HAYNES OUR WAY: Disney 2011

We were able to successfully surprise our two little princesses with a trip to Disney! Woo Hoo! Friday I picked up Curly an hour early from school. I told the girls we were going to visit some friends and that we had to drive a long way and stay at a hotel. That satisfied them. They love hotels. I don't really get it. We picked up Pat from work and beat all the Friday afternoon traffic out of Atlanta and Macon. Our drive was uneventful and smooth sailing. That was a HUGE relief. Unfortunately Saturday night was the Florida/Alabama football game in Gainsville. I knew this ahead of time and planned on us driving straight through Gainsville and staying about 30 miles south in Ocala hoping that most of the football crowd was staying either in Gainsville or north. I was wrong. Ocala was packed with Gator and Bama fans. Not ideal but we already had reservations and the girls were beat. Thankfully since the game was Saturday night, we were up and out of there before the mass exodus of football fans.

As we drove into Disney World, Curly started seeing signs with Mickey Ears and Cinderella's Castle. She said "Are we going to the Magic Kingdom?" "Yes, Yes we are at the Magic Kingdom!". The girls were thrilled. We checked into the fabulous Grand Floridan Resort. This resort was seriously amazing. Thankfully our room was ready early so we just dropped our bags off in our room and jumped on the monorail conveniently located at our resort and headed to the Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed a full day of rides and character greetings. We stayed to watch the fireworks that evening and then took a boat back to our resort that night.

Sunday we took the girls to the Animal Kingdom. The loved it. I had three main things on my agenda 1 - The Safari 2 - The Lion King show and 3 - Meet Pocahontas. We accomplished all three before 10 am. I was so thrilled. We spent the rest of the time relaxing and letting the girls decide what they wanted to see. The Bear was in her element. She loved all the animals.

Monday we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to do the stuff we had not been able to on Saturday when it was a lot more crowded. Our first stop was Thunder Mountain. Curly just hit the 40 inch height requirement. She and Pat rode it, got off and got right back on and rode it again. She LOVED it. It was the highlight of her trip. She was still a bit to small for Space Mountain. Maybe next time. The Bear's favorite ride was the carousel (which is insists on calling a seesaw). Pat had to leave us at 2 in the afternoon to go get cleaned up for his conference meeting that evening. The girls and I stayed behind, enjoyed a fun parade, rode some more rides and had dinner. Then it was time to say good-bye to the Magic Kingdom. Curly was especially upset about this. Poor girl didn't want to leave. That evening we got to watch the fireworks from our resort which was a nice way to end our trip.

Tuesday the girls and I drove back by ourselves. It was a long drive. We had a great time at Disney, but I'm still trying to recover. The trip wiped me out.

Checking in at the Grand Floridian

Classic Dumbo ride is always a favorite

The Bear enjoyed flying on the magic carpet ride until the camel spit water on us. It was just a little bit of water, but she was so offended she didn't want to ride this ride again.

Just like last year, The Bear wanted nothing to do with Aladian or any another other boy character.

Passed out after all the fun

Safari ride

Curly wants to be Pocahontas for Halloween so it was very exciting to meet her. Curly was a bit disappointed that John Smith was not with Pocahontas. He is by far her favorite Disney leading man. Not sure if it's the blonde hair or that he is more of a manly man than the various princes, but she has always loved John Smith.