The Magic of DisneyWorld

Ok, I've been slacking, but I'll try to make up for it with a few posts tonight. :)

This month we went on a fabulous vacation to Disney World with Sam's family. The whole group was able to make it, and it was SO much fun. We had a group of 18, including the newest addition, Bennet (6 months). We ate our Thanksgiving dinner at the Hoop De Doo Revue, which Sam thought was the best meal (a direct quote was "Fried Chicken, cold beer and toothpics on the table... best meal ever"). Besides the food, the show was great and it kept all of our group entertained, from the little ones (Susie is so mesmerized it was hard to get a reaction out of her)...

to Pop, making music on his washboard.

And finally, we got some emotion out of Susie, when she was able to participate in the show.

Some other fun times were the first night in Disney, when we returned to our room we found that Woody and Sleeping Beauty had been there to visit and leave gifts for the kids - a cowboy hat and Sheriff's badge for Jimmy and a princess dress for Susie.

For weeks before the trip, when we asked the kids who they wanted to see the most at Disney, Jimmy said Woody and Buzz, and Susie said Jessie and Buzz (all from Toy Story and Toy Story 2, for those who don't know). So when we got the chance to meet these characters, we weren't surprised by Jimmy's enthusiasm (although he forgot to ask Buzz if he could press his laser)

But we were surprised that Susie decided to pout instead of give Jessie a hug.. We aren't sure why she had a little moment, but at least Jimmy and cousin Shelby enjoyed the moment.

Jimmy had to give Donald a big "Thank you" hug for helping make such a yummy breakfast at Chef Mickey, and Susie was happy for a cuddle with Cinderella at the Princess dinner.

The kids (and their folks) had a great time at the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, which is a comedy show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We sat in the audience, and when they are telling their jokes and stories, they choose people from the audience to put up on the big screens. They chose Susie to "play" the part of "Boo" (the little girl in Monsters Inc). She did a great job, and she liked seeing herself on the screen. She even played "Peek-a-Boo" with the audience to fulfill her name.

For the most part we had nice weather, but one day we had some rain. It didn't slow us down, since the kids are used to the torrential rains in the southeast. We got some ponchos and churros, and carried on at the Animal Kingdom. Of course, the churros were probably the key. :)

We got to go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas, which includes a special parade with Santa at the end, plus several hours in the Magic Kingdom with shorter lines and all the hot cocoa we could drink. It was so much fun to watch the kids' faces as they watched the parade.

Susie and Shelby loved the part of the parade with the Princesses.

Jimmy and Susie got a great view from atop the shoulders of Daddy and Pop. And Cinderella's castle looked so magestic all decorated for Christmas.

On our last night, the big kids (Sam, his brother Danny and their dad) went on a few rides at Disney's Hollywood Studios while the girls hung out with the kiddos. Susie and Shelby were still dressed in their Princess dresses from a late lunch with Cinderella and her family, and they played in a little outdoor area where we sat on benches. They were so cute and sweet that strangers were stopping to take pictures of Princess Cinderella and Princess Aurora playing.

One extra bonus to our trip was that our friends and neighbors from SC, the Salvuccis, arrived at Disney while we were still there. We got to have a few meals together and let the kids catch up. Jimmy and Logan have decided that they are going to marry each other, regardless of how many boys in Logan's class ask her, or how far away we live. Kathy and I had some good laughs and (amazingly) Susie and Lainey got along, no hair pulling or temper tantrums. The visit was fun (albeit short), and thinking of these great peeps makes me miss Summerville so much.