We were able to sleep in today!  We had a breakfast reservation but not until 10am, so it was nice to have a slow morning.

Hailey posing with her various toys she had gotten during the week.  Each morning she set them up in the window so that they could watch for us to return at night.

We took a nice boat ride over to the Grand Floridian for our breakfast reservation.

Hailey checking out the Grand Floridian

Such a beautiful resort!

Us at 1900 Park Fare for breakfast- this is my favorite picture of us!  We are all smiling and I don’t look like a huge pregnant whale- and if I do then just keep that to yourself so you don’t ruin it for me.

Mary Poppins was the first to visit Hailey.  Right before Mary Poppins came over, Hailey wasn’t happy about something (I don’t remember what) and I love how when the characters see that a child isn’t happy about something they do their best to fix that right away.  And it worked!  Hailey was happy after a little chat with Mary Poppins.

Next up was Tigger and he was so funny!  He had us laughing pretty hard.

A big hug for Hailey

Checking out Hailey’s breakfast

A yummy Mickey waffle

Hailey talking to Alice in Wonderland

Belle and Hailey… we love Belle but she was there because the Mad Hatter couldn’t make it.  I was disappointed that he wasn’t there because he was my favorite character last year and one of the reasons I wanted to go to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast.  He made me laugh so hard last year.  So we love Belle but we were a little disappointed not to see the Mad Hatter.

Hailey and Pooh

After our late breakfast we headed over to Epcot.

This was going to be our last visit to Epcot for this trip so we wanted to redo some of our favorite things.

Hailey loved the Great Piggy Bank Adventure, so we made sure to do that first.

She was so happy at the end that we saved up enough money in the game.

Another one of Hailey’s favorites- The Universe of Energy

Hailey and Rich went on Test Track

See the Hidden Mickey they found on the tool bench?

Time to see some characters- Minnie and Pluto with Hailey.

Minnie and Hailey

Hailey did this really neat game where she got to be a part of a video game- here she is setting up the video game.

That’s Hailey on the screen as part of the game.  It was soooo neat!

Hailey on Spaceship Earth

Hailey and me in the future

Rich and Hailey working on powering a city.

We tried doing a Kim Possible Mission for the first time.  Hailey was so excited!!

Hailey with her Kim Possible phone

Watching the fountains

We had dinner at the Electric Umbrella- this was my delicious burger.

Last time on Test Track

Goodbye Epcot

We spent the evening relaxing at the pool.

Big jump!  So much braver than she was at the beginning of summer.

When we got back to our room on day 6, Hailey had found this note waiting for her:

So we got up bright and early on day 7 to head to the castle for an early breakfast reservation.  We were all pretty tired at this point in our trip.

Main St was mostly empty when we arrived at Magic Kingdom.

I love being in the park when it’s empty!

Us in front of the castle with a mostly empty park behind us  Love my little princess.

Another one of us in front of the castle.

Walt and Mickey

Hailey getting Cinderella’s autograph inside the castle.

Posing for a picture on our way upstairs to the dining room.

The dining room where we had breakfast.

Hailey had her eyes closed and was making a wish… she wished for a puppy.

Hailey and Aurora

Hailey and Snow White

Hailey and Belle

Hailey and Ariel

It’s really neat to get to eat inside the castle… we had dinner in there 2 years ago and it was a lot of fun.  We wanted to try breakfast since I’ve heard the food is better at breakfast.  The food was amazing!  I had stuffed french toast and it was so delicious!  It’s expensive to eat in the castle and if you’re on the meal plan you have to use up 2 meals to eat in there.  But the experience of eating inside the castle is well worth it to me, and seeing the look Hailey’s face is priceless!!

After breakfast Hailey had to stop and try to pull the sword from the stone again before we headed off to some rides.  She wasn’t able to pull it out.

Getting ready to ride on Dumbo

A little peek at The Beast’s castle that is being built.

In front of the Beast’s castle is a new ride they are working on- I think this is going to be the new Snow White and Seven Dwarfs ride, although I’m not positive.

New Fantasyland is being worked on behind that wall.  I can’t wait to see what it’s like when we go back!

Next up we rode Peter Pan, then headed over to Splash Mountain.  When we were at Magic Kingdom earlier in the week Splash Mountain was closed and Hailey really wanted to try riding it again (it scared her last year).  So we got there early before the line got long so Hailey could see if she liked it.

Waiting to get on

Rich and Hailey in the 3rd row back.  Hailey’s face doesn’t look very happy but when she got off she said she loved it!  So they rode again

Meeting Jessie

A little dance with Woody.  Hailey asked Woody if he had a snake in his boot.

Then Rich and Hailey rode Splash Mountain again!

