The next leg of our trip was all about the kids! We had a crash course on Disney movies before we left, so they were well versed on the Disney characters we thought they would see.
We stayed at Disney's Art of Animation Resort. This resort has 4 themed areas: Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Cars, and The Little Mermaid. We stayed in a Finding Nemo Suite. It was impressive!
This was the outside of our building.
The Finding Nemo pool was huge!
Music is played underwater---the kids thought this was magic!
William was getting tricky with his jumps---
The kids would have been happy to spend the whole day at the pool and skip the parks!
This was a mural in one of the hallways of the resort.
The resort's lobby walls were decorated with sketches of Disney characters. Here is Nora with Sebastian from The Little Mermaid.
William.
Nora and Simba.
This mural was on the wall of the bathroom at the resort. Audrey and Nora had to have their picture taken with Ariel!
Prince Eric with William in the Little Mermaid section of the resort.
Our first night we had dinner at Chef Mickey's with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto.
Nora and Mom ready for dinner with Mickey!
Chef Mickey!
Audrey could do nothing but marvel at Minnie!
Donald was a lot of fun!
The pictures with the characters didn't turn out as well as I had hoped (the kids do NOT stand still), but I was pleased with this family shot taken before dinner.
Our first day we headed to The Magic Kingdom. We happened to get there early, and were able to see the opening ceremony.
The girls adore the Little Mermaid, so our first ride had to be Under the Sea~Journey of the Little Mermaid. This is not the best picture, but look how excited the girls are!!!
Audrey outside The Little Mermaid ride.
Next stop was the Enchanted Tales with Belle (from Beauty and the Beast). This was an interactive story adventure with Belle and the audience. My son, who was tolerating the princess rides for his sisters, was chosen to be the Beast for this interactive adventure. That meant he had to DANCE with Belle. He went along with it, but insisted the next ride not be a princess one.
Belle and William.
Audrey and Belle. Audrey was very proud of her brother!
Nora and Belle.
It's absolutely necessary to ride It's a Small World your first time at Disney!
The kids loved it. We did too, and both agreed it smelled old, exactly the same as the last time we rode it! It's endearing that some things never change, even at Disney World.
We watched a performance in front of Cinderella's castle called "Dreams Come True!"
Nora watching the show from her stroller. She must have really taken it all in because she still says "DREAMS COME TRUE!"
Audrey catching a ride with the Husband. He could not figure out why his forehead got really sunburned...some little dolly was rubbing her dad's forehead and must have taken off his sunscreen!
Audrey had her eye on this ride--Prince Charming Regal Carousel--all morning. It was such a pretty carousel, we had to take a ride!
Neither the husband nor I had been to Disney in many years. It's amazing how much it has grown! We all enjoyed Magic Kingdom, and we did and saw everything we hoped to. Some of our favorite rides were Peter Pan's Flight, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (way scarier and faster than I remember!).
Day 2 was spent at the Animal Kingdom, Disney's newest park.
Our first destination of the day was the Kilimanjaro Safari, a safari ride through an African savanna to see live animals. This was our safari vehicle.
What a fun experience! Below are some of the animals we saw....
William and the Husband went on a 'big kid ride' called the Primeval Whirl roller coaster. This was William's favorite ride!
Finding Nemo-The Musical was one of the live shows we saw at Animal Kingdom. The production was outstanding--the stunning theatrical puppets and innovative special effects had us all in awe!
The pictures do not do justice to how detailed and spectacular the stage and puppets were.
The second live stage musical we saw was the Festival of the Lion King. This over-the-top performance used song, dance, puppets, and acrobatics to portray a tribal celebration in an African savanna filled with lions, giraffes, birds, zebras, and gazelles.
The kids are still singing "Hakuna Matata!"
The end of the second day.....we were tired!
Rest up kids, we're headed to the beach next!!!
