Disney World

I am a little overwhelmed with all the pictures and not sure how to organize it all, so I think I am going to go through our trip day by day. Let me warn you…..there are over 400 images I have to go through, so it may be a little long.
Day 1- Travel and Epcot
Madison was so excited about our Disney trip. She couldn’t stop talking about it on the way down. She ended up falling asleep as we were entering into the Orlando area, so she did not get to see the grand entrance. She woke up as we were entering into the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It is such an amazing and neat resort. We had a room that overlooked the savannah with all the animals. We had great views of all kinds of African animals. Once we settled in, we headed over to Epcot. We had a character dinner there, so we figured we would just spend the afternoon there. Madison liked Epcot. She LOVED the Nemo ride!! Right before we headed to dinner with Chip and Dale, we went and saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy. This was her first interaction with the characters and we were not sure how she would respond to them. Needless to say this was not a pleasant first experience for her. She was totally scared. As you can see from the pictures, she wanted nothing to do with them. We really were hoping this would get better. At dinner, it was still the same, she was so afraid of Chip and Dale. We tried taking pictures and hugging them in hopes she would see that they were truly nice and not scary.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel and called it an evening. We had a LONG day ahead of us, so we knew Madison needed a good nights rest. When we got back to the room Madison had a surprise waiting for her on her bed……It was MINNIE!! This was such a sweet gift from her friends Lyla and Emma. THANK YOU!! She LOVED IT!! We were so sad not to be meeting up with them, but this was very sweet of them to send.

                                       
Day 2- Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom was an early entry day, so we headed in around 8:30. We started off in Fantasyland with Dumbo and the tea cups. She loved all the rides in Fantasy Land. She kept saying “One More Time”. I wish it was that easy to go one more time, but unfortunately that entails standing in line for a little while.  She ended up doing Dumbo twice. She loved the rides like Dumbo and magic carpet where you can control them.  We did the carousel, which for the first time she road on by herself. She was so proud of herself.  We had another character lunch with Winnie the Pooh, Tiger, Piglet, and Eeyore. We were a little nervous, but she ended up LOVING them all except Eeyore. She gave them all hugs, kisses, and knuckles. We were so glad!!! She also had her first visit with a real person character, which we thought she might do better with. She saw the Evil Stepsisters, Cinderella, Belle, and Rupunzel. She was not scared of them, but we could not get her to smile for any pictures. She did, however, take pictures by herself with them. Paw Paw arrived in the afternoon, so we headed to do more rides and things with him. We headed back to the hotel in the early evening to go in the pool. Madison loves to swim, so she was all about this nice pool.  Craig and I then headed back out to Magic Kingdom to go on more rides like space mountain. The park was open until midnight, so we thought it would be less crowded late at night. WE WERE WRONG!! It seemed to be more crowded. It was crazy how some many people had their YOUNG kids still awake late at night. We saw some of the night show, rode space mountain, and then headed back.
   

    

         

Day 3- Animal Kingdom
We started out with a character breakfast at the Tusker House. I think this was our favorite character meal of all. The food was good and Madison loved Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. After that we headed off to the safari, which by the way Madison fell asleep on. We then headed to the Little Nemo musical…. let’s just say this was not Madison’s favorite. She was scared of the BIG shark. She did, however, like the Triceratops ride. It is very similar to Dumbo, which she LOVED.  After lunch, we hit up a few more rides and the parade. We took turns going on the Mount Everest rollercoaster ride, which was GREAT!!  After the parade, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel. That night we went to the rainforest cafe for dinner. This was her first experience there, but I think she enjoyed seeing all the animals while she ate.
        
 
Day 4- Epcot and Hollywood Studios
We had a few more things we wanted to do in Epcot, so we headed there for the morning. We went and saw the Mickey and friends again, since the first time was not a good experience. After a few rides, we ate lunch at the coral reef restaurant. Madison slept for the first part, but woke up just in time to see lots of sharks, fish, stingrays, and a sea turtle. After lunch, we boarded a ferry to Hollywood Studios for the afternoon. There were a few rides here we wanted to do as well. Unfortunately, we were not able to get into the Toy Story ride. She did, however, get to meet Woody and Buzz.  We let her play for awhile in the Honey I Shurnk The Kids playground. She had a blast in there! Then we watched the Disney Pixar parade.  That night Craig, dad, and I went back to Epcot for some margaritas and fireworks!! Oh yeah and that night Madison decided she wanted to wake up early…we were not ready to get up, so we put her in the bed with us (something we NEVER do). Mom caught a cute picture though!!
                          
Day 5- Magic Kingdom and Travel
We headed back to the Magic Kingdom, so Madison could ride all the rides again she loved. We hit up Dumbo, Tea Cups, Buzz Light year, Carousel, It’s A Small World, and Peter Pan. After lunch, we went and saw Jasmine and Aladdin and then headed back home. Madison was exhausted and slept 2.5 hours on the way home. We had such a great time in Disney World. Thank you GUGU and PawPaw!!