The World As I See It...: Disney Vacation 2012 Part Two

Just a few more of my favorite Disney trip moments...

I don’t have any pictures of this next favorite moment but fortunately I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. This year Brynn was eager to try out some of the big kid rides. I was a little nervous about this but Dan rode Thunder Mountain and thought that Brynn could handle it so off he went for a second ride with Brynn in tow. Well…she LOVED it!!! Disney has this great thing called “parent swap” (allows one parent to ride with the older child and then allows the other parent who is waiting with a smaller child to ride without standing in line) which allowed me to then hop on with Brynn. I swear to you that I will never ever forget the look on Brynn’s face. Her hands were in the air. She had her mouth wide open screaming and giggling. I couldn’t tell you much about the ride but the pure excitement and joy on her face will stick with me for a very long time. It was just priceless. I think Dan and I each rode that thing two more times with her.

Another favorite moment happened at Animal Kingdom. Dan and I had a whole plan of action set up for that day which included getting to the park when it opened so that we could get in the beginning of the line to ride through the Safari. The Safari ride is really the big thing at the Animal Kingdom and if you don’t get in line early you are either going to spend an hour in line or you are going to have to wait several hours for your fastpass time to come up. So as planned, we got their early and were waiting in the front of the line at the park. While waiting we chatted it up with a family from North Carolina who had two children slightly younger then our two. The North Carolina family had the same plan that we did. They were also planning to race to the Safari ride in the hopes of a shorter line. While we were talking one of the Cast Members approached us and started asking about our families and where we were from. She then invited us and the other family to go into the park early and go on a private Safari ride. So the eight of us were escorted into the park before it even opened and taken on the ride. It was incredible! It was drizzling just a bit and since no other cars had been through yet, there were animals everywhere. A friendly giraffe literally walked right up to our jeep to say hello.

Months ago we scheduled Brynn to get her Princess makeover. When I scheduled her I also tried to get Colton in for a Prince Makeover but couldn’t get him in because he was too young. A Prince Makeover includes getting his hair spiked and then getting a shield and sword. Makeover day arrived and Colton was mad that Brynn was getting a makeover and he wasn’t (in hindsight I think he had no clue what the makeover was all about but just wanted to do whatever Brynn was doing because she was so excited). So when we went to check Brynn in I asked if there was anyway they could squeeze Colton in. The fairy Godmother (aka: receptionist) said yes! Colton was thrilled for about 2.5 seconds and then we walked through the door. I think he was overwhelmed by all of the people and cameras but he made it very clear that there was no way he would be participating in the makeover. Even though he was having nothing to do with the hair they gave him his shield and sword and he lit up. He was hysterical! He immediately proclaimed himself Peter Pan and was fighting off dragons, pirates, princesses, costumes, photographers and parents. He carried that little sword around the rest of the trip (and I do mean every single day). He proudly showed it to every single prince and princess and other character he met. Who knew how happy a little sword could make that boy?!

Just after being handed his "sworf" and shield.

Princess Brynn. If you are wondering about the birthday sash, it was her half birthday. Lol, Disney celebrates everything:)

Trying to get a picture of them together but Colton was busy slaying dragons or pirates

Ariel was very impressed with is sword

My final favorite Disney moment was when we met Repunzel. Brynn was really excited to meet all of the characters this time and Repunzel was on her “must meet” list. Colton liked the characters from afar but was a little nervous when they were up close. He would shyly go and stand next to them and gave a few high fives but he would not talk to any of them. So, when it was time to meet Repunzel we were not surprised by the look of awe on Brynn’s face as she ran up to give her a hug. You could just tell that she was meeting a superstar. We were however surprised when Colton also walked up to Repunzel and started talking a mile a minute. He showed her is sword and told her that he had met Mickey in Disneytown. He even let Repunzel hug him (though he also played it cool and kept one hand down with the sword and the other in his pocket). It was adorable. He must have decided that had gone pretty well because he then walked right over to Ariel and did the same thing.

We ended up meeting Repunzel a second time so that Brynn could get a picture with her in her Repunzel dress.

I am so grateful for this adventure. I know we made so many amazing memories there however I must say that last night as the four of us were snuggled up at home on the couch I realized that I was at the “happiest place on earth” right at homeJ