Disney Christmas, Day 3 - Taking it Easy at Animal Kingdom and Touring the Campsites

Three character sightings before we even make it into the park - we should have seen this as the omen it was! We did make it to the Finding Nemo show and onto a few rides, but this day was all about the autographs.

Christmas carols on the steel drums and more - an unexpected holiday treat.

Quin is too short to ride on Dinosaur, so she gets to play with some.

Heath does not want the female characters to sign his book, nor will he pose with them. He greets Minnie Mouse only because Adam explains that she is married to Mickey and Mickey will be upset with him if he doesn't meet her!

The trees at Animal Kingdom Park and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Some of the decorations at the campsites at Fort Wilderness. And Adam thought I was crazy when I wanted to pack a small tree and bring it! After seeing these, he offered to buy lights to put out on the cabin deck, but we were already halfway through the week so we'll just bring our own if we ever go down at Christmas again.

Disney Christmas, Day 2 - Disney Commandos at the Magic Kingdom

Do these people look like they are ready for thirteen straight hours in the Magic Kingdom?

The tree on Main Street

In three years, this is the first time we rode on the Teacups together. And look who rode with us - Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter!

Almost as fun as the real thing.

This very sweet cast member picked Carrie up and let her key our lunch order into the computer. Another one of the small touches that made the kids feel special. She only made one mistake, but they let us fix that at the counter.

Heath has discovered the autograph book, so we greeted more of the characters on this trip. Stitch was relatively well behaved - he only tried to steal Heath's pen once!

Tinkerbell, Mickey face, and Superhero face paint. They even fixed Heath's when he rubbed half of it off. Only Quin's lasted until the next day, though.

I did not set up this shot. These children know who they are.

Quin's favorite - Donald Duck! He's number 1 - or at least he signs that way!

We were in line when Donald came back from a break, and my camera was off so I couldn't catch him in time. He walked up to Mom (who was sitting outside the queue), shook his tail in her face, and tried to sit in Quin's stroller before he came to the greeting area.

Twelve hours in and still going strong. Carrie has a soft spot for Pluto - she stands much closer to him than she does most of the characters.

Disney Christmas, Day 1 - Dining with the Princesses in Norway

Oh yeah, we love the cabins! Heath was begging for the key to get in when we first checked in. We were really lucky and were able to get into the cabin early in the day, so we had time to unload, grocery shop, and rest before getting ready to meet the princesses.

Who needs an amusement park when there are bunk beds? Heath and Carrie alternated nights on the coveted top bunk.

EPCOT!!!!!

We are the geeky family who loves Epcot most of all. We usually start there for a relaxing ease-in to the vacation, and this was no exception.

"Do you like my hat?"

"I do not like your hat."

"Goodbye, then."

"Goodbye."

(Apologies to Dr. Seuss)

Does the puppet you pick say something about your personality?

The first of many pictures of the back of Quin's head. Oh, she LOVES the princesses. And Carrie is finally over her fear of costumed beings. The professional shot of our meet and greet with Belle is much nicer than mine.

Not yet brave enough to get up and try the cold buffet. The Norwegian-style food was pretty good, actually. Not that the girls took the time to eat any.

Note Adam's arm on Quin's shoulder and how she is looking attentively at something just past him. Literally seconds later she eluded his grasp, was out of the high chair like a shot, and ran around the wall to smash hug Cinderella. In the middle of another girl's picture with her, no less. Fortuneately, they forgive this when you are only two, as I found out when I dragged her away apologizing. The other family was very gracious, and Cinderella took a minute to explain to Quin that she would be over to see her very soon.

Evidently if you want to be Jasmine, you spend a lot of time in the gym working your abs.

When you are the real Sleeping Beauty you don't have to wear a shirt underneath your dress because it itches too much. Poor Carrie was suffering before we pulled out the long-sleeved tee shirt.

And yes, Quin is pushing her face up against Aurora's - this was her way of giving a kiss when she was very small.

Quin was beyond happy for this entire event.

And this was worth the entire trip. Cinderella even made it personal - as soon as she saw Quin she told her she was happy to see her again and that she was coming back to see her as she had promised. I think the girls' body language in this shot says even more than the looks they had on their faces.

Before the fireworks, we do make it to the candlelight procession. A narrator tells the Christmas story with accompanying hymns and carols. There is a huge choir and a full orchestra. It was quite beautiful.

Traveling to Florida

Adam lets us sleep in a little longer than normal, so we don't leave until 3:30 A.M. Shouldn't somebody look the least little bit tired? Oh, maybe that's just us. . .

Driving through the mountains in West Virginia was absolutely stunning - every tree was blanketed in snow. None of the pictures I took did it justice.

We planned to stop overnight along the way, but Adam was on a roll and thought we should push through. I called Disney World to see if we could get into the cabin a day early, but none of the cabins were available on Saturday night. They were able to arrange a room for us in Port Orleans Riverside, however. Pictures below are for Beth I., who wants to stay at this hotel when she goes to Disney.