Thursday Thirteen

I really want to start planning another trip to Disney. We went in January of this year and had such a great time! Because it's on my mind, here are:

Thirteen Things I Love About Disney World:

1. Planning the details of the trip (my favorite)
2. Deciding which character meals to make reservations for
3. Reading the latest edition of "The Unofficial Guide"
4. Making a countdown chain
5. Staying in one of the Disney resorts
6. Spotting Cinderella's Castle
7. Seeing the parks through the girls' eyes
8. Watching Disney movies to get "prepared" before we leave
9. Ohana's Character Breakfast
10. Getting autographs from all the characters
11. Riding the monorail
12. Eating at Chef Mickey's
13. Watching the parade

Disney Dining and Character Meals

After all of my Disney dining research, I finally made reservations at the restaurants that I thought my family would enjoy the most! Turns out, this was the absolute best way to meet the Disney characters! Some even came to our table several times! We had the camera and autograph book ready to capture each one! Here's a short summary of our dining experiences...

On our first night, we ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe inside the Wilderness Lodge. It was very good and the kids enjoyed the parade around the restaurant! Allie was afraid to ask for ketchup, though! If you ask, the server makes a big scene and brings about 20 bottles to your table!The next day, we ate at Sci-Fi at Disney Studios! This place looked just like a drive-in theater at night...with old movie clips playing on a BIG screen! We actually ate in a 50's model car! The milkshakes were delicious!!At Ohana's character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch, we felt like we were on an island in Hawaii! The food was phenomenal...especially the eggs!!!!! The girls enjoyed parading around the restaurant with the characters here, too! We will definitely be back!1900 Park Fare was our first character dinner of the trip! Cinderella, the Prince and her stepmother and stepsisters entertained us for the evening! They were very much "in character"! The buffet had a very large selection.Liberty Tree Tavern was our next destination...we were seated after a short wait. We saw Chip and Dale, Goofy, Minnie and Pluto! The cobbler was yummy!Our last and FAVORITE character meal of the trip was at Chef Mickey's!! This place was so much fun! The music and characters were wonderful and the food was delicious! The next time we visit, we will definitely eat there again!

Fun in Disney World

Let me start by saying that I have been planning this Disney trip for over a year...researching, talking to friends, reading books, reading message boards, etc.

FINALLY, we were ready to go! The last week in January, we loaded up the kids and got on an airplane...first time for them. We were ORLANDO bound! Let's just say that Dramamine is my best friend. Mark and the girls did fine!

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and had the best experience there! The room was so nice and very spacious. The kids loved walking around the grounds and main lobby. We went to all of the parks except for the Animal Kingdom...catch that next time. This was absolutely the best time of year to go! We hardly had to wait for any rides. The weather was beautiful! I can't imagine going any other time!!!!!!

We had so much fun and got to ride everything we wanted to!