Disney World - May 10th, 2013

On Friday, we spent the day "park hopping" to do anything we had missed or that we wanted to do again.

Our first stop was to meet Mickey Mouse! I don't think any Disney trip is complete without that visit.

Then we went to meet the princesses. Cinderella was first. We all need to work on our princess poses, I think.

And Aurora.

And my personal favorite: Rapunzel.

This may have been the highlight of the trip for me...probably because it was a really fun surprise. We had decided to eat lunch at the Be Our Guest restaurant (which is new) so we got in line before it opened to have "lunch" at 10:30am because we knew it would get busier. Just as it opened, all of the servers came out and welcomed us to the restaurant with applause. It was really fun!

After you order your food (from a touch-screen computer), you get a magic rose that lets the servers know where to bring the food.

The food cart. I had a croque monsieur and it was delicious. Unfortunately, I have not been able to replicate it at home.

We dined in the Ballroom, but there were two other themed rooms to choose from.

Jennie and me.

Me in front of the Tatooine store.

We happened upon Jedi Mickey filming some promos or something. He was helping me learn out to use the force.

The next day after we left, Merida was inducted as an official Disney Princess.

Lightning McQueen and Mater.

Angie and went on the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster a few more times.

A cool statue of Mickey.

And then we ended our Disney days where we began: at Epcot (and a last ride on Soarin').

Disney World - May 9th, 2013

On Thursday, we started the day out at Animal Kingdom and - since that park closes early - ended our day at the Magic Kingdom.

In front of the Animal Kingdom.

I guess this picture should have been before the other one since this was riding the bus from the parking area to the park.

We went on the Kilimanjaro Safari first. It was a bumpy ride so the picture was blurry.

Here are the alligators...or crocodiles. I've never taken the time to figure out what the difference is.

A giraffe eating breakfast.

There is an elephant near the center. This tree is cool since it looks like it's growing upside-down with the "roots" in the air.

Angie with Lanie's favorite, an elephant!

Angie and me before a ride none of us had been on: Expedition Everest.

During the ride...it was a really fun one!

And very wind-blown hair after the ride!

The Dinosaur ride. I'm not sure what I was so afraid of...apparently I was the only one though.

It was really interesting to see Finding Nemo turned into a musical (a short one, of course).

This is how they did the characters in Finding Nemo.

It was good we had ponchos for the Kali River Rapids...I still got pretty soaked though!

I always think it's cool to see a bald eagle.

Mickey in his safari gear at the parade.

Minnie in her safari outfit.

Riding the bus to the Magic Kingdom.

A good quote in the park.

Angie with the castle in the background.

Cinderella's Castle as the sun is starting to set.

Cinderella's Castle at night.

I think this parade is quite old, but it's still really neat!

There's Minnie!

There was a fireworks show after the parade.

And one more of the Castle with different lighting.

Disney World - May 8th, 2013

On Wednesday, we took a day off to relax a bit. We spent most of the morning chatting and then Angie and I took a walk around the resort to check out the pool. After we all finally got ready for the day, we went to Downtown Disney for some dining and shopping.

This beautiful tree was outside our room balcony.

Angie and I happened upon a really low hammock during our walk.

It was a pretty place to relax!

It was nice that we got to just sit and chat for a bit.

Painted toes in sandals...that's the life. :)

Our nice view of a palm tree.

Me with the Lego family at Downtown Disney.

And Angie...

And Jennie. I hadn't even realized we all took pictures with the Lego family until after our trip. I guess we all have kiddos that love Legos!

Me with the statue of Princess Aurora...for Sydney, of course. Aurora is her favorite!

Jennie had been dreaming about these crab claws since the last time we were all in Disney World. We finally made her dream come true...seven years later!

Angie and Jennie took this picture to send to their spouses...probably to make them jealous. :)

I thought these were so cool. A Belle dress made out of Belle dolls!

And an Aurora one as well. Those Disney people are so clever. :)