Disney with Twin Toddlers...wait...We are Big Kids Now...Take 3!

[lucyddr]

After our long naps, we got dressed for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! We knew going in that it was going to be hot, so we decided that matching shirts were more important to us that sweating to death in costumes! I bought the kids' outfits from a smocked vendor and then was lucky enough to find a lady on Etsy who made husband and I some similar shirts!

Leaving Boardwalk Inn for Magic Kingdom...

Arriving at the Halloween Party and entering the "bypass" trail area.

The kids were cranky, hot, and starving...so finding somewhere to grab a quick meal was a high priority! We entered near Tomorrowland and didn't want to eat outside, so Cosmic Rays Café was the obvious choice! We thought the food options there were pretty nice and enjoyed the burger/sandwich toppings bar! Andrew loved the alien performer!

After dinner, we enjoyed a candy corn ice cream cone from next door! It was good, but our second desserts later were even better!
The kids had full bellies and were all silly smiles waiting for the elevator for Astro Orbiter.

Adam and I aren't huge fans of any circular rides. He can barely tolerate Dumbo and Alladin...so Astro Orbiter is NOT something he can ride! That left me taking both kids. As a plus size Mom, fitting in the rocket with these two was quite a challenge...but we managed!
The sun was starting to dip below the clouds, so it made for a beautiful ride!

From Astro Orbiter, we walked over to the Monsters Inc. dance party! The kids LOVED dancing with the monsters and were lucky enough to get a quick photo with Mike!

We had to ride People Mover for the second time in a day because the kids LOVE it!

From People Mover, we went rode the Indie Cars again followed by Winnie the Pooh since the lines were short. The kids enjoyed the Pooh waiting area, which they had missed during Early Morning Magic since they didn't need it! We saw the Pooh characters in their Halloween outfits, but didn't care to stand in line for 30 minutes or longer for a photo.

Once again, since Daddy can't ride spinning things, I got to ride another classic...the Teacups! The kids loved them, and thankfully I didn't get ill!

Daddy and Andrew went to ride Haunted Mansion and us ladies went to meet some Princesses and ride the carousel (Anna didn't like Haunted Mansion...once was enough for her).

We met up with the boys again and it was close to parade time. We decided to do the early parade since the kids are young and were beginning to get tired despite the long nap. We found a spot near the castle plaza area where the parade begins to turn towards Main Street. Our spot would have been amazing, but one family was less than courteous. The adults in one family stood on the line and wouldn't allow any children to sit in front of them or even close, and they spread out widely. It was frustrating to say the least since there was potentially tons of room. Adam and the kids sat in the stroller behind the family (because the nice family beside us offered to let our children sit with them on the front "row" for the parade) waiting for the parade and I walked over to Main St. Bakery.

I bought the Mickey Halloween Cupcake for Andrew, Mickey Pumpkin Cheesecake Domes and Pumpkin Spice Fraps for us old folks, and apples with caramel for Anna (what she wanted). All items were a great use of Disney Dining Plan Snack Credits! We enjoyed our second desserts of the evening and then watched the parade (kids sitting and Adam and I standing between the nice and not-so-nice families peeping between as we were able.

I will say that I'd pay HUGE sums of money for MNSSHP reserved parade viewing AND fireworks viewing areas, but this wasn't offered this year. The dessert party times clashed with the first parade, so it didn't really make sense for us.

After the parade, we quickly moved our stroller towards the castle and watched Hallowishes. We enjoyed the fireworks and the kids were clearly running out of steam. Adam really wanted to shop, but I knew the kids were not going to last much longer. I sent him off to enjoy some kid-free time in the stores and the kids and I headed to the bus stop!

One silly picture on the way out...

And on the bus... This picture may be the crappiest one taken the entire trip, yet it's my absolute favorite memory! I told the kids it was critical that they stay awake since I had them, the stroller, the Trick or Treat bags, and backpacks to get off of the bus...and I couldn't carry the "stuff" and two sleeping kiddos alone! I stood near the back door with our double stroller and they sat just above me side by side. I looked up and they were chatting to each other while holding hands, talking about staying awake "as a team." My Mommy heart just melted in that moment! We made it to the hotel, got into our pj's, and were in bed watching Mickey cartoons by the time Daddy returned!

