Mini Disney Vacation!

We had a 2 day passes to Disney that were set to expire in early February, so this past weekend we decided to use them both with one trip and stay overnight in Orlando. Up until now, we've only made day trips to Disney since it's just an hour away, but we've always wanted to stay there so that we could take part in all of the nighttime festivities. So we decided to get a room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the night (we got a great deal since it's January and we're Florida residents). On Sunday we went to Magic Kingdom and we were there from 10:30am-8:30pm... our longest Disney day ever! Siena is finally big enough to go on rides and she absolutely LOVED it! She would clap, and point, and say, "whhheeeee" and then cry when it was over! And of course, Chase wanted to do everything he possibly could... he is a daredevil for sure! Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is his favorite, and thank goodness he only has a few more inches to grow before he can do Space Mountain because he's already asking for "more roller coasters!" One of the craziest moments of the day happened when we were in line for the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride. We had JUST gone to the restroom before we got in line, but sure enough, half way through the line, Chase announces that he needs to go again. I kind of brushed the comment aside and changed the subject because like I said, we had just gone, and the line wasn't that long. But he continued to dance around and every few minutes remind me that he really needed to go. I asked him if he wanted to get out of line, or wait until after the ride and he chose to wait. But... a few minutes later he peed in his shorts. Poor guy, I really can't remember the last time he did that and he was so embarrassed! We had to tell the staff so they could go clean up the mess, and then we had to leave the line while Eric and Siena went ahead and rode the ride. Chase burst into tears and his little lip quivered... he wanted to ride so badly and was so upset that he missed it! So I promised him that we'd go back later and then we went to the nearest gift shop to buy him some new pants. $40 later, he was wearing some Mickey sweatpants and new underwear that was way too big. But he was dry and happy, and we rode some other rides and came back to the magic carpets after dinner. We really enjoyed the electrical parade that night and the fireworks afterwards! And the Animal Kingdom Lodge was really nice, but we didn't have the best of luck with seeing animals from our balcony like we hoped. We probably saw about 5 or 6 different antelope and okapi, and one giraffe's legs through the trees! But that's probably because of the rain this morning...
And our little vacation was cut even shorter by the rain since we ended up coming home today instead of going to another park. We had every intention of going to either Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom in the rain, and we actually thought it might be better since the crowds wouldn't be as bad, but in the end it just didn't seem like a good idea! It was a torrential rain this morning, complete with thunder, lightening, and wind, so we considered ourselves lucky that we live so close and had the option of going home and coming back another day!! There were lots of families at the hotel who were headed to the parks in the rain, and I felt bad for them because they had probably traveled pretty far and had to use the tickets they bought. Thankfully Chase was okay with going home to watch movies and eat popcorn instead, and hopefully we can make another little trip next weekend!

View of the "savanna" from our balcony at the Lodge:

The tea cups!

While Chase and Eric went on Goofy's roller coaster, Siena and I had some "girl time!" We toured Minnie's house and then met Cinderella! This was the first time I've ever "met" a character at Disney. Thankfully Chase is not in the least bit interested in the characters, other than waving to them from a distance. I say I'm thankful because usually the lines are soooo long, but this one was short so Siena and I walked right up and took a picture. Doesn't she look thrilled?!
Lunch in Tomorrowland... I wish the picture was better because that's the castle in the background!
Another of Chase's favorite rides: the race cars!

So sweet! Siena wanted to give Chase a hug when he jumped on the front of her stroller!

Riding the Peter Pan ride... it was our first time on this one and we loved it!

"It's a Small World!'
With Chase's hero: Buzz Lightyear!

I think Eric loved the Buzz Lightyear ride even more than the kids!!

The rockets were really fun!!

Sacked out for a little stroller nap!

Happy to be back on the Magic Carpet ride after dinner!

Such a cool parade!



The castle all lit up at night...

The fireworks!
Breakfast in the morning in our room:

Nothing like starting your day with some Mickey shaped waffles and an antelope!

The kids jumping around on the balcony and looking for animals!