the final days - Disney Part III

Day 5: This day we decided that we would head over to Disney's Hollywood Studio's. Without a plan of action, we stood around for a while trying to decide on what to do at this park (as you can see below).


I took advantage of this down time to take the kids over to see Minnie Mouse. They all loved seeing the characters. I was actually surprised that Jacob didn't have a problem with the characters but he was one of the first ones to run up and give them hugs.

We ended up riding a couple of adult roller coasters as well as seeing the Beauty and the Beast Musical.
We took the kids to see the It's a Bug's Life, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, the Playhouse Disney show and also rode on the new Toy Story ride amongst other things.

We ended our day with a parade in which Jacob missed because he thought it was time for a snooze (see below).


He wasn't too happy to be wake up and not know where he was.

Elizabeth jumped on a horse while we got some snacks for the bus ride back to the hotel.

That evening we headed over to Epcot for a brief look around and dinner at the Mexican restaurant. The food was great but not what I expected. I guess you could say it was authentic - or at least that is what they told us. After dinner we took a boat ride and then my MIL, the kids and I went back to the hotel as Mike and his Dad stayed for some adult time.

Day 6: We headed back over to Epcot with great plans for the day. The kiddos loved the "big golf ball" and had to have their picture taken in front of it.

AJ, however, was more intrigued with getting money from Nana to make a wish with. The little scam artist actually was pocketing all of the change. I guess maybe we drilled into their heads a little too much that we needed to save money for Disney.

We first rode the test track ride and tried to tell the kids that this is how it would feel when Mommy and Daddy drive on the freeway if our car didn't have a top. I don't think they bought that one but thought it was pretty fun. We then headed over to the Nemo ride. The ride itself was alright but there are huge salt water tanks when you get off so we got to see all sorts of live fish as well as dolphins, manatees, sharks, stingrays and sea turtles.

We then explored for a while before our lunch reservations. On our way to lunch we stumbled upon Snow White, who has to be the most friendly of all of the princesses. She sat and talked to the kids for quite a while. Our lunch was at the BeirGarten in Germany. Let me tell you - that was some yummy, yummy food! Of course the beer helped too!

After lunch, we took another boat ride and then headed to the monorail. The kids really wanted to ride the monorail so we just did a loop with them before getting on our bus back to the hotel. Jacob decided that he was in desperate need of a nap and took a 3 1/2 hour nap while Elizabeth and AJ went swimming with their cousins. At this point it had started raining so they thought swimming in the rain was a real treat!

Some crazy man in my family thought it would be a great idea to go back to the Magic Kingdom that night before our trek back home - even if it was raining. So we donned our ponchos and headed out. I guess it did benefit us because there was no one their and we got to get right on some rides.

It stopped raining long enough for us to watch the fireworks one last time. They were beautiful and much brighter with the low cloud cover.

The bus ride back to the hotel was very full so in order to keep the kiddos entertained and not whining, we took their pictures over and over and over again. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me this trip.

Day 7: We woke up a little late. We were exhausted! We had a nice breakfast with everyone down at the hotel restaurant and then got in the car to head home. Elizabeth had a very hard time leaving. She cried off and on the entire 7 hour drive home sad that we left before her relatives and that she didn't ever want to leave Disney World. Good times!