Weekly Whisper Update: DISNEY!

 This last week we surprised the kids and took a trip down South to Disney World!  They had no clue :)  We made it to the Orlando Temple Sunday afternoon and walked around the grounds then sat them down and gave them both gift bags.  In the bags were Disney shirts, Mickey water bottles, Disney Pez and washcloths and little Mickey and Minnie figurines (thank you Dollar Tree!).  They pulled everything out and we asked, "So do you know where we are going?  Looking at those things, where do you think we are going?"  Jane guessed: "Swimming?"  "Nope.  We are going to Disney World!!!"  It took her a second to register that.  Once it hit her she was ECSTATIC!  Grant took a few more seconds to process and then he caught on, too!  They were so excited :)  Jane was almost crying.
My friend Nick works at Disney and was able to get us a great discount on the hotel and he was able to get 3 out of the 4 of us in for free all 4 days we were there.  It was so fun getting to watch Nick perform...he was one of the few from High School who actually has made a living off entertaining.  I'm so proud of him and it made my heart happy to watch him "live the dream".
The first day we spent the entire day at the Magic Kingdom.  We tried to be all-stars and plow through all day but by 5:00 we were all toast!  We did get to see Mr. Nick as Clarabelle cow...he was awesome!  That cow has some mooooves!

The second day we were wiser and got there before it opened and were one of the first people in line to see Elsa and Anna (from Frozen.  The line is normally 300+ mins long...we managed to get through in 40!) Then we hit it hard with rides and I got to catch Nick's Trolley show and then we headed home for lunch, cooled off, took naps, and then went over to Hollywood Studios and played around there ending the night with my favorite show, Fantasmic!

The third day was similar.  We caught Nick's Welcome show at Magic Kingdom then were right in the gates when the park opened and got through several rides before the crowds started.  We went back to the hotel for lunch and a cool off and then hit Hollywood Studios again.  After we got in all the rides we wanted to do there, we went back to Magic Kingdom for dinner, the Electrical Parade, and Fireworks.  Once the fireworks ended, the lines were so short so we crammed in several rides before the park closed.  We finally got back to the hotel around 12:30.  What a day!

Thursday, our final day, I woke up with a sore throat (guess I over did it) and Nick couldn't get us into the parks until later so we took the morning easy.  That afternoon, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom.  I have to say, I wish we had left more time to do that park...it was wonderful!  We got soaked on the raft ride, Trent and I took turns on the wild Everest ride, the kids played in a dinosaur playground, we saw a 3D bug show, and went on a cool Safari ride where we got to see all sorts of animals.

Friday we took a dip in the pool in the morning, ate lunch with Nick, and then headed back to North Carolina.
We are back and still recovering but we had such a blast!  And we are so proud of the kids for going on rides that were scary.  They went on Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain. A HUGE thank you to Nick who was a lovely host to our crazy family for almost a week.  We loved being able to spend time with him and partake of the magic the Mouse had to offer.