Epcot

After just a few hours of sleep we got up to begin our next adventure. On February 8th we went to Epcot.  For everyone except Jennifer, this was the first time that we had been to this park. We got there before the gates opened and when they did we rushed over to get in line for Soarin'. Since the kids couldn't ride we let Grandma and Grandpa ride first while we watched the kids. After they got off we got in line while the kids rode Living with the Land with them. Soarin' was an interactive experience where you were on a plane flying over the USA. It was really neat because at times you were able to smell some of the things that you were seeing, like oranges while flying over an orange grove. We all then rode Living with the Land. It was actually my favorite ride of the day. I enjoyed seeing all the different fruits and vegetables that they grow. It really got me excited about my garden this summer.

The Heflin's with the famous Epcot "golf ball". 

A little love for our kiddos.

The Heflin clan at Epcot.

 Next on the agenda was Turtle Talk with Crush. This was another interactive show in which Crush from the movie Finding Nemo came out and talked to the little kids in the crowd. They asked for all the kids to sit up front and have their parents sit in the back of the room. This did not work for very long. Both kids ended up coming to sit next to us. After the show we boarded a clam shell and enjoyed The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It was an abbreviated version of the movie.

The next task of the day was one of the reasons that we went to Epcot. We were going to have lunch with the princesses. We brought along the kids Halloween costumes, so the kids dressed up as Cinderella and Prince Charming. You started off your lunch reservations with a picture with Princess Belle. Here they had a photographer that would take a picture for you. The downfall of eating a meal with characters is that nobody came around with the princesses to take your picture. So, very rarely did we get to have a picture with all six of us.

Princess Belle

Two Cinderellas and a Prince Charming. Cinderella told both the kids that they looked great in their outfits. 

Snow White

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Ariel from the Little Mermaid.

 Landon really wasn't enjoying anything at lunch and started throwing food all over the place. I figured that he was getting tired and needed to take a nap. I also was not in that great of a mood either because of a lack of sleep. We decided to try and just let the kids sleep at the park so that we wouldn't have to miss out on anything. We decided to take a tour of the world and see what all the countries had to offer. We had picked up some fans for the kids and each country did some kind of artwork on it for you. This was pretty neat, but the kids weren't old enough to really get interested in it.

It was really neat all the architecture that they had built for all the different countries. Here we are in China. Maybe one day we can take a real family trip to China.

We also spotted Olaf while we were in China.

When we made it around to the United States Landon and I were ready to crash. We tried to go to a 30 minute show The American Adventure, but we didn't make it. We crashed outside the theater. 

Brinley needed a nap too, but was really fighting it. Here she was having a tantrum because Jennifer wouldn't let her play in the fountain.

We continued on the world journey and made it to France. Jennifer and I have been to France, but haven't made it to Paris. Maybe someday I can take her to the city of lights.

We were so surprised to see our friend Chip from Beauty and the Beast. Both kids were napping right now. I know they would have both loved to have seen Chip.

Grandpa was in complete shock to see Chip too.

Brinley was really trying to push her limits. She was running away from us to see how far we would let her get. Good thing that she isn't faster than me or else we would have a big problem on our hands.

Landon woke up and decided to get a picture with mommy and daddy.

We made it around to England and Grandma was the only person who really wanted their picture with Mary Poppins.

We made it back around to the front and Jennifer and I used a fast pass to ride Test Track. This is where you designed your own vehicle and then took it on a test drive to see how it performed. The car that Jennifer and I designed was the best out of our car and actually scored pretty high in comparison to the days best vehicle. Our score was 204 and the high for the day was 228.

After test track we made our way back to Japan for our dinner. We had dinner and a show when we ate hibachi at Teppan Edo. This was my favorite meal of the whole week. The people that were sitting with us commented at the end of the meal about how well our kids acted. This was nice to hear, but to us it seems like they are always acting wild and crazy. The last thing of the night was waiting for the fireworks and light show. This was the first fireworks that we had seen and the kids loved it. Jennifer had brought glow sticks with us so that the kids wouldn't try to beg us to buy any at the park. They shared some popcorn and were mesmerized by the show.

Landon actually fell asleep on the way out of the park. This is our semi family picture with the ball at night.

Heflin clan minus Landon.

A real family picture.

