The Norman Invasion: Disney World!

We all had a GREAT time at Disney World! The drive down was exhausting but Jackson handled it really well. We checked into our hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) and found we had been upgraded from a standard room to a preferred room location with a better view. Yay! Goofy left a message for Jackson on our phone saying that he had heard it was Jackson's first visit and hoped he would have a magical time. What a great start to our trip!

We spent our first full day at the Magic Kingdom. While there, Jackson kept wanting to go inside the castle which he thought was Disney World. We had a hard time getting him to understand that the entire park was Disney World, not just the castle! Jeremy told him that we couldn't go inside the castle because the princesses were sleeping.

On our first day, Jackson rode rides all day (his favorites being the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean) and we ended our day with a special dinner at Be Our Guest, the newest restaurant inside Beast's castle in the new Fantasyland. This was our first time inside the expanded Fantasyland and we thought they did a great job. They added a second Dumbo ride (the lines are usually really long for Dumbo), a very cool Little Mermaid ride, and are currently working on a new Snow White roller coaster.

Jackson's first ride--Dumbo!

Meeting Buzz

Enjoying his chocolate cake!

We ran into Woody and Jesse near Splash Mountain

We started our second day at Chef Mickey's, a character breakfast at the Contemporary Hotel. Jackson loved the Mickey shaped waffles, as did Jeremy! Okay, I'll admit that I loved them too! After we ate breakfast, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto all made their way around the room and stopped at each table to meet all the kids. This was a great way for Jackson to meet the most popular characters! He had a great time!

After breakfast, we hopped on the monorail (or "mamarail" as Jackson calls it) and headed to Epcot for the day. On the monorail, there's a recording that says to stand clear of the doors and each time after it played, Jackson would say "He says that everytime?"

At Chef Mickey's

Jackson had to have his picture taken with the sharks from Finding Nemo in Epcot!

Our third day was spent at Animal Kingdom. We only spent half the day there before taking Jackson to see the cars at the Art of Animation resort. It turned out to be a rainy day (or rainy week, really) so it was a good thing we left when we did.

Animal Kingdom

Jackson wanted his picture taken in front of this old car outside of the safari ride.

That Mickey ice cream sandwich didn't stand a chance!

Jeremy really wanted to take Jackson to the newest Disney hotel, the Art of Animation resort. One part of the hotel is Cars themed, made to look like the town of Radiator Springs. This was a great idea! Jackson loved seeing all of the "real" cars and was able to spend as much time as he wanted with them.

Walking into Radiator Springs with Daddy

Jackson and Doc Hudson

Very cool design! This is the sidewalk taking you to the guest rooms.

Inspecting Ramone. Jackson carefully walked around each car, inspecting everything!

Mater

Later that night after dinner, we went back to the Magic Kingdom so we could see the Electrical Parade and the fireworks. Plus, Mommy and Daddy got to ride another roller coaster! Jackson loved the parade and Tinkerbell even blew him a kiss. I was impressed to see Elliot and Pete from Pete's Dragon in the parade!

On Wednesday, we took a break from the parks. Jackson got a chance to play at the hotel's playground in the morning.

After playing, we went took a boat to Downtown Disney and Jackson made his very own Mater fire truck! There is a store there that has something like Build-a-Bear but with cars and trucks.

Putting Mater together

Carrying the finished product!

On Thursday, we went to Hollywood Studios where Jackson met Lightning McQueen and Mater again. This time, there was a long line of kids waiting to meet them. Jackson was VERY upset that he couldn't spend more time with the cars. There were lots of tears!