On day 4 we got up nice and early so we could be at Hollywood Studios for the opening.  We arrived at 8:50am and got pretty close to the front to get into the park.  When they opened the park Rich took off to get us fast passes for Toy Story Mania (a very popular ride that almost always has a very long wait and usually runs out of fast passes during the morning.)  After Rich got the fast passes we got in line to ride it since it was a short wait (we ended up waiting 30 minutes) and saved our fast passes for later.

While we were in line I went to take some pictures and my camera wouldn’t work.  I tried and tried to get it to work and it was not cooperating.  I have another lens (a zoom lens) so I tried that one and it did work.  So I figured it had something to do with my regular lens.  Since I couldn’t use my zoom lens all day (I can only use that one for things that are further away) I talked to my brother Matt to see if he had any ideas since he has a similar camera.  While we were in line he was trying to figure out what I needed to do to fix my camera.  I was so thankful that I had bought a little hand held camera to bring along just in case of an emergency with my good camera.  I didn’t expect it to actually happen, but I’m glad I was prepared!

Part of the queue to Toy Story Mania.  This was actually the first time we have ever gone through the regular line- we have always used fast passes in the past.

Hailey in line for Toy Story Mania

We loved Mr. Potato Head!

My little miss waiting to get on the ride.  (I was able to take this one with my good camera, but had to use the zoom lens and stand really far away from her.)

Hailey on the ride, ready to go.

After the ride

While we were on the ride Matt figured out how I could fix my camera.  So, I tried his suggestion and it worked!!  I was so happy I almost cried!!

I had to take the picture of the entrance to the ride after the ride since my camera wouldn’t work before.

Hailey at the entrance to Toy Story Mania.

We noticed that Buzz and Woody had a short wait (short for them anyways, their line gets very long during the day) so we got in line to meet them.

There were lots of fun places to stop and pose for pictures while we waited.  While Hailey and I waited to meet Buzz and Woody, it was already time for us to get another fast pass, so Rich went and got us another one for Toy Story Mania to use later in the day.

A kiss from Woody

A hug for Buzz

Buzz, Hailey and Woody on Andy’s bed.

Hailey with a Green Army Man

Hailey and Minnie- 2 pretty princesses

We went back to get our picture taken in front of the hat since we were in a big hurry when we first arrived at the park and didn’t do it then.  We also watched one of the shows on the street- those shows are so fun to watch… as long as they don’t pick me to be involved!

Then it was time to go to our 11am lunch reservation at Hollywood and Vine.

Hailey waiting outside the restaurant.

We were the first ones there and had the whole place to ourselves for a while.

Hailey dancing with Oso.  She was the only one there!  After they danced Oso walked her back to our table.

My pretty princess

Leo and Hailey

June and Hailey

Time for more dancing!  June and Hailey danced together.  At this point I think there was one other kid, so Hailey was still getting lots of attention.

Handy Manny and Hailey

Oso and Hailey.

The characters all came around to our table at least 3 times each.  Even when other people started to arrive there still weren’t very many people there.  This was a great character interaction!  And we loved the food.  We almost didn’t eat here but decided to book it at the last minute and cancel something else.  I am glad we did- this was my second favorite meal!

After lunch we went to see the Beauty and the Beast show.

Belle and Gaston

Belle and the Beast

Belle and her prince

Hailey decided she wanted to try Tower of Terror.  I thought (and maybe hoped) she’d be too short to ride it.  But she was tall enough… and brave enough to ride.  I had to wait nervously at the exit to see how it went.

My little miss (much too little to be riding!) on the Tower of Terror.  I think she’s looking a little nervous.

When she got off she came running to me to show me that she gave it 2 thumbs up.

Hailey decided she wanted to ride again and since it was a 10 minute wait they went on it again.  She decided the second time though that it made her feel a little sick and she was done with it for the day.

Enjoying at Playhouse Disney Live Show.  This year Jake and the Neverland pirates were there.

Then it was time for the Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun parade:

Flik

Boo

Russel

Mr. Fredricksen

Bullseye

Lotso

After the parade we met some more characters:

June, Hailey and Quincy

Hailey and Mike Wazowski

We decided to go use our Toy Story Mania fast passes.  We love that ride!

Then we went to the Animation Building.  I had read that if you go around 5pm you will see lots of characters- many more than are usually there.  And this proved to be true!

Hailey with Frozone and Mr. Incredible

Hailey and Pooh

Hailey with Geppetto and Pinocchio

Hailey with Jafar

Belle and Hailey

Chip and Dale with Hailey

Last year when we were in Disney World we searched for Captain Hook and Mr. Smee and could not find them anywhere.  We were told that they were only appearing in shows and no longer doing meet and greets.  Hailey was so sad because she just loves Captain Hook.  So for the last year Hailey has prayed every night that she would be able to see Captain Hook and Mr. Smee again.  So she was thrilled when she got to see them!

Hailey with Mary Poppins and the Penguin

Hailey with Goofy and Max.  Max thought that Hailey’s braids were like his ears.

Stitch giving Hailey a kiss

We had to go see Mr. Incredible again so that Hailey could meet Mrs. Incredible this time.

When we went to leave the Animation building we realized it was pouring outside.  We put on our ponchos and headed to the Pizza Planet for dinner.

A view of the Pizza Planet from the 2nd floor

Hailey found some Hidden Mickeys on this wall.  There are 2 of them (that I know of).  One can be seen a little easier than the other.  Can you find them?

The park really cleared out while it was pouring out.  It was emptier than Extra Magic Hours usually are.

We had another set of fast passes for Toy Story Mania so we rode it again!

Then we went on The Great Movie Ride.

Even though the park was really empty, we were exhausted and needed to go back to the hotel.

When we got back Hailey played in the kids area for a little while.  See the Hidden Mickey she found?

I enjoyed a piece of Tie Dye Cheesecake.  Yummy!

We actually went to bed around 10:30pm- pretty early for us in Disney World.  We were planning to sleep in the next morning and hang out at the pool at our hotel to relax.

Hailey’s favorites for today: Ride- Toy Story Mania, Characters- Woody and Buzz

We slept in a little bit on the third day since we had went to bed at midnight the night before.  We got snacks for breakfast at Everything Pop Food Court… I don’t remember what we had but it was probably something healthy like chocolate muffins.  We rode the bus over to Magic Kingdom… the bus was pretty full and we had to stand.  It made me sad that there were so many men sitting there while a pregnant lady and her 4 year old had to stand

We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 9:30am and saw some characters with really short lines as soon as we walked in.

Hailey got to meet Pinocchio.

Hailey did a quick pose with Roy Disney and Minnie while I waited in line for the next character.

Then she met Pluto.

Us in the most magical place on earth

Hailey’s princess pose

The castle

We went over to the Rapunzel meet and greet since we had been told that her line gets very long during the day.  I waited in line for Rapunzel while Rich took Hailey to keep her occupied.

Hailey got to meet the White Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland.

Hailey loves riding the tea cups!

Then it was time for them to come back to meet Rapunzel.

Hailey worked on coloring a picture while waiting for her turn to see Rapunzel.

Hailey gave her picture to Rapunzel and Rapunzel told her she was going to hang it up at her house.

Hailey and Rapunzel.  Hailey asked Rapunzel if Flynn still causes a lot of trouble.  Rapunzel said he is always eating all of the cookies and then he gets in trouble with her.

After meeting Rapunzel Hailey had to stop and try to pull the sword from the stone (she didn’t pull it out) and then we were on our way to go on some rides:

We rode It’s a Small World (love the 5 minute wait on the sign!).

Hailey didn’t like the ride, she said it made her feel dizzy.  She also didn’t like having the song stuck in her head.

We went to see Mickey’s Philharmagic, definitely one of Hailey’s favorite attractions.

In line for Peter Pan- one of Hailey’s favorite rides.

I love her beautiful eyes!  This was on the Peter Pan ride.

Next we rode Snow White’s Scary Adventure.

This ride will be gone the next time we are there.  I’m not sure when they are closing it but I’m glad we got to go on it again during this trip.  It’s not one of our favorite rides, so we’re not too sad they are closing it, but it’s still fun.

Captain Jacks Pirate Tutorial

Hailey and Goofy

In line for the Pirates of the Caribbean- I think this was either her mad face or her pirate face.

Little sword fight in the store while it was pouring out.

I decided to brave the rain and go get a Pineapple Dole Whip- yummy!!  The best snack there is!!  Plus there was no line since it was raining And then we saw that Tiana had no wait, so Hailey went to meet her!

