Travel to Disney and Magic Kingdom Day 1

When I found out that we were going to have a fall break during one of the best times to go to Disney World, I called the planner!  At the time, Bert was scheduled to teach one class (as an adjunct teacher) at KSU so it would be easy for him to cancel one class.  Right before the semester started, he was asked to pick up two more classes meaning he would be teaching Monday through Thursday instead of just Tuesday night.  It was an opportunity he couldn't pass up, but unfortunately meant that he had to back out of our Disney trip.  Thankfully Nanna was ready and willing to step in to help make these princess's trip magical!

Ready to go with our coffee and donuts in hand!

We arrived Sunday afternoon to our resort, the Art of Animation.

We stayed in a Lion King suite.  Every detail was perfect and our girls loved all of it.

Just as I got the girls settled in bed, the fireworks started going off so I let them watch from the window.

After the girls were asleep, we had a glass of wine and got ready for the busy week ahead.

Our first day was spent at Magic Kingdom.  This was the only day that we arrived before the gates opened.  The opening ceremonies were fun, but I enjoyed getting an extra hour of sleep and not fighting the crowded bus the rest of the week.

Our very first ride was "It's a Small World."  I just love how all the languages join together in harmony at the end of the ride.  Elizabeth took it all in.

Caroline is not a big fan of rides.  She pouted every time we got on one, but ended up smiling by the end.  She wasn't a big fan of the tea cups, but I'm not really either:(

I knew the carousel would cheer her up!

Both girls were excited to run into our neighbors and sweet friends, the Mastins.  We actually spent more time than we expected with them which made it so much fun!

Caroline clung to me while we were on Dumbo, but by Friday she was begging to go on it again.

Meeting the princesses was Caroline's very favorite thing at Disney.  Elizabeth liked it too, but I was shocked to see E acting more shy and Caroline running up to each one.  She was in awe.  Cinderella is her very favorite and she was the first princess we met.

Meeting Rapunzel

We had lunch at Be Our Guest.  I think it was the best food we had all week.  But honestly, I was quite impressed with our food over the week.  My expectations were pretty low so I was pleasantly surprised.  I was also surprised that the girls did understand the we were inside of the Beast's castle.

our yummy dessert

After lunch we went back to the resort to rest and cool off.  Our first stop when we came back to Magic Kingdom was Enchanted Tales with Belle.  It was so sweet I almost cried.  Elizabeth was chosen to play the role of Mrs. Potts.

Belle is Elizabeth's favorite princess so I loved seeing her in Belle's tale.

Throughout the week, Elizabeth continuously asked when we were riding the next ride.  She is such a thrill seeker.  And as much as she loved meeting princesses, she would've skipped it to ride rides all day long.  Her first "fast" ride was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  She loved it.  Caroline did not!

We had our first character meal for dinner at Chef Mickey's.  We loved riding the monorail over to the Contemporary Resort.  

The girls were so excited to get their first set of signatures.  

Goofy was our first character.  C was impressed with how he signed her book.

They were so giddy and excited the entire time.

After dinner, we went back to MK to watch the Electric Parade and the fire works.  He just happened to get fantastic seats on a bench in Frontierland.

E was a sweetie sharing her  glow sticks with all the kids around her.

Then we watched the fireworks.  I've truly never seen fireworks this spectacular!

The girls didn't melt down because they were so in awe of everything.  But as soon as we sat down on the bus to head back to the resort, Caroline fell asleep and Elizabeth zoned out.

We opened and closed Magic Kingdom on our first day!  It was a success!! 

I stole this idea from Beth... I asked everyone each day what their favorite part was.  Here were their responses:

Elizabeth-- Enchanted Tales with Belle

Caroline- meeting Cinderella

Me- Enchanted Tales with Belle

Nanna- It's a small world (her all time favorite ride) and lunch at Be Our Guest