Disney World - Day 3

Our last day in Disney was a Saturday, which meant it was very crowded and crazy. We started the day with a character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe. I'm so glad we did this. Marino LOVED getting to meet the characters - do you see his smile? Not to mention, the food was amazing!Once again, the chef came out to meet with us and then made us eggless/gluten-free pancakes and donuts - yum! And Marino got to hug Goofy and Donald - his favorites! 

From there, we took the shuttle over to Hollywood Studios. I really wanted to go there this year, while Marino is still young enough to get excited about seeing characters. He'll always love rides, but he won't always love seeing Pixar characters in person, so I wanted him to experience it at this age. 

Our first stop was Pixar Place. Pap Pap and Gramma Barb got in line for Toy Story Midway Mania and Evan, Marino and I headed across the street to meet Buzz and Woody. 

The line to meet Buzz and Woody was deceptively long, but there were plenty of photo ops and entertaining things to see in line. 

Marino making faces with a new buddy. 

At last, it was time to meet the big guys. Marino was soooooo excited! 

It was so precious to see and I know he will only be this excited about these kinds of things for another couple years. I loved seeing this happy face!

After that we got back in line for Toy Story Midway Mania! I'm not kidding, even with my dad and Barb holding a place in line for us, we waited 90 minutes. It was insane. I really wish we had gotten a Fast Pass but by the time we arrived, the Fast Pass times were for the evening. So, after a looooooooooong wait, we got on the ride. 

Thankfully, Marino loved it and said it was his favorite of our trip. Surprisingly, he was pretty good during our wait. 

On our way to lunch (which we reserved as soon as we arrive in the morning), we saw a short line to meet Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We stopped and said hello to Jake. 

We had lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby. It was delicious and, again, the chef came out to discuss allergies and options. Marino was exhausted and slept on my lap through lunch.

After lunch, we wanted to see the Disney Junior show, but it was cancelled because of technical difficulties, so we headed to some quieter areas of the park.

We checked out the playground in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area. No line and Marino loved it!

We also got to meet Marino's favorite Pixar characters - Lightning McQueen and Mater!

By this time, we were all pretty worn out and had achy feet, so we headed back to the resort for some rest. 

The next morning was check out - some of the Disney resorts allow you to "check in" with your airline right there. They take your checked baggage to the airport - this was really nice. We took the shuttle to the airport and we were on our way home. 

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week: 


5. The other day when I picked him up from school, he was super tired.  He asked the Director of his school "Can I just rest on this couch for a minute? I just need a little shuteye."

4.  In the car this week he said "I was just thinking about Gramma and Grampa Ray coming to my baseball game this weekend.  I'm so excited to see them!"

3. Marino announced the other night, "The basketball team Michael Jordan plays with is called The Flying Cows."  I told him the team is called The Chicago Bulls...and he started calling them "The Flying Bulls." Since then, he's referred to them as "The Flying Hogs" and "The Chicago Moles." 

2. These faces, I can't handle the cuteness.  Marino and his best buddy, Alex. 

1.  Marino was sick with a fever Sunday and Monday, which is no good.  But he still calls a "headache" a "head-ick" and I think its the cutest thing in the world! 

Team Super Fast Sharks

On Saturday, my friend Jen brought her kids over for a sleepover. I took the 3 kids to the playground and I told them since there was 3 of them and 1 of me, they had to stick together at the playground. "We're a team," I said. "What should our team name be?" Sydney said "Team Super Fast Sharks!" and so we were so named. Anytime the kids split up, I'd say "Where's your team?" and they would find each other. It was really cute. These three always have a great time together. 

Disney World - Days 1 and 2

After saying goodbye to the Disney Dream (and The Bahamas), we boarded the shuttle to Disney. If anyone is interested, there is a bathroom on the bus (I get paranoid mass transit without bathrooms) and they showed some short cartoons. It was a quick ride (less than an hour). The whole thing was very convenient. 

We were very fortunate...it was only 10AM when we got to our Disney Hotel (Caribbean Beach Resort) but they were able to accommodate us and get us into a room immediately. We were exhausted from a very early morning, so this was awesome. We had one of the special pirate rooms, which was a lot of fun. Marino loved all the little pirate details. 

We were worn out from our cruise and it was a rainy day, so we decided to just hang out at the resort for the day. It was a shame it was a rainy (and cold) day, because the resort had some amazing features. Each section of rooms has its own little "beach" complete with hammocks (you can't swim in the lakes) and a pool.  There's a large, pirate themed pool and splash area along with a food court, a restaurant, shops and a video arcade. Across the bridge from that area is a playground hidden in a gorgeous "jungle" landscape.  Eating allergy-free at Disney is a breeze. Everywhere we went (food courts included), when we mentioned allergies, they sent the chef out to discuss our meal. Each place had special gluten and egg free bread, buns, cookies, etc, that they kept in the back (presumably in a freezer). They obviously take allergies seriously, and it was a relief! Marino and Evan enjoyed the video arcade.

                                                                                           

The next morning we got up and went to breakfast at the food court and SURPRISE! Pap Pap and Gramma Barb were there! Marino was very excited, but still totally oblivious about where we were going, even on the shuttle to the Magic Kingdom!

                                     Then he saw the castle, and he knew! He was so excited!
                                                     Does this look like a happy boy?!

Family photo. We're all wearing buttons that says "First Visit" 

(which was true for Marino and Evan, but not me). 

Marino was so glad to see his Pap Pap! 

The Monster's Inc Laugh Factory was our first stop. We all loved it (we're all Monster's Inc fans). It really was laugh out loud funny. 

Our next stop was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Marino loved it (and still talks about it, months later).

We hit the Tommorowland Speedway next. Marino enjoyed it, but was annoyed he couldn't drive (not that he could have reached the pedals). 

We used our Fast Passes to ride the new ride, The Great Goofini (small roller coaster). 

Does he look excited? He and Evan always want to ride in the front of the roller coaster.

Before lunch, we headed to the Haunted Mansion, which wasn't terribly crowded (comparatively, anyway)

Marino loved the ghost in our car at the end!

Meeting Buzz Lightyear was definitely a highlight of our trip. Can you tell Marino is excited?

Pap Pap and Gramma Barb

                                          

Marino fell asleep waiting in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but woke up before we got to the end of the line (that was a long line). He loved the ride and still talks about it. 

We were all pretty exhausted by about 4:30, so we headed back to the hotel to rest. For dinner, we headed to Shutters at Old Port Royale. As with everywhere we went at Disney, we had a great experience with the chef accommodating our allergies and bringing out great gluten-free goodies!