Disney World 2014 pt. 1

We spent 5 fun-filled days at Disney world last week! We all had the BEST time and it was certainly a special trip as it's the last one before our sweet baby girl #2 arrives this summer. I absolutely loved getting to focus all our attention on Hadley this trip, and not worry about work, meal planning, cleaning, cooking, etc. So thankful for our sweet time together as a family.  I spent a lot of time planning beforehand which certainly paid off when we got there! I'm splitting our trip into multiple posts :)

Day 1 - Epcot

We flew direct into Orlando and arrived around 11:00 am. We grabbed a quick lunch and headed for Epcot. It's the Flower and Garden festival and everything was so beautiful!

26 weeks pregnant!

We rode Soarin' (which was awesome!), The Seas with Nemo & Friends, and did the Talk with Turtle Crush that afternoon. Hadley loved them all!  Then we were ready for a snack. No trip to Disney is complete with Mickey ice cream!

I bought Hadley an autograph book from Etsy for all the characters to sign - it was so cute!! This puppy was completely full at the end of the week and I thought it would be a fun memento for her to remember our trip!

 I wasn't sure how Hads would do with the characters, but she did great! Mickey was the first character we met on our trip!

More topiary characters for the festival - they were everywhere!

We ate a quick bite at Epcot in Japan for dinner (it was a quick service meal on our dining plan we purchased). I have celiac disease and follow a gluten free diet. I can't say how impressed I was with ALL the restaurants we ate at during the week with my allergy. At the table service restaurants, the chef would come and talk to me directly about what they could make GF, or if it was a buffet, they pointed out them items that I could have. Usually traveling is a pain with my allergy, but at Disney, that was not the case!  We called it a day after dinner to get ready for day 2!

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

I knew we needed to get to the Magic Kingdom early to see all the characters arrive by train that morning. We used the Disney transportation from our resort to get to the park that day. I wasn't a huge fan of the Disney buses, so at night we drove everywhere on our own. If you are planning a trip to Disney, try to get to the Magic Kingdom early one day for this little show - it was so neat! I think the other parks do something similar, but this is probably the biggest show.

Now I know why they say this is the most magical place on earth....from the moment we got there, I loved everything about it. Not to mention, the weather was perfect! I never was a "Disney person" as I only went there once when I was a little girl, and a couple times while at training when I worked at KPMG. But, this trip totally converted me. I think it converted Brandon too :)  We all just LOVED it!

On day 2 we rode the Teacups, Dumbo, the Barnstormer, Peter Pan's Flight, the Carousel, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz Lightyear's Space ranger spin. Brandon rode Space Mountain while Hads and me did the Lilo and Stitch ride (which she hated, and I couldn't wait till it ended!).  Most of the rides had great play areas for little ones to play on while waiting. Here we are in the Winnie the Pooh line...

We left the park that afternoon and attempted a nap, but Hadley would have none of that - she was too wound up and we were staying in a shoe box hotel room. So we relaxed a little, took showers, and headed back to the Magic Kingdom for our dinner reservation.  Before dinner that night, we did the Enchanted Tale with Belle. It was SO cute and one of my favorite experiences!  I highly recommend this one - use a fast pass on this one as it's very popular!  Both Brandon and Hadley got picked to be part of the story with Belle...

Just after our tale with Belle, we had dinner at the Be Our Guest Castle which was the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast. It's a new place at the park and I'm glad we got to experience it!  The Beast walked around at dinner and you could take your picture with him when you left. The food was okay, but I think dining at Disney is more about the experience, and less about the food :)  

Hadley's Turkey Mickey Meatloaf!

After dinner we rode the Ariel ride and then grabbed a Dole Whip which I was SO excited to try after reading so much about them online before our trip! This thing was awesome and I ate every bite of mine.  Hadley was passed out at this point and we decided to call it a day!

What a fun day!!!

Part 2 to follow with days 3-5. I don't want to forget anything!

Note:  We purchased the Memory Maker photo package in advance, so all the photos of the 3 of us were taken by Disney photographers and loaded directly to our account for instant downloading. I'm so glad we purchased this package!