Day 5- Epcot

 On the 5th day, we went to Epcot.  We were all pretty tired on this day and Epcot was REALLY crowded.  There was plenty of space, but every ride was packed and all the fast passes ran out or were many hours in advance.  Some of these pictures aren't the greatest... we took the pictures on Dan's iphone.

Mason checking out the tank.

 Suddenly a trainer comes over and we see a dolphin!  Of course, Mason was staring at the trainers hand instead of the dolphin and I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash.  Go figure.

 Sweet Sister.

 Sweet Brother.

 Sweet Ellie.

 Here we were trying to kill some time.  At this point there was about 3.5 hours until fireworks start.  It was shortly after that we decided we just weren't going to make it.  It's too bad because the Epcot fireworks are the best.  Oh well, something for a future visit I suppose.

 Ellie was the only one awake when we reached the exit.  Dan's parents stayed to watch fireworks so it was pretty entertaining watching us get 3 sleeping kids and 3 strollers on the trolly back to the parking lot, but we made it!

Day 4- Hollywood Studios and More

Christmas Eve, we opened what presents we brought.  Mostly we got the kids some things to entertain them at the house during our off time... which, as it turns out, wasn't a lot of off time.  One of the things we got was a United States floor puzzle.  Owen was amazing with this puzzle!!  I took away the box top so he couldn't see what it looked like and he completed the whole thing by himself without looking at the box or getting help!  He knew where they all went!  It was impressive.

Mom and Mason cuddling up.

Our 3rd day was spent at Hollywood Studios and it was also Christmas Day.

 The kids got a special treat today and got their faces painted.

 Mase didn't but I think he wanted to :).

 The toy story characters were a big hit!  Buzz doesn't sign his autograph, he has a stamp and uses that... the kids thought that was great.  Owen was really excited to see them but stood off to the side and took his own pictures with his camera.

 

 The kids in the toy story box.

 We ate our Christmas day meal with the characters from Disney Junior.

Dan's Mom, Carolee, tried out for American Idol!  Hollywood Studios has a set there and each day people try out and at the end of the day if you are a winner, I guess you get a golden ticket that will get you to the front of the line on the real auditions.

She was fun to watch!  It was cool to see how they did the show.  They made it seem real.

 Dan and Erin.

We left and came back to Hollywood studios.  It was really packed.  Disney does a great job with crowd control, but Hollywood Studios and Epcot are not as big and do not have the rides and attractions to the degree that Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom do.  Plus it being Christmas Day... it was a little more than crowded!  We had to wait awhile for the Fantasmic show, but the kids enjoyed lighting themselves up!

 

Disney Christmas- Day 3 Animal Kingdom

 Day 3 in Florida was also Christmas Eve and we spent it at Animal Kingdom.  It was just us the first half of the day because Grandpa and Grandma went to the airport to pick up Uncle Jordan.  Then we were all together in the afternoon.  It was nice to have more grown ups around to help herd the children!  We purchased the kids all id bracelets that they wore either on their wrists or on their shoes.  I am happy to say, they weren't needed!!!

 All the kids with their Mickey ear hats.  They have tons of different ear hats nowadays.  I wanted to keep it classic and have the kids' names embroidered on the back.

 The kids had a picture book with all the Disney characters in it.  It was the best purchase ever because the kids loved, Loved, LOVED having the characters sign it and also get to hug all the characters.  They also enjoyed looking at the book when we were off doing something else.  Many hours of entertainment there. 

 Maggie has a thing for the GOOF.  She and goofy are tight.  It makes me laugh to know she loves goofy so much because we have called Maggie "goofy" since the day she was born!

 Mom and Mason... cutest little mouse I ever saw!

 The whole family with Mickey!  Animal Kingdom was the best park for characters I'd say.  They have a whole section of the park for meeting characters. 

 Ellie and Maggie with Chip and Dale... Owen was a bit hesitant to actually go over and love on the characters (really, that's good that he doesn't want to hug strangers actually).  He liked to watch from a distance.

 Once in awhile, a character would go over to him and coax him into a picture... Owen and Thumper.

 Rafiki!

 Rafiki really warmed Owen up.  He was a funny guy...or monkey.

 Daisy at our Character meal.  The character meals were great we thought.  It was nice to have a sit down break to our days and the character meals aren't too much difference in price to the regular sit down dining prices.  Plus, most of them were buffets so we stuffed ourselves silly and weren't hungry for dinner... so really, two meals into one!  :)

 The characters also loved on Mason a lot... who wouldn't?  Anyway, he was sorta into all their noses and beaks.

 The Mickster.

 Mickey and Owen.  That's Owen's face for being really happy and also shy and embarrassed.

Mason waiting for the Lion King show to start.  I was very impressed with the shows at Animal Kingdom.  We saw the Lion King and Nemo -- they were both AWESOME and the perfect length of time so the kids don't go to crazy.

Disney Christmas- Day 2- The Magic Kingdom

This vacation, we invited Dan's parents and brother to come to Florida with us.  We rented a house that had a pool for the kids so we stayed in Florida comfortably.  It was nice to have a house to go to when the kids got tired in the afternoons and needed a break and it was just nice to have our own rooms!

The first Disney day was spent at Magic Kingdom.  We didn't take too many pictures the first day... It think we were all too excited and trying to take it all in!

 Here is Maggie ready to head off to Magic Kingdom!

Owen is ready to go.

Ellie is ready with the Minnie back pack!

 Even Mason is ready to go.

  

 4 excited kids!

 

Riding the magic carpet ride with grandpa!

Dad and Mase

 Mason enjoying the day... boy are we happy that we took him while he is NOT mobile!

We broke down and got a double rental stroller a couple of the days, but really, you are better off going to the store and buying a brand new stroller for what the rental costs are!  

The MANY faces of Magdalyn Beth: