Malic Family Vacation: Disney World



For the last year and a half I have been planning our trip to Disney. We had a countdown on our calendar and the day finally arrived. The kids were beyond excited to get the party started. We had an early flight (7am!!) and the kids were ready for fun.

 

 

For people who love hyper organization, Disney is amazing. We had our ride to the hotel all set up and it was the easiest process ever. This is us getting onto the bus to the hotel.

 

We stayed at the Bay Tower at the Contemporary Hotel. The location was great. Along the monorail, walk to Magic Kingdom and a view of the lake. They had a room ready for us so this was our view from the balcony.

 

 

We did a little exploring of the grounds before heading to Disney Springs (downtown Disney). We didn't get park passes for the first day since we didn't know timing and didn't want to spend all the money and not take full advantage.

 

The LEGO store in Disney was amazing. The kids loved it.

 

Blake's stuffed animal collection/obsession continues....

 

I had reservations for a late lunch/early dinner at TREX. The kids thought this was the coolest restaurant they had ever been to. It was also the hardest to get reservations at!!

 

After wandering around Disney Springs we headed back to the hotel for a swim. Little did Blake know that we had a BIG surprise for him at the pool. His best friend, Brady just so happened to be at Disney at the same hotel at the same time. We kept it a secret from the boys and when they saw each other it was magical.

 

We went to Brady's room to watch the fireworks since they had a great view of the Magic Kingdom. The boys got plenty of time to play and hang out and were so happy to see each other.

 

The next morning we got up early and headed to the Animal Kingdom. The kids were very excited for this day and it was basically an amazing zoo with a Disney spin.

 

The safari ride was the total highlight. The kids were beyond excited to get on the ride.

 

The smartest move we made was renting a stroller. This bad boy was worth every penny. The kids napped and Louis and I got to take a little break.

 

After spending the day at the Animal Kingdom we jumped on the monorail and headed to Epcot for dinner and a few rides.

 

Brooke was excited for her first monorail ride.

 

So was Blake...

 

The flowers at Epcot were stunning.

 

The Epcot ball lit up at night was gorgeous

 

At the end of each night, we were exhausted! But, we knew we had to wake up early and do it all over again each day to experience all Disney had to offer. We woke up the next day to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom.

 

The Buzz Lightyear ride was a big hit in our family

 

Brooke loved the teacups

 

Brooke insisted on Mickey Ears just like the picture of the kid on the park map.

 

I grabbed these images of Blake completly loving Splash Mountain and Seven Dwarfs mine. He wanted to ride those "big kid" fun rides all day. Brooke on the other hand, wanted nice and slow rides.

 

Around 2pm we needed a break so we walked back to the hotel (literally 5 mins away) and headed to the pool. The kids were practicing their "relaxing skills"

 

Momma got a drink

 

After a break, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for more fun.

 

The next morning we had to leave the resort and were excited to start part 2 of our Disney adventure, the Disney CRUISE!! Our luggage had to be ready for pickup by 8am but we didn't get on the bus until 11am so since we had time to waste, we rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian resort for breakfast.

 

The "land" portion of our Disney adventure was great. Blake's favorite ride was the DINOSAUR ride at Animal Kingdom. Brooke's favorite ride was Dumbo. They both loved going on all the rides and seeing Mickey and the characters within the park. The next post will have all of our cruise adventures.

 

 



Spring Break in Nashville

For Spring Break we packed up the car and drove down to Nashville. We had never been to Nashville and we had so much fun.

 

The kids LOVE staying at hotels, if we did nothing else they would have been happy with a pool. We stayed at The Inn at Opryland (across the street from the Gaylord but part of the Gaylord network).

 

The second we unpacked we had to make a stop at the pool

 

After the pool and a quick dinner we headed across the street to the Grand Ole Opry. We lucked out and they had a Disney Jr show while we were in town so I was able to see the Grand Ole Opry and the kids were also entertained, win, win!

 

Then no surprise once we got back to the hotel, MORE SWIMMING.

 

The next day was cool and rainy so we headed across the street and explored the Gaylord all day. The fact that a hotel could be explored ALL day and entertain my kids is saying something.

 

The inside of the hotel.... beyond pretty. They have almost 10 acres of tropical gardens inside.

 

There is an indoor boat ride that the kids loved. They spotted lots of catfish in the water.

 

Next to our hotel was the Cooter's from Dukes of Hazard store

 

When in Nashville one must become a Cowgirl.

 

After a quick stop back at our hotel we headed back to the Gaylord for dinner and the fountain light show.

 

This place gets even prettier at night, if you can imagine!

 

The next day the weather was still a bit gloomy but we checked out of the hotel and headed downtown Nashville for some sight seeing.

 

Brooke was NOT feeling it. She was cold and tired.

 

Our friends Erin and Jon live in Franklin, TN (about 20 mins outside of Nashville) and were kind enough to host us for two nights. THANK YOU!!

 

Blake knew that Jon had a pond out front and so he brought his fishing gear. He fished for like 3 hours. He caught a lot of fish and even a "stick bass" haha.

 

The weather was 70 and sunny and felt amazing.

 

Downtown Franklin is the cutest and we had to stop for fro-yo!!

 

We met up with the Irvins at a local park and the kids played then we hit up an early dinner with all of us. I was terrible about getting pictures but i did manage to get one of the three of us girls!

 

The kids LOVED Rookie (and Paxton the dog they are fostering) and were probably most sad to have to leave Rookie.

 

We had so much fun in Nashville and can't wait to go back. Thanks again to the Poliskie's for hosting our crazy crew!!