Disney Jan 2018 ~ Travel Days!

(Jan 26 and 27, 2018)
FINALLY the day was here!  After cancelling our Sept 2017 trip less than 24 hours before flying due to hurricane Irma, our replacement trip was here!  Woo hoo! 
One of the added bonuses to this trip was our traveling companions – my parents (aka Grandma and Grandpa)!   My aunt and uncle are staying in FL for a few months so Grandma and Grandpa travelled with us and then we parted ways at the Orlando airport as they headed to The Villages while Hannah and I headed to Disney.
We drove to the airport together and Grandpa quickly found Hannah’s princess ears and made sure they didn’t get lost.

Earlier in the morning Hannah tore off the last of her countdown chains.  Woot!

Our drive to Buffalo was great and we enjoyed a day of shopping with Grandma and Grandpa before heading to the airport hotel and settling in for the night.  The next morning we woke up and celebrated ‘No more sleeps!’ 

It was breakfast then off to the airport!

Hannah is a pro at airport navigation and this time she took us through the check-in process.  It was neat to see her learning this new part of our trips.

Up, up and away!  We’re going to DISNEY!!!

Once in Orlando we helped Grandma and Grandpa get settled with their rental car and then said our goodbyes for a week.  Have a great time Grandma and Grandpa!!  We love you!!

Hannah and I passed back through the airport (stopping for our traditional pic in front of the Disney Store)

and made our way to Disney’s Magical Express.  Our trip had begun!!

Hannah, we’re here!!!!

Let the magic begin!!!

Disney 2016–Day 1, Travel and ‘Ohana

(Sat, Sept 10, 2016)

Hannah and I recently returned from our annual Disney trip and we had an absolute blast!!!  It was her 15th Disney trip but the very first time that we were on our own at Disney, not knowing anybody else there.  We often have family or friends at Disney at the same time we are but this year it was just the 2 of us and while we missed our family we had the very best time together!!! (Hopefully Uncle Dave, Auntie Trish, Makenna and Kallen will be back with us in 2017!)

After spending Friday night with wonderful friends Hannah and I were up bright and early Saturday morning and made our way to the airport.  We were in Orlando by mid-afternoon and hit the ground running! 

Our traditional airport pic.

I had checked us in online a couple of weeks prior to our arrival as well as received a call from our resort a few days before we arrived to confirm a couple of our requests.  When we arrived at Disney’s Pop Century Resort we were checked in within a few minutes and on the way to our room.  As a mom to a kiddo with skin sensitivities it’s wonderful to travel to a place that caters to our needs and stocks our room with hypoallergenic sheets and towels on a daily basis!

I was thankful to receive my request for a room on the first floor.  It’s the first we’ve had this and while it was nice not to need to use elevators, I’m pretty sure we’ll be moving back up to a higher floor next trip. 

We were in our room mere minutes when we were on our way to our first activity.  Hannah and I both enjoyed the drawing class that we took at Art of Animation last year so we wanted to do another one.  Today was the easiest day to fit it into our schedule so off we went, walking across Generation Gap bride to Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.  The character we drew this year was Dory and I will say she was much more challenging to draw than Pluto was last year.

My girl hard at work.

Dory!!  Great drawing Hannah!

With our animator

Hannah sharing our finished pictures.  I don’t think anyone at Disney animation need fear for their jobs!

These classes are so fun and offered free of charge 3 times each day in the lobby of the Art of Animation Resort.  This will be something we’ll be doing again on another trip for sure!

After our drawing class we took a bus to the Magic Kingdom then a boat to the Polynesian Resort as we had a dinner reservation at ‘Ohana.  I asked if they had the same deeeelicious pineapple bread with macadamia nut honey butter that Kona Café served next door and while the answer was ‘no’ the chef immediately offered to go get some for us and bring it to our table!  Nothing is too much to ask at Disney….even when you don’t ask!    The rest food at ‘Ohana was amazing with huge skewers of BBQed beef, chicken and shrimp brought to our tables along with noodles, veggies, pot stickers and more.  We’ll be booking another dinner at ‘Ohana next year I’m sure!

Part of the entertainment of the evening is activities for the kids.  Hannah had such fun participating in the coconut races!

My little luau girl.  Day 1 was now behind us and it was time to head to bed as the next day we were headed to the Magic Kingdom!

Christmas Disney Wrap-up Day 1 ~ Travel

(Sunday, December 13, 2015)
Hannah and I were blessed to be given a trip to Disney with them by Nana and Papa.  To say we were excited and thankful is an understatement!!

We normally visit Florida together in November with my parents but it hadn’t worked out this year and we were all missing it.  Nana and Papa took care of that!
Ahhh – home again!!!
We settled into our home away from home and got set for our adventures!

Disney 2015 ~ Magic Kingdom, Day 4

(Sunday, Sept 20, 2015)

I’m finally wrapping up our 2015 Disney posts.  Life just got busy when we got home and finding time to blog took a back seat to other things.  I’m hoping to find time to get things caught up now.

