Animal Kingdom

I had assumed that Animal Kingdom was a bit of a glorified zoo and therefore thought it would be just a nice little add-on to the trip. Instead, it was one of our favorite parts! It's what every zoo should be, plus great theming, awesome rides, and cute shows. Leave it to Disney.

The Tree of Life is the literal centerpiece of Animal Kingdom. It has more than 300 different animals carved into the trunk and is the most impressive artificial tree I've ever met.

Our first stop was the Kilimanjaro Safari, which takes you through a wildlife preserve in an open-sided truck and provides all sorts of exotic animal sightings. It was neat to see so many different animals in their "natural" habitat. Fun for all ages, I tell you.

This giraffe was my favorite. Probably because its pose reminded me of the giraffe on Madagascar, and anything that prompts Madagascar quotes earns top points in my book.

We saw a few big cats -- a cheetah that slowly stalked toward the safari truck and a lioness who napped on her rock.

The sight of crocodiles always creeps me out. And although hippos look friendly, they're deadly, too. So just don't go swimming in Africa, okay? 

And you should probably stay away from the horned animals, too.

Spotting a family of elephants is always exciting. Baby elephants are adorable. Okay, baby anythings are adorable.

Just ask Jake.

Flamingos are cute, too.

After the safari, we left Africa and headed toward Asia. Not before jamming out on the African drums, though.

The Himalayas are always lovely this time of year. Oh, and the Expedition Everest ride is a keeper. And so are the monkeys. And the tigers. And the Kali River Rapids. Okay, so we liked Asia.

Jakey made sure to get his naps in wherever he could get comfortable.

Dinoland was our next stop. We all loved Dinosaur, which is a better version of an Indiana Jones-type ride. In fact, we loved it so much that I spent $20 on a picture that I look ridiculous in (my teenage self would be mortified). But it's one of my favorite ride photos of all time. Check out that front row! Don't they look so perfectly terrified of the giant tyrannosaurus rex that's about to eat them? And isn't it weird that Nicole is sitting all alone in the back corner? That's the best part of the picture. Because she's not. That Joshie, he knows just what to do when being chased by dinosaurs! And if you look closely, you can catch a glimpse of the orange Joshie ball curled up between Matt and Nicole.

Then we had some time to kill before our next show, so my brothers dug for dino bones, I cuddled Jakey, and then Matt took a burp cloth and turned Jakey into Super Baby. Dads are fun like that.

Finding Nemo: The Musical was the final item on our agenda. It's the top-rated theme park show in America (tough competition, I'm sure), and it didn't disappoint. Very cute. And very worth jumping over concrete walls to sneak into after they cut off the line. My brothers may or may not know this from experience.

And then we couldn't leave without taking a picture with the giant Christmas tree. Everyone should have one of these.

Magic Kingdom

On day two, we visited the Magic Kingdom. It was decked out for the holidays and we had a grand ol' time taking in the Disney magic, riding familiar rides and watching familiar shows.

Before going any further, it must be noted that as Disney die-hards, we believe that Disneyland > Magic Kingdom. Put simply, Disneyland is much happier, more magical, and has better versions of the same rides. (Well, with the exception of Space Mountain. But whatever.) Even the food is better and cheaper at our happiest place on earth. I'm telling you, my favorite marshmallow treat from Disneyland costs fifty cents more at Disney World and is lacking the ever-important layer of caramel. Truth. That said, Florida's Cinderella castle takes the cake. Sorry, Sleeping Beauty!

Back to our recap, though. My mom bought everyone matching Disney shirts as part of the "Surprise! We're going to Disney World!" deal. Then she decided to have my baby brothers wear them while in the park so they'd be easy to spot. Then we were like, Hey! It'd be funny to take a picture with all of our shirts in front of the castle first thing in the morning. So we all wore matching shirts and packed our regular shirts in our diaper bags, backpacks, purses, etc. Then we didn't manage to get everyone to the castle at one time until it was almost sunset. And then figured it was too late to change anyway. So we were one of those families all day. And let me tell you, we owned the matching shirt business! We played up the cheese-factor all day and it was oh-so-entertaining. Oh, and the matching shirts came up big that afternoon when Gabe got separated from the group. Not one minute later, a nice lady had returned him to his proper owners. Point for matching shirts.

We started the day by riding the monorail into the park and hitting up the mountains. Big Thunder, Splash, and Space, that is. Then it was onto Jungle Cruise and Pirates, where my baby brothers got to go up on stage and pledge their allegiance to Jack Sparrow.

The grandbabies garnered plenty of attention and earned us plenty of baby swap passes. Grandpa was an expert babysitter during said baby swaps.

We packed cold pizza for an easy lunch. Disney meals can add up, you know.

Jake's Bugaboo was perfect for the trip. He slept and strolled in it like a champion.

We split up here and there throughout the day, but got 20 of us together for It's a Small World.

The grandbabies thought it was the best ride ever.

They also enjoyed watching shows at the castle.

And everyone loves a good Disney parade.

At about 5 p.m., we finally got the whole family together for a picture. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

After picture time, we snuck in a few more rides before returning to the castle for a dance party in the street.

Then we watched Prince Charming and Cinderella decorate their home for the holidays.

And then the babies fell asleep. That is, every baby but mine. Jake's always ready for a party!