Disney-day 5

We didn't have any set plans for our last day. In fact we made our plans at the last minute. Quite literally! We thought Magic Kingdom had the "extra magic hours" on Friday. We discovered that it was actually Animal Kingdom so we hopped on that bus instead. Animal Kingdom, does after all, have one of the best roller coasters! Extra magic hours are definitely the way to do the parks! It was practically empty and we walked onto the Mt Everest ride, twice in a row! 

Emory requested to ride the safari ride again. I'm glad we did because we got to see a few animals we missed on Tuesday and some were closer and easier to see! While the gorilla wasn't on the safari ride, it was in a part of the park we missed because the bottom fell out of the sky when we were there on Tuesday! Glad we got to see him Friday. 

We were only in Animal Kingdom for an hour or so before heading over to Magic Kingdom. Our first fast pass was to the Tomorrowland Speedway. Emory had requested to ride this one the days before but the line was always too long and there were other thing we wanted to ride! It may have been the roughest ride we went on with Emory as our driver! :)

We, of course, had to ride Space Mountain once again. We ended up riding a grand total of 5 times! After riding it a few times you remember where the cameras are located! We were able to "pose" for a few ride pictures! Pirates of the Caribbean was our last ride before we said goodbye to Magic Kingdom one last time!

We had promised Emory she could swim at the resort pool, so we had a relaxing afternoon poolside. Disney does a great job of making sure you have a good time wherever you are. We happened to be at the pool during the hour long pool party. Emory participated in a few of the games and won a prize. At first she was too scared to go down the pool slide but later conceded. She ended up spending our remaining time at the pool going down the slide and then immediately back up! She'll ride a roller coaster in the dark but we have to convince her to go down a kids water slide!

We set out for Downtown Disney in search of dinner before heading to Epcot to watch the fireworks. The things made out of Legos are really cool and very impressive! Emory and I scored 2 very large (and expensive) caramel apples! They were too pretty not to take a picture with before eating them!! 

While it was a day packed with park hoping, it was less exhausting than the 4 previous days! I can't believe our time at Disney has come to an end! What an amazing trip. One we will remember forever and ever! Now home to our babies!!!!

Disney-day 4

Hollywood Studios. This was a great park to do last. Why? There are a lot of shows, which means you get to sit. By day four of Disney you've walked a lot, so having the opportunity to sit for longer than the 2 minute ride, is very nice! 

First on our agenda was breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. This was Disney junior characters: Handy Manny, Sophia the First, Doc McSuffins, and Jake. I debated whether or not to do this one but I'm glad we did. Emory had fun. Gavin would have loved this meal. 

Star tours was our first fast pass. I don't remember liking this one in past years but we enjoyed it enough to do it again later in the afternoon. The second time was a different "tour" so it switched things up for people who ride it multiple times!

Hollywood studios is home to "The Hollywood Tower of Terror" or the "elevator of excitement" as it is known in the Rigney family! Chase and I had high hopes for this one since Emory was willing to ride a much smaller version at the fair. The first part of the ride was a little creepy and scary in her book but she LOVED the falling part. We ended up riding that one 3 times! I'm not really sure what happen to our timid Emory!! This girl LOVES roller coasters and all things fast!! 

Beauty and the Beast is by far my favorite Disney movie so going to the live show was a must. Basically they condense the 1.5 hour movie into a 20 minute show! 

These days, if there is a show or ride devoted to Frozen you have to go. Especially if you have a 6 year girl that is obsessed with the movie. Hollywood Studios has a sing-a-long that was really cute! When we made it in and found a seat Emory said "I've seen this before!" Us: "really?! Where?!" Emory: "YouTube". :/

They have also built a Wandering Oaken's trading post near the sing a long that includes a snow playground. Emory and Chase made a few ice blocks and assembled an igloo of sorts. It was more of a wall...

Characters were everywhere and Emory had to meet all of them! 

