The Shaw Family: Disney World Part One

We weren't planning on doing Disney this year, but we couldn't resist the great deal that Disney gives Florida residents every spring for a 4-Day Discover Disney Ticket. So we pulled out the calendar & found a way to make it work. I'm so happy that we did too. The boys are at such a great age right now & they just soak up all the magic Disney has to offer. We only used 2 days of our 4 this weekend due to time (hence the title of this post being Part One)

We stayed for the first time at one of the Disney Resorts & got all the bells & whistles that came with it. The boys, okay and I were pretty stoked about using the Disney Magic Bands. We got ours all personalized with names & color & they were to act as our room key, credit card & park tickets/fast pass. Pretty snazzy what they come up with.

{Downtown Disney}

The night we drove in we went to check out Downtown Disney. The Lego store there is incredible. They have tables set up everywhere where you can play with the legos. The boys were in boy heaven.

Gavin thought this dragon made completely by Legos was pretty cool. And it was. My my the time that goes into all this.

Hulk SMASH!

Woody & Buzz Lightyear

We had dinner at Earl Sandwich & then danced the night away out in the courtyard with everyone. It was so fun & Liam was out of control. He was a dancing machine! We got lots of points & laughs from bystanders.

{Magic Kingdom}

Because we were staying at a Disney Resort we were able to take advantage of the Early Magic Extra Hour. So we arrived to the park bright & early & were able to watch the Welcome Show they put on to open the park.

This is one of my favorite pictures by far. Just look at those two cuties. Love them.

Gotta get that family pic with the castle in the background. :) And I guess you can't have just one. Haha!

And off we go to hit up all the rides this park has to offer our little family.

Speedway Race Car Track

These things were a lot harder to steer than I expected. I was all over the place. Once we got off I told Doug that it was Liam driving. Then he shows me his phone. He took a video of the awful driving skills & says, "I bet mom is going to blame the bad driving on Liam." WHAT?! He knows me all too well. Haha!

Winnie the Pooh

It was so stinking cute to sit behind our boys. They are getting so big & it's moments like this where I can't believe how fast the time is going by & before I know it, they'll be grown.

Goofy's Barnstormer coaster

Waiting in line they got pretty creative with ways to entertain themselves. However, we used the touringplans.com & we never waited in line more then 10 minutes the entire day. Awesome!

Up we go! Another favorite picture. Everyone looks so happy & excited to be at Disney. Yay!

Being silly on Dumbo.

Gavin was actually tall enough this time to ride some of the bigger rides. I think I was more excited about this fact then he was. But that's because he didn't know what he was missing out on. :)

Doug took him on his first big ride...Splash Mountain.

Thata boy! Look at those arms up & scream coming out. Couldn't be more proud of my big boy. He kept saying over & over that it was his favorite ride.

It's A Small World aka Naptime

Liam is just the cutest thing on the planet. Love his big smile & those big brown eyes. He was having the time of his life this trip. It's crazy what a year can do in the 'getting it' part of Disney.

Trying with all his might to get that sword out of the stone. He called in for help from all the guys.

No such luck. Darn it. He really wanted to take it home. Haha!

We love the Buzz Lightyear ride. But I love the photos taken during the ride even more. Check out Doug. Bwah ha ha!

And ya gotta love when you ask the Disney Cast Member to snap a pic for you & this is what you get. Glad Doug & Buzz were the only ones ready for action. Oh well.

Waiting to go in to the Tiki Room

Okay, I lied. This was the longest wait time we had for the whole day. Going backstage to meet Mickey Mouse in person. We waited like an hour. Oh it was so worth it! We were in a private room where Mickey Mouse actually spoke to the boys. It made him seem so much more real then when they just walk around being mute & waving to you. Both Liam & Gavin were so excited, but when it came time to meet them they got a little shy. Not to the point of not doing anything, just a little more timid. Liam couldn't take his eyes off of Mickey. It was so cute.

Watching the parade on Dad's shoulders for a better view. Not the best picture, but it captured it the moment.

And then we stayed for the fireworks. It sure is a magical place. They boys were exhausted & both fell asleep before we could even get out of the park. I just love these boys of mine.

{Hollywood Studios}
We just love Hollywood Studios. The boys do really well sitting through all the shows & we have lots of fun there.

Meeting Phineas & Ferb was so fun for the boys. They haven't watched it a ton, but they definitely knew who they were & loved hanging out for a bit. They didn't want to let them go. Literally, Ferb would not let go of Liam. He was teasing by releasing his grip to just pull him back in. Haha!

Playing in the Honey I Shrunk The Kids play zone.

We love Toy Story Mania!!!

Doug's favorite part of Hollywood Studios is the Lights Motors Action stunt show. The boys were really into it as well. It's pretty cool how they do all those car stunt shots in movies.

Me & my silly boys!

The Disney Junior Live show is one of our favorites. Liam was so excited to meet Jake from the Neverland Pirates. :)

Sadly, Gavin was throwing a huge tantrum so he missed out on this one. But he pulled it together by the time we got to Venelope & Ralph. It's so funny to see how intimidated they got when close to Ralph. He is HUGE! Gotta love their body leans.

I was 'that' parent that convinced a four year old to ride the Tower of Terror. Of course I didn't call it that. I called it a hotel elevator ride. :) When we were walking up he asked, "Why are all those people screaming Mom?"

So I explained to him the whole ride & he was fine with it. I said, some people scream when they get startled, while others, like mommy tend to laugh. So as we were walking through the line inside the old haunted hotel, he began to get a little nervous. I just reassured him that there were only cobwebs because the hotel was really old. But....it had been years since I myself have gone on this ride & totally spaced the creepy intro movie that they show you about the family that disappears into the twilight zone. He was let's just say FREAKING OUT! He was in total panic thinking that we were going to disappear too if we got on the ride. I was getting quite a few dirty looks from other 'motherly' riders like I was insane to take such a small kid on the ride. But I'm sorry, Disney is the one who set the height requirement so it's not like I'm the only one that thinks it's ok. Haha. I did feel really bad that he was so nervous, but I calmed him down & told him that it was all pretend & he would do great. And he did! The kid didn't make one sound when the ride dropped. No scream, no peep, nothing. Afterwards I asked if he liked it & he said yeah. I asked if he wanted to go again & he said, "No! Never." Haha! I'm so proud of my brave boy.

After that we headed over to the amphitheater for the Fantasmic night show. We've never seen it before so we didn't have any expectations. But holy moly, it was amazing! The water works, lighting, set, music was so cool! I didn't get any great pics so I got these from online so we could remember just how awesome it really was.