Hollywood Studios at Disney

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

It's really hard for me to remember to call this place Hollywood Studios rather than MGM but I'm working on it. We enjoyed several things at this park but it was our least favorite of the parks. The boys were a little burned out by this time (5th day straight of theme parks) and really wanted to stay home and swim and play. So, I stayed home with the boys while Kayla and Jason went early and were able to see most of the things they wanted to see and do all of the main rides--Tower of Terror, Rock-n-Roller Coaster, and Toy Story Mania. They came home for lunch and we all went back in the afternoon with the plan to stay until closing so we could watch Fantasmic. It was rather crowded that day (due to Fantasmic showing that night) and Tanner kept wanting to do a ride but it was an 80-minute wait for Toy Story (the only ride he could do) and the fast passes were all gone. We tried to keep him happy with stunt shows and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground but we were only mildly successful. Fantasmic was a cool show with awesome effects but we were all tired by 9:00 and Tanner kept asking what was going on and I wasn't sure myself.  It went on a little too long with too much story but now we can say we've done it. :)

  

Although he didn't understand the story, Tanner loved the fireworks!

We did finally make it on the Toy Story ride twice and it was awesome for kids and adults. I can see why it is so popular.  It really was fun, interactive, competitive, etc. We would have done it over and over again if it wasn't for those darn lines! We tried to pick the least-crowded time of the year to go but we learned that Disney is just popular all of the time!

One more Disney park to go...Magic Kingdom!

Epcot at Disney

EPCOT

Epcot was a big hit for everyone; we spent 2 days at this park. Epcot has 2 sections--the World Showcase with 11 countries to visit and the “Future World” with fun rides and other things to do. In the Future World, we discovered Innoventions, a place to explore, try things out, learn about inventions and science. We hadn't noticed this place on our first visit to Disney, we thought it was just a big store, but this time the kids had fun exploring both Innovention buildings. They really liked being able to "star" in a video game. A camera filmed them jumping, running, and dancing and put it in a videogame that they were able to play after filming was done.  All the kids loved the Test Track ride, it might have been Tanner's favorite ride from all the theme parks combined. He was just tall enough to go on it and he loved climbing in and out of the cars on display as you got off the ride.

Mission Space was another hit with Kayla and Hunter.  I was able to ride Soarin' which was perfect for me since roller coasters were off-limits.  Although the kids enjoyed the Future World the best, most of our pictures come from the World Showcase. We HAD to take a picture in every country, right?

Mexico

Jason had the kids try to climb this wall in Mexico.  I didn't think they were supposed to be climbing it so I went a different way and pretended I didn't know them.

Meeting Donald in Mexico

Canada

China

America

France

France

Norway

Italy

Italy

Italy

Japan

 
 

Jason showing off his muscles.

Morocco 

It's funny because Tanner loved the little boat ride--Maelstrom--in Norway. This is a short little ride that some people might call “boring” but Tanner wanted to do it over and over again.

Does he look bored? This was our first time on the ride and he realized there was going to be a big drop. I think I had the same look on my face! But, the drop wasn’t too big after all so we did it over and over. Maybe Tanner just loved that there was no line for this ride, I liked that too!

Kayla had fun doing the Kim Possible missions in the different countries.

Hunter might have enjoyed it more but he got himself soaked (against my instructions) at the fountains and it was a cold day so he was pretty miserable afterwards.

Tanner had to follow his brother’s lead but at least I had a change of clothes for him.

This is the face Tanner wanted to make for every picture.  We had to work hard to get a different face out of him.  Kayla decided to imitate him:

Kayla with Tanner face.

We ended our second day at Epcot watching the nightly fireworks show.  Epcot’s fireworks were my favorite.  All in all, Epcot was a great match for our family. Jason and I would have liked to spend more time exploring the countries but the boys weren't too interested in that. We'll have to save that for a trip without kids. Hmmm...when will that be?

Coming up next....Hollywood Studios!

Disney Trip

We had a fabulous trip to Disney and I've been trying, without success, to find time to post about it.  There is so much catch-up to do after a vacation!

