Night 1: Our Flight to Orlando
Our flight was set to leave Manchester just before 6 pm. I was nervous about flying with Josiah for the first time, but we had somehow gotten into boarding group A, so at least I knew we'd all be sitting together.
Josiah was running around the terminal as we awaited our plane to arrive. When we started to board, we noticed that there really weren't that many people waiting at the gate. As we got onto the plane, the flight attendant told us "Just be prepared, it's a really full flight. There's a whole 18 of you flying to Orlando."
PHEW.
At least if Josiah freaks out this whole flight, we're only ruining 14 people's days and not 175.
So we got ourselves situated in Row 1 with the extra leg room, laughing about how we could all have our own row separated by a row and there'd still be unused rows, and up we went. Josiah half nursed, but was really just interested in what was going on. The rest of the flight? Well, he sat on the floor by our feet with toys, food, and for a brief period of time, Moana. He did wonderfully. A few little spats of cries, but it was more from us not letting him go running around the airplane. We landed in Orlando and headed to the Pop Century Resort. Mike and I ended up going to the food court and getting our refillable mugs for the week and a small dinner, then headed back to crash and get ready for our amazing week ahead...
Day 1: Magic Kingdom and EPCOT- Dapper Days!
The big day had finally arrived. Our first day at Disney. I was beyond excited. Mom was probably the most excited though, as she hadn't been to Magic Kingdom since 2010 for my 18th birthday, and had only been to Magic Kingdom one other time before that when she was a kid. We all got our dapper outfits on (except Mike because it was HOT out that Sunday), and headed out to Magic Kingdom. We arrived, dancing as we entered through those gates, and, well, I'll let mom's face tell the rest.
We were all a bit emotional heading down Main Street, USA, but moms tears of joy and pure excitement had us all tearing up a bit. Heck, I'm tearing up now too!
At the castle awaited our friends from home and their kids. We had our pictures taken with them, and then parted ways till later that morning. Mike and I headed over to our first ride, Space Mountain, while Mom and JP did their thing. On Space Mountain was when it finally hit that we were here. We had finally made it to Disney.
We met up with mom, and headed to Josiah's first ride. This would set the tone for the entire trip, and so we picked the most classic Disney ride there is, Dumbo. And although his face might not show it here, he absolutely loved it, and it would soon become a favorite ride of his. After Dumbo, we made our way to the New Fantasy Land and got some breakfast. I can't remember what sort of wrap/ sandwich Mike got, because all I can think of is the Gaston Cinnamon Roll. It was HUGE, delicious, and super inexpensive. Mom and I split it and man was it good.
From there, we went on Little Mermaid, the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight, and then made our way back to the castle to see one of the stage shows with our friends. I of course, made Mike and Mom stop and take pictures at the famous "Purple Wall" since I'm a super basic white girl at Disney.
Before leaving Magic Kingdom to head to EPCOT for the official Dapper Days event, we had one more stop to make. We had to see the main mouse himself. We had to meet Mickey. Josiah's face when he saw him was in complete awe. We let him get down and run to Mickey, which he did! But then Mickey said "Hi-ya Pal!" and Josiah stopped dead in his tracks, and came right back to us! He warmed up to Mickey eventually, and by the end we had a smiling, happy, excited boy who didn't want to leave! 
After an AMAZING experience with Mickey, we made our way to the Monorail to head to EPCOT for the Dapper Days festivities. There were a lot more people dressed up than I thought would be, and I was SO excited that we got to be apart of this event!
After we had these pictures taken (some of my favorite from the week PS), we went into the France pavilion. We had to go to the bakery and get my Bacon Cheese Roll. I swear, I could eat them every day and never grow tired of them, they're SO good.!
We finished walking the world showcase on this super hot day, and decided it was time to head back to the hotel. We'd been out since 8 AM, and it was nearing 6 PM. We went back to the hotel where we went to the splashpad with JP. He fell in love with the water instantly! I think he would have been happy just spending our whole trip there rather than in the parks, but we obviously weren't going to let that happen!
