Our adventure started at Art of Animation, Disney's newest hotel. The hotel features four of Disney's most popular animated films: The Lion King, Cars, The Little Mermaid, and Finding Nemo. We had reserved the basic room (Little Mermaid) but were super lucky and got a free upgrade to a family suite! The room was HUGE! It had two bathrooms, a living room (with a small kitchen), and a separate bedroom. There were even two pull out beds! The room was made to sleep a large family, not our little family of three, so we felt like we had won the lottery! It felt especially big after being in our little room on the ship! I am not sure how we lucked out on that one but we weren't complaining!
The theme of our section was "Cars.'' We stayed in "Towmaters" building. The details again amazed me. Our room featured cone lamps, back seat style couches, map coffee tables, and tire tread chairs. I am truly fascinated with the creative minds behind these hotels!
After we settled in we celebrated Father's Day at Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed a safari ride, lunch, Finding Nemo the Musical, a parade, and a carnival style Dino ride. While ER napped I saved our parade spot and Preston enjoyed some man time at a restaurant watching the UNC/State baseball game. He also enjoyed Expedition Everest (a roller coaster) which he LOVED. To end our day we had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Ella Ruth loved it, especially when the animals came to "life."
Day two and three we headed to the most magical place on Earth, Magic Kingdom. The park was a bit crowded but not to where we had to wait forever to ride anything. In fact, the entire trip we only waiting in line for two rides! Thankfully getting to the park early and the amazing invention of Fast Pass helped us out! Ella Ruth rode the tea cups and Dumbo first. She loved them and asked if she could keep riding. We headed over to It's a Small World next and then road Peter Pan's Flight. We even attempted the Haunted Mansion. ER covered her eyes the entire time. Parent's of the year right here! After a ride on the train our last ride of the morning was in the New Fantasy land at Ariel's Grato (Under the Sea). Again, super special memories! After lunch we attempted the parade but a serious storm came through and cancelled it for the day. After that we visited the Country Bear Jamboree, had an early dinner at Tony's Italian Restaurant (from Lady and the Tramp) and called it a day. We spent the rest of the evening in the pool which was a welcomed treat after the hot Florida sun cooked us all day!
Day three started with breakfast at Crystal Palace and a character greet with Pooh and the gang. Ella Ruth wasn't so sure about it at first but quickly warmed up to everyone! After breakfast Mommy and Daddy took a spin on Space Mountain (our personal favorite ride). We then went on The Jungle Cruise and grab fast passes for another of our favorites, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Can you tell the adults wanted to have some fun too? By this point in the afternoon it felt like it was 1,000 degrees (we just thought NC was hot) and we had early dinner plans so we headed back to the hotel for us to ALL take naps.
After nap time we headed back to visit the Polynesian Resort's Luau. I had picked the restaurant as a surprise for Preston. On our honeymoon we joked that for our fifth wedding anniversary we would go to Hawaii. As you can see, we didn't make it there so I had to improvise. It was probably my most favorite dinner we had! The entertainment was really cool and the food was yummy too. I have already tried to find a recipe to recreate the desert (pineapple bread pudding). It was, as Preston would say, the bomb dot com!
On our last day our flight wasn't until 7 so we decided to make the most of our time and we headed out to one last park, Disney's Hollywood Studios. Back in the day we knew it as MGM. We didn't have much time but we were able to enjoy a few rides and a yummy lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Again, I am a sucker for themes (think black and white TVs playing old clips) so this is another one of my favorites. I loved it even more when our waitress told Preston to keep his elbows off the table!
Of course we had to meet one last character (Jake from Disney Junior) before we left. We all had an amazing trip. Although we were exhausted from all the fun we made a million memories and I will treasure them all for the rest of my life! I feel so lucky to have had this experience and cannot wait to go back to experience it all again! As Mickey Mouse says, "see ya real soon" Disney World! The Parks will be back!
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