Thanks to Auntie and Uncle Matt watching over our Jackson, Anil and I got to spend 5 AMAZING days at Disney! Yes, Disney is for kids, but if you've never been as an adult, you have NO idea what you're missing!!
And there is nobody better in the world to visit it with than my cousin Melanie! Of course, there are rules when you go with Melanie: you will open the parks, you will close the parks, you will spend a TON of money on food, drink & souvenirs, and you are NEVER allowed to say the words "tired" or "nap." No, I'm NOT kidding! :-)
There are SO many photos to share; I barely know where to start! Well, let's start at the beginning. After a very early morning flight from Asheville & connection through Atlanta, we finally arrived at our amazing hotel, the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
We can't wait to take Jackson there one day. The entry-way alone is breath-taking.
And the best part? All the animals, of course! A staff member told us a secret fire exit to go out and watch the animals being called in for breakfast.
The NEATEST part was that while we were on the fire exit, a lead AK Lodge guide came out with some trainees and was explaining the whole process of the animals' feeding time, so we got to listen and record it!
The first night, we hit up Downtown Disney for dinner with Melanie, Neil, and their friends. This trip was a celebration of Anil & my anniversary, but ALSO of both Anil & Melanie's birthdays! Yay for 41!! (Crazy, their birthdays are only 6 days apart!) One of the awesome Disney cast members (what they call their staff) made Anil & Melanie special "hats" out of Disney park maps. Very cool!!
The next morning, we had to be up bright and early (as in, we got up at 4:30am!!) for our very 1st attempt at a 5K race. It was pretty darn chilly when we got there at 5:30am, but all the music & thousands of people really got us pumped up!
The race wound through Animal Kingdom, which was super-cool, and there was lots of cast members cheering us on the whole way. Kinda neat when Mickey & Minnie are cheering for you! :-)
Before we knew it, we were FINISHED & we had our very own medals to prove it!! Props to my cousin Mel-Mel for convincing me to do it & to my hubby for encouraging me every step of the way. I'm not the most athletic person, so this was a big challenge for me!
After a quick breakfast back at our resort, there was no time for rest! (Again, with Melanie, there is NO rest time!!) It was time to get to our OTHER big event of our trip - Epcot's annual Food & Wine Festival. Oh my, it was amazing!! We ate & drank our way around all the countries and made some incredible memories along the way.
And LOOK who I ran into! My very favorite princess - Belle!!
We stayed until the very end of the day, of course, which meant we got to witness the beauty of Epcot at night...
We were asleep almost as soon as we walked in our door at AK Lodge. BIG plans again for the next day! We wanted to make sure we arrived at Hollywood Studios the moment it opened because we were all desperate to ride the Toy Story ride - the Fast Passes have ALWAYS been gone when we've tried previously. Luckily, we got them this time! It was a really cool ride, so we were glad we did!
It was a great day, filled with many of our favorites - complete with multiple runs on Tower of Terror & Rock 'n Roller Coaster, of course!
Have I mentioned that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE visiting Disney at holiday time? There is truly nothing more spectacular. And one of BEST moments is visiting the Oswald Family Spectacle of Lights show. It is awe-inspiring, watching the lights dance to music!
Sadly, the day at Hollywood Studios came to an end. BUT, we had one more big day planned - at the "mother" of them all - MAGIC KINGDOM!! We had purchased separate tickets to "Mickey's Christmas Party" at MK that night, so we were ready for an EXTRA long day at the park!
Mel and I added a few tattoos to celebrate our day of Mickey-fun that was ahead of us...
And can you believe that NEITHER Mel or I ever ever rode Splash Mountain?! Crazy! We laughed and giggled and screamed all the way through it. Pure awesomeness!
Before Mickey's Christmas party began,we took the monorail over to the Contemporary for an incredible meal at the California Grill (which is on top of the resort). The food was fantastic - and check out our view!!
Back at Magic Kingdom, it was time for Mickey's Party! With our tickets, we got unlimited free cookies & hot chocolate, Mickey's Christmas parade, and the best - SHORT ride lines!!
A night at MK isn't complete without the spectacular show at the castle. Breathtaking!
The next morning, Anil & I had just enough time before our flight to make a quick run to Animal Kingdom. We got some rides in & even ran across this neat homage to Diwali, which was that day!
I have a few more very important photos to share - all related to the brand new Fantasyland at MK - but they deserve their own post!
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