Epcot

Day 5 had us in Epcot which I think is the most unique of all the parks.  Once again I am going to basically phone it in on this post and just give the highlights because sadly I didn't get a lot of pictures because well, day 5 and we're traveling with a 17 month old folks. Philip did capture this little gem though while we were all getting through the bag check line.

This was the perfect time of year to go to Epcot.  They were having their flower festival which meant they had TONS of creative topiaries of characters that were beautiful.

Hey kids! Look over here!

Also because it was the week before Easter there was a fun egg hunt that the kids could participate in going through each of the countries on the world tour side and finding different Disney character eggs.

On to the recap of our day at Epcot:

Breakfast in Norway with the princesses

Then we went to Turtle talk with Crush and got to enjoy the Finding Nemo ride and seeing all of the fish in the live aquarium 

(I love how the seahorse seems to be looking skeptically at Annie in this picture, she wanted one with the little octopus since he's one of her favorites on Finding Nemo).

We found the musical dance floor that both kiddos enjoyed hopping around on which was a highlight of our last trip to Epcot with a younger Annie.

Then we hit up the spot where you can try different Coke products from different countries which was a real treat for my soda-deprived offspring 

We even made some "suicides"

Some were tasty

Some were not

But it was a fun stop

After our tummies were sloshing we toured through the countries in the world showcase

Annie finished the egg hunt and after we had soaked up all the culture we could we met up with everyone else.

To end the day we closed the park down ooohhhing and aaahhhhing over the beautiful fireworks display.

Epcot - you were a world of fun!

Animal Kingdom

Well, doing an individual post for each fantastic day at Disney has become one thing on my to-do list that just taunts me; and yet with all the life that is happening right now I have to continue to let it bate me as it slides further and further down the list. However, I am going to buckle down and get this done. I will forewarn you though, many details are going to be missing but hopefully enough will be down to bring back the rosey, warm memories that were made.

Day 3 had us at Animal Kingdom.  This is a super-unique park as it a zoo inside a theme park and is all kinds of fun. Some highlights:

The scout program. They earned merits throughout the park while learning about dinosaurs, different cultures, animals, and all types of other fun things as they gathered badges, filled their journal, and gained plenty of knowledge along the way. Please make note of Brynn's "we're doing this why?" face.

Lunch at the Yak and the Yeti.  We ate here the last time we came and it did not disappoint again.

The dinosaur ride - a little scary but we got this awesome take-away photo.  About 1/4 of the way through this ride Cassey and I realized this was probably not the best for children in our age group so I spent the rest of the time convincing Annie how fake all the life-like dinosaurs coming at us looked. She still said right when we got off "I don't want to do that ever again."

Denver also got to ride a dinosaur ride of a more tame nature that he enjoyed. Apparently it was very sunny as the severe squinting of his parents portrays.

We also went on the jungle safari and this is one of my favorite features of the park.  Denver spent his time crawling across the laps of Philip, me, mom, and dad to get the closest view he could of each animal we encountered.

We enjoyed the Lion King show, Philip and I rode some avalanche roller coaster with a yeti animation that was great fun, and we hit up the 4D presentation of It's Tough to Be A Bug which dad found the most amusing part of the day.  Denver did not as he woke up when the bugs were coming at us.

And of course face painting is always a high point.

We left the park early evening and headed back to the resort so the kids could get some pool time.

Denver was happy as a lark to float on his life jacket.  He would just lay back and smile and laugh. Any time we took him out he wanted to jump right back in.

Annie, Wyatt, and Willow loved the slide and water features at the pool.

It was another day where we'd overdosed on good times and everyone went to bed with a smile on their face.

Magic Kingdom

Tuesday we started out our day by having a Supercalifragilistic breakfast that was quite the delight because the food was yummy for both kids and adults. The menu included things from eggs Benedict to brownies - for breakfast! There may have been a mother who put a plate of gummy bears in the middle of the table because we were at the happiest place on earth...it felt like the right thing to do. :)

Alice was there

The Mad Hatter

Tigger 

and Pooh was also in attendance but Denver couldn't be bothered because priorities people.

We had a fun breakfast and then headed to the Magic Kingdom. We attempted a family pic and then just surrendered and headed in.

We waited in some lines to ride some rides and again Disney knows what they are doing and most of the rides that were catered to little kids had some activity or play area for them during the wait.

The last time we were at Disney World they were working on building Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom and so we were really anxious to see the finished product and it did not disappoint.

The following pictures are courtesy of the Internet because sake's alive there were people everywhere and taking scenery pics with a 17 month-old on your hip is just near impossible.

Rapunzel's kingdom

Aeriel's grotto

Gaston's Tavern

The Beast's castle

Fantasyland was just like being in the actual locations of the movies - well-played Disney, well-played.

We actually got to lunch in the Beast's castle 

I had "the gray stuff" based on the review of it being "delicious" in the movie Beauty and the Beast and it was. 

That afternoon we rode some more rides - It's a Small World and the teacups are favorites of Annie's

We also went to the Enchanted Tales with Belle which was an interactive activity and really fun

After which we went to Gaston's Tavern for some Lafeu's Brew that we couldn't get enough of - in a word...yum!  The kids sat in his chair and admired all the antlers on the walls.

Annie met up with Anna and Elsa

and we checked out the Haunted Mansion 

then spent the rest of the day shopping around, riding more rides, and playing until our dogs were barking and the evening fireworks had gone off.  

Throughout the day there were a few tired tears and the occasional moment of grumpiness but those moments were so minuscule in comparison with the amount of happiness that they are hard to recall just two weeks after the fact when I am writing this.

Overall it was a day full of laughter, smiles, and time together making priceless memories.