Disney World with Nana Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

Day 1 at the Magic Kingdom!!  My happy place. We were lucky enough to get Fast Passes to the new Snow White Mine Train ride.  We got to the park early on Thursday morning and actually got to ride it twice in a row :)  I was so jealous as I could not ride so Nana rode in my place.

 Waiting to ride Snow White Mine Train.  John was a little nervous.  :)

 Nana and Ella Kate ready to ride.

Ella Kate was all smiles coming off the Snow White Mine Train.  John was still warming up to the roller coasters a little.  :)

 Prince Charming's Carousel.

 John loved riding the horses :)

 The kids had a blast in the play area for the Winne the Pooh ride.

 Meeting Daisy Duck is always fun.

 The kids loved the autograph books Nana bought them for all the characters to sign.  They would look through them at the end of each day comparing notes.

 NaNa, Ella Kate, and I went to meet Daisy and Minnie while Dave and John went to meet Donald and Goofy :)

 We love you Minnie.

 The big moment.  We got the coveted Fast Passes to meet Elsa and Anna. :)  She was so excited!

 My boy.

 In total admiration of meeting Elsa.

 Ella Kate said her signature was beautiful.

 I wanted my pic with Elsa too.

 Even Nana wanted her picture with Elsa.

 John LOVED Anna.

 The week before Thanksgiving was a great time to visit Disney World.  Most of the rides we were able to basically walk right on.  This is a picture of Ella Kate having fun walking through Ariel's Grotto line.

 We all love the Ariel ride.  It is one of John's favorites.

 My big girl.  She was a roller coaster champion this trip.  She even rode a few by herself since I could not ride and Nana was a little scared of a couple :)  Dave would ride with John and Ella Kate would go solo.  Dave and I both agreed a trip to Six Flags this summer is in her future!

 Love this little girl.

 She rocked Space Mountain this trip!  Said it was her favorite ride.  A proud moment for this Momma who loves thrill rides.

 Being silly while Ella Kate and Dave rode Space Mountain.

 She loves having her picture taken.

Magic Bands are pretty darn awesome.  Dave surprised everyone with  jidbits to decorate our magic bands.  :)

 
 Never to old to ride on Daddy's shoulder.

 The monorail took us straight from Magic Kingdom back to the middle of our hotel.  The kids thought it was a fun ride too.

Mickey's Verry Merry Christmas Party!!!  Disney is amazing at Christmas.  We loved the Verry Merry Christmas Party including snowing on Main Street, free hot chocolate and cookies everywhere we turned, the amazing parade, fireworks, etc.  Just magical.

We had a great view of the parade and the kids waved at every float.  Especially John he loved the parade and waving :)

Goofy!

Cinderella and Prince Charming was amazing.

All of the Disney Princesses and Princes were on this float.  I could not get over the parade - just amazing with float after float.

Dave and I both LOVE the fireworks shows at Cinderella's Castle.  Spectacular.

Love Disney at night!

Family picture in front of the Mickey Poinsettia at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom.

Love our little family.

The funny part of the story that the picture does not show is me trying to jump up on this wall :)  John thought it was hilarious. :)

Disney World with Nana Day 1

We took an extra special trip to Disney World the week before Thanksgiving with Nana! It was a total surprise to the kids :)  We loaded up in the car Tuesday afternoon after Ella Kate got out of school and told the kids we were going out to dinner.  They were a little suspicious as Ella Kate said "Hey why does the car look like we are going to the beach?"  We let them think we were driving to a restaurant for an hour or so and then let the secret out :)  I loved the surprised look on Ella Kate and John's face as Nana passed out special Disney bags with fun prizes for both of them (i.e. new Disney movies, stickers, games for the car ride, etc.).  We had originally planned to drive half way to Valdosta, GA Tuesday night but everyone was so excited about the trip and the kids were being so good that we ended up driving to Gainesville, FL.  We stayed near the campus of the University of Florida which was cool for the kids to see.  The next morning we ate breakfast at the University of Florida student center and John announced that he was not a Gator fan :)  HaHa. We arrived at Disney World around noon on Wednesday afternoon and the excitement began.  We stayed at the Contemporary Resort right next to the Magic Kingdom.  

 Ella Kate admiring our the view from our room.

 We settled in and explored our hotel Wednesday afternoon and headed to Downtown Disney Wednesday night for dinner.  I had been excited for months to take John to the T-rex restaurant since he is obsessed with dinosaurs.  It did not disappoint.

 Excited about our meal at T-rex.

 We meet a huge T-rex when we walked in.

 Ella Kate and Nana at dinner.

 The details inside the restaurant were amazing.

 Fun night after dinner walking around and exploring downtown Disney.

 She is a Daddy's Girl for sure :)

 She loves her Daddy and Disney World.  Me too Ella Kate!

 Posing with Daisy and Donald.  John wanted to do a mad face like Donald.  Dave insisted on buying jidbits for our magic bands.  He does not want to admit it but he loves Disney World as much as I do :)

This dragon was in a real lake and made entirely out of legos in Downtown Disney.  Pretty impressive!