Magic Kingdom and EPCOT with friends!

For our second and third days at Disney, we met up with friends!

The kids were thrilled to have their friends along...it was so wonderful and perfect in every way!

Traditional family pictures on Main Street, in front of the castle! 

I love having this picture taken each time we come here.

Or, do you like this one better...a bit more centered, but I also like the one off-set so you can see more of the castle....thoughts?!

 

Up close, so you can see Walt and Mickey.

Family selfie...a bit closer to the castle.

We went on "It's a Small World" with our friends. In fact, we went on almost every ride with them. It was a super full day and so much fun.

Riding on the Speedway together before lunch.

Riding with friends.

These two are a hoot together.

Krypto took one for the team and rode alone.

More friends met up with us at lunch time and we spent the rest of the day together!

It was a downpour as we waited in line for the Haunted Mansion.

These two have been writing and Skyping with each other for over two years. This was the first time they had seen each other, in person, since June 2017. Waiting in line to ride Pirates of the Caribbean gave them some catching up time.

Same here, monthly Skype calls and emails have been the way they have kept in touch since summer '17...so thankful for our long distance friends.

These two had met in the summer of '17 as well, but two years later, a bit of growing up, and they really connected and became friends. We hope we can get these two together again soon.

The Jungle Cruise!

Big Thunder Mountain!

Splash Mountain!

We hit all the fun ones! So awesome!

The fireworks at night at the Magic Kingdom are always amazing.

We got to watch the show from several different vantage points.

We loved the Beauty and the Best story lit up on the side of the castle.

So neat how they do the light show.

It was definitely different than the show we saw back in '17 or even years previous to that.

Our last day, EPCOT!

Waiting in line for Spaceship Earth with our friends.

Me and my girl.

Pin trading!

So many fun pins...Krypto traded away his Jafar pin to this guy for a "Hidden Mickey Nautilus" pin. He was thrilled to get the Nautilus pin, but I was bummed about losing Jafar, so I had to go on eBay and find it again....silly, Mommy!

Wreck it Ralph.

We spent the afternoon exploring all the lands...here we are in Canada. They had just closed the show down for refurbishment two days before we arrived. Too bad, because we had talked up the show to our friends. It was so funny!

Classic telephone booth shots.

Awe...in England, you have to find your favorite Pooh characters.

With the Eiffel Tower in the background!

We have this picture, taken over 20 years ago together, in storage somewhere. Had the kids take it again as a sweet memory.

We made it to Venice, again! Love this city!

Dinner was in Mexico!

Very good food, just a bit dark.

Sunset over the lake is so lovely.

The golf ball, all lit up at night.

The next day, before we checked out from Shades of Green, our friends from Tampa drove up to see us for a few hours. We treasured our time with them. THANK YOU for coming to see us.

My sweet friend from Tanzania. We miss you guys!

Most of the group...we were missing Craig who was traveling and Sissi took the picture.

Another sweet visit and time with friends who are like family!

Arrival at Disney World...Disney Springs, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios!

Our trip back to the US this summer was centered around a conference we were attending in Orlando the second week of August. As long as we were that close, the kids said, "Let's go to Disney World!" Indy and I, looking at each other in surprise, said, "Really?! There aren't other things you want to do in the Orlando area?"

Now, let me just get it right out there...Indy being retired USAF means we have access to discounted tickets and lodging...and when I say discounted, it's 50% off and that (plus savings that we do every month into our "travel fund" and packing backpacks with snacks and water to keep the food bill down) is how we can afford to go to Disney. My understanding from Disney staff is that the military "Salute" tickets are the cheapest tickets you can get unless you are a FL resident with an annual pass. That being said, we are thankful and blessed by Indy's 20+ years of service!

Driving in...it's the traditional picture and literally sets our hearts racing and we get so excited and start singing and get really goofy in the car.

Standing in Disney Springs, while waiting for our dinner reservation at "Raglan Road" which by the way has one of the best military discounts in all of Disney Springs. Be sure to take out the mil ID and show it before they tally up your bill.

This was our second time eating here...so, so good and so, so much food.

We had traditional Shepherd's Pie, a shrimp dish, some fish and chips, and another couple of super tasty dishes.

As long as we were in Disney Springs, we had to head over to the Pin Trading Outpost and see if there was anything of interest. The mouse ears have sure changed in the past couple of years. We didn't buy any, but we tried on some fun options.

Checking out all the new pins.

Trading pins with people is one of our favorite things to do!

We only had three days, so we split up the first day with Animal Kingdom in the morning and Hollywood Studios in the afternoon and evening.

We were at Animal Kingdom at 0800...there were extra Magic Hours for those of us staying at Park hotels. We always stay at Shades of Green, which is the old Golf Resort that the Army MWR bought from Disney some years ago and turned into a military only resort. It's amazing!

We had never done the Dinosaur ride before...when we were there back in '07, the kids were too short...then in '13 the wait was always too long, and in '17 it wasn't on our radar at all. This time, being there when the park opened and realizing that within minutes there was a 90 minute long line for the Avatar ride, and we had a 0900 Fast Pass for Everest, we went on the Dinosaur ride first thing. It was fun!

When we came out, it was fun to see a stuffed Mickey-head ice cream cone in the gift shop.

Indy loved that they had a Launchpad (from Duck Tales) hangar.

Heading to Everest for our first roller coaster ride. We love this one!

 

Family picture with Everest in the background.

 

Sweet pic of my boys in front of the baobab tree in the center of the park.

Father and daughter.

Some fun dancers in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom.

Animals on the Safari ride...

Then, we scooted over to the Avatar/Pandora area for lunch because we had heard from a good friend that they had wonderful "pick your own" dishes...you pick your meat (chicken, beef, or shrimp), you pick your base (rice, pasta, or potatoes), and you pick your sauce (a teriyaki sauce, a garlic sauce, or a pesto sauce)...we all got something different and it was very good.

Then, we park hopped to Hollywood Studios.

We walked past one of the Star Wars shows.

And, of course, had to go on one of our all time favorites (we usually do it 2-4 times every time we're there, because it is almost always a different scenario and we LOVE that about this ride)...Star Tours!

Classic, can't be missed, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular Show. Our kids have seen this show every time we've been!

We love the part when they re-enact the marketplace and airplane fight scenes.

We really enjoyed the new Toy Story Land. It was Krypto's favorite movie as a young child. He was a HUGE Buzz Lightyear fan!

We met up with my cousin's wife, Amanda, and his son, Gage, and rode the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster....so, so fun!

Me with Amanda and Gage. So glad we finally got to meet up!

Looking forward to the new attraction that will replace the old Movie Ride. We will miss that one, for sure.

This was a surprise gem of a ride. We did it at nightfall, when all the lights were on in Toy Story Land, and we loved it! Definitely worth the hour wait.

The Tower of Terror! Indy and Sissi got to ride it...I did, years ago, before I injured my neck, but now, it's just not worth taking the chance with a herniated disc, so I stayed off.

Probably the last time we'll ever get to see the "Fantasmic" laser light show. They say they are ending it in September...it's been playing for years! The last time we saw it was back in '13 with my parents.

It's always fun to see all the characters as they sail on by and wave!

What a full day...we were up and at the park at 0800 and didn't leave until 2200.

Disney is amazing in every way. So glad we have these family memories.