Moody Family Blog: Disneyworld!

It's been a month since our trip, but I wanted to get this posted before Christmas! I'm cutting it a bit close, huh?

Back on November 12 we went to Walt Disney World for a week!
It was a family trip with Matt's mom and dad, his sister L'Jean and his sister Lisa and her family.
We had so much fun! The kids especially enjoyed getting to spend the time with their cousins! Sebastian and Asher play so well together and Tessa just adores having another little girl around - even if she is 5 years younger than she is!

The best part - having cousins to play with!

The worst part - getting all of them to look at the camera and SMILE!

We spent the first two days at the Magic Kingdom, which is nearly identical to Disneyland. Day one was a Saturday and we spent the majority of our time waiting in lines with the whole group. Day two, however, was a Sunday and we were able to ride a ton of rides with very little wait! L'Jean and Sebastian came along with us and the 6 of us had a GREAT time! The boys were NOT big fans of Pirates of the Caribbean (perhaps the animatronics were too lifelike?) but they LOVED the Magic Carpet Ride! All of the kids loved the happiest cruise that ever sailed, of course!

The sun was in our eyes on the first day, but I HAD to have a picture, anyway!

Asher was not happy or cooperative!

So on day two we came prepared - with a hat and sunglasses for the boy!

Ash and Sebastian eating ice cream - these are two of my favorite pictures!

On our third day of vacation we went to Epcot Center. I was really excited about this day because when I went to WDW before Epcot was my favorite. The whole family loved Epcot, though all the walking really exhausted Asher!
At the airport, on our way out of town, our stroller broke. It was quite the shock, as we've never had an issue with it! But we unloaded it, set it up and took just one step forward when the wheel snapped off. Total bummer! We really missed it - especially at Epcot! We ended up paying Disney's exorbitant stroller rental prices to save our backs - because Ash wanted to be carried all the time!
Despite that, his favorite ride was at Epcot and he's talked about it quite a bit since then - TEST TRACK! A ride that's supposed to simulate the testing done on cars - it ends with a 60mph open air ride around a race track. Ash loved it - we rode 3 times!

Leaving Epcot - Spaceship Earth is so pretty at dusk!

Some of the (very cool!) decor in the line for Test Track - Asher's favorite ride :)

Tessa and Asher outside the Nemo ride - Asher being the navigator. He LOVED the maps!

On our 4th day Matt and I went to the Kennedy Space Center and left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. We went to the Houston Space Center a few years ago and were very excited to be able to say we've been to both. We spent the morning there, then met everyone for lunch at a little seafood place.
Nasa was absolutely Matt's favorite day. It was really nice to be able to spend the morning alone together! And there were a lot of really awesome things to see - including the shuttle on the launch pad! The sts-133 was supposed to be launched at the beginning of November, but has been delayed several times. It's currently scheduled to launch February 3.

Matt and I - jammed into the Apollo hatch - super squishy, and THREE astronauts rode in this one!

Matt on the bridge the astronauts used to board the Apollo 11 - very cool

The newest shuttle - ready to launch (in February!)

On our 5th day we started off at Disney's Hollywood Studios - the WDW version of Universal Studios. We went on the Backlot tour, saw a live production of Beauty and the Beast and rode some rides - a Toy Story arcade-style shooting game was one of our favorites!

Hollywood Studios!

In 3D glasses - ready for the Toy Story ride!

My monkeys - being monkeys :)

Beauty and the Beast - Ash loved it!

I wore some new converse that I thought I had broken in. Not so much. They hurt my feet SO BAD I took a picture of them so I would never forget.

That afternoon (after I changed into flip flops!) we went to Downtown Disney where Tessa and McKenzie got to get princess makeovers at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (an early Christmas present to Tessa from Aunt Lisa)

Kenzie - so cute!

Tessa, after stage one of the makeover...

And here she is, finished. Fake hair piece and all.

Princess's

Then Asher and Sebastian got to build their own custom light sabers (another early Christmas gift from Aunt Lisa!)

Daddy helped Ash build a 2 bladed light saber

Ash chose green, of course!

Bastian and Asher with their light sabers!

We went back to Epcot Center after that, but didn't end up staying too long. Tessa stayed with Grandma and Grandpa there and Matt and Asher and I went to dinner.

For our last full day of vacation we started off at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom is sort of a cross between a zoo and an amusement park. We saw a live production of Finding Nemo that was done with these huge puppets that were attached to the actors...it was amazing. We also saw a show about bugs that scared Asher so much I had to leave the theater with him! He wasn't the only one who got scared, though! Tessa and I went on a time travel/dinosaur ride that scared her half to death!
Animal Kingdom had a ride similar to the Matterhorn (my favorite Disneyland ride) called Expedition Everest. Ash was too little to ride, though, so Tessa and I rode first while Matt waited with Asher, then Matt and Tessa ride while I waited with Asher. It was one of our favorite rides at any of the parks, and one of Asher's favorites, too - because he got to play in the dirt while he was waiting! He cracked me up...happy as a little clam, digging in the dirt with a stick.

We rode a water ride at AK that required plastic ponchos...my hood slipped off, though, and my hair was completely soaked in just one spot...made for a very interesting look for the rest of the day - most of my hair straight, but one clump all wavy - and with most of my makeup washed off!
After lunch we went back to the Magic Kingdom - we wanted to finish up at the kids favorite spot. We forced Asher to ride Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad even though he didn't want to...and everyone was glad we did! He LOVED Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we went on it 3 times! He also liked Splash Mountain, though we only rode it once.