Hailey and Tiana

We rode the Haunted Mansion next and checked out the new queue.  There was a lot of fun stuff going on.  It was hard to keep Hailey moving in line though, she kept wanting to play with all the neat stuff.

Then it was time for the parade.  I absolutely love the parades!   Hailey played with a hula hoop while we waited for it to start.

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Jessie

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Donald Duck

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Stitch

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Mickey and Minnie

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Geppetto

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Jafar

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade- Cinderella and Prince Charming

We had an early dinner reservation at 3:20 at the Crystal Palace and it was perfect timing after the parade

Hailey tried on a hat while we waited for our table.  We have always had to wait for a while during past visits for our table at the Crystal Palace, even though we had a reservation.  But this time we waited less than 5 minutes.  Yay!

Hailey and Pooh

Hailey watching Eeyore sign her autograph book.

Having fun

I have no idea what she was laughing at but I love this picture!  Also notice me and my hand sanitizer… we all stayed healthy during our trip though, so my OCD paid off.

A kiss for Tigger

Hailey and Piglet

Rich and I were both really disappointed in our dinner.  It was fun because Hailey got to see the characters.  We have always eaten here during every trip but I think we’ll take a break next time.  The food choices and quality seemed to be really lacking.  And our waiter was awful.  He never even brought our drinks out until we were going up for seconds at the buffet.  Obviously that just depends on who your waiter/waitress is.  But the food wasn’t as good as we remembered it being.

After dinner we went to the Laugh Floor… I’m always nervous during the show because I really don’t want to get picked on.  The shows are so funny and so different every time but I hate sitting there worrying I might get picked on.

Then we went to see Dream With Mickey

Goofy, Donald, Mickey and Minnie

Hailey yelling “Dreams come true!”

Then we rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin… a definite favorite for Hailey.

Rich and Hailey went on the Tomorrowland Speedway… Hailey on the phone while driving.  I don’t know if that’s against the law in Florida.

Hailey and Rich on the Tomorrowland Speedway

Here is a little peek at the Beast’s castle that is being built right now.  Hopefully it will be open when we go back next year.

We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride and Hailey had fun playing in the new queue area.  It’s so interactive and so much fun!!

Lastly we rode Peter Pan one more time before heading to Hollywood Studios for Extra Magic Hours.

Arriving at Hollywood Studios

First we rode the Great Movie Ride and then we headed off to see Fantasmic!  We’ve never seen it before because in past years we thought Hailey might be scared of it.  I’ve heard so many people say how amazing it is, so we were pretty excited to see it.  My opinion was that it was good, but not as amazing as I expected it to be.  And unless Rich or Hailey wants to go see it again, I probably wouldn’t go back.  We did enjoy it, I just think once was enough for me.

During the finale of Fantasmic!

Lastly we saw the Muppet 3D show.  Hailey just loves the 3D shows!

Getting ready to head back to the hotel.  The main thing I remember when I see this picture is how much my feet hurt.  Never in my life have my feet ever hurt so much.  I don’t know if it was because I was pregnant or what… I wore the same shoes as always so it wasn’t my shoes.  So I will blame it on being pregnant.

It was another midnight bedtime again!  It sure felt good to lay down when we got back!!

Favorites for the day: Hailey’s favorite ride was Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and the Haunted Mansion (she couldn’t pick just one) and her favorite character was Rapunzel

On the 2nd day of our trip to Disney World we started our free dining package.  The free dining didn’t start until the 2nd day we were there so in order to qualify for it we had to check out that morning and then check back in under our package.  I had done online check in for this but I still had to wait a very long time.  The regular check in line was even longer than the online check in, so it still saved us time.  I think a lot of people had done the same thing we had and all needed to re-check in first thing in the morning.  There weren’t very many cast members checking people in so apparently they didn’t realize how many people would be doing this.  After waiting for probably 45 minutes we finally got re-checked in.

My little princess waiting for the bus to pick us up to take us to Epcot.

We had an 8:20 breakfast reservation at Akershus, so we arrived in the park before it was open.

Hailey and me (24 weeks pregnant).

My beautiful little miss

We arrived at Akershus and there was no wait.  Even though we always have a reservation we have always had to wait in the past.  This time we got right in.

