Over the tail end of the kids’ spring break, we packed up the car and headed down to Disney for a little staycation with my parents. It was so nice to “get away” for a few days without having to actually travel anywhere. We had an action-packed long weekend, so brace yourself for a whole lot of photos!
We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge on Thursday after the kids took a short nap in the car. We walked into our rooms to find the most amazing view ever — animals everywhere! We were hoping to have a room with bunk beds, but two full beds is what we got. We weren’t sure what to expect since we would be co-sleeping with the kids for the first time, but it worked out well. Thankfully, my parents’ room was right next door and the monitor worked perfectly!
Crosby was enthralled with the animals. They were truly amazing to see in action and you could see them from most of the spots in the hotel. He would wake up each morning exclaiming to “see animals!”.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool and the playground, as well as exploring the hotel.Our friends from Indiana were down at Disney for spring break as well, so they came over to check out the hotel and visit for a little bit. We ended up getting dinner at the hotel and taking it up to our room to eat. The kids loved that there was actually a Disney Junior channel, so they got to watch their favorite shows before bed each night.
On Friday, we headed to Animal Kingdom! We knew it was going to be a late night considering the Hoosiers didn’t play until after 10pm, but we were up early and ready to go! We took advantage of Disney transportation while we were there, which was so convenient.
As soon as we got into the park, we headed straight for the African Safari. I truly believe this is the best ride in all of Disney World. We took over 50 pictures on this ride alone. We only waited about 20-25 minutes to ride, which is really great considering the ride itself if 22 minutes long. Almost all of the animals were out and about while we were on the safari and we were able to get very close to several of them.
After lunch and some kiddo rides in Dino Land, it was nap time. Kenley went right to sleep in the stroller, but Crosby wouldn’t fall asleep until he was in the Ergo. The boys rode Everest in the single rider line while mom and I enjoyed some beverages while the kids slept.
After the Lion King show, we decided to stop into the baby center since the skies were looking a little dark. Thankfully, we made it just in time. We camped out in the baby center and the kids watched some TV while we waited for the storm to pass. It was still raining, but we decided to head over to the Finding Nemo show. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the six of us under the world’s smallest umbrella because it was pretty humorous. Both the Lion King and Nemo shows were amazing!
The park had really cleared out after the rain, so mom and I went over to ride Everest in the single rider line and got right on and off. I was stuck in the front row, which is typically not my favorite place to be, but I survived. We lasted the entire day at the park with minimal whining and arguing. It was such a fun day!
Saturday morning, we headed over to the other pool on the property to go swimming, go down the water slide, and came back to see the animals eating right outside our room!
Lucky for us, the Mets were playing at Disney that weekend too so we worked that into our plans. ESPN Wide World of Sports is home to the Atlanta Braves for spring training and they played the Mets on Saturday. This was the only spring training game we got to see, but deGrom was pitching, so it was definitely worth it!
Later that night, we went bowling and had dinner at Splitsville at Disney Springs! It was a fun place, but it was hard to keep a certain 2 year old confined to our tiny area and bowling lane. It was also raining throughout the evening so we were walking very briskly with the double stroller through the masses of people to get to and from the bus stop. Needless to say, we were all in bed by 9pm that night.
Easter Sunday, we headed down to the lobby of the hotel to partake in the fun activities and meet the big man himself!
Before heading home, we went back to Disney Springs to have lunch at the T-Rex Cafe! It was a fun atmosphere and a neat place.
We had such a great weekend. The kids were so good and it was the prefect long weekend away. We are so fortunate to have such great opportunities for weekend adventures like this right here in our backyard.
The Gilbertson Family 