Thursday night we went back to the Grand Floridian for another character dinner. The step sisters were suppose to be there but evidently Lucifer got out in the castle and they needed to find him! Since he was out and about the mice decided to take their place so Lucifer wouldn't find them...at least that's what we were told! I love that Disney cast members and all, are ALWAYS in character and they never miss a beat!!

Instead of going to the park to watch the fireworks we went to the boat dock at the grand Floridian and watched from there. It was nice being able to enjoy them from afar and not have to fight the crowd when they were over. Plus these were the fireworks during the Halloween party. We did not have tickets to this night and didn't watch the ones Monday night because we took advantage of the shorter lines on the rides!

Day 4: done. Only one more day left in the most magical place on earth!

Disney-day 3

The goal was to get to Magic Kingdom 30 minutes before they opened. That was before we met Anna and Elsa Monday night and were able to ride the mine train Tuesday night. We still got there when the gates opened but we didn't have to rush to meet Anna and Elsa (which was already at a 115 minute wait 5 minutes after the park opened!) or get in line at the mine train (which was also at a 45/50 minute wait!). 

For breakfast we joined a few more characters at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian and then headed back to the park. 

Since we had ridden most of the rides we tried to do more of the shows that are in Magic Kingdom. However, Emory is a HUGE fan of roller coasters so of course we had to ride a few. We have now ridden Space Mountain 4 times. I think it's her favorite! 

Our goal was to ride a few rides, see a few shows, the parade and fireworks. Having been out late the 2 nights before we thought we would head home after the parade. We checked the times one more time at Princess Fairytale Hall...10 minute wait for Rapunzel and Cinderella! So off we went with a costume change on the way! After seeing those princesses we jumped in line again to see Anna and Elsa because it said it was a 30 minute wait...more like 50, but we were wearing our Elsa dress after all and this was going to be our last late night at Magic Kingdom. Chase and I joined in on these pictures! Can't wait to see the ones on memory maker!!

In case you were wondering how you get a six year old through an hour long wait...Netflix! Got to love technology. This actually started earlier in the day when the ride we were in line for had technical difficulties...pirates of the Caribbean...and we realized Emory had never seen the movie. She was able to watch the whole thing between 2 different long lines. It kept everyone happy, she was occupied and we didn't have to hear "how much longer?" 8,000 times! Win, win!!

Our night, or trip, would not be complete without an Anna and Elsa balloon! That is one HAPPY girl!!

Third long day in the books. Bring on day 4 and Hollywood studios!

Disney-Day 2

Animal Kingdom. Personally I think this is the coolest park. 

Because we had such a late night on Monday we took our time getting to the park. Our first fast pass wasn't until 10:40 so it gave a chance to wake up. Our first ride did not go over well with the little princess. Scary dinosaurs are not her thing! 

We moved on to something more her speed...Wilderness Explorer! They gave her a book to earn badges throughout the park and with her Type A personality she was very meticulous about finding the stations!

We also watched "It's tough to be a bug". We thought it was cute, but Emory, we've learned, is not a fan of the 4D stuff. But we looked cute in our glasses!

And we got to meet Safari Mickey and Minnie...so many characters!! Our autograph book is filling quickly!

During the safari ride she was able to mark off all the animals in her book. It was suppose to be a 20 minute ride but ended up being 42 minutes...a truck broke down on the road leaving us stuck behind them. Unfortunately we didn't get stuck by any animals but fortunately it wasn't sweltering hot and it was nice to sit. We've walked A LOT! So, in case you were wondering, the Safari in Animal Kingdom is 850 acres. You could put all of Magic kingdom inside the safari and still have room for parking! It's massive! And so cool!

Dinner was Chef Mickey at the Contemporary where we got to meet all the classics Disney characters. Again, the best part for us was watching Emory get so excited! Minnie liked Emory's shirt from her G but LOVED the matching bow!

We ended our night by shutting down Magic Kingdom again at midnight. But we got to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so it made it worth it! Emory also got to meet Belle again during "Enchanted Tales with Belle," where she played Chip!

Bring on Magic Kingdom for day three...oh wait! Ok so day three is JUST Magic Kingdom...there's a lot to do in that park!!