Hailey and Belle

Hailey and Sleeping Beauty

Hailey during a parade around the restaurant

After the parade, Sleeping Beauty helped Hailey find her way back to our table.

Hailey and Cinderella

Hailey and Snow White

Hailey and Ariel.  Hailey asked Ariel if she is able to turn back into a mermaid so that she can visit her dad and her sisters in the water.  Ariel told her that she can change back and forth any time she wants to to visit.  Hailey also sent a hug to Flounder.

Ariel during another parade around the restaurant.

Hailey parading

Having fun seeing all the princesses!

Our breakfast at Akershus was really good.  I always love eating breakfast there and they have food that Hailey will eat, so that’s a definite plus!  It’s not Rich’s favorite place to eat, but he puts up with it so Hailey can see the princesses.

After breakfast we were off to find some rides.  Hailey decided that she wanted to go on Test Track.  She tried it last year and was scared because it was too fast.  But she decided she was ready to try it again this year.

Us, on our way to Test Track

So pretty

Rich grabbed some fast passes for Test Track to use later and since it was early and the line was short they decided to ride it right away (I couldn’t ride since I’m pregnant).

The princess in line for Test Track.

I think she looks a little bit nervous.

All ready to go!  Definitely looking nervous now.

I think she’s having fun now!

Looking very happy!  And she loved Test Track!

Next up we rode Soarin’.  The wait was short and we got right on.

In line for Soarin’.  We all loved Soarin’, although all of us feel dizzy during the part where you fly over the city.  We just close our eyes during that part and we enjoy the rest of the ride.  When we got off it was time for us to get another fast pass, so we got fast passes to ride Soarin’ again later.

Next we rode the Living With the Land boat ride.  I always find this to be really interesting.  But Hailey was complaining it was making her feel sick.  When we went through the part where the greenhouses are it’s pretty warm and that was the part that made Hailey feel sick.

We found a Hidden Mickey on Living With the Land!

Next we went to one of Hailey’s favorite rides from last year.  She stopped to pose with Dori and Nemo before we rode.

Ready to ride the Nemo ride.

After we rode Nemo, we had to stop and see Bruce.  Hailey is doing her mad/scary face.

Hailey

Some of the fish in the aquarium

We went to see Turtle Talk with Crush.  I am always amazed by this show.  I can’t figure out how they do it!  Hailey sat on the floor during the show and raised her hand to ask Crush a question, but she didn’t get picked.  She was disappointed that she didn’t get picked and had planned to ask Crush where all of his friends were.

Rich grabbed more fast passes for Test Track and then Rich and Hailey rode it again using their fast passes from that morning.  She really loved it!

Since we have never ridden on Mission Space (we aren’t big on the whole spinning thing!) we never realized that this fun Space Base comes after the ride.  So we decided to check it out for the first time.

Hailey loved it!  Here’s a few pictures of what it looks like:

She didn’t want to come down.

We got to meet Mickey and Minnie at the Character Spot.  Hailey asked Mickey if was ever going to marry Minnie.  It was so funny!  Minnie gave her a high five for asking and Mickey kept putting his hand up to his ear like he couldn’t hear what Hailey was saying.

Us with Mickey and Minnie

We were a little bit hungry at this point so we stopped for a snack at the Promenade.  Hailey had a cinnamon sugar pretzel.  But I’m not sure who had more- Hailey or her new friend:

He would not leave us alone after Hailey decided to share some of her pretzel with him.

Hailey with Duffy

Next we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour Boat ride.

Then it was time for a little nap.  We went into one of the innoventions buildings and Hailey (and Rich) slept for a little while.  Sometimes Hailey will take a little nap, but it doesn’t happen very often.  We don’t like to go back to our hotel for naps because it takes so much time out of the day by walking to buses, waiting for the bus, riding the bus, walking to our room, trying to settle Hailey down for a nap, etc.  So we let her take a nap in her stroller in the park rather than waste all that time.

After nap time we went to Club Cool to sample some free soda from around the world.  My favorites are from Costa Rica, Mexico and China.

Next we went to see Ellen’s Energy Adventure.  I thought it might be a bit boring to Hailey because it’s long, but she absolutely loved it!

