We went to Walt Disney World to celebrate Spring Break, Matt's birthday, and Ava's birthday!
The day we left we played outside in the morning and ran races down the sidewalk, then we went to the outlet mall playground, and finally played and had lunch at Chick Fil A. We wanted to make sure Ava got plenty of time to play hard and get tired before the 3 hour drive to Orlando. After we got to Orlando we checked in to our hotel, changed and went to Downtown Disney for a few hours. We had dinner, did some shopping, rode the carousel, and did lots of walking. It was so much fun and got us so excited for Magic Kingdom the next day! Ava was so proud of her Minnie shirt all day and got so excited every time she saw a picture of Mickey and Minnie!
The next morning, we were up early and off to Magic Kingdom. Matt got a special birthday pin and I made him wear it so he could be told Happy Birthday all day long :) It was such a fun day! We got there before they opened and got to see the Welcome Show. We met Minnie as soon as we entered the park and then walked around Main Street. Since we were there so early we hardly had any lines for the first 2 or so hours. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace and got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet. We used our Fast Pass reservations in the afternoon, pushed Ava around for a stroller nap, and then had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We walked over 19,000 steps that day!
We spent our second day at Animal Kingdom. Matt and Ava love animals and nature so this was his pick for Day 2. We got to walk around some trails and see animals, but our favorite part of the day was the Kilimanjaro Safari Tour. We got to ride around and look at animals - it was so much fun! Ava said "bye" to each of the animals as we left. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and Ava and I rode TriceraTop Spin while Matt went to ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster. Later that day we got to visit with Mickey and Minnie and had an African themed dinner at Tusker House. It was such a fun day!
The original plan was to see how Ava was liking Disney and either leave the next morning, or do a half day at Magic Kingdom and then drive home. We were all having so much fun and had a voucher for a free hotel night, so we decided to just stay one more night! We went back to Magic Kingdom in the morning, saw Mickey right away, and then had birthday breakfast for Ava with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet again at Crystal Palace. Next, we used one of our Fast Pass reservations for a Belle attraction. The description just said something about a personalized experience but I didn't know what that meant. It ended up being a small play put on by the guests and Matt got picked for one of the parts! HA - I was DYING! He was a good sport, but my cheeks hurt by the end from smiling the whole time he was up there. Ava loved it too! We rode some of our favorite rides again, and then went back to the hotel for a nap/swim/free manager's reception cocktails :) We went back to Magic Kingdom in the evening for another ride and the Electrical Parade. Before the parade a woman told me she needed to get away from me because she was about to "punch me in the face" because I said my husband and daughter were standing in the space that she wanted herself and her 10 kids to stand in to watch the parade, but after we cleared that up (she got kicked out) it was a nice evening. I have to admit, I did keep looking over my shoulder throughout the parade out of fear that she would come back! We wanted to stay for the fireworks, but we were all very tired, still had 30 minutes to go until they started, and couldn't' find a good spot to watch the final show before the fireworks so just decided to start the journey back to our car.
The hotel sent this up to Ava on her birthday :)
This trip really was the best vacation ever! Disney is just such a magical place and it was so fun to see Ava get so excited. She loved the rides and was such a good girl all week. We had so much fun and just said over and over again how blessed we feel and how thankful we are that we got to get away for a few days. We already can't wait to go back!
But until then.....we are very tired and excited to be back with Brady :)