Epcot was our least favorite of all the parks. There were not many rides that the kids could participate on which made it difficult to keep their attention. They just wanted to run wild and we were all pretty exhausted from the hectic schedule that we had been trying to keep. I think that this park is definitely geared more towards an adult crowd, so it might be a long time before we come back here. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Magic Kingdom and Jennifer's 30th birthday

Can you think of a better place than Disney World to spend your birthday? It just so happens that Jennifer got to spend her 30th birthday at the happiest place on Earth - The Magic Kingdom. I can't believe that the day had finally arrived in which we could keep our word to Brinley and take her to Mickey's house. The day was going to be filled with lots of rides and meeting lots of characters. We got up early again and headed for the park. We arrived with plenty time to ride the monorail and still got to the gates before opening.

Riding the tram from the parking lot.

The resort gave Jennifer a birthday button for her to wear. I don't think she was thrilled about wearing it, but I made her. Throughout the entire day we had people and employees wishing her a happy birthday. I thought it was a lot of fun. The kids were also both wearing 1st visit buttons.

We stopped to get a quick picture at the entrance with the Mickey flowers. We even had a visit from Tinkerbell and she sprinkled some pixie dust on us. Jennifer had made all us shirts that had some Mickey ears displayed on them. I had a lot of people compliment me on my Mickey tie. They were really impressed when we said that Jennifer made them. They said she needed to sale on Etsy.

Our first stop in the park was Tomorrowland. We wanted to try and ride as many rides as possible in this area before it was time for our first fast pass. Our first stop was the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. This was a shooting game with lazers to help Buzz save the galaxy.

Grandma and Grandpa didn't realize they were being photographed. Looks like Grandma needs a little practice because she is aiming awful low. 

Landon just enjoyed the ride. He didn't care much about shooting anything.

The kids both really love Toy Story so we thought this would be a fun ride for them. We actually ended up riding it 3 times in a row because the lines were so short, one time we didn't even get off. What a great start to the day. Brinley and Landon both loved seeing Buzz at the end when he would congratulate us for saving the galaxy. Brinley's high score was 300. 

I noticed that the line to meet stitch was not very long so Brinley and I ran over to meet him really quick. The kids really didn't know who he was because they have never seen the movie.

We decided to take a ride on the Astro-orbiter while the lines were short. This was the faster version of the Dumbo ride. I don't think anybody really liked spinning in circles this early in the morning.

The Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor didn't open until 9am so we were in line for the first showing. This was a interactive show in which monsters would come out and do stand up comedy. They would pick people out of the crowd and talk with them about things. Jennifer was holding Landon and they shinned the spotlight on her and said here we have a two headed monster. He asked where she was from and Jennifer said Kentucky. The monster proceeded to tell us what was in Kentucky which included things like the Eiffel Tower. Jennifer told him that he was wrong and he asked when the last time she was in Kentucky and she said five days ago. The monster informed us that they had put it up since then. We have looked and still haven't found it!

We also noticed that Space Mountain didn't have a long wait so we asked Grandma and Grandpa to watch the kids while we went to ride it real quick.

This is the picture that was taken during the ride. We both look completely thrilled. It really wasn't as much fun as I remembered. I am glad that we didn't wait for very long or use a fast pass to ride it.

Next we headed to our first fast pass of the day - Tales with Belle. We started out in Belle's fathers home. Here they picked people from the crowd to participate in telling the story of Beauty and the Beast. The kids were a little too small to be picked but Grandpa got selected to be a knight in shining armor.

The knights with Princess Belle.

The Heflin's with Belle.

Grandma, Brinley and I riding the tea cups. I was only allowed to ride with them on the condition that I didn't spin the cups around. Brinley did her best to spin us, but it wasn't quite the same.

Another fast pass was used on Winnie the Pooh. The kids enjoyed seeing the whole gang. We had dinner planned for later in the week with Pooh and the crew.

Family ride on the Prince Charming Regal Carousel.

Riding on Grandma's favorite ride - It's a Small World. The kids were completely amazed at all the different people and all the different scenery in this ride.

For lunch we ate at the Pinocchio Village Haus. They brought Jennifer a little mini cake for dessert when they saw that she had a button on saying she was celebrating her birthday. We also used our third fast pass on Peter Pan. After finishing up your three fast passes then you got to select another one at the fast pass kiosk. We were able to select a trip on the Pirates of the Caribbean. So, we walked over to Adventureland to ride it. However, we arrived a little early so we decided to take the kids to see if we could find Woody and Jessie.