We ate dinner at Sunshine Seasons… it seemed like there was less of a selection than the last time we were there.  Our food was delicious, but Hailey’s brownie had a hair in it.  Yuck!  We were given a new one, but still- yuck!

After dinner we used our fast passes for Soarin’.

Rich and Hailey went on Test Track again using their fast passes from earlier.  While they rode I went and got our free pictures from the Character Spot photo opportunity earlier in the day.  It rained pretty hard while I was getting our pictures but only for a few minutes.

Magic Kingdom had extra magic hours that night so it was time to head over there.  We took the monorail over and it took a long time.  Since I’m pregnant I assumed that someone would let me sit… but that was not the case.  There was one guy who was sitting down and he looked right at me, then laid his head down on his wife’s shoulder and acted like he was sleeping.  So rude!  And then the monorail in front of us was having mechanical problems so we had to wait a long time on the track.

Finally at Magic Kingdom!

First up Hailey wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

Yay!  We captured Zurg!!

Next we went on Stitch’s Great Escape.

Then we went to see Mickey’s Philharmagic.  Hailey had been asking to go to this allllll day long, she remembered how much she liked it last year.

Next we went on the Haunted Mansion.

Hailey had to try to pull the sword from the stone before we left.

A couple of castle pictures on our way out:

By the time we got back to our hotel, filled our mugs up and got to our room and in bed it was midnight.  A long, but very fun first day!

Hailey’s favorites for the day- ride: Test Track at Epcot and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom.  Favorite character: Minnie Mouse

Back at the end of August we went on a trip to Disney World.  We took lots of pictures while we were there (over 3200!) so it’s taking me some time to go through them and figure out what I want to share.  Here is the first day of our vacation:

We woke Hailey up around 6am and told her there was a surprise for her in the living room (she had no idea we were going to Disney World).  So she got right up to go see.

Opening her surprise box.

Reading the sign on her balloon that says, “We are going to Disney World.”  She seemed pretty shocked at first and didn’t know what to say.  When she realized we were leaving in a couple of hours she got very excited and ran to give me and Rich and big hug and said “Thank you so much!”

Other things inside the box included a new DVD (The Fox and the Hound) a new game for her MobiGo (Tangled), 2 autograph books that I made for the trip and a new shirt to wear.

The first autograph book I made for Hailey to take on our trip.

The other autograph book.

Hailey all ready to head to the airport, wearing her new shirt that says, “I’m going to the Walt Disney World Resort.”

Hailey and Rich on the airplane.  The flight went better than last years did.  Hailey complained she felt sick but she didn’t actually get sick this time.

Yay!  At the airport in Orlando!

We went to catch our bus to our resort and didn’t have to wait at all.  There weren’t very many people in line, which we were told was because of Hurricane Irene and a lot of people not able to come.  We were very fortunate to make it when we did as we were one of the last flights to leave from our connecting airport to go to Orlando.

Hailey happy to be on the Magical Express… but that smile didn’t last the whole trip.  When we got  to our first stop (Caribbean Beach) to let people off Hailey begged to get off the bus because she was feeling sick.  We couldn’t get off there and as soon as pulled out of the resort Hailey got sick  Fortunately she felt better after that and we were pretty close to our resort anyways.

Pulling in to our resort- Pop Century.  We stayed there last year and really liked it.  We spend such a small amount of time in our room that we have liked staying at the value resorts in the past to save money.  But I think after this year we are going to be staying away from the value resorts.  We had an amazing time but there were a lot of things that bothered us this year.

Hailey loved playing with the big legos while Rich waited to get our suitcases off of Magical Express.

She had a little time to hula hoop too.

Hailey enjoyed playing in the kids room while I checked us in.  I had done online check in before we got there, so it only took a few minutes for me to check in.

Off to find our room

After we got settled into our room we went to the food court to have some dinner.  Hailey enjoyed a yummy pizza.

Then we checked out the Everything Pop gift shop.

Hailey decided she wanted a Lotso teddy bear from the gift shop.  She’s posing in front of Lady, one of the huge icons that was near our room.

Hailey and Lotso in front of Tramp.

After a long day of traveling it was nice to just relax at the pool.

Hailey loved swimming in the pool!

A view of the main pool at Pop Century.

We were tired from our long day so we headed off to bed knowing that day 2 would be an early morning.