Over a year ago Mike's dad & step mom told us that for Christmas 2012 they'd be taking the entire family to Florida as their gift to us. We were surprised and excited and overwhelmed...and then we had to wait. Seemed like it was years away, when in reality it was just 12 months. But the wait was forever. Before we knew it December crept upon us and the countdown to Florida began. Every day the girls would ask when we were leaving. And every day we counted the days. The night before Mike and I started packing and I could hardly sleep as I was so excited. It was here. We were driving to Florida to celebrate the season with our family. And Mickey Mouse. Bring it on!
The drive was a little over 1,000 miles and we split it up into two parts...a total of 16 hours in the car. And you know what? It wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. The girls were perfect...watching movie after movie and only napping minimally. I read an entire book on the way down while Mikey logged mile after mile behind the wheel.
Our car was the first to arrive as we got an earlier start on Friday than we had planned. So we unpacked the car, chose our bedrooms and ordered a pizza...anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rest of the clan. There were 13 of us in total and we couldn't wait to start the week. As soon as Bob & Laura arrived they started unpacking their truck and load after load they brought in kitchen supplies, super secret gifts and even a Christmas tree! Laura and I rearranged the furniture to make room for the tree and planned where stockings would be hung. Christmas week was falling into place beautifully.
Over the course of the week we made many trips to Walmart (it became a joke as to how many times we had to go back!). Every girl in the house had to buy themselves a pair of Minnie ears (which we all wore to the park by the way).
Christmas Eve we drove to Cocoa Beach for a day in the sun. We couldn't drive all the way to Florida and not hit the beach.
I drew a holiday message in the sand and sent it out to family while Mike chose his own message to draw and send to his best buddies. I think mine was better received :) You're welcome if you were a recipient of Mike's.
We lunched at a seafood shack right on the water where Bob fed a seagull who proceeded to tell all of his flying friends where the food was being served. We promptly left to head back home...after we decided Bob was on Santa's naughty list this year.
By the time we got back home the pool and hot tub in our backyard were heated to the perfect swimming temperature. The remainder of the week if we couldn't find Mike or Bob we just had to look out back and there they were.
After baths, new Christmas jammies and reindeer food outside...we were ready to write our letter to Santa.
"Dear Santa, We have been nice. And a little naughty. But mostly nice. We love you. Isabelle and Laney."
We tracked Santa's whereabouts online right before we turned out the lights and saw that he had just been to Paris (where Izzy told us Miss Piggy lives) and was overseas on his way to the United States. Right on time.
Santa woke us all up bright and early with his jingle bells and the girls were ecstatic. While the adults tried to keep our eyes open and our cameras at the ready, the Littles received packages from Santa's bag and posed for pictures on his lap.
Once Santa left we put on the coffee and monkey bread, opened gifts one by one and then hit up the pool. Totally normal for Christmas morning, right?!
Knowing that the entire house was going to Disney the next day, we all started mapping out our plan of attack for Magic Kingdom. We were splitting up into a few groups as we all had different aged kids and different things we wanted to see and experience. I combed through Laura's 500 page book, "2012 Guide to Disney Land" and learned far more than was necessary...which started to overwhelm me. Fast passes, parking, dining, OH MY!
Sister Sarah brought a friend with her, Kim, who Izzy took note of immediately due to her large amounts of accessories she wore each day. Christmas day Kim decided to put on a fashion show with Izzy...complete with outfit changes, pageant waving and runway catwalks. Was too cute.
True to McCulloch Christmas tradition Bob brought along all of the fixings to make his famous homemade pizzas.
This face. Oh, this face. This is Izzy's current phase...rolling her eyes. Her daddy just loves it. (And I love that I captured it on film!)
The chef and his helper...
