Walt Disney World

  Well, we did it.  And now we see what all the fuss is about.  We headed down to Orlando the first week of October for a whirlwind adventure that was simply amazing.  Disney World really is the happiest place on Earth.  I asked Mike's mom and my dad to give us pictures from the trips we went on as kids.  It was really fun to reminisce about our trips as kids....

 First off, we are so thankful to our neighbor and friend, Nikki, who planned our trip for us.  She was such a great resource from start to finish and we are so thankful for her!  I told Nikki that I got emotional as we walked down the tunnel to board the plane in Philadelphia.  I was thinking back on all the heartache Mike and I experienced from struggling with getting pregnant to losing my mom to having our house burn down and now here we were, walking towards a plane with our lovely children to hopefully have a vacation of a lifetime.

The night before we set off we checked out our map -- we were SUPER excited to add another pin!

 Thanks to our neighbor, Aaron, we arrived at the Philly airport with plenty of time to get breakfast and check out the workings of an airport.

Allie was SOOOO excited to bring her Mickey along!

Gammy hooked us up with some great treats to keep us busy during our wait and flight.

Too cool for school!

Ready for lift off!

Florida, here we come!

Busy busy during the flight!

 Once touching down in Florida, we boarded the Magical Express!

We have arrived!!!

 We stayed at the Pop Century Resort.  Very fun!

Bathing suits and flip-flops in October?!?!?  We'll take it!

The twins were so excited to be back in a pool again!

Relaxin'

I think being a twin must be pretty awesome...built in best friend.

Hanging out at the resort was so much fun!

Nikki had given us her book of hidden Mickey's to look for during our trip...this one was found on the floor of the cafeteria.  Super fun!

Early to bed before our first day at the parks!

Wiped out!!

 First on the docket was ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

Can you feel the excitement???

 Our very first ride was the Safari.  So cool!

A snoozing Rhino.

Everyone was super excited to see this guy!

Cam got real quiet when we got off of the Safari. During the last part, the driver explained how Disney World works really hard to protect the animals we saw in the wild.  Cameron said he wants to work there when he's bigger to help protect the animals.

 We then headed out to explore more of the park!

The Tree of Life

Where's Allie you ask?

Taking her first Disney stroller snooze!

 We had a chance to meet Mickey and Minnie....I don't think the twins quite knew what to expect.

This was Cam's first sighting of the mouse!

MINNIE!

Just a little bit shy....

"Hug me, Minnie!"

Allie illustrated our autograph book on the plane!

Michael's first trip...1982!

What a cutie!

  We had a super fun lunch where we got to meet more of the characters!!

No shyness here!

GO DUCKS!

Pandora

Flying high!

Officially spent....

 Quick phone call to Gammy and Poppy...

If this doesn't scream Disney World tired, I'm not sure what does!

DAY 2  MAGIC KINGDOM

LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This thing was worth every penny!

We met the nicest people who took this picture of us....just perfect!

This opening show was so great!  I may have shed a few tears....

Another one from back in the day!

The whole park was all decked out for Halloween!

So much to look at!

Swiss Family Robinson Tree House!

Aladdin's Carpet Ride!

Another Safari ride!

My dad wanted us to do It's a Small World so badly!!  We did it!

Cameron could have gotten anything he wanted in Magic Kingdom....he got Venom the Snake.

Tombstones from the 80s at the Haunted Mansion!

Haunted Mansion - 2018!

Peek-a-boo!

Some more pictures from Mike's two trips as a kid!

Cousin Robbie

Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop!  Along with Aunt Joanne! 

 Back to present day....

Can you see the hidden Mickey?

Liberty Tavern for lunch!

We got great seats for the parade!  Venom was pretty excited.

 Pictures from the parade many moons ago!

 The parade of lights from when I went when I was 8 years old!

 Back to present day!

This parade was so amazing!  I may have shed a few tears during this too!

 I think these next several pictures were from a birthday party for Mickey when I was there???!

 Back to us!

The Seven Dwarfs ride was SOOO fun!

Another phone call to Gammy and Poppy..

   We headed back to the hotel for a bit but then just had to come back that night.  Magic Kingdom was definitely our favorite park!

The Tea Cups......

Thunder Mountain!

The next 2 pictures come from Mike and my trips to Disney as children -- isn't it neat how the two pictures are almost identical??

So beautiful!

 DAY 3  - EPCOT

Another video to Gammy and Poppy....

Allie had lots of fun getting postcards ready and sent out to family and friends!  She was especially excited to send one to her first grade class!

1989

1982

Bah-Bah??!?!?!

Another hidden Mickey!

Another stroller nap!

Cam became a pin collector and trader!

Allie woke up and got some pins too!

  We met lots and lots of princesses at lunch!

She's my favorite!

Cam's turn for a stroller nap!

 We rode inside the big ball thing!

 Cam and Daddy had fun with the JibJab at the end of the ride...

 Coco was super cool!

 But Frozen was our absolute favorite ride here!

 It was good the twins took all of those naps because we were headed out for a super late but fun night.  Gammy had gotten us "hooked" up with a special Captain Hook and Friends boat ride in order to see the fireworks set off in Magic Kingdom.  We started out with a dance party/dessert party with Captain Hook!

ARRRRRR!!!!!!

Off we got to the boat!

This toad was just hanging out on Mickey's hand....

Almost time!

Amazing!!!

So beautiful!!  Thank you Gammy!

Last park -- Hollywood Studios!

These kids are officially Disney kids!

Storm Troopers!

Lunch was super fun!

So so many memories!!!

The twins LOVED Toy Story Land!

We were trying to get the DINO right in between them....

Hands down favorite ride of the kiddos!

Still going strong....

Totally exhausted!

Olaf!!

"I like warm hugs from Allie!"

FROZEN!

Yup....

Cam wanted to look like he was eating the snowflake....

Not bad!

At one point, one of the twins said, "This is boring.  All they're doing is talking and singing.  I realized that they had been totally immersed in the magic of Disney for 4 days and needed more than just "talking and singing".  The snow storm at the end was pretty fantastic!!

Happy again!!

Geez, we love these kids.

Incoming!

  Sigh....then it was time to return home...

DONE AND

DONE

  We can't wait to go back.  Mike and I will both randomly have memories from the trip pop into our minds while we're working.  I guess that's a sign that we need to get back there ASAP!