Heflin's with Woody and Jessie. The 20 minute wait was well worth the visit with these two!

Like I mentioned earlier, Toy Story is one of the kids favorite Disney movies. So, they were both excited to see Woody and Jessie. However, both kids hardly paid attention to Woody. Jessie was a hit! She picked a flower for Landon, but Landon wouldn't take it from her so she gave it Brinley. The rest of the day Brinley kept telling us about Jessie giving her a flower. 

After the Pirates of the Carribean we booked another fast pass for the Haunted Mansion. Again we arrived early and the kids were acting tired so we grabbed a few seats and let the kids take a little nap. Brinley napped on Grandma.

Landon napped on me. It wasn't completely shaded, so I put my hat on him to make sure he didn't get a sunburn. I just had to wear my UK hat today because the Cats were playing Florida later that night. I tried to talk Jennifer into going to the game, but I was unsuccessful. I had to settle for watching highlights and the play-by-play on my phone.

We just so happened to be right next to the parade route for the Festival of Fantasy parade. Brinley woke up just in time to see it. She kept waving at all the princesses. It is just so fun to see how much children react when seeing all of these fictional characters.

We took the kids on the Haunted Mansion even though Jennifer had thought it was going to be too scary for them. However, both kids did fine. Probably because they didn't realize that certain aspects were supposed to be scary. They just kept pointing out things that were going on.

We also stopped by to see Merida from Brave.

The kids also got to try their hands at archery. They are definitely going to need some practice.

Maybe this little guy could be my hunting buddy in a few years.

We also got to meet one of our favorite characters ever - Buzz Lightyear. As you can see Landon was really interested in his buttons. Too bad they didn't make any noises when you press them like the one at home does.

This was by far the kids favorite character that they had met on the whole vacation.

Our last stop was meeting Tinker Bell. She told Brinley that her shoes were sprinkled with pixie dust. Of course, Brinley thought that this was awesome.

Heflin clan with Tinker Bell.

After meeting Tinker Bell we headed to our dinner reservation at Tony's Town Square Restaurant. It was a great Italian restaurant that had a Lady and the Tramp theme. After a great meal we helped Grandma and Grandpa get the kids out to the car. The park had extra magical hours and they were going to watch the kids so that Jennifer and I could ride some of the "big" kid rides.

We got in line for Splash Mountain when the wait was only 5 minutes. This allowed us to ride in a cart all by ourselves. The entire time Jennifer was worried that we were going to get soaked. Luckily, I only got a little wet and she stayed completely dry.

My beautiful wife and I standing outside Prince Eric's Tower, from the Little Mermaid.

We noticed that the lines were super short for meeting the princesses so we met them all. Here we are with Elsa.

We thought her sister, Anna, was a little more friendly. They all do such a good job of keeping character. I find it completely fascinating and I don't know how they do it everyday.

We even got to meet Rapunzel. We are still surprised how and why her hair is long again. In the movie, that we have seen at least 100 times, her hair all gets cut off.

Cinderella was very nice. We both agreed that it felt pretty awkward that we went to see all these characters without the kids. We would get to see them all again in a few days with the kids.

With my princess! 

Even when it was magic hours the line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was still 40-50 minutes. I really wanted to ride it so we waited  in line at 1 am to ride. 

About to ride the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was pretty cool that while we were riding it the fireworks were going off above the castle.

Jennifer and I even rode the classic Dumbo ride.

A major highlight of my night was riding Buzz Lightyear and maxing out the score. Jennifer wasn't too shabby herself. The game is quite a bit easier when you aren't holding onto a child during the entire ride.

We had a jam packed day and night at the Magic Kingdom. You only turn 30 once and I know that Jennifer really enjoyed it. We had so much fun and got everything plus a whole lot more done off of our agenda. Staying late for the extra magic hours proved to be an amazing idea - at least until we had to wake up the next day and go to another park.  I couldn't wait to be able to come back for another 2 days of fun at this park later in the week. The kids had so much fun and I couldn't believe how good they were with all of the characters. Thanks for reading and God Bless!