Over dinner we plotted out our game plan for the next morning. The park opened to the public at 8am. However, the park opened to Disney resort guests at 7am. Our family had reservations for breakfast with the princesses and I had read that we could be let in early to get to our reservations on time. This being said, we had heard that traffic and parking can be horrendous. So our plan? Leave the house at 5:30am to beat traffic. Let's just say we were the only people on the road. In fact, we were at Disney so early (we stayed just 5 miles away from the parks) that the parking attendants weren't even at their booths yet. We followed signs and entered a vacant parking lot. We thought maybe we were in the wrong place. Or we did something wrong. Nope. We were just so early we were FIRST. Our brother in law Charlie got out of his car jumping up and down with excitement. Until we all realized how early we were. It was 6am. Park didn't open until 8am. Uh oh.
We decided to walk to the entrance to explore a bit. We found this...gates closed:
Well we were still pretty excited to just be there. First. Then I found an employee that looked sweet (and her name was Marian!) so I asked her what should we do if we had early dining reservations and needed to get into the park early? She said we just walk around a rope and hop on the monorail. That easy? Thanks Marian!
So we walk up the ramp to the Monorail and learn we are on the very first running of the monorail that morning. Doors close. And we're all still amazed how easy this was. Mike turns to me and says, "You know what just happened? We parked SO CLOSE to the entrance that we didn't have to take the bus that we read about...we bypassed the bus!" We all laughed at our early morning timing.
When we got off the monorail we heard the announcement for early park admittance for resort guests to show your room key or your park pass. Hmmm, should we just hop in line? We did. And at 6:30 we were giving our fingerprint and being passed through the gates. Are you serious? We all got in early? No questions asked? Well don't mind if we do!
It was still dark at this time and at 6:45 music started and an announcer started telling us to get excited for the "Welcome Show" which included Mickey and characters arriving on the train and performing for us. We were ready to let the memories begin!
The girls were thrilled to see Mickey so early!
Meanwhile all of us were staring at each other with looks on our faces showing our dumb luck. At 7 o'clock on the dot Mickey welcomed us all to his park and we walked right onto Main Street. Still dark. Still in disbelief.
We went in without a true "plan" of where we were going to go and when. I wanted to leave the planning and the stress at the gate. We just knew there were a handful of rides that we wanted to see and we'd go from there. Thankfully we didn't have a plan because us getting into the park an hour earlier changed everything. There were maybe 50-100 people that entered with us. This meant there wouldn't be lines anywhere and therefore no need for fast passes or even a plan. We just knew that Fantasyland was Magic Kingdom's newest addition (opened just this month!) and that Ariel had a new ride (Izzy's favorite princess). We headed there first and walked right into her ride.
Then we went on the famous teacup ride. We rode this a total of three times, as Izzy loved being dizzy and Laney loved spinning the wheel to spin faster and faster. Again, since there were no lines we were able to keep riding rides over and over again without having to get off.
Next on the list was Dumbo...where we could control how high we went up and down. Rode this one numerous times as well.
The next ride we wanted to go on was the roller coaster, Goofy's Barnstorm. And to our surprise, Laney made the height requirement!
This was a legit coaster and Laney LOVED it. Izzy wasn't the biggest fan but that didn't hold her back from riding it a second time. Mike and I were so proud of the girls' bravery and laughed at how much fun we all had. The girls were getting big enough for fun rides!!! Here's Laney's face as we tick-tick-ticked up the coaster...
Daddy wanted to ride the go karts so off we went...
By now it was time to head to the castle for our breakfast with the princesses
Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table
We arrived at breakfast with Cinderella greeting us warmly
The menu and the restaurant were just stunning
Sleeping Beauty...
Jasmine...
Snow White...
And Ariel all came to visit with us!
When we were done with breakfast the park was now open to the public and we were worried about lines and crowds. But it never got too busy...which made me very relaxed and the rest of the day easy breezy.
The girls spotted Rapunzel's house in the distance
It wouldn't be a trip to the Magic Kingdom without a ride on It's A Small World...which hadn't changed a bit since my last trip to Disney 25 years ago. Seriously, everything was exactly the same.
