Disney 2014: More PhotoPass Pictures

As I mentioned earlier, we purchased the Photo Pass offered by Disney. It was nice to know we'd have a lot of family pictures and not have to ask the photographers to take pictures with our camera. Here are some of my favorite family pictures. A family picture at Animal Kingdom

Our family tradition to take a family photo at Tusker House. Unfortunately, Donald Duck no longer poses for pictures at Tusker House.

Family shot with Belle at Epcot

Another Epcot picture

A family photo with both Mickey and Minnie

Disney 2014 Day 6: Animal Kingdom

Our last day at Disney would only be a half day as we had to travel home.  We did this last year as well and actually enjoy going to one of the parks for the morning and then hitting the road.  We again decided to do Animal Kingdom on our last day.  On our next trip, we will need to spend a full day at Animal Kingdom.  

We headed straight to Everest Expedition since we had fast passes.  Unfortunately, the ride was down. We had some time to kill before breakfast and walked around a little.

We ate breakfast at Tusker House which is a tradition. We heard ahead of the trip that they no longer take the photos with Donald outside of Tusker House which was very disappointing.  We still got a family picture, though.

The breakfast buffet was wonderful and the girls loved the characters.

After breakfast, we went on the safari ride. It was pretty bumpy, but AG did great and was well behaved.

We then headed back to the Everest ride.  The line was huge even for fast pass so we went through the single rider line.  Brooke did not want to ride which was probably good. I don't think she was ready for that one.

We then went to the Dino land area to use our last few snack credits.  The girls played on the playground for a little bit and then it was time to make our way to the exit.

We saw the vine lady on our way out and the girls were amazed.  AG couldn't take her eyes off of her.

Another fun and successful trip to Disney World. Trey and I are already trying to figure out a way to go next year.  And here is a picture of the girls about 10 minutes into the ride home.

Disney Day 5: Magic Kingdom

This was the big day! We had a fast pass to meet Anna and Elsa.  The only catch was we had to wait until 8:40. So we decided to go to the park for the morning and head back to the hotel after lunch to rest before returning in the evening.

We noticed when we arrived that Merida had a very short line. The girls had never met her so they were excited. They were also given a picture to color while they waited to meet her.

Next, we headed to the Winnie the Pooh ride.  We had a short wait, but the girls enjoyed playing while we went through the line.

Our next fast pass was for Big Thunder Mountain. The big girls and I rode first while Trey waited with AG. We all loved it and the girls rode again with Trey. I took a picture of AG while we waited.

We had some time before our next fast pass, so we headed to Tom Sawyer Island.  We had never explored the island before. The kids had a lot of fun and it was a relaxing way to kill some time.

The girls and I rode Splash Mountain next while Trey and AG waited.  I got pretty wet and we were heading to lunch next. Luckily, it was warm and I dried quickly.

On our walk to lunch, we encountered the new Move It, Shake It, Dance and Play it Street Party.  This was actually the first day of this party. We watched for a few minutes and Brooke even danced with Jessie.

Our lunch reservations were at Crystal Palace, another character buffet.  The food is great and the girls enjoyed the characters. AG took pictures with all except Tigger.  Brooke was given a cupcake for her birthday.  We probably will not visit Crystal Palace next time since the girls are getting a little old for the Winnie the Pooh characters.

After lunch, we caught a bus back to our hotel to relax. Of course, the girls wanted to go swimming. Trey took them to the pool and then they came back to the room to rest. We were hoping the girls would nap, but no luck. We headed back to the park around 6:15.

Our first stop was dinner. We planned to get hot dogs at Casey's, but it was packed.  Brooke was also asleep in the stroller making if difficult for all of us to get in line. So we went to our second choice, Columbia Harbor House.  There wa also a wait there, but I wax able to grab a table while Trey and Audrey got the food.  The food was decent. Brooke woke up as we were eating.

After dinner Trey wanted to head to Splash Mountain since he did not ride it earlier. Audrey wanted to ride with him. The little girls and I went to a little play area nearby. They had a blast.

It was finally time to meet Anna and Elsa. The regular line had a 90 minute wait. With our fast passes, we had to wait about 5 minutes. The girls loved meeting Anna and Elsa. Elsa was amazing and spent so much time with the girls.  At the end, AG said "Kiss, Elsa?" Elsa was so sweet and let AG kids her on the cheek.

Anna was not as great in her interaction with the girls, but they didn't care.  When AG asked for a kiss, Anna said "I'll just blow you a kiss."

We headed over to the People Mover, but it looked like it was down.  So we went on the Carousel of Progress. AG was scared at times because of the darkness. Brooke really enjoyed it.

There was no line for the People Mover when we checker, so the girls and I rode while Trey rode Space Mountain. It was so much fun to ride at night. We decided to head towards the exit at that point. We noticed there was no wait for Tinkerbell, so we stopped for pictures.

By the time we finished with Tinkerbell, the fireworks were wrapping up. So we were in a crowd leaving. It was a long day, but definitely worth it.

PhotoPass Pictures

We purchased the photopass package that Disney offers and were very pleased with our pictures. I'll be posting the pictures in posts in the next few days, but thought I'd share a few the girls took at Hollywood Studios.

Disney 2014 Day 4: Magic Kingdom

Day 4 was spent at Magic Kingdom.  Our first fast pass was for the new Seven Drawfs Mine Train. Anna was not big enough to ride, so Trey waited with her.  It is a great roller coaster for kids and the girls loved it. They rode again with Trey when it was his turn. 