Our final day in the parks for Hannah and I was at Magic Kingdom, the perfect place to end or start any Disney trip in our books. 

We left a little later in the morning so had lots of room in the bus which doesn’t happen often.

Hannah used the travel time to draw a picture of Mommy.  I’d recognize me anywhere, wouldn’t you?

Hannah had patiently waited to purchase a new pair of ears this trip and she chose these cute silver sparkle ears.

One of our favourite rides is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so we enjoyed one final ride on it this trip.  Look at that face!

Hannah waited patiently for our entire trip to meet Elsa and Anna.  Today was the day our of our FP+ reservations and it was time to meet these wonderful ladies. 

I love this sweet pic of Hannah with Belle.  Hannah played the part of ‘Mrs. Potts’ in Enchanted Tales with Belle and afterward she was able to meet her.

One of the characters we hadn’t met before was humble Gaston.  We stood in the heat for about 45 mins to meet him and then Hannah was outta there when it was her turn!  LOL – After all that time I didn’t want it to go to waste so mommy stood in and Hannah turned into the photographer.  Great job Hannah!

As we made our way to the front of the park on the train Hannah took advantage of this time to catch a quick nap.  I love the ease that Hannah has sleeping when she needs it.

Our final dinner of the trip was with Cinderella and friends at 1900 Park Fare.  It’s one of our favourites.   Mmm strawberry soup!

Hannah visited with Prince Charming

Lady Tremaine

Drizella

Anastasia and

Cinderella!

(The flash on my camera had broken by this time so I’m thankful the pictures turned out as well as they did.  Thankfully Canon has agreed to repair the flash and it’s in right now being repaired. )

All too quickly our trip came to an end.  To make leaving easier I had booked what is known as a ‘BounceBack Offer’ which is an offer you can book for your next stay while still staying at a Disney resort.  Hannah and I are booked to return to Disney next September and I was able to secure Free Dining for that stay which is a huge savings and my favourite deal when booking Disney.  Let the countdown begin!

Hannah bought this cute set of Princesses with the money she had saved for Disney.  They entertained her the whole flight home.  Mommy in turn napped.  

I know it’s taken a while to finish up all of these posts.  Thank you for following along and the great comments and questions you’ve shared.

Keep checking in as there is more Disney fun to come sooner than later!!

Disney 2015–Let the Magic Begin!!

It’s the time of year that Hannah and I look forward to with great excitement and anticipation – our annual Disney trip!!  This year Uncle Dave, Auntie Trish, Makenna (6) and Kallen (2 – but 3 next week!) are here too so it’s a family trip once again!

We left home yesterday and stayed at a hotel near the airport and then flew to Orlando today.  Kallen and Daddy checking out our plane.

Hannah waiting patiently for our boarding numbers to be called.

This was the first time our families have flown together and the girls were excited to sit together!

Posing for our traditional airport pics.  (I could tell something was different but couldn’t quite figure out what until I realized the blue sorcerer’s hat had been replaced by the Tower of Terror.)

We’re at Disney!!!  Let the adventures begin!!!

It’s midnight and the luggage just arrived.  Time to unpack.  (We had a later flight and then a thunder storm rolled in so the ground crews were pulled off the tarmac until the lightening passed.)  Glad it did and that I can soon get everything put away and call it a night!  It’s an early morning tomorrow as we have an 8:00am reservation at ‘Be Our Guest’ restaurant.

Disney Cruise 2015–And We’re Off!!

After a year of planning and excitement the time for our family cruise was finally here!!  There were 7 in our travel group:  Grandma, Grandpa, my niece Rebecca, Nana, Papa, Hannah and I.   Sharon (Nana) and I had booked this trip while we were onboard the Fantasy last February and we’d shared a wonderful year of anticipation together.

Since we live in an area where weather is unpredictable in the winter we left home 2 days before our sailing date.  We drove to Buffalo on Wed, Feb 18th and then flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Thurs, Feb 19th.  Hannah and Papa with our luggage.  Well…luggage for 1/2 our group!  LOL!!

Breakfast at the airport before our early morning flight.

In the end, the unpredictable weather was in Ft. Lauderdale!  The final bit of our flight was filled with turbulence as we landed during extremely windy weather and it was c-c-c-chilly!  We had a bit of a wait for our hotel shuttle and there was warmth in numbers.

Our original plan had been to take a water taxi ride to see the Ft. Lauderdale shore but between the wind and cold we nixed that in about 2.5 seconds!  There really wasn’t much near our hotel so it was a pretty quiet afternoon.  We went for a walk to find lunch and came across this barbershop that made us laugh!  I noticed a guy standing on the sidewalk drinking a beer (which isn’t something we normally see at home) but then realized why.  Larry posed for a pic in front of the shop window.  

My thought is that the barber didn’t have a lot of faith in their haircuts so wanted to offer an incentive. 

After a delicious dinner at a nearby German restaurant we settled in early, excited for all that Friday would entail!  We were up early and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before packing up and heading to the Port of Miami.

Up next…All Aboard!!!