Disney World - Day Four

We were up earlier than previous morning. Hayden was up and in an amazing mood. She was crazy hyper and super sweet. And ready to go go go. She ran over to the window and was telling everyone it was time to get up because the sun was out. Surprisingly I was about to get us all packed up and out the door by 9am.  Yes, Kevin was with us but let's be honest. All he has to pack is himself. Anyhow, we headed downstairs to the Contempo Cafe to grab some breakfast before heading out.

We decided on grabbing a Lyft to take us out to the Animal Kingdom assuming it would only take about 20 minutes. It was more like an hour. The driver said that the traffic and congestion was typical...so I guess this sunshine brought everyone out. It was insanely crowded...starting with traffic to get in the park to actually getting in the park. Once we were in we high-tailed it to the Safari because our fast pass was about to end.

The safari was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals. The original plan was to get to the Safari ride early so we would have time to get to the Festival of the Lion King and use our fast pass there....but that didn't quite happen. We weren't really sure what to do...wait for the next show (they let us use our fast pass for that one) or walk around. When we realized that the next show as at noon and it was only 11:10....we opted to leave. We maneuvered our way back up to the Africa area, stopped to get some coffee and donuts then over to Asia. And stopped for some pics!

 The Everest rollercoaster looked awesome but the killer wait times and the fact that our kids were too little made it an easy decision not to mess with it. Obviously we didn't do the Flight of Avatar either. Clearly there will be a next time....

We headed to our last fast pass at 11:50am, which was a meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie. They were super cute and the kids enjoyed them so that was a success.

 After that we moseyed our way back to the entrance and hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Once again, lines were insane. As we walked down Main Street we caught the castle show before heading towards Frontier Land.

As we were walking to lunch we saw a crown of people, so we stopped to see what was going on. It was a cute little muppets show, so we hung out there for a little bit before lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern.

My review:
- You definitely feel like you are stepping back in time when you walk in the front door. You are greeted by Waiters/waitresses dressed in colonial clothing and the decor is very 18th century Willamburg-esque. Each dining room decor is inspired by a different founding father....
- The hostesses town-criers announce your family and where you are from - "Here ye, here ye, we would now like to seat the McDonough family from the Republic of Texas"
- The food - well, it's traditional Thanksgiving food & a little New England mixed together. A little odd and honestly if the weather had been hot (like typical Florida weather) it is the last kind of food I would be interested in...but apparently...people love it. I suppose that people that love Thanksgiving food do. SO there is that.

Kevin got the clam chowder and a salad. I got Fish and Chips. Yup - they tried to bring me the salad.  Ryan ordered and gobbled up the roasted turkey kids meal while Grayson and Hayden split a cheeseburger. We couldn't have timed our meal any better because as soon as we were done the Festival of Fantasy was just starting. And we were on the parade route. It was perfect! I did have to hold Grayson up, but it was worth it. We loved this parade so much!

The crowd after the parade was insane. You literally couldn't move anywhere...and Kevin couldn't remember where he parked the stroller. I am sure you can imagine how fun that was. Anyhow, we ended up getting split up but survived and made it to the circus area for our last ride of the trip. II really wish I would have done the Barnyard rollercoaster - I think the kiddos could have handled that. They were excited about Dumbo, so you can imagine the thrill level we are dealing with. Grayson needed a bathroom break so we stumbled into the Big Top Souvenir shop and OMG - my favorite Disney shop EVER. They had souvenirs, but also all these adorable treats and snacks! Carmel apples, cotton candy, cake pops, marshmallow pops and more....and they were all shaped like Mickey Mouse of course! Since we still had snacks and a couple of quick service meals left on our dining plan I stocked up on these fun treats!

Hayden picked out cotton candy for her and her brothers. She was so excited to give them theirs!

Hanging out waiting for Grayson....

I rode with Ryan and Kevin got these two cuties!

After Dumbo we had to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. There were no tantrums...I think it was the perfect amount of time for our first trip. We didn't over do it. The kids were happy. We were happy. We walked back to the hotel and got our bags from the bell service. We waited for the Magic Express bus to take us to the airport. And once we boarded, this happened....

It took about an hour to get to the airport, and then another hour to get though security. Ugh, it was a disaster. Anyhow, once we got though we had time to grab some dinner and board our flight. We boarded our flight to Dallas and it was easy sailing...Ryan and Hayden fell asleep pretty quickly and Grayson fell asleep as we were landing...oh well. We got home around midnight and everyone slept amazing in their own beds...including myself!