Disney Day 1!

Let the adventures begin!

Our first full day in Disney was spent at Animal Kingdom. The kids loved seeing all the animals there and watching the AMAZING shows.  We tried to break up our days by riding several rides and then watching a show and so on.  It gave all of us some downtime and a time to just chill before moving on to the next big adventure. :) We were able to see the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo musical type shows.  Wow.  They were so great!  The singing, stunts, and sets were out of this world!

Here we are at finding Nemo!

Some of our ride highlights included...Primeval Whirl, Tricera Top Spin, Expedition Everest, and Dinosaur. On Expedition Everest, Ansley was tall enough to go, but the whole time I wondered if it was too much for her (it went really fast and backwards) and it turned out.....my DAD of all people got sick on it.  Ha!  After that, he took it easy on the rides. :) We also rode on Kilamanjaro Safaris which was an open-air vehicle ride that takes you on an expedition through an African savannah.  This scored MAJOR points with the kiddos.  They loved it.  However, the Dinosaur ride was NOT for Ansley!  She kept her head in my lap the entire time and almost broke a few bones in my hands.  She is STILL talking about that scary dinosaur ride. :(  We ate at a quick serve lunch at Restaurantosaurus while Charli slept a little bit.

This was the scene after lunch.  They were whooped!

 

We loved Animal Kingdom and could have explored more of the park, but we had some REALLY important reservations at the Bippity Boppity Boutique in Downtown Disney. 

She was so excited!

They put on eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick!

They got every single tangle out of her curly hair.  She was so tough about it....she didn't even grimace.

Seeing herself for the first time after all the pampering.

She was on Cloud 9!

After her appointment, we explored the Downtown area, watched an awesome dance show, and ate dinner at Earl of Sandwich.  My sandwich (roast beef and cheese) was seriously amazing.  Can't say enough about it...it was seriously yummy.  As if the day hadn't been exciting enough....that evening we jumped back on the bus and headed to Magic Kingdom to watch the Christmas Parade of Lights.  Wow. Just wow.  That parade is just one of a kind. 

Here's a few pictures from it.  Pictures DON'T do it justice!

Just imagine, thousands and thousands of lights covering these floats.  It was magnificent!
 
We had the best seats!  We were the first to see them come out of gate.

Cinderella up close and personal.

 

Watching the parade!

Charli kept yelling "Dat!" (in Charli language- look at that!")

And this was one of the most magnificent sights I've seen.  This castle was breathtaking.
And the fireworks were AMAZING!  This is when Ansley's love for the Frozen movie started.  Some of the movie was projected on the castle and she was in awe and so were WE!  

Magical Day 1....check!