First thing Tuesday morning we hit up Animal Kingdom. I am thankful that Courtney’s kids aren’t super into Disney as they weren’t concerned about riding Flight of Passage. Lately Disney has been doing an extra magic morning hour for Animal Kingdom practically every morning in order to allow on property guests to get in early and ride Flight of Passage. I knew with it being an extra magic hour that morning that we’d have no shot at riding FOP but thankfully no one minded!
Even with an extra magic hour it’s still valuable to get to the park early and be up among the early arrivers so once the non-resort guests are allowed in we can make a mad dash for our first ride (this day being safari). Zach and I are used to getting to the parks early but it can be tough for such a large group of kids to have to sit and wait, especially in the heat. And it’s tough for them to understand the reason behind it…it’s either wait now OR have to wait in super long lines once the park opens!
Someone had gotten the lei the day prior and had given it to Britt and she rocked it all morning
Best Buds!
Colt is SO GROWN.
Staying cool with the fan and busy with the water bottle 😉
Mrs. Charlotte LOVES DiVine but we most often don’t get to see her because her timing is always off from ours. This time we lucked out and happened to spot her back by the entrance!
Already cashed…with the strap in his mouth. Silly boy!
Waiting is worth it when you just walk onto the safari…even with all the resort guests being allowed in an hour earlier!
I love behind the scenes type moments like watching the cast members feed the birds.
Spear loved the ride!
Safari often takes longer than you think it would. We almost always get stopped for some animals to pass by and the whole ride from start to finish very often takes a solid 30 minutes. This meant we had two options: we could RUN like CRAZY to make Festival of the Lion King or we could slow down, have a break, and take our time and catch the next showing of it. Which is what we opted to do 😉
Before everyone arrived I had let Kye put a bunch of Star Wars tattoos on and told him to put them where a shirt would cover…completely forgetting I’d packed him a tank top to wear. Oops!
I love this boy! So thankful for him and the gift he is in my life!
We took our time getting waters and snacks and using the bathroom. And had a bit of a panic moment too.
Sometimes as a mom we just KNOW. Have you ever gotten a random gut feeling and just KNOWN it was for a reason? We’ve visited Disney plenty of times with the double stroller and I’ve never ONCE been worried about it tipping over. But that morning for some reason it hit me and I kept reminding Tess to not get out unless she tells Mommy first because I just had this feeling it was going to tip.
Sure enough right after someone snapped that pic of Kye and I together Tess happened to stand UP in the stroller for some reason (I think to get her water cup from the cup holder maybe?) and the whole thing went backwards. With her and Spear inside.
Thankfully all my book bags attached on the back cushioned the fall and they were both FINE but WHEW my mama heart!!!
Once we recovered from that bit of hysteria we happened to join in on a little dance party in Africa!
Here are four videos I took of the dancing fun:
Britt LOVES to DANCE!
Kye does not haha he preferred to stay cool and watch the action 😉
The girls all loved the dancing and the show was super cute and interactive but also LONG and the performers did NOT want people to leave. We tried to sneak away and they called us back and kept us there! We finally HAD to make a quick run for it and went the long way around the area to get to where we needed to go just to avoid being sucked back in haha We had an itinerary to follow guys!
We had fastpasses to meet Safari Mickey and Minnie which are totally one of my fav meet and greets. I love Mickey and Minnie being together and their outfits are super cute. With it being Cam’s first time to Disney I wanted to make sure he was able to meet them!
The crew!
And attempt at all the grandkids with G-Mama
Real life with Four Kids.
Casey and the boys
And the Flemings!
Afterwards we went ahead and went over to get seats for Festival of the Lion King. It’s Britt’s FAVORITE and I love watching her watch it. The whole time she’s always whispering to me what she wants to do when she grows up and is able to perform in the show. I love it!
It also worked out great timing wise to change diapers and feed babies during the show 🙂 I try when I’m scheduling out days where Spear is along with us to make sure I have a good downtime at his feeding time and this was perfect!
Sleepy. Sweaty. Sweet as can be!
We were all hot and eager for the break but still stopped by the Tree of Life on the way out for a couple more pics!
Having the Memory Maker is SO NICE to be able to get ALL the photos!!!
Isn’t this THE BEST pic of Courtney?!? Hot Mama!
Speaking of HOT mamas…whew I was sweattttty. And Spear was CASHED.
A magic picture that never got it’s magic touch 😉
We are some roaring pros though!
HUGE thanks to Casie from from Casie’s All Things Crafty for the ADORABLE onesies for the babies!
Spear did AWESOME all morning which was such a blessing to me and the rest of the group! After our Magic Kingdom Morning Kye begged me to just leave Spear at the house with Mema for both of the park days but I knew how much Mrs Charlotte was looking forward to those memories with ALL her grand babies and I’m especially sensitive to anything regarding Spear being “left out” in any way (adoptive mama problems!) so I at least wanted him to go for the morning times and I’m SO glad it all worked out how it did!
Not to pat myself on the back but I’m also thankful for my Disney knowledge and planning abilities because I really had it set up for the mornings at the parks to be smooth sailing for the babies and kept the busier things for the afternoons which worked out SO well!
If you’re looking at visiting the Disney area be sure to check out our Disney Rental House! It has TONS of space. On this trip we had 6 kids, 2 infants, and 5 adults there and all fit beautifully and comfortably! It was Courtney and Casey’s first time visiting the house and they kept commenting on how CLOSE it is to the parks. The ride is truly SO quick which is great for coming back and taking a break. There is also a pool, spa, game area, and a fully stocked kitchen making it easy to cook! We offer a large discount for blog readers through this link 🙂
