Thanksgiving at Disney!

We went to Disneyworld in FL for Thanksgiving. I was a little apprehensive because of crowds and the boys still being pretty little but I am glad we went. We stayed at the Doubletree which is not a Disney hotel, but was reasonably priced and was a suite so we had more space. They had nice amenities, breakfast and a shuttle to the parks. The weather was nice but you still needed a jacket for the morning and evening. The first day we decided to check out Hollywood Studios. We really didn't know much about this park, but we saw that it had the Disney Junior show and lots of the characters. It turned out that is park had a lot of shows which worked out good for us, but is probably a place that you wouldn't go back to every year. The boys really liked the Disney Junior show, especially the gold coins falling from the sky after the Jake part. They also liked seeing Mickey and Mickey Mouse's clubhouse in the show. Right before the show we got to meet Chip and Dale and Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. They were super excited about Jake. They just hugged him and Jack was smiling so much. They talked about and still talk about meeting Jake for a while. We got to see a few other shows and Kevin and I went on the star tours ride. We bought the boys light saber swords at the Star Wars shop and they have playing with those a whole lot. One cool show was the Indiana Jones stunt show. The boys thought that was pretty cool: fire, explosions and fighting scenes. We did the muppets 3D show and a Pirate thing, plus a couple other small rides. In the afternoon we didn't do a whole lot. We were getting pretty tired and Jack fell asleep. Wyatt and I decided we wanted to go find Mickey and we learned that there is a building where they have all the characters and you can just stand in line for which ever character you want to see. That was pretty cool, but I wish I would have known earlier so we could have taken Jack too. Wyatt really wanted to see Mickey and he waited patiently in line and wanted to show him his sword. It was cute when he got up to him and showed it to Mickey. Mickey was very nice and they hugged and we got a picture. We also saw Wreck it Ralph, but Wyatt was a little nervous about waiting for that one. Later, we decided we wanted to wait and get a good seat for the Fantasmic light and water show. We always watched this at Disneyland in CA but there isn't good seating. Here at Disneyworld they have a whole amphitheater. We waited in line really early and were one of the first people in there and got to pick our seats. We got great seats in the middle and up a little bit. We had to wait a while for the show, but it was so worth it, and Wyatt napped while we waited. The show was awesome and I have never seen it up that close. The boys loved it, there were a few parts they got scared on, but it was so great! It still wasn't too late after the show and we wanted to go on the Toy Story ride so we went on that and then saw some of the lights/music they have on one side of the park. It was pretty cool! Definitely put us in the Christmas spirit. We were tuckered out and went back to the room.

Our second day was Disneyland Fantasyland, the classic Disney rides etc. We were so nervous it was going to be crowded! We got there at a good time and went straight to the Peter Pan ride and those others that get crazy crowded. We were able to make it right on Peter Pan without much wait, and then a bunch of others: It's a small world, winnie the poo, little mermaid, and a couple others. We were so glad it wasn't too crowded, but later the waits on those rides got longer so I think we somehow were ahead of the crowds. Next up was Dumbo, which can get really crowded, but it wasn't bad at all! We rode it a few times. Jack especially loved Dumbo and I took him on it while Wyatt did the Barnstormer, Jack liked going high up in the air. Next door to Dumbo they have a small rollercoaster called the Barn Stormer that Wyatt loved and rode a few times. He is becoming a roller coaster lover. We finished up in that area and then there was another character area. The boys got to see Goofy and Donald and they liked that. We went and had lunch and Jack fell asleep and we took Wyatt on Autotopia and Kevin and Wyatt were driving one car and I was behind them. Kevin was taking pictures and had his foot on the gas and wasn't paying attention and totally rammed into a couple of people. I was just busting up! After that we headed over to Pirates of the Carribean and that was really fun, but were were all getting pretty tired. One of our last things was the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and the boys really liked climbing in that. Jack was so cute and wanted to climb up and down the stairs all by himself and was smiling and so happy, and Wyatt was being a big boy and had to jump off the stairs everytime we were almost to the bottom. There were a few things we didn't get to, but we decided to go back with Mema and the boys and Kevin and I would come back later. We went to the hotel and had dinner and Mema and the boys started watching a movie and hanging out. Kevin and I went back and it was cold! We went on Space Mountain and we were disappointed. It seemed a little bit old and run down and was not totally dark in the coaster and was not as good as the one in CA. We rode Big Thunder Mountain a few times and saw some of the fireworks while we were waiting in line. We almost went on Splash Mountain, but it was just too darn cold. We also saw the Electrical Light Parade which I was happy about, lol! We had tons of fun and Wyatt liked riding on some of the rides with just him and Mema. Jack did better than I thought and didn't get scared on the rides and just kind of stared and was in awe. The boys had a great time and were happy most of the time and did really well. I am glad we didn't push them too hard to do more even though there were things we didn't get to. I guess it's just another reason to go back.

 Our last day in Orlando we decided to go to the Kennedy Space Center. The boys love spaceships and space and we really want to encourage that love and keep them learning new things. We weren't sure how it would be with the boys, but it was amazing. The only thing that didn't go so well was the IMAX movie. We had to leave right after it started, but what I did see was awesome so we will try again. Kevin did get to see it and said it was great. It was all about the Hubble Space Telescope. Mema and I and the boys wandered around some of the indoor exhibits. They had a talking robot and a very creepy Santa that we talked to, lol. He wanted Farrell to sit on his lap, but she ran away, lol! The neatest exhibit was a new building that they built around the Atlantis Space Shuttle. We didn't know what to expect, but they did a really neat video and then they roll up the curtain and this huge space shuttle is right in front of you. It was AMAZING. Then there were all sorts of smaller exhibits and things to play with and go through. There were a couple of areas the kids could play in. Then there was a really cool space launch simulation. I didn't think we would be able to do it, but there was a short line so Kevin and I went while Mema and the boys wandered around. It was awesome, but pretty intense. I am glad we were able to do it and the boys will love it when they are a lot older, lol. There was so much we didn't see at the space center, but it was neat just to see the rockets up all over the property. The last thing we did was "meet an astronaut". They were having a signing and so we went and met one of the astronauts and had Wyatt ask him something. He always talks about falling in space so we had him ask if you can fall in space and if it's scary. The astronaut told him you can't fall in space because of zero gravity and that space isn't scary, but it's beautiful. He was a nice guy and has been on many missions. After we got our picture and signature and started to walk away Wyatt said, "he isn't a real astronaut!" We walked away really fast and I just told him "oh he just isn't in his suit today". Silly boy! We loved the space center and will definitely be back and want to go watch a live shuttle launch sometime. We bought each of the boys a toy spaceship and gave them to them for Christmas and they loved them. Fun way to remember our awesome trip.

Mema had to leave early the next morning and we had to get on the road too. The drive back was awful. it was long and we were tired. Then we hit a bunch of accidents and traffic through a couple areas that made it so much longer. We had to stop a bunch of times and even went to Denny's for dinner because we just had to get out of the car. The boys were sad to see Mema leave, but they had so much fun on our trip!