Disney vacation 2017 (Part 1)

Last month, we were able to take a "dream" vacation, at least for us anyway! We had a few old passes, got a big tax refund and decided to take our kids to Disney World in Florida! We didn't tell them until two days before, and it was so hard to keep the secret, especially when we wanted them to walk to get into shape!

We drove to Denver on a Monday, and flew out on the red eye late that night... but we didn't sleep much. Our youngest, Bethany who is 8 slept the most on the plane. My hubby and some of the kids took 1/2 hour naps, but I didn't sleep at all. When we arrived in Orlando, it was 6 a.m. We went to breakfast and then were able to check into our condo, thankfully! The kids went in the pool while I got settled. We went shopping and bought some breakfast food, lunch makings, snacks and enough for a few dinners. Then we crashed! We were glad we took a day to rest up before we went to Disney!

Finally, on Disney day #1, we went to the Magic Kingdom park. It was so much fun! The kids LOVED seeing the characters, riding the rides, looking in the gift shops, and the parades. We had snacks with us that day, and we did eat in the park, which was good. We had anticipated that we would pack lunches, but we didn't have a cooler, or have a good way to store sandwiches or fruit. I had a backpack and we used most of the things in it. I had combed blogs and pins from Pinterest to get ideas of what to bring. The main thing we should have had more of was WATER. We weren't prepared for the heat, sun and humidity. We didn't drink nearly enough water. I ended up getting overheated and dehydrated, and went to the First Aid. I got several gatorades and waters, got thoroughly checked out, and rested. I was fine in about an hour out of the sun and heat. Believe me, going to First Aid in Disney World is not fun! And I missed out on riding Splash Mountain with my family! We did enjoy many classic other rides, such as "It's a Small World," "Space Mountain", the tea cups, the Tiki Room, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the Magic Carpet Ride, etc.,

 The beginning of the first day, we were so excited and happy...

 I was so excited to go into the castle, as I had never done that before. We met several princesses, including my FAVORITE, Cinderella! She was so pretty, kind and sweet. We got lots of signatures in our autograph book, but she was the highlight of my day!

 My girls loved meeting Ariel from"The Little Mermaid", she was beautiful too!

 Riding "It's a Small World," sorry about the song you'll never forget, kids...

 It started raining while we were waiting in line to see "Buzz Lightyear," who signs things with a stamp. We met Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" too!

 The light show at the end of the night was very cool! My tech-savvy hubby was fascinated with the projection onto the castle, where it was coming from, how they did it all! We did get rained on bit, wore our ponchos and I was glad that I learned to go into the shops on "Main Street", which all link together. We bought Mickey ears (Minnie/ Cinderella/ Stitch) for each of us there, and a backpack for Rebekah (she reimbursed us) for college. We slept really well that night!

On Disney day #2, we went to one of the water parks called "Typhoon Lagoon". It had lots of water slides, a huge lazy river, a huge wave pool, and more. It was a more low-key, relaxing day that we enjoyed a lot. It felt so good to cool off in the water!

 On Disney Day #3, we went to Epcot Center in the morning, ate lunch there (in France-- YUM!!), then we went to Hollywood Studios. We saw LOTS of characters that day, including MICKEY and Minnie!! We were so happy to see them! Minnie even kissed us!

We met Goofy with them too!

 Taking the typical telephone booth photos in Canada...

 In Hollywood Studios, we met BayMax from "Big Hero 6"...

 ...and "Sadness" and "Joy" from "Inside Out", they were so cute! Bethany told Joy that her middle name was Joy and she gave her a huge hug, it was so sweet!

 Mallory and I met Chip and Dale... they were cute too! We also met Baloo the bear, Belle from "Beauty and the Beast," Pluto (Bethany loved him!), Jake (Neverland Pirates), Sofia (Sofia the First), Mary Poppins, Princess Tiana (Princess and the Frog), Pinocchio, Daisy and Donald Duck, and saw Captain Hook.

We met Kylo Ren in Hollywood Studios too, he was very intimidating, got right in our faces and scared us all a little bit! Joshua liked the Star Wars memorabilia in the stores, and said he had a small figure just like the Darth Vader in the picture.

 We also saw Storm Troopers, a group with Captain Phasma (briefly), black troopers, saw Boba Fett, saw Jawas, met BB-8, and Chewbacca. He gave a great hug, and was so tall! (I know, he's a Wookiee!) It was too much fun to meet the characters, and we loved how they acted like the characters from the shows. Pinocchio was a little boy!

It was so much walking, we enjoyed all of the rides there too, including Toy Story Mania, met a Car from the new Cars3 movie "Cruz Ramirez".  We saw Woody and Buzz Lightyear there too. We didn't go in too many shops there, it was so crowded. The girls and I waited for Joshua, Caleb and Rebekah as they went on "Tower of Terror," then we really enjoyed the show "Fantasmic" at the end of the day. There were so many times when we were there that we said, "I can't believe we are really here!"

 I will add the second part of our trip in another post, as this one is getting long! Thanks for reading this far!

Luke 18:15-17
People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

Psalm 112:2
Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.