Rich and Hailey in the front- Hailey with both hands in the air!!

Very happy on Splash Mountain

She loved Splash Mountain!

Next we went to the Enchanted Tiki Room- it had been newly refurbished so we had to check it out.  We aren’t really big fans of it though.  It was just okay, not something we wanted to go on again.

Just had to post this picture of what we had on the back of Hailey’s stroller.  Since everyone with young kids has a stroller in Disney World it can get hard to find your stroller in the stroller parking (especially since the Cast Members are always rearranging and organizing the strollers, so it’s never where you actually leave it).  Having this little sign made it so much easier to find Hailey’s stroller!  I think this trip did her stroller her in though hahaha…  it definitely has a lot of miles on it from 4 trips to Disney World!

Next up we met some fairies:

Hailey meeting Terrence

The scepter, which Hailey was very excited to see.

Hailey and Tinkerbell

After a quick snack it was time for more rides!

Waiting to go on Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

In line at the Jungle Cruise… Hailey had gotten tired of walking (we had parked her stroller), but Rich didn’t want to carry Hailey.  He told her that she was too old to be carried but if she could find another kid that looked to be about her age being carried that he would carry her.  Well it only took about a minute and she saw a boy who was the same size as her being carried by his dad.  She was quite pleased that she won and Rich had to carry her.

Country Bear Jamboree… always a good place for me to take a quick nap… hahaha

Rich and Me

Hailey taking a nap.  I love that she was able to nap in her stroller when she needed to.  That was one of my favorite things about having a stroller with us… we actually debated bringing one this year since she was almost 5.  But I needed somewhere to keep all our stuff (drinks, autograph books, medications, etc) and I love that Hailey could nap in it when she needed to so we didn’t have to go all the way back to our hotel for naps.  Plus when you average 10 miles of walking each day it’s nice not to have to make a child do that much walking.

After Hailey’s nap we rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.

Can you see the Hidden Mickey we found?  It’s on the planet Earth if you need some help.

Rich and Hailey on Tomorrowland Speedway

We were getting hungry at this point so we went to Pinocchio Village Haus for dinner… we sat where we could watch the “It’s a Small World” ride and enjoyed our dinner.

We went to Mickey’s Philharmagic after dinner and found lots of little Hidden Mickey’s on this wall.

Then we headed back over to Splash Mountain so Hailey could ride it again… and again… and again!  She rode it 6 times all together in one day

View from Splash Mountain

Next we went on the Haunted Mansion

Love the new queue they have there!

Little Miss

One more ride on Peter Pan

Good night Main St

We went back to our hotel and went to bed “early” at around 10:30 pm.

Hailey’s favorites: Ride- Splash Mountain

Character- Sleeping Beauty

We arrived at Animal Kingdom a little bit before opening at 9am but we missed the rope drop and the park was already open.

Us

Hailey decided the first ride she wanted to go on was Dinosaur.  She was very scared of this ride last year but we decided to let her try it again.

Ready to go on the ride

Going through the line

Hailey on the ride with her eyes covered.  But she said she loved it.

Hailey and Rich

Me and Hailey on Dino-Rama

Hailey and Flik

Next we got to meet Lilo and Stitch.  While we were waiting in line Hailey asked me why Lilo’s face looked the way it did.  I asked her what she meant and she said, “Lilo’s face always stays the same.”  So I said I guessed it was because she had to be ready with a smile for whenever people took her picture.

A hug for Lilo

A hug for Stitch

Hailey with Lilo and Stitch.

We tried to make it to the Lion King show but we missed it by a few minutes.  So we decided to go to Camp Minnie Mickey.  Going while the Lion King show is on is a great time to meet a lot of characters quickly.

While waiting in line to meet Pocahontas, Hailey said, “Why can Pocahontas change her face?  Why doesn’t hers stay the same all the time like Lilo’s does?”  I didn’t know how to answer that question… but I did realize that with all the questions Hailey had been asking, this year would probably be the last year she really believes in the characters.  And that made me sad

Hailey with Meeko and Pocahontas

Thumper and Miss Bunny with Hailey

Donald Duck and Hailey

Us with Goofy

Us with Minnie Mouse

Us with Mickey Mouse

Brear Bear with Hailey

Brear Fox and Hailey

Brear Rabbit and Hailey

Then we went to see one of our favorite attractions at Animal Kingdom- It’s Tough to be a Bug!  We love it!

I love the Lion King show!  Definitely my favorite show!!

Hailey loved this set up, so she wanted me to get a picture.

Hailey and Rich

We ate lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ and this was our view during lunch.  The food was great- probably my favorite quick service of the trip.  My only complaint is that I wish they had indoor seating.  The did have covered seating but it will still so hot that some AC would have been nice.