We then went on Alladin's Magic Carpet Ride
Took a boat tour of the swamps then headed over to the Robinson's Tree House. Again, I remember climbing this as a 9 year old. The whole day was pretty nostalgic for me. The girls climbed all the way to the top and back down again without one single complaint. They were truly angels all day...
As we were walking to the other side of the park after the treehouse we happened to be stopped at a street because a parade was beginning. We hadn't planned on seeing any parades so this was truly on accident and couldn't have been more welcomed in our day.
We were able to see all of the characters during the parade...which happened to be one big dance party (and where I realized I missed my calling as a Disney parade dancer). We sang, we danced, it was all magical. Truly.
The park was decorated for the holiday with poinsettias everywhere you turned and even Mickey and Minnie in Santa attire.
After the parade we met up with the rest of the family for Monster's Inc. laugh floor (a comedy show that was hysterical). We posed for a picture and parted ways, as the rest of the group wanted to venture over to Epcot while we stayed at the Magic Kingdom.
Another quick ride on the teacups before we parted
At this time a storm blew through the park (which we had anticipated and worked out great with our nap schedule). We took cover and all four of us rested. Laney took an hour and a half nap while Izzy napped for 45 minutes. Perfect timing.
We went on a carousel ride then Buzz Lightyear's ride (which was quite impressive). Mike had a blast on this ride as we could shoot bad guys and rack up points. I captured some pretty funny faces from him but this one was the cutest...
The girls were giving spending money from their grandparents and chose to buy themselves Jess and Woody dolls.
We had seen everything we wanted to see...and by this time we'd been in the park for 8 hours. So we called it a day and headed out.
But decided one last trip around the park on the train was a great way to end the day...
Until next time, thanks for a great day Magic Kingdom!
The next day we decided it wouldn't be a trip to Florida without a trip to an orange grove, especially since this is harvest season for oranges.
The grove that we visited had acres upon acres of citrus fruits: lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits. Was a beautiful day to take advantage of this.
The girls helped bag for us
And we tasted many, many oranges (and one tart grapefruit) while we were picking
Friday we ventured to Sea World bright and early. My mom also took my sister and I here 25 years ago and again a lot about this park brought back familiar memories for me. Loved taking the girls here to see all the shows. Our first stop was the dolphin show...
The dolphin show has evolved quite a bit since I had last seen it. This was more of a 'cirque de soleil' experience complete with divers from very high rafters, acrobats sailing through the sky on bungee ropes and trainers riding the dolphins both above and below water. I got choked up several times at the beauty and fascination of it all. Once it was over I told Mike that all my dreams had come true after witnessing that magic. By far, this was my favorite of the trip.
We also saw the sea otter show then ventured to the side of the park with the rides and activities.
The girls were in heaven
Izzy saw a roller coaster and decided she was brave enough to attempt it. Mike went with her first then she went with me. I was so stinking proud of her! Unfortunately Laney didn't make this ride's height requirement.
We were riding in the second car
So proud!
There was a massive jungle gym of ropes and tubes to climb up and through...and I vividly remember being on this as a child. I do not, however, remember being afraid of heights as I was this trip. Yikes!
After visiting the sharks we decided to catch the next Shamu show...
And experience cotton candy for the first time
Shamu and his 6 friends were beautiful and very talented
A picture in front of the flamingos for cousin Taylor
After 6 hours in this park we called it a day
Friday evening we all started the arduous process of packing up and organizing to leave the next morning. Gathering presents, taking down the tree, washing clothes, eating leftovers to clear out the fridge, one last swim...and one last picture. All of us in our ears or our new shirts/jackets/dresses. This was one holiday we won't soon forget. Lots of memories made to last a lifetime.
Saturday morning the GPS told us we had 1,015 miles until home. Ugh. We were back on the road again and ready to be home. We left Florida in 75 degrees at 8am...
Arriving back in Indiana...
...to the remnants of a winter storm that hit while we were away. And 25 degree temps.
Back to reality!
Thanks Bob & Laura for a wonderful family vacation...we had the most amazing time and this Christmas was one for the record books for our family!
