Disney Day 4 Highlights

My good friend said to me today, "So you're on day 3 of highlights, right? That means we have several more days of highlights to look forward to, right? At least, like, 7?" To a blogger that is not famous and doesn't always have something to say, those words are very uplifting. Thanks, friend! :)

Day 4 at Disney was a busy one. We got up and moved to a new room - the 3-bedroom grand villa - before leaving for the park (not that the room was ready... we just had to be out of the room by 11 AM and wouldn't have been back from the park by then). We drove to Epcot and had breakfast with the Princesses. We walked through a rainy Epcot and encountered several cheery cast members. It helped that I was with my mom - the chipper-est person I know who can always find the bright side of a dark cloud.

After breakfast (where Hannah got to meet Ariel in her human form), we park hopped to the Magic Kingdom. We took a monorail from Epcot to a central hub, where you have to transfer to another monorail to get to the Magic Kingdom.

This is where my day, in particular, got interesting. As we approached the Magic Kingdom in the monorail, I realized I couldn't feel my cell phone in my pocket. I panicked but, fortunately, didn't get angry or grouchy with anyone. I got off the monorail and the group proceeded to the gates. The CMs at the monorail platform called the monorail station I'd been at at the hub to see if anyone turned it in. God was definitely looking out for me in a few ways. First, one monorail is currently designed in a Tron theme. It's the only one of the 12 that looks like that right now. Secondly, we got in the handicapped car (by "luck"). Both of these details were helpful because I could tell the CMs precisely where we'd been sitting. They didn't find it. One of the CMs graciously allowed me to call my cell on his to see if anyone answered. He then showed me as he deleted the number to prove he wouldn't store it. I didn't really care about that at that time, but it was a nice way to go above-and-beyond. They asked the CM running the Tron-o-rail to call when they got to station. After a few minutes, they got the call that they found the phone. The phone then was sent with driver back to the Magic Kingdom on the next trip, about 5 minutes later. What service!

Hannah rode Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain for the first time. She wasn't super excited, but she did it anyway. :)

We got to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. (The back story is that a rich man in Arksansas, Jennings Osborne, put up lights on his house to please his young daughter. Each year it got more elaborate. Eventually, he bought the houses around him to put up even more lights. His neighbors sued and won, so Disney heard and offered to buy the lights from him. Now they put them up at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Christmas. They start putting up the lights in August to turn them on in November - you'll see why it takes so long in a minute!)

Last but not least, we moved to our INCREDIBLE 3-bedroom villa. Expect LOTS of pictures of this!

Now, onto the pictures:

Waiting for Epcot to admit us for our princess breakfast.

This is how much of Matt he liked to have photograph. This is his right shoulder that Karen is hugging. ;)

Mom and Betty posed for a sister's pic.

The Tron-o-rail that would later take my iPhone hostage.

Epcot before park opening (we had a breakfast reservation for before park opened to get us in early for some shots of an empty park).

Cinderella showed Addie some love.

Hannah got to meet Ariel!

Karen and her fam posed for a picture after breakfast.

The fab 3 posing with three of the strollers we pushed all week. (This was about the time I lost my phone.)

The Magic Kingdom at the holidays (iPhone had been recovered by now.)

Hannah was REALLY HAPPY to be riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Hannah on Splash Mountain; she would frown until I said, "Hannah!" Then she'd turn, smile, then go back to frowning. It was pretty funny!

Mom requested this photograph since it was such a nice day.

The decorations around the Magic Kingdom.

This tree was huge!

Front of the park.

Okay, get ready for some grand villa pictures. This is our front door.

The master bedroom's bed. Notice the Simba and Nala etching on the bed.

The master bathroom. It. Was. AMAZING!

The Mufasa mural behind the tub.

Oh, did I forget to mention the flatscreen TV across from that tub in the master bath???

Kitchen area.

Dining room table (aka board game central).

One of the other two bedrooms.

Living room/dining room/kitchen.

Pool table area. Lots of fun was had here. Matt officially rocks at pool, by the way.

Now, the shots of the savannah from our room. There were THREE 180 degree balconies. You could get to them from the master bedroom/pool table room, the living room/dining room, and the two other bedrooms. They were SOOOO nice!

The middle balcony had a nice seating area. We only had one scare when Hannah was caught pushing a chair up to the edge to stand on and look over the railing. After that, the kids weren't allowed on the balconies without an adult!

Giraffe walking by - not zoomed in at all. So cool to hear its hooves crunch through the grass.

We could see Expedition Everest, a ride at the Animal Kingdom, from our room.

More giraffe pictures. We consistently saw 3 or 4 giraffes from our room.

Roan antelope.

Thompson gazelle (otherwise known as Tommies).

Eland (huge, graceful cow-like animal).

Giraffe again. Did I mention they're my favorite? :)

Giraffe, eland, wildebeast, and tommie.

Giraffe.

Close-up of the wildebeast. Matt and I thought they were really pretty. Their skin looked like it was covered with lots of long hair when they really just had a little bit of a mane.

Can't remember what these birds were, but they looked like they were kissing!

Even the curtains in the rooms were themed!

The prettiest sight of them all! :)

On to the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

Ta-Da!

Isn't it gorgeous?

Last but not least, aren't we a good-looking bunch? :)