Disney | Days 2 & 3

Day 2 was our big day at Epcot. My sister's boyfriend hadn't been to Epcot in years so we knew this was going to be a full day. I did some research and found that Magic Kingdom is most crowded on Mondays and then Epcot is most crowded on Tuesdays which is why we chose Epcot first. It really wasn't too crowded and the weather was nice which made for a wonderful day. We got there about 30 minutes before the park opened which was perfect when they opened the park 10 min early. We booked it to Frozen Ever After because we've never been able to get a Fast Pass and it's always 60+ minutes to wait. We waited about 5 minutes before getting to ride it - it was super cute but we think they could've done a little better on the ride.

Because we're basically Ana and Elsa lol

Afterwards, we headed towards Test Track because we heard it was shut down. We got there with a small line and they were about to re-open. We got in line and basically walked right on - it was literally perfect timing. Afterwards, we did a few other rides before our Sorin' Fast Passes and then we headed over to Norway for lunch. It'd been a while since we've eaten there - y'all, they had the BEST food and it's a fun character lunch with princesses. If you ever eat there, know it's unlimited ordering - they have a cold buffet but you order your meal from a menu, but you can order as many meals as you want. Our waiter was totally judging us when we all ordered 2 entrees... in our defense, we all had to try a little of everything and we ate all of it ;)

After our lunch, we desperately needed to walk off some of it so we hit the countries. My dad loves watching the different country movies and since it was Kieth's first time back at Epcot, my dad was able to get everyone on board to watch the movies. We continued to walk around and do a few more rides before the fireworks show. We headed home exhausted from a full 2 days of park walking.

Tuesday was our big Magic Kingdom day. Once again, we had great weather which is always a plus in Florida. We got to the park as it opened but my sister had a problem with her ticket so we missed being able to walk on some of the big rides. Once she got in, we ran to Space Mountain and only had to wait about 15 minutes. Afterwards, we were able to do our Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then we took some pictures at the front of the castle. We had an early lunch reservation at Be Our Guest which was delicious, as always.

Of course we had to do the purple wall... the lighting is seriously the best there

We spent the rest of the day running around, doing rides and seeing shows. Later that evening, we split up for dinner before my dad re-proposed to my mom in front of the castle. This July is their 30th anniversary and my dad wanted to surprise my mom with a vow renewal at our favorite vacation destination, Hilton Head Island. He later decided he wanted to surprise my mom with a scavenger hunt at Disney to tell her about the renewal. It was the cutest thing - he had 6 clues, my sister and I took turns meeting them at various ride locations that were special to them before heading to the front of the castle where he re-proposed and then told my mom about the renewal. She was so excited and I'm so glad he went ahead and told her so she can plan. She had no clue when it came to planning her wedding (she'll be the first one to tell you that) so after finding out, she was so excited that she now gets to plan things for the renewal :)

An aggressive dip lol!!

We enjoyed strolling around the park with the evening temperatures and was able to do one last train ride around the park. We decided to watch Wishes (for the last time) from behind the castle in Fantasy Land and I'm so glad we did because as soon as it was over, we ran to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which had a 10 minute line. We were so excited we were able to ride that - especially at night! Afterwards, we headed home and played a few rounds of cards before heading to bed.

If you'd like to catch up, you can see day 1 here.

Caroline's Graduation and Disney Day 1

We had the best week last week celebrating my little sister's college graduation from Florida State University! Caroline graduated on Saturday with 2 engineering degrees and a physics minor so after lunch on Friday, I headed up to Tallahassee. We met up before dinner then headed to the FSU club at the stadium for one last dinner together there. Afterwards, I headed back to Caroline's apartment and stayed her last night with her and watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie which is one of our favorites.

Saturday morning, we were up early and got ready for graduation at 9 am. It was a great ceremony but it was over 3 hours long! Thankfully, the College of Engineering was the first one to walk so after discovering there was WiFi in the building, I was glued to my phone. I didn't realize that half the graduates and spectators had left the building (who knew you could just leave graduation) so after 2 hours, we all dipped out - best decision! We had lunch, packed up and headed back to Orlando.

Stephen and Caroline's boyfriend, Keith, met us at the condo we were staying at and before we knew it, it was time to head over to Disney Springs to meet up with some family friends. My dad was able to get a condo at the Wyndham at Bonnett Creek which is honestly the perfect place to stay when going to Disney. It's on Disney property (right between Disney Springs and Hollywood Studios) but it isn't owned by Disney so we were able to rent a 3 bed/2 bath condo with a full kitchen for less than a mid-range hotel at Disney. As a note, they offer a bus service but it will cost you a pretty penny per day. Since Stephen and I get free parking with our seasonal passes, we loaded everyone up in my car and drove to the parks every day. We usually do the Disney buses while staying onsite but man, driving was so much easier and quicker.

We did dinner ice cream at Disney Springs with our family friends and right before I was able to dig into our sundae, my mom ran into my best friend from high school and her parents! We got the biggest kick out of it and enjoyed catching up :) After hanging out for a while, we headed back to the condo and played a few card games before calling it a night.

Sunday, we got to Animal Kingdom just as it was opening for the day (y'all, my biggest Disney advice is to get to the park 15-30 minutes before it opens. You'll get to walk on so many rides, it's not hot and not as crowded. We did notice most of the parks ended up letting us in 10-15 minutes before official open time) and was able to do Everest, Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl right off the bat. Afterwards, we took our time walking around seeing shows and finishing up with the Kilimanjaro Safari. We did the safari around 5:30 pm and it was the best one we've ever done - the animals were out. We had a giraffe block the road and come right up to the car more times than I could count.

The Lion King show is easily the best show at Animal Kingdom... maybe all of Disney. Oh, and we hated the Finding Nemo show lol

Baby Giraffe!

And a baby elephant!

We wanted to stay and watch the new light show but we finished everything with about 3 hours before the light show so we decided to head back and play putt putt at the resort and another round of card games. It was the perfect way to end the night.

Linking up with Biana