I've got a little sunshine on my mind y'all...well a lot of sunshine on my mind! I am beyond ready to ditch the coat for my tank tops and these boots for my Sperry's! I'm ready for maxi's, mojitos, tan lines and the smell of salt in the air! What about you?
Luckily I am blessed enough to live on the coast where I can live that a lot more often than most, holla honey boo boo child!
Since the cold has been ridiculously longer this year than it normally is, I've been dreaming more and more of summer and when I think of summer I think of vacations! Doesn't everyone?
I thought what a better way to meet new blog friends and hear from my old blog friends, about what their summer vacation plans are this year. Don't have a summer vacation planned? No worries, link up and share with us what your dream vacation would be. Have you already been on vacation? Great, grab the button and tell us how your trip was and share those pictures.
Although I'm a South Carolina girl through and through, I thought no better person to co-host this link up with than the prettiest little Georgia peach I know, Lauren, over at a Peach State of Mind!
So grab the button and link up, tell us any and everything about your dream vacation, past vacation or current vacation(s) planned, now onto mine...
In two weeks me and the hubs are taking a small weekend trip to Jacksonville, Florida. It's some much needed time away for the two of us, plus we'll visit my aunt while we are in town...although we are looking forward to this little getaway, it's not our "big" vacation we have planned.
There is no better vacation, when you have a child, than Disney!
I have always been a Disney fan, always. Tarl and I have been on more than one occasion. We went to Orlando 7 years ago, on a whim, because you can do that prior to having children, not that I would trade Cadence for the world, because she is the one who makes vacations more special than they already are! Anyways, back on track...we were planning to just do Universal Studios, as neither one of us has ever been. As stated, this entire vacation was on a whim, we didn't even have hotel reservations. We just drove down and checked into a red roof inn (yikes!)...in our defense we were two broke kids trying to vacation on a "dime", literally! Needless to say, we still have never seen Universal, because we couldn't help ourselves, but to do Disney instead!
We also went to Disney on our 3rd wedding anniversary and then went again last March for an extended weekend. To say Disney is special is an understatement! From the moment you drive through those magical gates it's a wonderful experience. Even through the crowds and lines I've never had a bad time!
Although we've been to Disney more than once, we have never planned a dream Disney vacation. This year we did just that and I'm now counting down the days! I did an original post a few weeks back, and since that post a few plans have been tweaked due to the countless amounts of reviews I have read online for certain restaurants and attractions. You can read the original post here.
Day one...
We are checking in to a hotel we have always wanted to stay in and have heard great things about, Disney's Coronado Springs. It is in their moderate price range, which means it's a bit more than the average but a lot less than the deluxe. So essentially, you get more bang for your buck!
After check in we're headed to Hollywood Studios or MGM (whichever you prefer). This is a first for our family. We have never done MGM, but are beyond excited to see that huge Mickey hat when we walk through the gates. We have a character lunch planned at Hollywood & Vine, which is where we will meet Sophia the First and Doc McStuffins...Cadence's favorite Disney Junior characters!
Once we leave MGM, we will head to Downtown Disney and do DisneyQuest, an interactive play zone for children. We will also visit all of the cute shops in DD and grab a quick bite to eat with one of our quick service meals (we purchased the Disney Dining plan, definitely the way to go!)
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Day two...
On day two we're headed to Epcot. Epcot is very under-rated by a lot of people, and it's one of our favorite parks, second to Magic Kingdom of course. They actually have a lot of attractions for children and when we went last year with Cadence, she adored Soarin and the Little Nemo ride! We have a lunch date planned at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall where we will dine with Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White during the Storybook Princess Lunch. After lunch we will head back to our hotel and relax on the man made beach and by the pool. Once we shower and get refreshed, we'll head back to Epcot for the nighttime spectacular show.
Day three...
This will be our first day in Magic Kingdom on our trip. I didn't want to do MK our first day, because I like to devote an entire day in Magic Kingdom and the first couple days of our trip we wanted time to settle in to our hotel and learn our surroundings a bit better, because Disney property is huge!
We will take the monorail to Chef Mickey's for breakfast, which is one of the hardest restaurants to get reservations due to it's location in Disney's Contemporary Resort. You get to eat breakfast with Mickey and the gang, while the monorail whips through the hotel lobby above.
After breakfast we will head into Magic Kingdom and enjoy our day riding rides and taking in all the sites, smells, eats, treats, parades and fireworks that MK offers! We also have reservations to dine in Cinderella's castle for dinner. Cadence will of course be dressed in her Belle ballgown for dinner, it's only appropriate, right?! After all, Belle is her favorite :)
Day four...
I planned an open day for day four. Since it's in the middle of the week and we have been going from park to park, I wanted to make sure that we had a day to do and see without going, going, going. This is the day we can kick back and relax with what we want to do. If we want to go to a water park we can do that. If we want to go see Orlando, we can do that too...it's all up to us, and I like to have that one day during the trip with no plans what-so-ever...this is that day. The only item planned for this day is dinner at the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney, definitely an experience and a "must-eat"!
Day five...
Animal Kingdom...love AK! Safaris, zoo, rides, all rolled into one! After visiting the park and seeing all the animals, we have a Princess dinner reserved at the Grand Floridian at 1900 Park Fare...yum!
While eating dinner at 1900 Park Fare we will have views of Magic Kingdom's firework show, I am beyond excited about this!
Day six...(our last day)
For our last day I didn't plan any dinner reservations. I wanted to spend all of our time park hopping and squeezing in all those last minute memories we can make, so quick service meals it is! We will start and end the day at Magic Kingdom, and probably visit Epcot in between, since it is only a monorail ride away, and we have the Park Hopper pass.
I like to start the day at Magic Kingdom because there is nothing better than seeing Cinderella's castle as soon as you walk in, and there's no better way to end a trip at Disney than watching that magical fireworks show at night over the castle walls...it truly is breath taking!
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To say I am ready is an understatement. You have no idea how many times I have gone online to change our reservation to a sooner date, but then realize that sometimes the anticipation is part of the fun. Plus we do have other trips planned, just not as big, so right now they will have to fill the void I suppose :)
Alright now...link up and tell us all about those summer vacays!
Yay for Disney World! I've never been so I'm very jealous! Thanks for letting me link-up with you!
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