Disney World: Days 5 and 6

For our last night at Disney, we had a dining reservation at ‘Ohana which was located at our resort.

“‘Ohana” means family, so everyone at the restaurant is a “cousin” and everything is served family style and all-you-care-to-eat.  The dinner menu featured skewers of meat (steak, chicken, pork, and shrimp) grilled over an open fire pit.  We also loved the pineapple coconut bread.

During dinner, a woman playing the ukulele led some Hawaiian-themed activities. The girls tried coconut racing (using brooms to sweep coconuts around the restaurant) and we could have learned to hula again (but we were already pros after our afternoon lesson).

As we were getting ready for dessert, one of the servers was talking to Emily and asked if it was her birthday soon.  Emily said yes.  (Her birthday is actually in September).  A few minutes later, the server arrived with a few other servers and a cupcake with a candle.  Before we could tell them that her birthday is actually 4 months away, they lit the candle and started singing “Happy Birthday to you…” 

Happy Birthday

Other guests sitting near us joined in singing to Emily too.  Emily loved the attention, Luke and I thought it was really funny, but Logan and Audrey were totally annoyed and kept saying “It’s not her birthday!” and plugging their ears!  Their reaction made us laugh even more!

After dinner, we walked out to the end of the pier and sat on a bench to watch the boat parade.  It was a little chilly, so Luke went to grab a few towels from the pool area, and I snapped a silly picture on my cellphone with the kids.  What fun!

The kids loved the boat parade.  It consists of several boats carrying screens of lights which light up to show sea creatures, all set in time to music.  It was a fun way to end the night.

The next morning it was time to pack up and head home.  Because we were staying at a Disney resort, we could check our luggage and get our boarding passes all while at the Polynesian. 

We took one last picture in front of the outdoor waterfall, and then caught the magical express to the airport with our carry-on bags. 

As we were standing in the security line at the airport, I realized something.  I didn’t have my driver’s license.  It wasn’t in my wallet, it wasn’t in my purse… then I remembered: it was in the front pocket of the shirt I had worn on the flight to Florida, and that shirt was in my checked suitcase which was on its way to our airplane.

I spoke to a security guard who asked if I had any other form of photo ID (all I had were credit cards and a library card) or any mail addressed to me (I only had receipts).  Luke figured he might have to fly home without me and fax my license to the airport after he got home, but instead they took me to a separate area for high-level screening.  I had the full pat-down, body swabs, the panoramic screening, and a search and swab through all my checked luggage.  I didn’t even care; I just wanted to go home!  After that, they allowed me to proceed to my gate, where I met up with Luke who had to take all three kids (and stroller) through security by himself.  Whew!

The flight home was uneventful and on our drive home from the airport, I turned around to see this.  Sooo tired!

So, that was our trip!  We had been anticipating it for months, and we really had a great time!  The kids were so well-behaved and it was so cool to see everything through their eyes.  They soaked it all up.  I remember during the parades, Audrey would turn to me and say “Tinkerbell just waved AT ME!” and I remember feeling the same way when I was a child.  It was exciting to see the kids get so excited about the characters and the rides, and it was nice not to have the distractions from home so that we could really enjoy each others’ company.  It was fun to laugh and explore together as a family.

Before we went to Disney, I had always said we would go one time and that would be it.  After experiencing Disney World as a family, we’re already saying that we’d like to go again in three years or so.  It was such a great experience for us. 

And with that, my Disney blog posts are finished!  FINALLY.  :)

Disney World: Day 5

On our last full day, we woke up and rode the monorail to Chef Mickey’s!

The kids LOVED it!  They sure felt like royalty at Cinderella’s Royal Table, but here they were able to do more talking, interacting, and even goofing around with Mickey and his friends.  It was all just a little more laid-back and fun.

Donald came by first.

Silly Donald

Then Mickey stopped by.

“Mickey Kissed Me!”

Then Pluto came and got really silly with the kids.  I love how excited Emily is to see him!

And, of course, Minnie.

And Goofy!

After breakfast, we let the kids each pick out one souvenir from the gift shop at the Contemporary.  We told them to keep their eyes open all week for what they might like to get on the last day.  Logan picked a monorail play set, and the girls each picked a two-in-one doll (skirt flips up and down to make two different dolls).  Audrey picked Anna/Elsa and Emily picked Aurora/Ariel.

Then we headed back to the pool and beach for some more swimming fun!

After swimming we were all pretty tired, so we all took a 1.5 hour nap in our room.  It felt great!  When we woke up, we decided to go explore some of the other resorts.  On our way out, they were offering hula lessons in the Polynesian lobby, so the girls and I learned how to hula!

Then we went to The Grand Floridian for a cookie.

We stopped at the Contemporary again to make some more pressed pennies (we have 22 from Disney stored in a pressed penny book).

And we rode the water ferry back to the Polynesian from the Magic Kingdom monorail stop.

It was another great day so far.  Only one more special evening meal, one more parade, and our trip home (involving high-level screening at the airport) left, all of which I’ll post about tomorrow!

Disney World: Day 4 (Magic Kingdom at night)

This post is a continuation of Day 4…  To see the first part of Day 4, click here.

Ok, are you ready for some princess pictures?  If not, I suggest you stop reading now.  Fair warning. :)  After changing our clothes and freshening up, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for our dinner reservations in the castle at Cinderella’s Royal Table.

We loved the ambiance of the room (we’re “castle” people).  Then the waitress brought over magic wands and a sword for the kids, which they loved!

After receiving our food, the princesses started making their rounds.

We really enjoyed the opportunity to go inside the castle, and the kids had a lot of fun playing the parts of knight and princesses.  A magical experience for all of us!

Following the fairytale dining experience, we used a fast pass to visit Audrey’s favorite princess, Rapunzel.  Audrey asked Rapunzel how she got her hair to be so long, and Rapunzel replied, “I just never cut it!”  Audrey has now sworn off all haircuts from now until forever.

Afterward, Luke took the girls for a ride on the carousel while Logan tried to pull out the sword in the stone.  (I told him that only a true knight could pull out the sword.)

Then I heard someone call out “Mrs. Darling” and I turned to see Audrey’s friend from school, Reece, riding the carousel!  Audrey and Reece were unknowingly riding the carousel at the same time!  What a fun surprise to see your friend at Disney World!

Off to Tomorrowland Speedway where Logan and Audrey got their chance behind the wheel!

Thankfully there is a track in the middle to keep the car on course, but Audrey hit that central track more times than the average driver, I’m sure!  (Although the car in front of us – with Logan driving– had their fair share of jolts too!)  :)

Tomorrowland Speedway

To end the night, we used fast passes to get front row seats at the nighttime Electrical Parade.  We were seated right in front of the castle.  Super seats!  And, wow, Disney sure knows how to put on an amazing parade! 

The kids didn’t want to stay for the fireworks (too loud) so we went back to The Polynesian and watched them from the beach instead.

Whew!  What a big and fun day, starting with our Winnie the Pooh breakfast in the morning and ending with the fireworks at night. 

And this is what you look like after 13 hours at the Magic Kingdom!