Orlando: Day Four

The big day arrived. It was the day we headed to Magic Kingdom. We got there by 11am (8 Az time) so we felt like we got a good start. When we arrived we were greeted by chaos of people. I was immediately overwhelmed because I really had no idea how many people are packed into the park. Let's just say Walt packs them in. Between all the people and the heat/humidity I was worried about my sanity, but I put a smile on my face for the happiest place on earth and forged ahead. 

We first started with the photo opportunity in front of the castle with the sea of people behind us. This photo is a tourist must. 

We watched the Disney characters put on a show at the castle. 

We then stood in line in the raging heat to meet the doooooggyyyy! Even though the picture doesn't show my son's excitement, he really was very excited to meet Pluto. 

After that, we FastPassed it over to meet Mickey. He was very excited to meet Mickey, but once it was his turn he got super shy and buried his head into me. That was weird because every other character was a success. Once daddy joined us he loosened up a bit for the photos. 

Mickey must have been exhausting because somebody crawled into the stroller for a snooze. I was a little jealous of this. 

We went on all the toddler rides that time allotted for in one day. His first one was the Buzz Lightyear one and he thought this was great. He got to control the car and my laser gun. 

Another castle photo opportunity right before it down poured.

Following this it started to rain so we took cover during the downpour. When it lightened up we went back to the hotel for some quiet time for Max. As we headed there we passed the hotel playground and Max had a little fun.

Following quiet time we headed back to the park on the monorail and this was a highlight for Max. 

Once we arrived at the park we found out the rain cleared out a lot of the people. This made going on the rides a lot more bearable. First up, the tea cups. Don't let that picture fool you because this boy was super excited for this ride. I have video of him giggling uncontrollably.

We then headed to ride Dumbo and this was fun for Max since he got to control the ride.

We picked up a fun light up Mickey souvenir in preparation for the fireworks we did not get to see. 

After nine the light parade started and Max announced he was done and ready to go bu-bye. Yup, that's what my kid said. What kid does that? Say it's time to leave the park because they are tired and ready for bed? Oh, that's my kid. We actually tried to talk him into staying to watch the fireworks, but he said "no mamma, I'm done. Bu-bye!" Ok, it was time to leave the park. We were all exhausted and ready to head back for some much needed sleep. He did so well all day long until we got to the bus to shuttle us back to the hotel. 

When he's done and ready to leave he means it. It doesn't mean to go stand in line and wait for the bus to take us to the hotel. It means let's leave NOW! Notice the new clothes? It rained a little bit again and Max refused to put the poncho on that I bought him so I had to buy him dry clothes. 

Orlando: Day Three

It was another conference day for me while Andy and Max spent the day together. After a fun filled day of hanging around at the hotel park and pool yesterday Andy decided he needed new scenery, so they went to Epcot together. 

Max took a little snooze. By the way, this stroller was perfect for WDW! Max loved that he could get in and out himself and that he could easily take a nap. The stroller was also very travel friendly.

After Epcot they went back to the hotel to cool off at the pool and take another snooze. When Max woke up from his nap it was 5pm and my conference was over, so we all headed to Epcot for dinner and fun. We did the Nemo ride and Max LOVED all the fishies. After the ride we explored in the aquarium where we couldn't get Max to leave. He loved the fish, but his favorite was watching the "toord-le," or some might say turtle. 

We passed this big green space and Max decided to get out of the stroller and get crazy. We chased him around the green space as we were all giggling and just having fun being silly.

There were some ducks really close to Max, and let's just say he got really excited.

We headed to a French dinner (also only so-so as far as the food goes) and planned to stick around for the fireworks, but that didn't happen. During dinner a big storm came through and they delayed the fireworks. They kept delaying them, so we just decided to head back to the hotel because everyone was tired.

Orlando: Day Two

Day two was a long day for me since I had my conference all day. It started at 7:30 and ended at 9pm with me bringing home two marketing awards for my firm. Since I was busy all day it was a Max and daddy day...all day long. While I was stuck inside I was getting pictures sent to me of their day and I was completely jealous. 

After breakfast they headed to the hotel playground where Max giggled with laughter as he played on the slides. 

After that, daddy took Max to the pool for lunch and swim. Since Max just started saying "i pooped" when he farts and poops it made for an entertaining day. Andy said they were in the kiddie pool with other little ones and their parents when Max announces "I pooped" so everyone can hear him. Andy checked him to find out it was only a fart, but Andy was already embarrassed. Too funny!

They headed back to the room for a nap and then they went for a walk on the boardwalk to entertain Max. While I was at my gala collecting my marketing awards I was starving because they didn't have much for food, so I met up with Andy and Max for dinner at 9 (that is six AZ time). We kept Max on AZ time because it was just easier, so we ate dinner at nine every night and he went to bed at eleven and got up at 9:30. That worked out great because when we got home there was no adjusting to the three hour time difference. It was as if we never flew to the East. 

Orlando: Day One

The first day in Orlando we experienced extreme humidity and heat. It was around 95 degrees and 90% humidity everyday. My hair was a hot mess and I was constantly sweating. It was absolutely ridiculous. You will see that in all the photos I will be sharing. Besides the weather we did have a great time. I think we have well over 200 photos and I will have to pick and choose which ones to share. 

The first day we spent at Animal Kingdom. We started with the safari adventure where Max enjoyed seeing all the animals. To him it was just a large zoo that you experienced in 30 minutes from a big truck (aka jeep).

Following the safari we FastPassed over to meet Mickey and Minnie. Since Max hated the Easter Bunny we really had no idea how this was going to go. When we turned the corner and Max saw Mickey he "geeked" out. He was so excited he just wanted to go right up to them. This is the point where WDW started to teach my child about patience and waiting your turn. His eyes lit up big and he was antsy for his turn. By antsy I mean screaming and getting mad that he had to wait.

I was so glad the first character meeting went well because we had plenty more lined up. We took the train to the petting zoo, and that was a huge deal to Max. 

When we got there we ran into Chip n Dale. Again, Max thought we could go right up to them, but I had to explain the line and waiting his turn. He wasn't very happy about that. 

We also pet the goats and cow. Max was giggling like crazy over this. It was beyond adorable! I am not just saying that because I am his mom.

We had snacks and Max took a nap while we relaxed in the shade with a drink or two. 

We headed back to the hotel for some quiet time so Max would be all ready to go to character dining. We did this at the Contemporary and Max got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto (aka doooogyyyy). I learned that WDW is not known for their food as I don't think we ate any good food all week. We certainly paid good food prices but it wasn't good, and the Contemporary was no exception. We just reminded ourselves we are there for the experience and not the food especially when we saw Max's face light up like a Christmas tree. 

He kept his eyes on the characters as they made their way around the room. He was so excited that he didn't even eat his dinner. We found this to be a theme of the week. 

Day one was a success and we were all exhausted. It was time to head back to the hotel and get some sleep because I had an early morning conference.