Our Disney Family vacation part 1.

Last week my family was lucky enough to travel to Florida and stay at a DisneyWorld resort.  This was our first real family vacation and it was the first time that the kids were going to Disney.  To say that we were all excited would have been a huge understatement.  The excitement was killing us as the trip got closer and closer and we talked about little else for a few weeks beforehand. 

 We ended up staying at Disney's Old Key West resort, which was beautiful and so convenient! We had a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen, two bathrooms, room to sleep atleast 7-8 and a full porch out back, overlooking a beautiful lake and golf course. The resort had a full service restaurant, a small bar and tiki cabana, a pool side snack bar, numerous pools, a supermarket and gift shop, water slides, toddler pools and water parks, and a dock where you could catch a boat that took you directly to Downtown Disney. It also had buses that came every 20 minutes and took you to the various attractions and parks that Disney has to offer.

Our first day, at the Magic Kingdom, was amazing.  We were all in awe of everything.  The people, the sites, the rides, the characters.  We tried to experience most everything we could, and we ended up staying all day, up until the park was closing that night!

 

 Meeting Merida was a big hit with my kids, especially the girls.  Merida promised to turn my son into a bear if he was a troublemaker, so he knew to be on his best behavior while he was there.  She was fantastic and the kids really loved talking with her. 

We ended up seeing a LOT of characters, but we made it a priority to ride as many rides as we could, so some characters we just saw in passing instead of waiting to meet them. 

 The Mad Hatters tea cups ride was the first ride we went on.  My kids LOVED it!  My son is almost 10, my daughter is 6, and they both had a blast.  We left the little one with her Daddy while the big kids went on faster rides with me.  Our peanut will be 2 soon, so she is really too little for the faster rides. 

Belle's Enchanted Storytime was a big hit.  All of the kids got to play a part in the story of Beauty and the Beast.  My son chose to be the Beast.  Little did he know, he would be able to dance with Belle at the end.  He did a great job! 

 My 6 year old was the armoire, and since the armoire narrates the show in the beginning, she told us that it was THE most important part of the show!  My daughter loved it. 

 Even my little one got in on the action.  Belle was the second Princess that gave her a big kiss on her forehead that day, so all day long she had big lipstick prints on her head.  She now tells random people throughout the day about the kisses she got from the Princesses.  The ladies at our bank and grocery store think its so adorable to hear her tell the story!

 Rapunzel's Tower was a big hit with my older daughter.  "Tangled" was the first movie she ever saw in the theater, so she has always loved Rapunzel.  She was so excited to see her home! 

 Allergies were a bit tricky at lunch time, but as you can see, my son was able to fully enjoy this turkey leg.  We have some rare and random food allergies in my family, but Disney was wonderful about it and we were able to speak to the chefs at all but 1 restaurant and had safe meals our whole trip, which we are thankful for. 

 The weather was fantastic.  We left cold, snowy Massachusetts for warm and sunny Florida.  I even ended up getting a sunburn on the back of my neck on this day.  I slathered everyone else in sunscreen and forgot about myself.  Whoops! 

 One of the rides that we knew would be iffy for my 6 year old was the Haunted Mansion.  She ended up riding with us but had her head buried in my arm the whole time.  She wasn't a fan. 

 

I will say that one of my absolute favorite parts of the whole trip was the fireworks show at Cinderella's Castle at the end of the night.  It was beautiful and a lot of fun.  First, they project a show on the castle, changing the castle different colors and putting clips of Disney movies on it all while Jiminy Cricket narrates. 

 

And this is what my little one did the whole entire show.....

 

Then Tinkerbell flies through the air and the fireworks start.  My little one continued sleeping throughout it, but my older two were in awe, as was the rest of my family.  It truly was magical!

 

I promise to continue the pictures of our Disney vacation another day.  We had so much fun and saw and experienced so much.  I'll spread it out over a few different posts.  Keep an eye out for part 2!