Disney Day 3: Hollywood Studios

We enjoyed our day at Hollywood Studios! There was so much to do to entertain the boys. 

Evan's favorite part of the day: he finally got to meet Donald Duck!! (Jaden was sleeping in the stroller at the time).

The boys saw Lightning McQueen and Mater. They were interactive, so Evan was a little hesitant. But Jaden thought it was very cool.

We took turns hanging out with the boys while the adults road the Star Wars, Tower of Terror, and Rockin' Roller Coaster rides. 

 We need a t-shirt that says, "We survived entertaining two 2 year olds while standing in line for the Toy Story ride." Sigh. It was definitely a team effort, took lots of fruit snacks, but we were successful and all enjoyed the ride!

All of the Disney Junior morning shows were brought to life on stage! The boys were amazed!

 This is how we roll! Don't feel bad that Jaden fell alseep.....this was a good thing as he still needs a daily nap!

Last night we decided to dine out. I would recommend the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian hotel. We were able to park in the guest lot and enjoy the white sand beach by the lake afterwards to watch the lighted boat parade. 

Thanks, Alex, for the fun Day #3!!

The boys clearly had a fun-filled day!

Magic Kingdom…..with Toddlers!

If you had asked the boys last week what was at Disney World, they would have told you three things: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and a CAS-ol. Those things have served us well in bribing the boys to be good ever since loading into the car Friday night. They finally got to see two of the three things. 

Our attempt at pictures with three squirrely boys.

We rode many kid-friendly rides including the  Carousel     - which all of the boys loved!

It’s a Small World.

Winnie the Pooh.

Buzz Lightyear

Dumbo. Of course afterwards Evan wanted to ride the identical Dumbo ride on the right hand side after we stood in line for what seemed like longer than the 20 minute predicted time! After every ride Evan would clap and say “Again. Again.” 

While waiting in Mickey’s room for a picture Evan says “no Mickey Mouse, no Mickey Mouse.” Luckily, there was a family in front of us, so he could see Mickey interacting with others and knew it was safe. He did really well, but I had to hold him on the opposite side, not right next to Mickey! Mickey talks now, too, so the interaction was fun.

The boys patiently, term used loosely, waited an hour for the lighted parade. I think Jaden is living off of fruit snacks (Veggie Tales, as he calls them). Do not judge. It’s practically a fruit serving, right?

After a bath, the boys fell right asleep, no stories, no songs, they just fell asleep immediately-- dreaming of Mickey Mouse I am sure!

Disney Day #1

Dreams do come true.

Well, I can’t exactly say that taking two 2 ½ year olds to Disney World was ever in my dreams; however, here we are!! And the boys are doing really well—likely because of the patient people we are traveling with!

We opted to drive-thru-the-night, which was a big success. After several movies, the boys did just as they were supposed to and slept. As for baby Tucker, well, he’s at the perfect age  (which I barely remember for the boys) and he just slept the whole trip away. Minus a long stop for breakfast, it only took 16 hours in the car---not bad considering it’s 11 hours to Grandma & Grandpa Raeder’s.  

Day #1: I have decided that dealing with Evan and Jaden in Disney World is more than a full-time job! Food: I must plan plenty of snacks to have in the parks, and a variety of foods. When they get hungry, they are hungry! We have a rotation of two single umbrella strollers and a carrier (around the body front or back) for the three kids. It has worked well so far. Evan is content anywhere!

We basically have our own personal Disney Tour Guides---who know where to go what time of day, what is best for 2 year olds, where the fast-pass kiosks are, where the best food and drinks are at Epcot, and the best seats in the house to watch the fireworks. We are truly blessed on this trip. Since Brooke worked here for a semester and met her friend Alex- who currently works here with Tad, they are up to date on all the new things to do at the parks. 

We had a wonderful and busy first day. We started out at Animal Kingdom. The boys love animals, so it was fun to watch their excitement on the Safari. Let’s just say that before we left they found an ant in our condo, and they were SO excited to follow this ant around……that excitement quadrupled as they saw all the animals from their favorite book ‘Goodnight Gorilla!’

We had our first character meeting with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh……Evan screamed and had a death grip on Nathan, so he just waved from afar. Jaden and Tucker were so excited!

We tried to be the smart pro-active parents and come back to the condo for a late lunch and naps, before going back to the park for the evening. The boys were exhausted, but took a while to settle down for naps. But sleep always wins……at least for Jaden. Evan didn’t nap- went swimming with us instead (don’t worry, our room is right next to the pool and a monitor reaches!) 

After naptime, we went to Epcot to see the big ‘golf ball.’ Thanks to Brooke & Dan, we all got to meet Pluto and Minnie Mouse! I was glad Evan had practice at Animal Kingdom with Pooh, as he did great with these characters. We are making progress!

At night we were fortunate to go with Alex and Tad on a pontoon boat ride and get a tour of the lake, see the lighted boat parade, and the amazing fireworks from our view on the lake. Unfortunately, it was dark and I had nothing to entertain the boys for the first 30 minutes of the ride---so they were very fussy. Thankfully there was snacks and water on the boat that they devoured—but of course screamed loudly every time they wanted water or popcorn! I am sure as my dad says about kids in church, they seemed louder to us as they did everyone else. After the parade started, they were quiet and loved the lights and fireworks. Jaden ooh’ed and awe’ed at every single firework explosion!! Evan; well, he fell asleep during the show. Our very busy, very amazing day #1 had finally caught up to him!