I do not remember going to the Animal Kingdom in 1997 when we went to Disney World. Mom does not either, so I looked up when it opened. It opened April of 1998, so it was not there the last time I went! Crazy how things like that change! We loved the Animal Kingdom. It is different than other parks because the animals are REAL! They do not use plastic lids or straws. The straws were we used were made of paper to protect the animals! :) There is a lot of walking in the Animal Kingdom! We got there at 8:00 a.m. The first thing we did was a safari ride. YES, a real one! We got on the truck and went out into (Disney's) 800 acre African savannah! It was so awesome the animals that we saw... lions, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, some deer things... ;) We did a 3D show with A Bug's Life - Flik. It was very cool! The Festival of the Lion King was awesome! We saw all kinds of characters that day! Goofy even walked us up to his tent being we were first in line to see him! Someone said the parade was awesome and that we needed to stay for it. Gavin would not ride the Mt. Everest roller coaster with me, so we decided to ride a Kalhi River Rapid ride. It said, "You will get soaked on this ride." AND we did! Gage got to ride that one too! So we sat down for about 45 minutes in the shade, soaking wet and waited for the parade. That was nice. Gage took a nap. Gavin found made some new friends. (I know shocking right?!?)
We had dinner reservations in Downtown Disney that night. We will never book that place again! It was okay food, but nothing for the kids really. I thought it was from Pirates of the Carribean... nope! Anyways, we did a little shopping while there. The boys were itching to buy what they wanted. We told them they could buy the last day, so they needed to start a list! (Great tip by the way! They did not ask for anything!) We knew we were not going back Downtown, so it was perfect to pick a few things there. It was an early morning and a late night this day... I know you are supposed to rest of vacation, well here is another tip... You do not really rest at Disney! There is so much to see! The thing we did was try to break up the day and come back for a nap or lounging. That was about it for rest! Ha!
We were up EARLY on Tuesday. We had breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey's. It was too cool. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy all came to our table to say hey! The food was great - buffet! Little Mickey waffles! =) Gage and Gavin loved it! We were so close to the Magic Kingdom we decided to go in and do a few rides in Tomorrowland. Space mountain was closed, and Gavin was bummed because he wanted to ride Ba's favorite ride. I remember loving space mountain too. We saw Stitch and Pinnochio too. Then we headed over to Epcot by monorail. Personally I do not think that Epcot is for small children. There is a character spot that had a line longer than the Mississippi river, so we did not do that. Epcot is educational and such... well a 7 and 3 year old are not into that at Disney. We did ride a few rides and saw an awesome Finding Nemo ride. We did see Daisy and Stitch again. We took a boat ride on the water too. It was nice, but not our favorite!
One of the nice features of staying on the Disney complex is going early into certain parks - Extended Magic Hours! (I know cool name for it! ha!) We took advantage and went Monday morning before 8:00 to Hollywood Studios. Gavin and I jumped on Nana and Aunt Kassy's favorite ride The Tower of Terror! Gavin did NOT like it! It climbs and then drops you over and over again. I loved it! We then went and rode another roller coaster - something with Aerosmith... Gavin liked it better. We did not have to wait in any lines, and we had the whole day! We went to a playhouse disney show. It was puppets, and the coolest show!! Mickey and friends with the Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Pooh, and Little Einsteins! The boys loved it!! The expressions were priceless! I will never forget the first time we took them! That day we also saw the Power Rangers, Mike & Sulley, and Indiana Jones. I actually got picked as an extra for the show!! I know! I am nuts, but Gavin thought I was so cool! Again all worth it!!
We went back to the hotel for a nap and then went back to the Magic Kingdom! There is just so much there to do! We also had dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. Good food! We saw Pluto as we entered! He was pretty funny! We also walked right into the celebration parade! It was so awesome! There were so many characters there! We rode a jungle cruise and pirate of the carribean ride. Also saw the Swiss Family Robinson house... Oh and took a magic carpet ride with Aladdin! Believe it; it is true! Anything is possible at Disney!
Gage's words after everything we did, "Mom and Dad that was SO awesome!"
Disney really is a magical place. We were able to check in early and get a start on the Magic Kingdom. We had dinner reservations at the Crystal Palace at 7:45, so it was perfect to go and ride some rides and see some characters. We did several rides that we had chosen on the map. We saw Cinderella's Castle, Donald Duck, Ariel, and Mickey & Minnie Mouse!! The kids loved the rides: Dumbo, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, and Mad Tea Party! We ate with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore! It was just amazing! We stayed late that night and saw the parade of lights and fireworks! I have goose bumps just thinking about it! The parade was absolutely beautiful and what a firework show it was!
Okay so we took our first (meaning only Ray, me, and the kids went) family vacation this last week to Disney World in Florida! I am here to tell you that Disney World is amazing and can be fun! (I have heard so many that hate it!) Yes, it was crowded and hot, but did that stop us?!? NO!!! We did everything and loved every second of it! Our kids were perfect, not really, but considering the heat, walking, etc... THEY WERE PERFECT! It was the hottest it has been in Florida this last week, imagine that! Gavin went for the the first time at the age of 7, Gage the age of 3 1/2, and Ray age of ... 26! This was my second visit! Everyone said that Gage would not have fun; we were taking him too young... etc... WELL they were all wrong! Gage did GREAT! We took a stroller and a "leash" (Ray and I hate them!) just in case we needed them for him, but he did NOT use either the ENTIRE trip!! Gage and Gavin held our hands everywhere we went and WALKED!!! I think that I am going to break up the post and trips into days. I think that would be eaiser to do with all the pictures that I took, plus I can kinda share how we made it work for us!
We left on Friday day morning and headed to Alabama to visit and stay the night with Ray's family. We got up really early on Saturday and drove to Clearwater Beach to stay the night. My parents took me and my siblings here when we went to Disney. It was only a little over an hour to get back to Orlando. We got up on Sunday morning and went to the beach. (My kids would not know what to think of a summer without a beach!) We started headed to Disney, but we were getting there really early, so we happened to find a place called Dinosaur World that had lifesized dinosaurs (not real), and we toured the park. The boys loved it! Ray got in FREE for Father's Day too! We got some lunch and headed on to Orlando. Sunday is where our Disney journey began, and I will start a new post for that! =)
Well this is the last official entry for Gavin's baseball for the summer... unless he makes all-stars... we will see though... Coach Prichard got the team tickets to see the Travelers! The new field in NLR is so awesome! The heat was a little unbearable, but it was so much fun! Gavin was bummed about not catching a fly ball, but as we were walking out early, Gavin and Ray found two foul balls that were hit out of the park! It was a nice day out on the town...
This blog belongs to the Chaney Family - Raymond, MacKinzy, Gavin, and Gage Chaney. We are so excited that you are checking out our space. Please send comments to us!
