Disney World

We are back from Disney World and we had such a blast! For anyone considering a trip there, I think the first or second week in November is the best time to go! Weather was perfect and according to Tom Tom, it is also the cheapest time of year to go...can't beat that! Travis's parents have now treated the whole family to Disney World two years in a row. Last year was also so much fun, but it was even more fun this year because the girls knew all the characters and princesses and, well, the fact that they could walk and talk this year also was nice!

Waiting on Mickey and Friends to ride in on the train and for the gates to Magic Kingdom to open!



So excited!


"I see Mickey Mouse!"



We headed straight to Fantasyland...first ride in the Hargrove family is always "It's a Small World"...


Another great plus to going in early November and getting there when the park opens? Barely any lines!!



Dumbo!




Prince Charming's Carousel...




Not sure what ride this is but we also did Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and Snow White's Scary Adventures ...the only ride we did not do in Fantasyland was the Mad Hatter's spinning tea cups... no one thought their stomachs could handle it! And for anyone contemplating Disney World for next year, currently under construction is what promises to be a very cool Beauty and the Beast ride and also some sort of Under the Sea Little Mermaid adventure!


Donald Duck in Frontierland! He was the first character that we spotted and Charlotte loved it! Camille was grumpy about characters (and even princesses!) on the first day.


Pirate Goofy outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride...


Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride



Caitlin sleeping through the Jungle Cruise!



Pirate Tom Tom


Getting ready for the street parade to start in front of the castle...






Dancing at the street party!



Chip (or perhaps Dale?) came up and high-fived the girls during the parade...Travis just missed snapping a picture of it!



Driving race cars at Tomorrowland's Speedway! (they are on rails)


Feet don't reach the pedals so mommy controls the gas/brake :)


Very excited about her "driver's license" she was given at the racetrack!


Tired, but unwilling to let go of the driver's license!


Claire is tired too!


So is Caitlin!


Finally let go of the driver's license, now it is just resting on her belly!



Another parade!







Leaving Magic Kingdom and on our way to dinner, we spot Pluto!


Dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway section of Epcot! So many princesses were there! (Camille and Claire did not want close ups with the princesses -notice Camille's head buried in my shoulder- so Charlotte got all the photo ops!)







Camille allowed Snow White to get close and that was it!



The 2nd day, bright and early waiting for the bus to take us to breakfast and then to Animal Kingdom!


Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian hotel!





Camille did not seem as enamored with Alice in real life...


...but Charlotte loved her!


Nobody really liked the Mad Hatter...


...and he didn't seem to understand why!


We went to Animal Kingdom after breakfast. On the safari ride in Africa...



Cousins are more fun to look at than the wild animals, apparently!



Minnie Mouse in her safari gear...



Apparently Travis and I think making loud cheering noises while taking pictures will get the girls to smile ...it does not seem to work and leaves us with weird expressions on our faces!


Safari Mickey Mouse



This picture reminds me so much of one I took last year! We were leaving Animal Kingdom and the girls were so tired, they did not even wake up when we had to take them out of the stroller and I had to hold them on the bus! (Holding two completely dead weight toddlers on a bus = difficult!) They snoozed right through it all. I guess that is what happens when you don't really take a nap the first day, and go to bed hours later than normal!


One sleepy bus ride later, and we are now at Hollywood Studios. The girls took about a 2 hour stroller nap (again, did not wake up from the bus to stroller exchange). This gave Travis and I time to take turns on the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster! That was my first time riding it, and I was a big fan!! (There was no waiting in line if you went in the single rider line...a little trick that Wes discovered and that was really handy for us!) Travis also rode some sort of Star Wars ride with his dad and brother. He said he almost threw up so I'm glad I skipped that one! The girls woke up just in time for the Beauty and the Beast show! Waiting for the show to start in the ampitheater with Graham...


We found Winnie the Pooh at Hollywood Studios...




After dinner, waiting on the Fantasmic show to start. What an amazing show!! We missed it last year, as it is only on certain nights, so we made sure to see it this year. We did the Fantasmic Dining Package and so after dinner we walked right into the show, no waiting in lines! I didn't get many pictures because it was dark outside and every picture I took turned out dark!




The next day, we went to Epcot in the morning. We found Mickey and all his gang!










After a fun morning and lunch at Epcot, we headed back to our favorite place - the Magic Kingdom! The girls had really gotten into the spirit of hugging the characters at this point and we could not pass up any opportunity whenever we saw Mickey or any of his friends! (and no waiting in lines with the Fast Pass!)





On our way to the restrooms, we stumbled upon this cool little playground! The girls played here for a while and Graham and Tom Tom rode the Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, then they watched the girls at the playground while Travis and I rode. I had not done that roller coaster in forever!



For dinner on our last night, we went to Tom Tom's favorite restaurant...the Trail's End at Ft. Wilderness campground. We were told there is this awesome Chip and Dale Campfire Sing-a-long right next to the restaurant, so we made plans to go. However, it turned out to be farther away than we thought! We took a bus ride to it, and were waiting for the show to start, when we finally realized that we were told the wrong time...there was still another hour to go! This was the only snafu to happen on the whole trip. It was chilly and the campfire wasn't going yet, so we decided to skip it. I'm hoping we are able to catch it some other year because I think the girls will love it. Anyway, they didn't seem to mind the detour and had a blast running around the campground!



We headed back to the Magic Kingdom for the electrical parade and fireworks, and stayed for several hours! There were "magic" park hours that night and it was actually open until 2 am (even later than normal because of the time change!) but we definitely did not last that long! But what a magical place!