Day 3 of our epic vacation started out with a fun surprise. We were eating breakfast at our hotel when I noticed a lady went past us in a wheel chair. I had a moment where I thought, that looked like Abby Lee, and when I took a second look I knew it was her. Abby Lee is a famous dance teacher and had a major show, Dance Mom's, that was on a few years ago. Well our girls love that show. They have seen every episode and watch the show almost daily. I whispered to the girls that I thought Abby Lee was over there and we all stared awkwardly at her. Makayla was so excited and wanted to meet her. I told her that if she wanted to meet her, she had to be the one to initiate the conversation, so Makayla bravely walked up to her and said, "are you Abby Lee?" She said yes, and Makayla said she loved her show. We all walked up at that point and talked to her. Abby Lee said she had an appointment to get her wheelchair fixed at a place that was close to our hotel and that's why she was staying there (she made sure to let me know that she doesn't normally stay at that hotel... I was like, ok?). Tyler told her we watch her show all the time, to which she informed us that she doesn't make any money off of that show and we should watch her youtube channel instead. She was really nice to the girls and asked them where they take dance and what kind of dance they liked to do. Makayla asked if they could get a picture with her. She was very particular about the way I took the picture, and told me I should put a filter if I posted it online. It was a very memorable experience and Makayla was in cloud 9 for the rest of the day. All of her friends couldn't believe she met Abby Lee in person. We got one picture with Caden photo bombing in the back and one without.
Then we were off to Hollywood Studios!! This was our first day buying genie passes for our family. I have a love/hate feeling about this. On the one hand I get frustrated that you have to spend another $100 at the park, but on the other hand, why travel that far only to spend your entire day waiting in line?
We went to the Indiana Jones show where you get a behind the scenes look at how they film special effects in movies, like fight scenes and explosions.
We loved Toy Story Land. The entire land had huge decorations so you felt like you were a small toy as you roamed around.
We loved Alien Swirling Saucers and Toy Story Mania,
I loved the Beauty and the Beast stage show. Beauty and the Beast was my favorite Disney movie when I was little.
Our family's favorite ride by far was the Tower of Terror ride. They changed this ride in Disneyland to a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, so this was so fun to remember the original ride. We loved it so much, we went on it twice!
Despite buying the Genie plus pass we were unable to ride two of the rides at Hollywood studios: Slinky Dog roller coaster and Rise of the Resistance. They both had incredibly long lines all day long, but Rise of the Resistance broke down in the middle of the day. When it did reopen, the wait was crazy... nobody got time to wait in line for 5 hours!!
To end our night, we watched the Fantasmic show that was so amazing, like so good that I wanted to cry. The music was good, all the best Disney princesses were showcased and the fireworks were great. At one point I looked over at all of us and couldn't believe what an amazing family we have and how much fun we have together.
Day three was so much fun, and surprisingly cold. We all had to wear sweatshirts the whole time. A little cold doesn't scare us away!
Day 4 we went to Magic Kingdom
We loved all of the parks, but there is just something so magical about Magic Kingdom. It just might be my favorite.
We got to the park just in time to see the cavalcade.
Caden pretended to be part of the parade.
We wanted to make sure we saw all of the main attractions, even the old ones. I didn't know what to expect with The Country Bear Jamboree, but it was funny. Tyler remembered it from when he was a kid and was entertained. The rest of us were not so impressed.
We got our dole whips for the Tiki Room
We loved Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I think Tyler is really mastering the teenager pose for pictures. He must get his inspiration from Makayla.
We decided to eat lunch as we waited for the parade to start, and I'm being so serious when I tell you that one minute the weather was fine as we were eating lunch
And the next minute it was a complete down pour. Luckily we came prepared.
It rained so hard the parade got cancelled, and we got the "back up plan" which was just a few characters walking down main street.
Caden's just blowing a kiss to the princesses as they go by.
The rain didn't stop our fun. We loved all the rides like "It's a Small World"
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain
The Little Mermaid
And the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Some of the other rides we loved, but didn't get pictures of were: Pirates of the Caribbean, Tommorrowland Speedway (Tyler loved to call this land "Yesterday land" because the place hasn't changed since he was there 30 years ago), and Peter Pan's flight.
We had to get a picture in front of Rapunzel's castle
The kids were pretty good, but when they were fighting we sent them to the guillotine. Just kidding.
Is it really a vacation if you don't get a picture in front of the Castle?
The fireworks show was magical.
Earlier that day we had to get in line of a "virtual queue" for the Tron ride. We got in the virtual line at 12:00 on the dot and at 10:30 p.m it was finally our turn to get in the actual line for the ride. This line was long, but so worth it!
You get on a "light cycle", kind of like you're on a motorcycle, and then go 60 miles an hour on the roller coaster. It was so much fun!!
We ended our night by choosing some treats.
A little behind the scenes look at what it takes to get the perfect picture of our kids.
The only frustrating thing about our hotel was that the shuttle only dropped and picked up twice a day, and only at Epcot. So if we didn't want to leave the park early, we had to Uber, which we did every night except one. It was one of those unexpected, but necessary purchases. The kids were pretty exhausted every night on the ride home.
Can you believe we were already at day 4? We still had 2 more days of fun left!!