Overall, we enjoyed MNSSHP! We didn't care to wait hours in line for characters, so we didn't. We kind of went with the flow of the kids and that meant rides. We were sad to see that the Headless Horseman no longer gallops through the parade route (he now trots) and the inconsiderate family kind of irritated me. We had hoped for some special photo opportunities, but only found one at the bypass area...but no biggie. The kids enjoyed trick or treating and it was a fun evening overall!

 

[paradesintherain]

Your son's eyeliner is finally starting to wear off! I just love the outfits you put on them

 

[4leobeans]

Stumbled across your TR, and really enjoying it!

We are headed down in November to celebrate my son's 4th birthday...and we are also doing PL. we've done BBB twice for each of my girls' birthday's, but we're trying PL this year for everyone. I love your photos! It looks like a great experience . I've had a hard time finding samples of the options....I will do some more searching on You Tube. Did they do your daughters hair there?

I can't believe your kids went on TOT! I took my 5 & 7 year old girls on it last visit, and they were both terrified.....I wasn't even planning to try this with my son. Maybe I'll show him some videos, see what he thinks.

We are also staying at the Boardwalk.....it was my husbands choice (I showed him a list of 6 or so places we could stay, and this was his fave), and it's our first time staying deluxe. Can't wait to hear more about your visit.
We are very excited about the pool too. We've been booked on this trip for almost a year, and are down to 4 days now....you TR is perfect reading!

I'm wondering, how many pieces of luggage did you travel with? We are trying to go all carry on, because between the cost of our flights from Canada, the exchange, and paying for seat selection , I can't afford to pay any more.....
I can't believe you travelled with 20 pairs of shoes

I really like your great outfits for the family too....it looks like your trip was truly amazing!

 

[lucyddr]

Stumbled across your TR, and really enjoying it!

We are headed down in November to celebrate my son's 4th birthday...and we are also doing PL. we've done BBB twice for each of my girls' birthday's, but we're trying PL this year for everyone. I love your photos! It looks like a great experience . I've had a hard time finding samples of the options....I will do some more searching on You Tube. Did they do your daughters hair there?

I can't believe your kids went on TOT! I took my 5 & 7 year old girls on it last visit, and they were both terrified.....I wasn't even planning to try this with my son. Maybe I'll show him some videos, see what he thinks.

We are also staying at the Boardwalk.....it was my husbands choice (I showed him a list of 6 or so places we could stay, and this was his fave), and it's our first time staying deluxe. Can't wait to hear more about your visit.
We are very excited about the pool too. We've been booked on this trip for almost a year, and are down to 4 days now....you TR is perfect reading!

I'm wondering, how many pieces of luggage did you travel with? We are trying to go all carry on, because between the cost of our flights from Canada, the exchange, and paying for seat selection , I can't afford to pay any more.....
I can't believe you travelled with 20 pairs of shoes

I really like your great outfits for the family too....it looks like your trip was truly amazing!

They twisted her hair on both sides and secured it with bobby pins. Simple, yet cute and functional!

For PL samples, use Google and search the Image tab for Pirates League. You'll see tons of photos showing the available options.

We travelled with a 29", two 27", and two tiny carry-on suitcases along with 3 backpacks. We checked 3 suitcases and carried on the little ones containing swimsuits, pj's, underwear, simple toiletries, and Puddle Jumpers.

Most shoes were tiny since Anna only wears a 8 toddler! I packed 2 pairs of flip flops and a pair of Chacco sandals, and wore tennis shoes. Packed Andrew 2 sandals; water slippers, and a pair of tennis shoes. Adam packed flip flops and tennis shoes only. And Anna had a billion, or so it seemed!

With carry ons only, look into EBags packing cubes.

Thanks! We had a ball! And there's more to come!

 

[lucyddr]

Needless to say, we were pretty tired when we finally got into bed on Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. We would love to have slept later, but we had breakfast reservations at 9:45am at Akershus. I was worried it would be too late for the kids, but it worked out nicely! We got up, showered/dressed, and walked into Epcot around 9:20am. From International Gateway, Akershus is a little hike. The sun was blistering that day and the humidity levels were the highest of our trip.

Anna wanted to wear her Princess Belle dress and Andrew was upset that he didn't have a special "costume" for the day. I tried to show him that his outfit had all of the major Princes, but he wasn't buying it much. We checked into Akershus and waited about 15 minutes for our seats.

Andrew was not in the best mood this morning...so his photographic cooperation was not great...at least before he ate!

Anna was so proud of her outfit...down to her shoes!

First, we met Princess Belle! She immediately recognized Prince Andrew on Andrew's shirt and pointed him out. Andrew was excited to share that it was his name too!

We posed with Belle and then were taken to our seats.

We were shown the buffet and ordered our drinks. I loved the buffet cold options and thought it was a great addition to the hot food items served family style. The kids ate mostly doughnut holes, which I have to admit were super fresh and tasty! While enjoying our breakfast, we met several princesses. I did not expect Cinderella at this breakfast and had hoped for slightly more variation from CRT...but really they were the same outside of Belle and Jasmin. The kids still loved it though, so I consider it a win!

And Andrew got a special treat from Princess Aurora! He wiped it off pretty fast, but he was still pretty proud and told everybody he saw about it!

With full bellies, we left the breakfast and decided to see what the wait time would be for Frozen Ever After. The sign said 25 minutes, which seemed great! We hopped into the line, which moved quickly and had a neat route. In less than 20 minutes, we were on the ride! The kids LOVED it...absolutely LOVED it! When we walked out, the kids saw the Sven Pillow Pets and begged for them. We told them that they would be their one big item for the trip and that we wanted them to think about it hard. In hindsight, I wish we had just bought the stupid things then...more on that later!

We also saw that the line for Anna and Elsa said 45 minutes. We didn't think the kids would be patient enough to wait that long, but they insisted that they wanted to see them even if it took forever! We walked in, waited literally less than 5 minutes, and we were meeting 2 more of our favorite Disney characters!

We walked from there towards Test Track. We ended up waiting over an hour to ride it, which threw a lot of our plans off for the remainder of the day (missed our Spaceship Earth Fastpass as a result). The kids loved it and us old folks enjoyed it too!

The kids begged for candy tubes at the Test Track gift shop, so we let them. They didn't really get how to eat them without wetting them with spit, so they were pretty short-lived...probably a blessing!

We took a few photos with various new cars, then headed towards Spaceship Earth.

Unfortunately, the ride was down and the Fastpass line was longer than the Stand By...so we skipped it. We went to Club Cool and tried some sodas. From there, we walked over to The Land. We rode the boat ride and then Soarin' with our second Fast Passes of the day. I loved the new Soarin' version and would love to have ridden it more times! We then had a light lunch at Sunshine Seasons (the Mongolian beef is AMAZING, just fyi).

So...here's where my gamble to forget about the stupid Pillow Pets failed... We mentioned heading back to Boardwalk Inn to swim a bit as we had tickets for the Frozen Dessert Party that night. The kids went nuts and insisted that we go back for the Sven Pillow Pets. And they were adamant that they wanted these more than anything else. No amount of trying to distract seemed to work. So...on the hottest, most miserably humid day of the trip...we hiked all the way back to Norway!

On the way, we met Pluto!

Drenched in sweat and us old folks falling apart...we arrived and bought the stupid Svens! There was a Photopass photographer just outside, so we had "fancy" photos taken since these stupid pillows about killed us! The kids were so excited though! And since arriving home, they've been sleeping on them nightly. You haven't lived until you've carried 2 Svens and a saber through MCO!

