Lucky girls getting back rubs while waiting for the "Disney Junior Live!" show at Disney Hollywood Studios
It snowed!
Mommy and Riley standing tough in a Star Wars ship
This little piece of SF warmed my heart
The "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground was really cool
Micaela ran, ran, ran
Climbing on an ant
Being sniffed by a giant nose (it actually made sniffing noises)
Such lifelike but huge props to explore
Fun waiting in the Toy Story Mania line
4-12 year olds being prepped for their Jedi training
Donning her Jedi robe
They put them in order of height and Riley was the smallest one
Parents leading the kids to the stage
Riley's Jedi master
Younglings being trained
Wielding lightsabers
Darth Vader comes to lure the younglings to the dark side (we were relieved that we raised her well and Riley didn't join him)
Riley was ready to do battle!
She looked so small compared to her rival but of course, good always triumphs over evil
Taking a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge (Riley's log hotel) for dinner
Sisters sometimes play so well together
The best sign that we had a great trip
Thursday was our last day to visit a Disney World park. Daddy was done with his convention so we all headed to Hollywood studios. We didn't spend much time here in Oct. and were pleasantly surprised at how much we had missed; there was a lot to do and see. Both girls had fun at the Disney Junior Live! show. They made changes in Feb. so it was a different show with different characters. We walked the streets of America and I admit, I got a little homesick when we saw San Francisco. But we quickly moved on to the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground where we all burned off energy. It was huge and of course the girls split up so Chad and I each followed one around. I'm always amazed at how fearless Micaela is, she climbed all kinds of obstacles that made the bigger kids trepidatious. We needed to cool off so we watched The Muppets in 3D which was such a fun show. Chad and I were excited to introduce Riley to the Muppets and remember how much we liked them when we were younger.
After lunch at the Pizza Planet (the pizza place from Toy Story; Buzz was everywhere, Riley was in heaven) we hit Toy Story Mania! which is probably our family's favorite ride. We went on the Studio Backlot tour which Chad and I really enjoyed. The girls were a little bored until they showed off some really fun special effects in Catastrophe Canyon. I know Chad and I were enthralled by the tour, we forgot to get out the camera the entire 30 minutes. I was thrilled to see the curtain dress from "Gone with the Wind." I hope to get a chance to walk through the museum again when the girls have a better attention span.
One of my favorite things was watching Riley go through the Jedi training academy and battle Darth Vader. She's too young to watch the movies but we've told kid versions of the stories and she really likes Darth Vader. When he came out and said, "Join me on the Dark side and we will rule the galaxy" we were a little nervous that she would step forward and join him. But she didn't and despite his intimidating size she was not afraid to fight him with her lightsaber. A very cool experience.
Overall our trip was a huge success. I was surprised at how much Riley remembered from last Oct. On our first night she asked to watch the bedtime story from Duffy. Every 10 minutes in the evening the resort TVs plays a bedtime story. Its the same one every night but she always watched it, usually several times a night. She also wanted to see her water show, a floating electrical light show timed to music on the lake the resorts surround. It started very late at the Contemporary (10 pm) but she kept herself awake every night except one so she wouldn't miss it. She really enjoys the entire atmosphere, even the little things that Chad and I normally would have ignored. But we looked forward to our nightly ritual of heading out to the balcony with a drink and our little girl to watch the cheesy light show.
Micaela had more fun that I'd hoped. She likes to run, run, run so I was a little worried that she would get squirmy in the lines or on the rides. But there was so much to look at, she was always pointing out something or waving to characters along the ride. Its so funny to hear her little voice say "Mickey Mouse!" whenever she sees him. I know she won't remember it, but we'll remember her joy.
I've thought about why we love Disney World so much; it doesn't really seem like the kind of vacation Chad and I would enjoy but we really do. There are so many reasons. It involved a LOT of walking so its a very active trip. The scenery is different from our backpacking trips of years past but its still very impressive. Of course its completely kid friendly, so we can be very relaxed and not worry too much about the kids' behavior, noise level, or if a restaurant is appropriate for children. But probably the biggest reason is the girls love it. They enjoyed the rides, the characters, everything there was to do and see. To see them happy makes us so very, very happy.
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