The Kid's First Disney Vacation - Purely Magical!

At the beginning of October we took the kids on their first trip to Disney World. Grandpa and Mimi came along for the ride and the fun times with the kids.
The kids loved it! Everything was cool to them. Even walking into the hotel room the kids were greeted by a hidden Mickey.


Before we ever went to one of the parks we went to Downtown Disney and Riker got to see the T-Rex restaurant, he was *sort of* excited...

They thought it was a blast. And Riker was gape-mouthed staring around the entire meal.

Taking the kids to Magic Kingdom there first day at Disney was truly “Magical”. This video shows just how excited they were.




We had lots of fun. We even got stuck on a couple of rides! One of the rides we got stuck on was Buzz Lightyear, which gave us ample time to take pictures and score BIG on the laser targets!




The other ride we got stuck on was Pirates of the Caribbean, giving us more time to take pictures (20 minutes stuck listening to YO HO YO HO...)





No trip to Magic Kingdom is complete for a kid under 5 without a ride on Dumbo:


Of course we hit nearly every ride/attraction there through the course of the day :-)

The second day we headed to Animal Kingdom. The kids loved the safari ride and seeing all the animals (especially the baby elephants!). Riker said it was his favorite park, because it had animals AND dinosaurs.

For day 3 we were at Epcot. The kids really enjoyed Nemo and the fish.



Riker and Sydney also really liked Imagination and the Energy ride (of course, because it had Dinosaurs). Mommy enjoyed getting to wander the World Showcase on her own for a while!

On Day 4 we took a break, but not a complete break. We went and had a great breakfast with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch at the Polynesian. It was a lot of fun, and the food was pretty good too. The following picture is all the times the kids (and kids at heart) got to meet characters the whole week.


Riker loved that June kissed him and Mom was excited that Phineas AND Ferb kissed her hand and Grandpa just wished Pocahontas had kissed him.

On Day 5 we headed off to the last park we hadn’t gotten to. Hollywood Studios. Both the kids really liked being here because there was a Disney Junior show that had Jake and the Neverland Pirates as well as Mickey Mouse Club house and Little Einsteins. There were many other shows they enjoyed including Little Mermaid and the Indiana Jones Stunt show (Riker was riveted). They couldn’t get enough of the Pixar 4-D game ride (Syd was hilarious).



But no trip to Hollywood Studios is complete without getting to see Fantasmic. Mom was a genius, she packed glow stick bracelets to bring with us. The whole family got in on the fun.




On Day 6 (the only day it rained) we spent half a day back at Magic Kingdom, and then got in the car


Wait not *that* car.

And then started driving home.

We had a great time and hope to go back again! It was worth all the saving and planning, and the kids are still talking about it nearly everyday!

Riker the Preschooler!

For about a year now Riker has been saying he is a "Toddler/Preschooler", because he was able to go to some of Sydney’s field trips with her preschool. But that is no longer true. Riker is now a full-fledged Preschooler. Here the kids are with their "back to school" sign.




As you can see from the following image that Riker is pretty happy about getting to head to preschool.




I could explain it to you but why don’t we let Riker explain it in his own words.




As you can see there were no tears (from the kids), as the headed off to Preschool. (This time anyway...Riker does have his off days. But he is always happy he went!)