THE DRIVE
The drive to Florida and back is what I was dreading the most but it wasn't so bad after all.  We left around 9 p.m. on Friday night and arrived at Animal Kingdom around 12ish the next day.  The nice thing about driving all night was that the boys slept most of the time and didn't drive me crazy!   The hard thing was that I was SO sleepy while driving during the middle of the night and it felt too dangerous.  Even when Jason was driving, I was worried about him being sleepy so I couldn't sleep well.  I decided never to drive all night again.  We planned to stop at a hotel half-way on the way back but Jason just wanted to push through.  I told him HE could but I wouldn't be helping.  He did push through and we survived. :)  I must say, the kids were very pleasant in the car.  They had new toys and things to keep them busy on our way back from Disney and all and all, it went so much better than I expected. :)

We went to all 4 theme parks at Disney plus one of the theme parks at Universal.  I'll post pictures and give a little sum-up for each place, anything that is underlined in a different color will link you to the Disney website.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Animal Kingdom was our first stop.  It is similar to a Zoo but you get the addition of rides.

Kali River Rapids

The big kids loved Expedition Everest, a roller coaster that goes backwards.

Tanner's favorite thing was playing in the Boneyard Plaground, he would have been happy to stay here all day.  He didn't want to leave and he was asking to go back to the "big sandbox" for the rest of our trip.  The big kids had fun at the Boneyard as well.

Coming up next....Epcot!

Countdown to Disney

In a couple of days, we'll begin our journey to Florida, we are so excited!  We don't plan things very far in advance because we're always worried about the unknowns.  Last month, we decided to plan a trip to Disneyworld and Universal Studios.  The great thing about planning last minute is you can sometimes find great deals, we found a rental home with a private pool for $75 a night--awesome!  Let's hope it's as nice as the pictures look on e-bay! :)  I'm a little worried about the long drive, the longest we've ever driven with the kids is 4 hours.  Yes, we are wimps.  But, to save $$ on plane tickets and a car rental, we're going to make this drive (probably 16 hours if we don't stop too much).  Our plan is to leave at night so the kids will sleep through half of it, we hope it works and we hope the drivers can stay awake!  We've only been to Disneyworld once before.  We visited 4 years ago before Tanner was born.  I guess it's my tradition to go when I'm pregnant.  It doesn't seem smart but we are so excited to visit the new Harry Potter World at Universal and it came down to going now when I was pregnant or going later when I had a new baby.  Since I'm not into thrill rides, I decided it would be easier to go now, I did it before, right?  This way I can enjoy taking Tanner around while Jason does all the thrill rides with the big kids and I don't have to worry about keeping a little baby happy.  I'm trying to ignore the fact that I get worn-out after shopping a few stores in a row; I should be fine walking around amusement parks for 8 hours a day, 7 days in a row, right???  I HOPE! :)  I better get packing.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is such an exciting time, we can't wait to see what Santa has brought!  This is the first glimpse of Santa's deliveries:

The stockings were no longer hung by the chimney with care, they were too full.  Santa left them on the couch instead.

Santa brought Kayla a Christmas dress and a friend for her Kit doll--a Ruthie doll.  Kayla has had Kit for a couple of years and she has been wanting Ruthie to go with her.  Kit was already downstairs to welcome Ruthie with a plate of cookies.

Santa brought Hunter a Batman costume and an electric scooter.

Santa brought Tanner a Robin costume and a Thomas &Friends train set, Tanner loves trains!

Grandparents and aunts in Utah sent more costumes and toys for the boys and doll paraphernalia for Kayla.  All in all, the kids were  spoiled royally!  The presents are opened, now it's time to play!

Studly super-heros! 

 Daddy is working on putting Tanner's train track together.  (FYI--not as easy as GeoTrax)

Project complete, Tanner loves it!

 More projects for Daddy--assembling a doll bed.

 Project complete--one groovy bed. 

Kayla brought ALL her doll-stuff down to do a major set-up.  She's talking to Grandma, letting her know how much she loves the handmade doll cape and pajamas.  Grandma is so talented!

Jason tested Hunter's scooter out first, works great!

Hunter zipping along.

Tanner's tired out from all that playing but he's determined to keep at it!

We had a wonderful Christmas morning.  In the evening, we went to Jason's godparents' for prime rib dinner, SOOOO yummy!  It's another yearly tradition that we love.