Disney day by day

We are home and settled back in with daily activities. The daily to do's and bitter cold reminds me how much I love vacation and how I dread the return to winter. I am handling it, not well though!

Our trip was awesome, but how can Disney not be? Here is a recap from our week in magic land.

Day 1: We settled into the cabin and were off to Epcot. Test track was open, but all the fast passes were gone so we hit some other favorites: Figment, Nemo, the Land, and then walked through Canada and had dinner in the UK. We had a family picture taken with Goofy and Minnie. C was taken with Minnie from that point forward.

Day 2: We started the day at Animal Kingdom with the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. It was great to hit it first thing and we saw a ton of animals. We did a late breakfast at Tusker house and met with Donald, Daisey, Minnie and Goofy. The food was yummy, but meeting with the characters and eating was a bit crazy for our clan. That evening we had our first trip to the Magic Kingdom. It's a small world, the tea cups, Pirates, and Barnstormer were the big hits.

Day 3: This was D's best day as he got to participate in the Jedi training at Hollywood Studios. C and I did Playhouse Disney and then caught the tale end of the Jedi training camp. We fast passed the new Toy Story ride and my mom said it was the most fun she has ever had on a Disney ride. I had C on my lap most the time trying to help him shoot(my ride was a little less joyful because S beat our pants off) We met all the boys favorite characters and the Power Rangers were a big hit. Lunch was at Hollywood and Vine. While C loved meeting the Little Einstein characters, the food was not our favorite and D was very uninterested in the whole experience. S and D left lunch early to see the stunt shows. They stayed until late that afternoon and then met up with us at Downtown Disney. D made a light saber and I would say that was the highlight of his trip. C picked out some great souvenirs and all their Christmas money was spent in a matter of minutes.

Day 4: We were at Magic Kingdom early and headed out on a Family Magic Tour. We were guided on a scavenger hunt through the MK and ended up at Pirates with a visit from Peter Pan. We saw some things at the park we had never seen before (like the wishing well near the castle and the big granite ball in Tomorrow land) We saw more of Fantasy land and Tomorrow land as well as Adventure land. D loved Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. C loved the Winnie the "Poop" ride as he calls it. That night was dinner at Chef Mickeys. In the past this has been our favorite but it was a little crazy this time. I remembered the food being better in the past, but the characters more than made up for the food. Mom got a special birthday cupcake and that made a great end to the day.

Day 5: This day began with D waking with a fever. A little Motrin and he was ready to go. We did breakfast at Cape May and was the best breakfast of the trip. We walked over to Epcot after breakfast and the boys finally rode Test Track. D was less than impressed but still enjoyed the ride. We did Turtle Talk with Crush and then D faded fast. Back to the cabin for rest and then off to Caribbean Beach for dinner. S wanted to see the hotel and I wanted something different than a burger and fries.

Day 6: D was still not at his best this morning and S was down for the count. Apparently dinner at Caribbean Beach was not agreeing with him. We ventured off to Epcot without S and saw Turtle Talk with Crush (for the 3rd time as D really wanted to ask Crush a question and I promised we would keep going back until he could) D also got to ride Sourin for the first time. We did Test track again and then walked through a few countries before D fell asleep at the lunch table. We took him back to the cabin to hang out daddy. C, mom and I went on to dinner at the Trails End at Camp Wilderness and then to the Chip n Dale sing a long and campfire. We made smore's and danced with Chip n Dale. I was sad that the big boys missed this but loved spending some special time with C. That rarely happens and he is such a funny kid to be with one on one.

Day 7: Friday morning brought us back to MK and then to a late breakfast at The Grand Floridian where we dined with Mary Poppins, Tiger, Pooh, and Alice and Wonderland. C was scared to death of the Mad Hatter (don't blame him) and D was still very sick and slept through lunch. D and mom went back to the cabin for the afternoon and C, S and I continued on at MK. It was crazy crowded so we headed back and then when D felt well enough we went back to Epcot so S could see more of the countries. We made it until bed time but poor D had to be carried back. He was a trooper and never complained once about not feeling well. I did not realize how bad he was until later than night when he had a 103 temp. We almost took an emergency visit a med check but by morning he was doing better.

Day 8: S and D stayed back at the cabin so D could rest. They met up with the rest of us around lunch time. My step-dad, brother and his girlfriend were there to greet us at MK. We had a wonderful day at MK. Dinner was at the castle to celebrate mom's 60th Birthday. She wore a princess crown and had a royal seat at the table. They sang Happy Birthday to her and she got a special dessert. It was a fabulous time topped off with watching the parade from the castle and then grand fireworks. With tears in my eyes, we headed back to the cabin and said farewell to MK.


Day 9: We woke up to find a more improved D. His fever had finally broke overnight, but he was still very tired. We spent some time at Fort Wilderness before we headed to the airport later that day. The boys slept the whole plane ride home!

For all my friends that love Disney- I have so much more to tell you about where we stayed, what hotels we visited, what meals we liked/disliked and boy will I give you an ear full about the dining plan. Let me just say that I have never ate so much in all my life. It was way too much food for a family that eats like birds most of the time. Even S agreed it was way too much. It made us stick to a park plan more than we would have liked to and there was really no way to get your moneys worth unless you just love to sit and eat all day long. We were glad we tried it at least once but I would never pay for it again.