THE KUPPERSMITH FAMILY: DISNEY!!!

The first week of March, we surprised the kids and went on our first family vacation to Disney World in Orlando. Blake's parents went with us too. We would definitely had not enjoyed the trip as much if they were not there and we really couldn't have done it without their help. We came home completely exhausted but it was worth every bit of it. We calculated our walking each day and on average, we walked 8-10 miles a day.

The night before we left, we stayed in a hotel near the airport since our flight was at 6:45 the next morning. That night, we gave the kids some new Disney pajamas and showed them their Magic Bands. Liam has been asking to go to Disney for at least a year now so he was super excited. Marlo understood it was exciting but I don't think she really got big picture. The next morning, we headed to our flight. It was a one hour flight and the kids loved it. Arden did awesome! I am always thankful for a sleeping baby when we fly.

We went to Disney World for 5 nights and stayed at the Polynesian resort. It was nice to be right on the monorail, however, it would have been nicer to know they were doing maintenance on it for part of the day and it would be out of use:) Once we got that figured out, I can't tell you how nice it was just to use the monorail and not the busses. The main reason was the stroller situation. It may not seem like much but having to break down and unload our 2 strollers on the busses every time was exhausting. The weather was spring-like for the most part with one pretty cool day and one rainy day. One of my favorite things that was available for us was the Magic Band system. This was a bracelet that we wore the whole time that acted as our room key, park ticket, picture card link, food plan, and credit card for anything we needed. So nice not have to keep track of all of those things separately for 5 people!!

We enjoyed many character breakfasts with the kids getting to meet Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch, Sophia the First, Jake (and the Neverland Pirates), Handy Manny, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, and Arielle. Liam decided he didn't want to meet or get his picture taken with any of the princesses. He got quite shy when they talked to him and assured us that they were only for girls. These breakfasts were a fun way to see a lot of characters at once. The kids got their pictures taken with them and got all of their autographs.

We had very yummy food while we were there as well. Before we left we made reservations for each day's breakfast and dinner. With our dining package, we got 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. Well, each meal came with dessert so needless to say, we never went hungry!! I enjoyed the 50s diner for its milkshakes and showing the kids what TVs used to look like. I also enjoyed the African buffet at the Animal Kingdom lodge for dinner because there were so many new things to try. My favorite dinner was at an Italian restaurant in Epcot called Via Napoli. I had the best pizza there and tiramisu.

Each day we went to a different park. We maxed out our 3 fast passes before we left so our reservations were already made and I am so glad we did. We spent the first two days at Magic Kingdom. Our favorite rides there were Enchanted Tales with Belle (my favorite of the trip), Peter Pan, Buzz Light Year, It's a Small World, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Laugh Factory with Monsters Inc, and Dumbo. In the Enchanted Tales with Belle, each kid got a part and performed in a play with Belle. Then, at the end, they got to meet and get their pictures taken with Belle. Liam and Marlo were the teacups and their job was to hop. Blake even got to be a guard:) Arden absolutely loved Its a Small World. Her eyes were wide open and she couldn't get enough. Marlo and Liam insisted on riding Dumbo more than once and Liam LOVED the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster. We road it twice and he even had his hands up the whole ride the second time!! I was so proud of him. Unfortunately, I think he is going to be my only roller coaster rider so far. Blake isn't a fan and I found out Rick and Jean really aren't either. Marlo seems to be taking after her daddy too. When we took her on a small roller coaster, all she said when we asked her if she liked it was "scared." We capped off our Magic Kingdom experience with the fireworks show after dark. It was a lot of fun to watch!

The third day we went to Animal Kingdom. This park wasn't my favorite but I am glad we went once. The best part of it was the Dinosaur ride and the Safari. Other than that, there really wasn't a whole lot to do. By about 5:00 the park was pretty much closing up. I will say that the safari was awesome. Getting to see giraffes, lions, gorillas, elephants, hippos and so many more animals up close was beautiful. At this park though, the kids enjoyed playing carnival games with Blake and Grandma and Grandpa. The best part were the prizes they won!!

The fourth day we went to Hollywood Studios. This was the day of rain. Luckily, the rain was light and we did get to enjoy a great character breakfast with the Disney Junior, the Hollywood Tower of Terror (Liam and I), and the awesome Toy Story ride. I didn't remember all the haunted house stuff before you got on the Tower of Terror. Liam did well with it all but looking back, I may have waited. Luckily he liked the ride..probably the most scared I saw him on a ride though. I think we could have powered through with the rain and our ponchos (or nachos as Liam called them:) but we were all exhausted and decided to take a nice nap that afternoon instead. After our naps, we headed to Epcot for dinner and looked around. As we were leaving, the fireworks started so we stayed and watched for a while.

Our last day we went to Epcot. This day was overcast and pretty chilly. I loved Epcot. Magic Kingdom was overwhelming with all the things to do. Epcot was much more relaxed and peaceful. Liam, Rick, and Blake waited in line and enjoyed the Test Track ride while Marlo, Jean, Arden, and I road the Nemo ride and looked around. The other favorite rides there were Soarin and Spaceship Earth. On Spaceship Earth, Liam saw a 1950s living room and said "that was probably a long long time ago, like when Jesus was alive." I couldn't stop laughing.

This is probably picture overload but as you can imagine, there were a lot of memories to capture:)

YAY!!! We're going to DISNEY WORLD!!!

Aloha from the Polynesian

Tea Cups...Mom and Dad did not like so much spinning

Love this face...riding Dumbo

Liam in the "Enchanted Tales with Belle"

Blake playing his part too

Marlo preparing for her part

Little Mermaid ride

One of many snoozes in the stroller...this place wears you out!!

Happy Girl

Solving the problems of the world

Little Airplane roller coaster..Marlo rode it too but I didn't get a good picture of her and Blake.

Liam LOVED that Stitch sat on his lap

Meeting Mickey

riding in style

Liam and his seahorse he won

Marlo with her purple dinosaur Daddy won for her...she was so proud of it

Marlo in Grandma's glasses

Getting ready for the Dinosaur ride

Marlo and Grandma on the Safari

Jake and the kids

meeting Sophia the First

Sharing "coffee" with Grandma

snuggles with Grandma out of the rain

All of us in our "nachos" (Ponchos). Arden is actually under mine in the Bjorn(don't worry, she could breathe:))

I can't wait to pull this out when Liam is older

Getting ready for the Toy Story Ride...one of our favorites

"Buttercup" Cottage...Liam's nickname is Buttercup from his soon to be Aunt Angela

this makes me laugh every time

Marlo and Aurora

Aurora also made Liam blush asking him if he had been out slaying dragons all night and blowing him kisses...he still would blush if you asked him about it today:)