This past week we got the best Christmas present as a family. We got to go to Disney World! If you know me I have been waiting for this moment since I last left there when I was 8. Just taking in the magical time when we rode the ferry boat to Magic Kingdom and could see the beautiful castle all lit up with Christmas lights. I can't describe the feeling, it's just something you have to experience. I much prefer to ride the ferry boat than the monorail because it reminds me of Disney World back in the day. Many times while walking around the park Casey and I would stop and think of how Disney World looked when it first opened. What I would give to go back in time to experience that. Casey and I are big on the old school Disney when Walt was still involved. We love the old Mickey Mouse cartoons and the old school look of Minnie and Mickey. Other than that being a dream of mine I want to stay in Cinderella's Castle. I know I dream big but that's ok ; )
Now back to the vacation. We stayed 7 nights 8 days and thought that was a great amount of time to do everything. I still wanted to do more but that will have to wait until next time. We went before all the kids let out for Christmas break in hopes to miss the crowd. It wasn't too busy until the weekends and by then we had already done all the things that required us to wait in line. Caden also got his haircut at the Main Street Barber shop. He didn't mind at all and loved all the stickers he got and pixie dust in his hair. He got some special Mickey Ears that say first haircut. He really only got a trim but at least it was at Disney World!
I had it all built up in my head that Caden would run right up to the characters and hug them, but it was the opposite effect. He took off running the other way and would wave from a distance. That resulted in Casey and I holding him to take pictures with the characters. We got the first reaction on video and camera so that will be a good laugh forever. Towards the end of the trip he decided to warm up to Tigger because he gave him a high five. The day before we left he saw Buzz Lightyear and Pinnochio and was excited to give them hugs and meet them. That night we crossed our fingers that he would want to meet Mickey and Minnie again and take a picture. We were in luck! He ended up hugging them and getting kisses from Minnie. Again they used the magic high five to greet him and he accepted. He met the princesses during the first part of the trip and loved them. He got kisses with lipstick and called Prince Caden. Caden exceeded my expectations of how he would react to the parades. He was so excited clapping and laughing and waving. I have never seen him get so excited. He remembered meeting some characters such as the princesses and would really get excited and wave even harder. He got a lot of attention from characters on foot during the parades. They would come up to him and high five him and he even got a big kiss from one of Cinderella's step sisters that left him with a big lipstick kiss. Guess she couldn't resist his cuteness in his Mickey ears. Animal Kingdom had a really cute Christmas parade. The best parade was at Mickey's Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. They had free cookies and hot chocolate all night and shows galore. It was something special to be a part of. That was the only night it was super cold so it made it feel even more like Christmas. Every day we had been wearing shorts so it was a nice surprise. It was even snowing on Main Street along with a bunch of other beautiful lights up. They had an awesome projection light show on the castle followed by tons of fireworks. We bought our annual family Christmas ornament and a couple of other things. I just wanted to buy the whole store and decorate my house! Caden got to meet Santa here for the second time in his life and he was very excited. He was waving and smiling on his lap while getting his picture taken. We all bought Santa hats with Mickey Mouse ears on them and wore them to the Christmas party and the rest of our trip at night. I think Caden was so overjoyed by all the parades and characters that he just kept smiling and waving at everyone like he was in the parade. I wonder what he thinks now that we are gone. At least he has the videos to watch. We also went to Downtown Disney and ate at Planet Hollywood one night and another night Rainforest Cafe. Caden loved it. He kept pointing at the animals and talking about them. He had mini hamburgers and Casey and I shared fajitas. After that we went to the Ghirradeli chocolate shop and ate the most amazing chocolate brownie sundae ever! Casey actually bought us an extra brownie it was so good. After we were done we went to the Cool Yule
Disney Christmas store and awed over everything. On our way to the car Caden saw all of these dogs made of Legos and we had to stop. He took turns riding them and petting them and was upset to leave.
Our first day was spent at no other than Magic Kingdom followed by the night at Hollywood Studios extra magic hours to see the Osborne of Spectacle Lights. That was the most amazing light show I have ever seen. Every bit of the buildings down one strip was covered in lights synched to music. That was a big highlight of the vacation. They even made it snow. The next day we spent at Epcot and went to Magic Kingdom for extra magic hours until 1am. Caden stayed awake the whole time and enjoyed it! We felt like we rented the park out and got to rode everything with no wait. Caden loved It's a Small World. He pretty much rode everything in Fantasyland and only got nervous on the Winnie the Pooh ride when it dipped, but didn't cry. When we left Magic Kingdom our car was the only one left in the parking lot lol. I would say it was after 2am when we actually left. The next day we spent at Hollywood Studios seeing shows and Fantasmic. The next morning we took advantage of the extra magic hours at Animal Kingdom so we could ride the safari before it got too packed. We all enjoyed it so much we rode it twice. Caden was excited when the giraffe walked up to our bus and looked at him. We were in the back so he just kept laughing. The next day we went back to Hollywood Studios to do some things we hadn't done yet and Epcot for the night to see the firework and light show over the lake. It was beautiful and peaceful to watch with Casey while drinking hot chocolate in our souvenir Christmas mugs and Caden decided to sleep through it until the end. Our last day was spent at Magic Kingdom and we soaked in as much memories as we could. Leaving we rode on the boat and said bye to the castle with hopes of being back next year. I can't explain how many memories were made on this trip and I'm so blessed to have a good son who loves us and a wonderful husband who enjoys being with his family and enjoying every minute. That was my best Christmas present.
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