We walked back to Boardwalk Inn at that point. Somewhere along the way, I got way too hot and felt a bit ill. By the time we got to the room, I could barely change into a swimsuit and husband wasn't much better. Kids were, of course, totally fine! Because I felt so badly, I called Disney reservations to cancel our dessert party. I was honest and just told the nice Cast Member that we felt poorly and were not sure we could physically walk back to Epcot. She cancelled our reservation and about 20 minutes later, we went down to the pool.

Adam and I lounged a bit and swam just enough to cool off. Around dinner time, he walked over to Boardwalk Pizza window and brought back a pizza, drinks, and a couple of side salads. For those who don't know, you can get a whole pizza, 2 chips/salads, and 2 drinks for 2 QS credits!

 

[lucyddr]

After a couple of hours, we were all a bit rejuvenated and I kind of regretted cancelling our reservations. Andrew wanted to swim and play in the playground more, and Anna really wanted to ride TOT again. Adam loves TOT too, so the two of them went to HS while Andrew and I stayed at the resort for a date!

Kids heading to pool that evening...

I was surprised at how engaging the playground was! Andrew had a ball, even by himself!

Back in the room with Sven...

Mommy and Andrew enjoying carrot cake while waiting on Daddy and Anna to come back!

She didn't want her photo taken, but she looked so adorable!

Proof!

Once everyone got back to the resort, we called it a day. We quickly bathed the kids and hopped into bed as Thursday was our Animal Kingdom day and we anticipated it being a LONG one!

 

[Jen_G]

Your photos are absolutely adorable!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Oh my goodness your kids are absolutely adorable! And far braver than I am - ToT?!?

Love their matching outfits and especially love your son's Mickey sandals. on the eyeliner but so worth it. They both looked great. And Sven!! So cute!!

 

[chicagoshannon]

Looks like you guys are having a great time. We had issues with the Pirates makeup too. The eye liner ended up giving ds pink eye. He's sworn off face paint ever since. lol

 

[momplus3]

I absolutely adore the Sven pillow pets! I would love to have one!

 

[lucyddr]

Thanks everyone for reading and your sweet comments! Despite the hassle, the Sven Pillow Pets have been a wonderful investment for the kids! They still love them! I've had a very long day in my office and the OR, so will post about our day at Animal Kingdom tomorrow!

 

[DisneyElite4]

Loving your report! Cute, precious kiddos. We also have boy/girl twins (almost 3) and an older son (5) heading to Disney next week!

Just curious - was it hard finding space for the Sven pillow pets in your luggage returning home?

 

[Stasieki]

Catching up. There were so many things we missed at the halloween party including those yummy desserts! We did have the haunted mansion dessert but it was just OK. The ones you picked out sound yummy. We also never go around to getting a lot of the magic shots I had hoped. We only got the carriage one by haunted mansion. Even with the map and researching I had a hard time finding them.

 

[cajunfan]

Enjoying your report. Your family is adorable! Love the outfits! Did you make them?

 

[shan981]

Oh my goodness, your kids are adorable. I have to leave off after page 1 today, but looking forward to reading the rest. We are taking our twins for their first trip next November, they will be 22ish months.

 

[lucyddr]

Loving your report! Cute, precious kiddos. We also have boy/girl twins (almost 3) and an older son (5) heading to Disney next week!

Just curious - was it hard finding space for the Sven pillow pets in your luggage returning home?

Um....we had to carry those pillows and store them under the plane seats! Our luggage was another story...to come...

 

[lucyddr]

Thursday was a big Animal Kingdom day! We knew it was going to be super long when we scored FOP fast passes for 9:10am and booked a ROL dinner package. And as the week had progressed, it was HOT that day! We woke up early and took the bus to the park. We entered a few minutes after it opened and went straight to Pandora. The line for FOP was already over 2 hours! We screwed up and booked 4 fast passes though the kids couldn't ride. We had hoped to ride twice each (as adults), but didn't have enough time to get both rides with rider swaps in within the hour. I rode FOP first while Adam and the kids wandered around. Adam rode it second. It was AMAZING!!! Once again, I was petrified I would be too large to ride, but I fit fine. The Cast Member told me he was going to push the bar closer to my back and I barely even felt it touch me. My only complaint was the glasses being huge. I had to hold them on my head during the ride!

