it as the Norway water ride, but they reworked it brilliantly. We also had fun in the Imagination place and the aquarium featuring Nemo, Dory, and the sea turtle guy. And I loved taking the girls through "England" and some of the other "countries." We had yummy Mediterranean food and saw a bit of a Chinese acrobatic show before it started to rain at the end of the night. All in all, it was still a pretty good day, but we were tired!
One of my favorites of Alan (and the lion fish)!
In England's gardens
Meeting Aurora
Meeting Anna
Last but not least, we went to Hollywood Studios and to the Grand Floridian Hotel for a final brunch with the characters before heading back home to Indy. Hollywood Studios was very Star Wars-heavy, and the girls were just starting to get into Star Wars, so it was a good introduction (though a bit scary). We had fun, though, on rides like Star Tours and the Toy Story ride as well at the Muppets show, the Frozen sing-along show, and the Disney Clubhouse show. The performances are truly stellar.
We made the mistake of taking the girls on the Tower of Terror ride--not a good choice. They both were bawling by the end, so I will never forget that! But we managed to make up for it with a nice character dinner and a horse and buggy ride back out our resort. We also swam a bit more in the evening, which they loved!
Waiting in line for Star Tours
Love this one of the kiddos!
See the Tower of Terror in the background? They had recovered by this point
Horse and buggy ride
We had one last morning in Disney before our flight out in the afternoon, so we went to the Grand Floridian for a yummy brunch with characters from Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, and Alice in Wonderland. We also took the monorail to the Grand Floridian and a boat ride back over to the transit center, which was relatively novel for the girls and pretty stress-free for us. We ended our vacation at the pool, which seemed appropriate as the girls love the pool, and I have to say that despite the crowds, we had a really fun time in Disney.
I am still playing catch-up from all the photos we took over the holidays, and I have a few random ones that I want to share! Here they are: Moira's first official haircut. She was so good. I wasn't sure she would sit still, but she did. The stylist did a great job of keeping her entertained! Moira walking around in her "shoes." Moira is fascinated with shoes. She loves taking our shoes on and off. And she loves walking around in adult shoes. We went to the Eiteljorg on Martin Luther King day and Moira had fun exploring the Wild Wild West. You may recall that Moira's 2nd birthday party was pretty entertaining because Moira fell asleep in her high chair, and then she was completely overwhelmed by everyone singing Happy Birthday. Since then, we have had lots of family and friend birthdays, and she has mastered singing Happy Birthday. At this point, she sings Happy Birthday to just about anyone and anything--babies at a restaurant, the light, the birds......
Hannah, You, my darling baby girl, are growing up entirely too fast. By the time you were one, here’s what you were up to: On the Move Well, truth be told, you haven’t been that interested in moving. You’re quite content to reach both arms in the air and look imploringly at mama or dada to pick you up. By the time you were 5 months, you rolled over, and by the time you were 10 months, you finally decided to crawl. Since then, you’ve become a very quick little girl on your knees, and you’re just starting to consider standing up and walking on your own. One of the cutest things you do is crawl while holding onto a baby stroller—it is quite a feat! I predict you’ll be about 16 months old before you walk, and that is fine with me. What did you say? Hannah, you are a talker. At a year old you have a few words in your vocabulary. They include the traditional words like “mama” and “dada.” Your very first word, however, was “Mo-ra” in honor of your big sister,...
It's hard to believe Moira is already 5 weeks old (today)! Here 's a quick recap: October 14th, 9:32am, Moira Joan Mackintosh came into the world. She was a healthy 7 lb, 14 oz, and 20.5 inches long. My labor was fast, but delivery was slower than I would have liked. On the whole, neither Moira nor I can complain . October 16th, we came home. I discovered after a couple of sleepless nights that Moira would only sleep for about 15 minutes in her bassinet. She preferred sleeping on someone or sleeping in her little swing. The first few weeks went by in a complete blur. We were all trying to get used to a new kind of normal. Moira and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out her preferences for eating and sleeping. Alan spent a lot of time trying to help his girls get as comfy as possible. We've had fun discovering the little things about Moira. She has dimples and so much dark hair. She has the cutest high-pitched hiccups. She loves it when her Dad holds her and paces with...
Comments