We then headed for Dumbo.  There was no line so we immediately got on the ride. Anna Grace enjoyed this ride. I really wanted to ride Space Mountain, so we headed that way before the line was too long.  Audrey wanted to ride and we talked Brooke into riding as well.  Brooke was a little scared in line, but I convinced her to ride with us.  She did great, but did not want to ride it again.

We got in line for Tomorrowland Sppedway. I hate driving cars like that, but had to drive for AG.  AG did fine on the ride and I was glad when it was over.

We had a fast pass for Enchanted Tales with Belle so we headed there next. I got separated from AG. She was sitting with Audrey, but that was not enough to keep her calm. I ended up getting her and we sat in the back until picture time. AG was still nervous, but I walked her up to Belle to get a few pictures.

We had a few minutes to kill before lunch, so we rode the Little Mermaid ride. We were able to get a fast pass for lunch at Be Our Guest. We preordered online before our trip. We checked in and got in line. We were pulled aside and put in a shorter line since we preordered. Once we got in, they tried to pull up our order but could not find it. We quickly entered it back in and then went inside to find a table. It was beautiful inside and I should have taken a few pictures, but did not. 

It did not take long for our food to arrive. I ordered the carved turkey sandwich and it was great. Trey had the roast beef sandwich. This was definitely one of my favorite meals of the trip.

After lunch, we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was the longest wait at about 35 minutes. I was expecting AG to be scared because of the noise and darkness, but she actually enjoyed this ride.

I got in line for a Dole Whip whe Trey took the girls on the Swiss Family Treehouse. I shared the dole whip with the girls. It is still my favorite Disney treat.

Trey was able to add another fast pass for Goofy's Barnstormer. We all rode even AG.  Brooke loved it.

Next, the girls got a treat and we looked around one of the shops.  The girls played on the circus area for awhile and then we told them they could play in the splash pad. I had brought a change of clothes for them. AG did not want to play much or get wet, but Brooke was soaked. We went in a bathroom to change before heading out.

We had dinner reservations for 5:50 at 1900 Park Fare. This is a character buffet with characters from Cinderella. The restaurant is located in the Grand Floridian so we rode the monorail to the resort. The Grand Floridian is beautiful.  I wouldn't stay there with young kids, though. We were so nervous the kids were going to break something in the lobby.

We had to wait awhile until we were seated. It was a little chaotic and loud which is kinda good for us since our girls can get loud.  The food was excellent. Brooke's favorite was the strawberry soup. I think she ended up with 3 bowls of it. 

Disney 2014 Day 3: Epcot

Day 3 of our trip was spent at Epcot. We were looking forward to using some of our snack credits at the Food and Wine Festival. We also had lunch reservations at Akershus, so we would be meeting several princesses. 

 We visited Epcot on our last trip and I wasn't a big fan. Just seems like there is not a lot to do with kids. I think I also get tired and irritable because there seems to be little shade in Epcot. 

 Our first stop was Spaceship Earth. Anna Grace again acted scared and didn't want to get on, but we took her anyhow. She was ok on the ride. We then went to the Nemo ride. AG enjoyed the Nemo ride. We spent some time looking at the fish and dolphins before heading to the World Showcase to get a few snacks. After snacks, we headed to Soarin'. Trey and the big girls rode while AG and I watched a few ducks. We then went back to the World Showcase for a little bit before our lunch. We rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. This was a cute and fun ride in one of the restaurants in Mexico. We will probably try the restaurant the next time we visit Disney since we are all big Mexican food lovers. 

 We went to lunch and had a picture taken with Belle before being seated. The girls enjoyed seeing the princesses. We met Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, and Aurora. Lunch was ok. There was a large appetizer buffet with salad, fruit, cheeses and meat. Then we also ordered an entree. Trey ordered a meatball dish. I tried it, but did not like it at all. I ordered a roast beef sandwich which was ok. We also had a variety of desserts to share. Brooke also received a cupcake for her birthday. After lunch, we headed to character spot. We had a fast pass, but there was very little wait. We met Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Minnie Mouse. We then headed to Innoventions to take a complimentary picture with unknown characters since we are Chase card holders. We had to wait in line for awhile and had no idea what characters were behind the curtain. We were excited when we saw Mickey and Minnie together. We had a family picture taken and were told we could pick up the free picture in about thirty minutes. 

 The girls played in Innoventions for a few minutes before we went to Test Track. Brooke, Audrey and I rode first. Trey let AG play in a little splash pad area while we rode. Trey rode Test Track with Audrey while I headed to the picture area to try to pick up the picture. I waited in line several minutes to find out they didn't have the pictures and only one picture from the photos with Minnie and Mickey were appearing and it wasn't a good one. I was told to come back later and maybe the pictures would be there. By the time Trey arrived, I was tired and ready to go back to the hotel. He did go in the photo shop and the pictures were there when he looked. So he picked a picture for printing and we then headed back to the hotel. 

 We made it back around 6pm and the girls wanted to go swimming. We took them to the pool and I tried to get in, but it was freezing. I'm not sure how they did it, but they managed to stay in there for an hour. I kept asking AG if she wanted to go back to the room, but she wanted to stay in the water. We finally went back to the room and changed and headed back to our hotel's restaurant for dinner.

 There were a ton of options, but you had to go to a specific area to order and not all of the food options were at every counter. I knew I wanted to order the girls the corn dog nuggets, so I got in that line. Trey wanted pasta so he waited in that line. My plan was to order for the girls and then go to another line to order what I wanted, but I quickly realized it was going to take too long to do that. So I ordered a hamburger. It was good and the girls enjoyed their meal as well. After dinner, we headed back to the room to relax before the next big day.