A gorilla, Gaston, a hippo and Duffy.

I think this may be my final post on our December Disney trip - it just seems "old" at this point.

This video clip includes some of the animals we saw at Animal Kingdom.  It was pretty cool to see an enormous hippo swim underwater (through a window).  The gorilla exhibit was also great - one of the gorillas was hanging out directly in front of the glass-enclosed viewing area!

When you watch the gorilla video clip, listen for the cast member (CM) saying "...you will have nightmares for the rest of your life!" Some kid went under the rope and climbed up on to the ledge of the window, which was a definite NO-NO.  And, despite more than a couple of stern warnings by the CM for the kid's parent(s) to get him out of there, the CM basically warned everyone that if the gorilla gets mad, ALL of us will be sorry and "have nightmares for the rest of our lives".  I believe him.  The kid's parents finally pulled him away from the window....

Also in this video is Gaston, albeit briefly.  He surprised us we were having a snack outside of Gaston's Tavern so I wasn't able to get it all on video.  He did comment on the fact that Anna was focused on sipping her lemonade though!

It Was Electric.

Another "must do" from our trip was to see the electric parade which runs down Main Street (only on specified nights).  Check. I will say it was well worth staking out a curbside spot two hours before the parade was to begin. Both the parade and the light show on Cinderella's castle parade were simply awesome.  Sarah and I have always said that Disney knows how to put on a show!

Here's some more clips from our trip.  Check it out - it has some cute clips of Allie and Emily holding hands with Tigger! Anna wearing sunglasses is pretty darn cute too!

One snowflake, three fairies. The girls meet Tink and Periwinkle.

This being our third trip to Disney, we had a good idea of what our "must do" and "definitely skip" items were going to be.

We knew we were definitely going to check-out the new Fantasyland (Belle's castle, etc.) and we also planned to spend AT LEAST 2 of our 6 days at Magic Kingdom.  We would also skip Hollywood Studios this trip (and maybe the next couple of trips as well).  We passed on going to Hollywood Studies because, in comparison to the other parks, there are few very attractions  for the girls.

Another must -do was to see Tinkerbell again since Allie missed seeing Tink last time.

I cannot believe I am even going to say this but...Tinkerbell has become a fave of mine. I guess I previously just couldn't get passed her high-pitched voice.  BUT, after seeing the character in person, seeing the girls' reactions to her, and catching some of Tinkerbell movies/shows, I like her! 

Here's Allie, Anna and Emily meeting Tinkerbell and Periwinkle:

Art of Animation.

Having just taken (today) the Audit and Attestation (AUD) section of the CPA exam, I may have a few pockets of time to do a few posts.  I hope the results of the AUD section are better than the previous two sections I took!

So back to our Disney trip.

Both Sarah and I were stressed about flying to Disney this time, given this would be our first time flying with the girls.  And, since renting three car seats can be costly, and there would be no guarantee of getting three when we arrived at the airport in Orlando, we decided to take our (new and pricey) car seats with us. 

Sarah had heard horror stories of car seats getting beat-up bad when checked-in, so we planned to take them on the plane and have the girls sit on them.  We had no idea how that would work - how do you get three car seats from our van (which we needed to park at the airport) gate?  From the gate on to the plane?  Along with the two strollers and carry-on bags? How 'bout getting the car seats (and the six suitcases) from the baggage claim in Orlando to our rental car?  Remember, it was me (the one guy) and Sarah, three 5 year-olds, and Sarah's mom.

We arrived to the airport well in advance.  And our stresses over the car seats were pretty much wiped away by the super-courteous JetBlue agents at the check-in counter.  Thank you!  They convinced us (mostly Sarah, actually) to check-in the car seats - telling us it would be much less of a hassle.  And JetBlue offers a no-fee check-in of car seats.  Again, thank you!

Here's some clips from our first 24 hours of vacation:

Surprise - we are going to Disney!

So, yes our trip to Disney last month WAS a surprise to Allie, Anna and Emily.

I captured their faces while Sarah broke the news only hours before we were to leave for the airport: