December 27 and 28: Epcot and Hollywood Studios

I WILL get this trip finished!  I WILL! December 27: Epcot This was a COLD day.  It got cold that Sunday, and of course we came to Florida completely unprepared.  We didn’t go shopping on Sunday, so we went early Monday morning.  That was a mistake.  Everything was gone.  The stores were completely wiped out of cold-weather gear.  Aaron needed a hat; all they had were about 7 rows of fedoras.  Seriously.  We managed to find some one-size-fits-all stretchy gloves (which don’t really fit all hand sizes, but it sufficed) and some hats and mittens for the kids.  Fortunately they had gotten Disney hoodies for Christmas, so we were able to bundle them up pretty well.  Paul was definitely NOT pleased about wearing tights, especially since they had pink and glitter stripes.  But we, being the mean parents that we are, forced him and promised him that no one would ever know. We had a character lunch at Akershus in Norway, and part of the package was a professional photo with Belle.  Grandma and Grandpa got those photos, but the people at Disney are always nice enough to let you take your own photos.  However, the battery on my flash began dying, so my photos are (sadly) not that great. Belle adjusting Paul’s pirate patch          Alice was our favorite.  She had way more personality than the other princesses. The desserts at Akershus were quite delicious!  All the food was very good, actually. December 28: Hollywood Studios I didn’t actually take many photos here.  We were too busy running around trying to avoid insane post-Christmas lines. I took this one while we were waiting at the Rockin’ Rollercoaster.  We bought the lollipops for the kids to compensate them for having to miss out on most of the rides that morning.  Let’s face it: Tower of Terror just doesn’t work for preschoolers. We had another character dinner that evening at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian.  This one was definitely our favorite.  The stepsisters were HILARIOUS and the kids loved the food.  Definitely worth the $$$.   Averi was sitting at her high chair to eat dinner, and when the stepmother (or Lady Tremain, as we were supposed to call her) came by she began to cry.  We all assumed it was because she’s rather dour-looking, but we eventually realized it was because she wanted to be there posing with her.  She knew what she was supposed to be doing when the characters came around.  It was rather adorable.  It’s hard to tell in the photo, but she’s smiling through the tears. They had a little dance in the middle of the dinner, and the kids all got to dance with Anastasia. Love this pose.  I’m thinking of adopting this for all future group shots. Ashley found her Prince Charming.  Alas, as is all to often the case, he was already taken. Overall it was an AMAZING trip.  Scarcely a day goes by when we don’t here about some portion of our Disney trip.  In fact, we knew Averi was really sick the other week when she failed to mention the “Ween-the-Poon” ride for 24 hours.  But she recovered, and Ween-the-Poon is back in our daily vernacular.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  We are already contemplating our next trip back…