Once off of FOP, the kids were insistent on riding Navi River Journey. The line was over an hour long, but we hopped in. The time was pleasant for waiting as we met another set of preemie parents and we shared lots of stories as we navigated the long line.
Anna was NOT impressed with the line at all, though insisted on staying!

I didn't find the ride that amazing, but the kids enjoyed looking for the various fictitious animals and experience in general. By the time we finished the ride, we had to rush to Africa in order to see Lion King at 11am. We saw the show, enjoyed it, and then checked into Tusker House for lunch. Since we barely ate breakfast, we were super hungry!

Tusker House is a favorite of ours. We've eaten there for years, even before we had kids. The food is different, flavorful, and we love the general environment. The kids love Daisy and Donald, so that just ices the cake!

After lunch, we had Fast Passes for the Safari. We really enjoyed it and saw lots of animals despite it being in the early afternoon/hot part of the day.

After the safari ride, we walked towards Kali River Rapids where we had our last Fast Pass. The kids LOVED the ride and I so wish I could share the video of them giggling and having an absolute ball laughing as us old folks got drenched! We walked through some animal exhibits and then hopped in line for the Nemo show. As usual, the kids enjoyed it!
Anna didn't care for this wait either...this was definitely an "off" day for her!

After watching the show, we walked into Dino Land. We rode Tricera Top Spin and Dinosaur. Dinosaur really scared Andrew, but didn't phase Anna much. He recovered and asked to ride it again next trip...but was fine for this one!

We then went to the Boneyard to play and relax awhile! If you've ever taken kids to Animal Kingdom and missed this area, like us, don't miss it next time! It is an AMAZING playground and was just what we all needed. The kids needed to decompress and run wild, and we needed to rest a bit! The water wall was probably their favorite part of the entire area!

After playing awhile, we made our way over to Flame Tree BBQ. We enjoyed the Carnivale party, especially Andrew!

We ate a delicious, huge meal again at Flame Tree BBQ. And I hate to say it, but I can't remember what else we did until we headed over to the ROL amphitheater! I do know we let the kids pick out some lollipops, and Anna threw hers down somewhere while in the stroller...so she missed out.

We watched ROL and thought it was ok...not great...just ok. Frankly, I hate we missed the Tree of Life Animations and seeing Pandora at night. We finished the show and then went back to Boardwalk Inn to watch some TV and head to bed.

 

[lucyddr]

Catching up. There were so many things we missed at the halloween party including those yummy desserts! We did have the haunted mansion dessert but it was just OK. The ones you picked out sound yummy. We also never go around to getting a lot of the magic shots I had hoped. We only got the carriage one by haunted mansion. Even with the map and researching I had a hard time finding them.

We felt like we missed a lot, especially with special photo shots and character meets, but the lines were so long! The kids were more interested in riding rides, so we kind of just went with the flow. We also wanted to try some other desserts, but the lines...just didn't seem worth it.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Great updates! MNSSHP looks so much fun. I love those Sven pillow pets, so adorable. It looks like you all had such an awesome, accomplished day at AK. The Boneyard play area and Lion King Show are my kiddos favorites too. I am with you about ROL. It was nice but we left the show feeling a bit underwhelmed. My kids said they liked the Tree of Life Awakening better. I can’t wait to experience Pandora. I’ve heard so many great things about FOP and Pandora at night.

 

[DisneyElite4]

We will also be doing a MNSSHP during our upcoming trip! Glad we decided to skip ROL on this trip - we are already planning to stop by The Boneyard, but I'm going to carve out even more time for it after reading how much fun your kids had there! Were there lots of places they could get lost and not be seen? Did it feel dangerously crowded with bigger kids?