Thursday Part 1...including a special blog friend meet up!

I'm dividing Thursday into two parts because it was a very character intensive day. We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom, and we caught all of the rides and attractions that we had not previously been able to do. All throughout the Disney parks, they have these great 3D shows (actually 4D). Every time we were going on a ride or into a theater for a show, Analese would ask four questions: 1) Is this fast or slow? Of course, we only went on slow rides. 2) Does this ride go upside down? No, of course not. 3) Does this ride go underwater? Seriously, child? You really think I would take you and Mariele on a ride like that? 4) Will we get splashed with water? OK - this is a valid question. You never know when you are going to get splashed with water at any of the Disney rides or attractions. Watch out for the seats that have hidden nozzles in the theaters. Mariele wears her 3D glasses just like she wears her sunglasses - upside down. It is just her special style, along with wearing baseball caps and princess tiaras gangster style.



We headed over to the Crystal Palace to have a wonderful Winnie the Pooh and friends buffet and to meet Kara and her family! Kara's daughter, Kendall is Analese's age (a May 06 baby, in fact). I have really hit the jackpot with my blog friend meet ups in theme parks. A year ago I met Jenn at Legoland in California, and this time I got to meet Kara at Disney. Kara and her family are delightful people. Analese totally hit it off with Kendall, and was wondering when we can have another play date with her. Too bad we live probably 18 hours apart from one another. But we could very likely have another Disney meet-up in the future, since Kara and her family do frequent Disney, and we are definitely going back, too, at some point.

Wednesday at EPCOT...

Wednesday we slept in a little after that late night at the Polynesian. It felt good. Then we headed over to EPCOT to explore "The Land" exhibit. We rode the boat ride first. The boat takes you through the greenhouses, and they do a lot of different gardening techniques such as hydroponics and aquaponics. Lee is the gardener of the family, so he signed us up for the "Behind the Seeds" tour after the boat ride was over. The tour was very interesting, and the girls were able to release ladybugs onto the eggplant plants. They also touched the sensitivity plant. The leaves furl closed when you touch it. They got to taste hydroponic cucumbers (we all did). Analese also got to hold a nine pound lemon (it actually weighed twelve and a half pounds). I guess we did not really take any pictures other than The Land, even though we spent the rest of the day at EPCOT. We were mostly just riding rides. Analese loves Spaceship Earth. It was seriously her favorite ride!

Disney's Animal Kingdom...

Tuesday, we spent the day at the Animal Kingdom. We rode on the Kilamanjaro safari, and Lee took some awesome photos with the gigantic beast of a zoom lens. I was amazed at how close up the photos are. There were about a million photos, but I tried to choose the best ones to share here.














Now for some people pictures. Analese and Mariele got their faces painted, and had some cool play time at the boneyard.







We enjoyed our day at the Animal Kingdom. Incidentally, the best meal at Disney was there at the Tusker House restaurant. It was so delicious. Of course, I was absolutely starved to death, but it was seriously good food.

That night we took the monorail over to the Polynesian resort for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show. It was an 8:00 dinner show, and the kids were tired. We were also tired. It was a nice show, and a nice meal, but I think if we plan another trip, we will skip the 8 p.m. dinner shows. It lasted over two hours, and the kids were pretty trashed by the end of the show. Mariele was sitting in my lap, and suddenly my lap became very warm and wet. It was her only accident on the trip, but it made for an uncomfortable last few minutes of the dinner show.

Dinner with the Princesses at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall...

Monday night we dined with princesses. Analese got decked out in her Cinderella outfit, and Mariele put on her Minnie Mouse duds. I must have done a good job on Analese's hair and makeup, because some lady on the monorail asked me "if they gave her the tiara when they did her hair and makeup." She was referring to the Bippidy Boppidy Boutique, which we did NOT do. But Analese looked every bit as beautiful as any of the little princesses who had been bippidy bopped. The girls loved meeting all of the princesses. They even got to be in a processional around the dining hall. Analese absolutely loved every minute of this experience, so I'm glad that we were able to book this one.

Monday at Disney - Not a bad way to spend a Monday...

We took the boat to the Fort Wilderness Lodge for breakfast.




Then we enjoyed some wonderful Magic Kingdom time until late afternoon, when we had to go back to the hotel to get "princesses up" for the Storybook Dinner with the princesses at EPCOT.