A kiss for King Louie

And a kiss for Baloo

Playing a little tune.

We got to see DeVine!  I was so excited.  We have never seen her before and know that it is a rare treat to get to watch her.

DeVine

Us with Terk

Rich and Hailey went on the safari ride… no pregnant ladies on the safari, so I couldn’t go.  I’m guessing it’s because it can be so bumpy.

Hailey on the safari ride.

Elephants

Lion

Us

We went to see Tough to be a Bug again.

Then Hailey wanted to do Dinosaur one more time, so Rich and Hailey went on that using their fast passes from the morning.

Time for the Jammin’ Jungle Expedition Parade.

Minnie

Timon

Mickey

A quick pose on our way out of the park.

We had dinner reservations at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Logde, so we hopped on the bus and headed to AKL.

We had never been there before- so beautiful!

Inside Boma- which was my favorite meal of our whole trip.  It was soooo delicious!

It had sprinkled on and off a lot during the afternoon, but it poured while we were eating dinner.  I’m thankful we were inside!

After dinner we went outside to see some of the animals.  They are right there next to the resort.  So cool!

Animal Kingdom Lodge

After dinner we went to Magic Kingdom for the evening.

Us

First we rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  Hailey loves this ride!

Can you find the Hidden Mickey?

After that we went to the Laugh Floor, rode on Stitch and then went on Buzz again.

Castle

Then we saw the Electrical Parade:

After the parade we went on the Haunted Mansion and then did a little shopping on Main St.

We saw the fireworks on our way out of the park.

Hailey fell asleep immediately!  And stayed asleep the rest of the night.

Half way through the trip!  I must get these posts done before Christmas!!

On the 5th day my plan was for us to sleep in and hang out at the pool for the day.  When we got up in the morning Hailey said she really didn’t want to go swimming all day because she wanted to go to the parks and go on rides.  It turns out that Rich didn’t want to spend a day at the hotel either.  We did sleep in and took it kind of slow in the morning, but then headed to a park.

We had breakfast at our hotel and Hailey and I found this Hidden Mickey on the floor in the food court.

Hailey getting ready to eat a yummy breakfast of pancakes and sausage.  Right after I took this picture Hailey squeezed her maple syrup container and it went all over.  Nice sticky mess

We picked Epcot to go to.

Us on our way in to Epcot.

First we rode Spaceship Earth.

Then we went to the Space Base play area so Hailey could play for a little while on the playground.

Hailey wanted to try Mission Space Race.

Rich and Hailey playing the game.

It was super hot- as expected in Florida during August.  Hailey kept cool with her water squirting fan.

Getting Mulan’s autograph.

Mulan and Hailey

Jasmine, Hailey and Aladdin

Hailey and Rich taking a little break to make some music.

We went on the Norway boat ride- Maelstrom.  Hailey remembered the ride from last year and was talking about certain parts of the ride she remembered.  She did that a lot- she would talk about stuff that we did in 2010 that she remembered doing.  It amazes me what she remembers!

Posing in the gift shop at Maelstrom.

Then we stopped in Mexico

On the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride.

Time to cool off again

Hailey and Rich went on Test Track while I rested in the AC.

Then we got to meet Mickey and Pluto.

Mickey, Hailey and Pluto

A hug for Mickey…

…and a hug for Pluto.

Us with Mickey and Pluto

Afterwards we played the Great Piggy Bank adventure- Hailey loves this game!

Time to cool down with some yummy ice cream.

A big hug for the Beast.

Awww… a kiss from the Beast.

Riding on Journey into Imagination with Figment

Getting some energy out.

Time to see the 3D Captain EO show.  I may have taken a little nap during this show

Then we went to see Storm Struck

Afterwards Hailey worked on making a first aid kit.

Then we went to Universe of Energy.  It surprised me how often Hailey asked to do this ride- it’s pretty long and doesn’t seem all that exciting for a kid- but she loved it!

We had dinner at Sunshine Seasons

Hailey on the Nemo ride

Hailey always has to stop and pose for pictures after the Nemo ride.

Trying to get away from Bruce.

Rich and Hailey in Bruce’s mouth.

Rich and Hailey went and rode Spaceship Earth again while I went to pick up our free pictures from the meet and greet we had with Mickey and Pluto earlier in the day.

We stopped and watched the fountains for a little while.

Then it was time for Illuminations:

After Illuminations Hailey fell asleep immediately while we were walking to the buses.  She stayed asleep the whole time- in her stroller, on the bus, on our way back to our room, etc.  We were able to just put her right to bed!  I didn’t get to ask her what her favorites were for today since she was so tired.