Hollywood Studios-Day 1

Finally, after months of planning, hours of sewing, too much time on Disboards.com and a long car trip it was our first day in the parks.

We were up early. Everyone was excited. We headed for the bus stop, and I realized I forgot my extra camera battery. I ran back to the room to get it and Guy and the girls went on to the bus stop.

Now I am an over planner. I was teased a little after I gave out folders with itineraries, descriptions of our restaurants and tons of other great info. ;) So this year Ashley did more of the planning and I did more of the sewing. I had an itinerary in my laptop and I knew exactly what we were doing every day. Problem is I didn't share the info with Guy and he assumed we were going to Magic Kingdom the first day so the girls could see the castle.

As I was coming out of the room with my battery, Guy was excitedly hurrying me because our bus was driving up. I ran and jumped on the bus just in time. We all got settled in our seats. Just a few minutes and we would be there. Wait?? What did that recording say? Magic Kingdom? We aren't going to Magic Kingdom?? UH OH. So I asked Guy what bus we were on and then is when we realized we were on the wrong bus. He said I should have given him an itinerary. He was correct. :)

We got off the bus at Magic Kingdom.

Caught a monorail to the ticket and transportation center.

And caught a bus there to get to Hollywood Studios.

We made it and it only took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. We immediately caught up with Ashley and Adam.

It was time to decide what to do first.

And we decided on RockNRoller Coaster. Maddie was tall enough to ride this year and I decided to give it a try. We took turns riding and leaving on adult with the little kids. There was absolutely no line and Maddie ended up riding four times with different combinations of adults. It was also my first time to ride this. I do NOT like going upside down, but it is so dark and fast that you don't even realize. The first time I rode it was so fast I couldn't even think straight. I was thinking wow it IS really dark in here and then I realized my eyes were clenched shut. LOL. The second time I kept them open and I could kind of tell when we were gonna go upside down by seeing little glimpses of the track, but still never really felt it. I'm glad I finally gave it a try. It's a very fun ride.

While we rode Maycee and Addison did a craft and ate a snack.

And Kennedi relaxed.


Next up was something fun for the little kids, Playhouse Disney Live on Stage, but on the way we stopped for a Meet and Greet with Handy Manny.



And then we headed over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. It is a ride, but also a 3d game. It is new since the last time we were there and we all enjoyed it.



This is another attraction we had never seen, but this one isn't new. We had always skipped it before and now I'm not sure why. It was actually pretty good and the Guys really enjoyed it.

The girls spent quite a while playing in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Maycee and Maddie were both soaked when they were done.



The afternoon parade was something we didn't want to miss, so we headed over to find a seat on the parade route. We couldn't find a spot all together in the shade, so Ashley sat in the shade with the kids and we sat across the street. They had lots of cast members out entertaining the kids with games while we waited for the parade.

Then it was time for dinner at 50's Prime Time. I had been very excited about this dinner, but it didn't turn out to be so great. It wasn't horrible, but we won't be going there again. Both the food and the atmosphere were just so/so.

We took these pics while waiting on our table.

And more waiting.

We rode some other rides, shopped a little, and saw some other shows including American Idol, which was new since we were last there. We really enjoyed it. It was funny though, when we got home Maddie told Kaleigh that she saw the season finale to AI before it was on TV and she knew who wins. LOL. I guess we didn't explain that the contestants were just park guests. Is there even a season of American Idol on right now? There was a younger girl who sang a Hannah Montana song, so both girls voted for her. Ashley and Maycee's voting buttons were on the same armrest and Maycee kept telling Ashley not to touch her buttons. I guess she was scared Ashley was gonna steal her vote.

When it was dark we headed over to see the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights. This was something else that was new to us and it was fabulous. So many lights. So pretty.

It was about time to go and we let the girls pick one ride to ride again. The chose Buzz Lightyear and we headed that way, but on the way we found Buzz and Woody.

So we got in line, pulled out our autograph books,

had Buzz and Woody sign them,

and took some more pictures.


We then got in that one last ride on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and headed to the bus stop.

On the way out I snapped this pick.

Arrival Day

Part 2 of our vacation

Finally we had arrived at Disney World. We were all so excited. We had made such good time that we decided to add a day to our Disney Reservation instead of stopping at an offsite hotel. So not only were we at Disney, but we were there a day early.

We couldn't wait to get out of the car, so even though we were all looking very rough from our long car ride we all got out and went to check in and explore the hotel lobby.

Some pics of the kids in the lobby. Notice they still have their bows from the wedding the day before. LOL. At least they have bows in at all. :)



And a picture of the lake that the rooms surround. It was very nice. It wasn't the hotel I would have chosen when we were making reservations, but Ashley had heard good things about it and it is the only Moderate Disney hotel that has Queen beds instead of Double which sounded very good to me. As it turned out I am thrilled that we stayed here. I had a plan that I wanted to stay at a different hotel every time we visit Disney until we had tried them all. That will be a difficult plan to stick with now. I really fell in love with this hotel.


It was now time to head to our rooms and get unpacked.



These pictures were only taken about an hour apart. It didn't take us long to make a disaster of the room.

And we quickly took the kids out to explore the grounds.


They were full of energy.


Now time for a swim. The guys were in the room watching the Cowboys.







We headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed. Next day was going to be a fun filled day at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

A Wedding and a Loooong Car Trip

Our trip started off about 11 am. We left our house headed to my cousin Jarrod's wedding. We arrived there early, I think it only took 4.5 hours to get there. We ran to Walmart for something very important, so important that I can't remember what it was, but I do remember that Guy bought some fishing bait and I bought some static spray because my dress was sticking to me from the long car ride. Next we headed to the church and found a nice grassy area to let the girls run around. They played tag for a while and we got the car straightened up. Next we dressed them for the wedding in the parking lot. I know, it was strange, but we didn't have many options.

The wedding was great. I had never met Jarrod's wife, but she seemed very sweet when I met her at the reception. We also got to visit with lots of family we haven't seen in a while. This was my Mom's family the last wedding we went to was my Dad's family.

Jarrod and Lauren

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L to R: Aunt Debbie, Aunt Kathy, Me and GranGran

KayKay and Maycee


GranDaddy and Gran Gran

Kaleigh and Adam

Wedding Cake . Very Pretty.

Groom's Cake. Maycee was very, very upset that we didn't get to eat either of these cakes. It is really funny because she doesn't really like sweets. She always wants them, but only takes a few bites. She cried when we left because we didn't wait for the cake and she talked about it off and on all the way to Florida.

Maddie and Grandaddy

Maddie and Kennedi

Addison

Gran Gran, Maddie and Maycee

First Dance of Mr. and Mrs. Comte

Mother Son Dance

And then the girls got their chance to dance. They really love dancing.

At about 9:30 we decided it was time to get going. We had enjoyed a great night of family, fun and great food. When we left College Station it was my turn to drive and we explained to the girls that we were gonna drive all night. Maycee was a little concerned that we were spending the night in the car, but they fell asleep very quickly and slept until well into the morning. We were very lucky that they slept so long. They actually did great in the car except the last 2 hours or so.

Finally, we were there. We saw this sign and everyone was suddenly in a much better mood. :)