Disney World!

So many wonderful things to post about. Disney World. 11 Months Old. Halloween.

I’m going to start with Disney World.

This was my family’s first official vacation… ever. My mom, brother, sister, their spouses and kids, and of course us. I think we went to the beach when I was 2. But other than that we’ve never actually vacationed together.

Saturday, we all caravanned the 9ish hours drive to Orlando which went surprisingly well. Colette only cried once, but only because she blew into a whistle and scared herself.

Instead of staying on the WDW property in a resort, we opted for one big house with a pool. That way we could all be together, eat outside the parks to save some money, and have a nice quiet place to go when we needed downtime. When we got to the house the guys went to Shades of Green to pick up our tickets and the ladies went to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the week.

Sunday we hung out around the house/played in the pool for the first park of the day. Later we went to Downtown Disney. It was under a lot of construction but we still went into a few places. We got Colette’s first souvenir which was a baby Minnie plushie with a rattle inside and Cory got some Darth Vader Mickey Ears.

Monday we went to Hollywood Studios which is probably my favorite park. Toy Story Mania is where it’s at. The new FastPass+ system is neat but it does suck that you can only pick 3 things to do. That being said, we did everything we wanted to do with not a lot of wait time. Colette even had a good time. The baby care centers located in all the parks are nice as well. Hollywood Studios probably had the nicest facility of all the Disney parks because you had a private room for nursing and whatnot. Ahh, it was nice just to get out of the heat for a few minutes.

Tuesday was Magic Kingdom day. So Magical. We got up bright and early for an 8am character breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table which was the best decision I made. (180 days in advance decision…) We got to go into the park before it opened and take the photo you see below 🙂

Tuesday evening we left Colette with Nana and went out for my best friends birthday dinner at a place called Hash House A Go Go. So much food. Chicken and Waffles shown below.

Wednesday Cory, Colette and myself went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure while the rest of the family took a trip to the gulf coast for a beach day. SO MUCH HARRY POTTER! WOO HOO! We went on a perfect day. It rained a little when we got there but quickly cleared up. We didn’t wait more than 10 minutes for any ride. I love Harry Potter.

BFFs.

Thursday was Epcot day. Mmmm. Epcot Food and Wine Festival. I kept track of everything we ate and the list is as follows:

Greece:

• Chicken Gyro
• Spanikopita

Canada:

• Filet Mignon
• Beer Cheddar Soup

Mexico:

• Ribeye Taco

Farm Fresh:

• Beer Flight
• Bacon Hash
• Yard Bird

China:

• Mongolian Beef (x3)

South Korea:

• Lettuce Wrap

Japan:

• Spicy Hand Roll

Belgium:

• Waffle with Chocolate Ganache

France:

• Salted Caramel Creme Brûlée

Quite the list we have there. The clear winner was the Mongolian Beef from the China booth. The steamed bun was out of this world. We went back for seconds before we left. I also stopped in the Japan shops to stock up on Green Tea KitKats. Mmm. I think we stayed in Epcot longer than any other park and the only ride we went on was Nemo.

Friday, Cory, Colette and myself went to Animal Kingdom for the first part of the day. We took Colette on the Triceratops Spin then did a rider swap for Expedition Everest. Lastly we took when on the Kilimanjaro Safari and Colette was really interested right up until she fell asleep. We took that opportunity to head out and back to Magic Kingdom. Our first day there we only hit half the park before heading back to the house, so we hit the other side this time. We did all kinds of things with Colette including the Haunted Mansion, Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Under the Sea, Winnie the Pooh… But I have to say. Her favorite ride was probably It’s  a Small World. She danced and pointed and had a great time.

And that was it!

Everyone got along for the most part, no injuries, and overall just a really great time. My nephew even got to participate in the Jedi Experience in Hollywood Studios. Win. Win. Win.

Although I will say that pretty much everyone(except Colette and me, thankfully..) was sick the day after we got home. So that’s no fun.

Probably my favorite photo. Going straight for the goodies.

Her balloon popped, so they had to go trade it in. Cory looks thrilled.

Baby loves balloons

Family ❤

Just chillin in her stroller.

And there you have it. The next post will be Colette’s 11 month update! But I’ll be honest, it’s probably not coming til next week…. maybe this weekend if things don’t get too crazy!