Disney World!

We decided to take advantage of the cheap airfare from Dallas to Orlando while we're still here (we found $100 round trip on Southwest!) and go to Disney World. Ava is so crazy about anything Disney and knows all the princesses and songs and movies. I thought Coen would just be along for the ride, but I was surprised by how much he loved it all too! My parents were so generous to give us the tickets for Christmas. We went January 25 - February 1.

We got to stay with one of my best friends, Wasana and her husband AJ, for the first four days of the week, so that was really fun to see them.

The hardest part of this post is sorting through the hundreds of photos and videos! I got it down to below 100, so be warned, it's a long post!

Who needs a double stroller? Not us! Ava walked a good chunk of the time, and if she was in the stroller, we were carrying Coen, which meant we were all tired! My phone says we walked between 8-9 miles each day.

 Day one: Animal Kingdom
We walked in and first thing, Brent ran into a former manager!

 Safari

 That is a gorilla behind us by the waterfall.

First characters we met.The kids were both nervous.

Everest, Brent's favorite ride. I thought it was pretty fun too! Although, I just scream on rides so all of my pictures look like this:

Selfie after the scary part:

Coen waving to Donald Duck and Goofy. He loved them! He thinks all animals growl like a bear, so when we asked him what Donald Duck says, or anyone else, he would growl. It got to the point anytime he saw Mickey Mouse, or any character, he would growl. There was a lot of growling that went on during this trip :)

 I loved the Finding Nemo show so much! The kids did too :)

 One of the times we put both kids in the stroller.

 We hopped over to Epcot that night.

Day two: Magic Kingdom, with Wasana

Watching a show with Anna and Elsa in front of the castle:

 Me, screaming and alone, on Splash Mountain. We went at a great time of year so we didn't have very long lines anywhere. We waited about 10-15 minutes max for rides, and some we just walked right on. We got riders swaps for Brent and I, and used lots of fast passes.

 Video of how Coen acted on all the rides- clapping and waving to everything.

Ava's favorite ride of the day.

Ava got scared on a scary dinosaur ride the day before, so when we were getting on the Little Mermaid ride and it was dark, she started to cry. Here she is crying, but trying to be brave. Luckily after this she learned that all the rides are fun. 

The way to meet Belle was so cute. They had a little interactive play and each kid got to participate. Ava was a "salt shaker." She has the biggest smile in this picture: 

 Coen being charmed by Belle:

 Dressed up as Belle at Belle's castle:

 Ava laughing on the tea cups:

Video on the teacups:

 Ava laughing because she could control the magic carpet to go up or down, and it was surprising me which direction we were going.

 Ava feeling much better on the Little Mermaid ride this time:

Toy Story ride:

 It was so fun to be with Wasana. She is so funny.

Day three: Epcot (meeting up with Wasana & AJ some time)

Video of Coen growling for Mickey Mouse:

 It was sooooo cold this day and so we left the pajamas under both the kids. I was still cold with two jackets on, so that was a bummer.

I love Ava's huge smile in this one:

They were not mating, I promise. Haha.

We found out that since we had a Disney Chase card, we got to have a private meeting with the characters:

Video of meeting Mickey and Goofy:

 In Mexico.

Day four: Break from Disney- brunch with Wasana's parents, and then Wasana drove us to our hotel and we went to Downtown Disney together:

 Ava got to squish a penny for a souvenir.

 Enjoying our chocolate sample at Ghiradeli.

 Brent and Ava went to the hot tub at our hotel.

 Day five: Hollywood Studios with a little Epcot in the morning

Video of Ava telling dad all about the Star Wars ride. She was so scared at first, but then after she decided she liked it since she saw Chewey.:

 Coen was such a good boy, waiting in the lines, and at all the shows we went to. We had lots of snacks in my purse and his bottle, which kept him happy.

 Ava loved the Disney Junior show- seeing Princess Sofia, etc.

 We were waiting for the Beauty and the Beast show and Coen was flirting with Japanese women behind us.

The Fantasmic show was our favorite! It was spectacular.

 All Coen wanted to do was sit in this basket in a souvenir shop.

 This is how we went home every evening- all tuckered out.

Day six: Magic Kingdom
 On our last day we went back to the kids' favorite!

Video of the dance party:

Ava held hands with me on the scary rides.

 Watching the parade:

  Ava decided she LOVED Splash Mountain. I was so worried about Brent making her go on it because I thought he was going to scar her, but she thought it was so fun and awesome that she got wet at the end. Luckily lines were short and so she got to go on it quite a few times.

 Ava dressed up as Rapunzel to meet her:

Coen really liked this little splash pad area that was a Dumbo theme.

 Barely staying awake in the line to get on the ferry.

We were also so lucky to not have picked up any sickness while we were there. We were vigilant about washing hands and using sanitizer all day and luckily we stayed healthy!

 Day seven: Downtown Disney to choose our souvenirs, and then home on the plane.
The whole trip, whenever Ava saw any merchandise, we kept telling her that she could choose one thing on the last day. She had her heart set on a baby Anna. When the last day came, she was so excited to finally get her. We chose a baby Dumbo for Coen.

 When we got home, Ava went to her room and got her PJs on, and snuggled up on the couch with her mermaid blanket and new baby Anna. We were SO tired after our trip! But it was so worth it, and so fun to see the kids enjoy everything.