Dis-a-ney World!!!

** just to acknowledge, I am totally aware that there are WAY too many pictures in this post**

We were in "Dis-a-ney World" last week and I have to say, it was an absolute blast!!! We made the plans for the trip 6 months ago so it's crazy to think it's already all said and done. Chris and I took Cort and had Cohen stay with the grandparents. There was one simple reason for this, we just felt like for us, 1.5 is younger than we really want to take a child to disney world. On top of that, it's been a long 2 years and and Cort has really taken a back seat over the course of those two years...he's done it happily, but I've missed him and it was SOOOO much fun getting to spend that one on one time with him. Cohen did GREAT at the grandparents and had an absolute blast!! He started clapping right before we left, and the grandparents were sure to give him lots of practice!! He was excited to see us but not at all overly clingy when we got back!

Cort loved it - it really was everything we hoped it would be. Aside from being a bit afraid of loud noises on some of the rides and shows(which we sort of expected) Cort loved all the rides and couldn't get enough of it. This is the first time we've ever stayed in a hotel with him and he did great!! He went right to sleep every night - this is a huge deal for Cort!!

We had 6 days in the parks and stayed 5 nights. It was a great amount of time for a trip like this for us. The weather was great for Florida and the crowds were super manageable. Most rides had less than a 10 min wait and many we'd walk right on to. I think his favorite overall park was Animal Kingdom but he loved the others as well. His favorite rides, attractions, were It's a small World( rode it 5 times!!), triceratops spin, digging in the bone yard, Finding Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Cruch, the Barnstormer(roller coaster), toy story midway mania, Country Bears show, Tommorowland Transit Authority, Jungle Cruise, the Safari at Animal Kingdom, and riding the monorail!!

We stayed at the POP century resorts and it was great. He got to meet several of his favorite characters through character dining that we got free with our free Disney dining plan!! You can't beat Disney world with free food all week!!

Ok - enough talking, on to the millions of pictures..... all of these were taken with our new video camera( that came in a few days before the trip and we spent most of the trip figuring out how to use it - so sorry for the picture quality!!)

On the way down - riding in his jammies - is there any better way? He did great on the trip down and we made great time!!
Epcot - on our first day....

Outside the finding Nemo ride...we rode it 5 times total - he loved it as long as we covered his eyes and ears for the angler fish part!!!


kidcot...


first character meal and first time seeing characters( pluto, mickey, chip and dale)


The fireworks at Epcot...well, actually this was just waiting for the fireworks, we spent the fireworks show running towards the exit with a screaming child buried in my shoulder....hysterically screaming...and we thought he was a little better this July 4th...he informed us on the bus back to our hotel..that he likes fireworks, just ones you hold or do on ground( ie. sparklers, snakes, and poppers) and don't make noise.


the view from our hotel window...

Animal Kingdom - day 2 - a big hit - Cort LOVES animals and dinosaurs!!

On triceratops spin...after 6 mos. of talking about this ride and "playing" it in our backyard...he finally got to ride it - he loved it - you could control being high or low and it couldn't go high enough for him!!!




Cort's "magical moment" where a cast member( staff) randomly selects you to do something special...here cort received a "dino artist" certificate and got to color a dino egg.

I know it's really blurry but I like it anyway...this was after ride Kali river rapids...we got a bit wet....

I know I"m the only one that looks excited in this picture, but Cort loved putting his hands and feet inside this big dino print....


in the dinosaur graveyard..digging for bones...Cort would have stayed in here all day!!


Cort loved the jungle safari - we saw lots of real animals really close by...really well done...




Cort LOVED the parades...a funny thing about it is that he was so excited about all the characters he knew and would reach out for them and all but if a character that he didn't know from a movie or show he hasn't seen - he would have NOTHING to do with them...he wasn't scared, just completely uninterested and would totally snub them!!


The "tree of Life"


Magic Kingdom - Day 3 and 4

On the teacups...not spinning fast enough for Cort and spinning too fast for my liking!!


I cannot express how much this simple bear show thrilled him....we did it twice and he would have done it more...

good giggles..


Meeting all the pooh characters at lunch was a big hit...


a good snuggle...


Waiting on the parade...popcorn was his favorite snack...


Hey Mickey, do you see me?

his first roller coaster...he was a big fan..
waiting for the spectromagic parade...

Mickey's philharmagic...which we didn't get to stay for because Cort thought it was too loud....but we did get a good silly picture out of it...

Pooh's playground


Downtown Disney had a T-Rex Cafe that had a build - a dinosaur store( just like build- a bear) in it... Cort was so excited!! He picked out an anklyosaurus and named him Anky Dude!!





Epcot - Day 5 - we didn't take many pictures that were much different the first day we were there but I had to share this one...this was the only day that Cort started to lose it without a nap so we headed back to the hotel( it was also the only day we happened to have our car - Cort fell asleep right away...and transferred to the hotel room for more sleep!)
Day - 5 - waiting at Chef Mickey's for breakfast in the Contemporary - Cort loved all the character meals and this was a really good one!


we had to take a picture of Minnie's shoes because when Cort saw them he said... " Look, Minnie is wearing rain boots!!"



We drove our car to the contemporary and then took the monorail to epcot - Cort had waited ALL week to get on the monorail - he was so excited and it did not disappoint. He even got to ride the green one on the way back to the car - it made his day!


Hollywood Studios - Day 6 - the last day. Cort really enjoyed Hollywood studios, there were cars and trucks everywhere... and just had a fun atmosphere...

Cort really wanted one of these balloons but for $10 we just took a picture...;0)

Meeting Lightening McQueen and Mater...



On the Honey I shrunk the kids, playground...Cort loved it!!

Mickey's clubhouse show...really cute and fun.

Lunch with the Einstein's..



The whole trip was great!!! Chris and I really enjoyed getting that sweet time with Cort. Not having been since I was really young, I sort of wondered if Disney was a little overrated - well, it wasn't!! We had so much fun and now I completely understand why some people go all the time!!

On the way back, we hit horrible traffic on I-95 because of a wreck and ended up getting a hotel to split up the drive. I was so anxious to get back to Cohen but glad we got some rest so we weren't exhausted when we got back. Oh, I haven't mentioned that while we were in Columbia before the trip for my Paw-Paw's funeral, I got rear-ended on the entrance ramp to the interstate. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the car was drivable to Florida, and will hopefully be fixed next week.
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It's been a super busy week since we got back...Cohen had 3 doctor's appointments this week, including his sleep study results...I'll hopefully get those posted in the next few days but I wanted to get the disney pics up and now I'm nursing a sick babe - Cohen has a fever!! No other symptoms so hopefully just a quick virus that'll be over soon!