Day 2: Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom
Animal Kingdom has always held such a special place in our Disney story. We were picked to be part of a parade on our honeymoon, it has my favorite roller coaster, and I'm pretty sure I bought my first pins at AK too, so to say I was excited to get back into Animal Kingdom would be an understatement. We started off our day going on Expedition Everest and going to Dino Land (which would quickly become Josiah's favorite part of AK).. He LOVED the TriceraTop Spin ride (aka dumbo but dinosaurs). I think he ended up going on this ride about a dozen times throughout our trip.
After going to the right side of the park, we made our way over to the Africa side and went on our first Safari. Watching my mom who has been to Africa on a safari, and watching my son who loves animals, was such a great experience. We got to see SO many animals, got to sit and relax for a few minutes, and then we were back on the go! We went back to Rafiki's Planet Watch for a while to get away from the crowds and break up our day a little bit.
After being in Africa for a while, we finally made our way into Pandora: The World of Avatar.
It. Was. Amazing.
Nothing could have prepared me for Pandora. It was extremely immersive, the landscaping, the sounds, the overall vibe. It just was like nothing else we've ever done. To be honest, I went in with low expectations, since EVERYONE was freaking out over how good it was. I kept thinking "ok it can't really be this good can it?" But it was. It so was. We had fast passes for the Navi River Ride this morning, and the anachronistic were like nothing we've ever seen. Josiah ended up nursing the entire ride so I didn't get to completely focus on the ride, but it was so so so incredible. Maybe not worth the 2+ hour wait that it would be without a fast pass, but still incredible.After that, we explored the land a little more. There is a very cool drum area where if you're lucky, some local Pandora Explorer's will come out and do a drum ceremony for you. Josiah was OBSESSED with these performers. I think he would have stayed all day and watched if we let him.
After a long, hot morning at Animal Kingdom, we made our way back to the hotel to change and take a quick nap before heading out to Magic Kingdom for one of the most special Disney moments we've ever had.We got to MK and made our way straight back to the New Fantasy Land so that we could meet Gaston while wearing our Beauty and the Beast outfits. Gaston's Meet and Greet gets better every time we do it. His personality is as big as his muscles, and there's just no one else like him. I mean, look at him. He's just so dreamy.
After we had rushed all the way back to see Gaston, we booked it all the way back to the front of the park for what probably is my favorite Disney memory from this trip. We went all the way to the top of Main Street to the Harmony Barber Shop to get JP's hair cut! His hair wasn't overly long and really didn't NEED to be cut, but he had some little wispy hairs that bothered him around the ears, and what better place to get your hair cut than at Disney??Well, Josiah did absolutely amazing. The woman handed him an R2-D2 toy to hold while she cut his hair and he sat there good as gold, while Mama held his body so he didn't go flying, and MeMa and Dada took video's and pictures. I didn't cry once, which is funny because I cried thinking about him getting his hair cut before. When all was said and done and he got his First Hair Cut ears, I just couldn't help but smile. Man he's so cute and now looks like a full grown toddler.
After his hair cut, I started making fast pass reservations so that we could start getting more done around the parks. We were able to do Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, People Mover, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, Pirates, and even got to dance in a flash mob with the Country Bears! Lots of little magical moments thrown in, like doing the Hokey Pokey with cast members, watching Josiah's face during the drop on Pirates, and just being completely wrapped up in the Disney magic.
After a long day of play, rides, and so much fun, we made our way back to New Fantasy Land again for dinner at Be Our Guest. I am SO glad we were able to make this dream of Mom's come true. We loved our food on the last trip, and knew we had to make our way back again before it became a fixed menu starting Summer 2018. Every last bite was delicious, our waitress was one of the funniest, kindest, most amazing people we've ever met. She went above and beyond. She brought Mom and JP each a Mickey shaped "Grey Stuff" with a candle in it for their birthdays, as well as a card for each of them from Belle and the Beast! Mom full out cried, and then laughed, and then cried again. Josiah? Well, Josiah was asleep so he doesn't remember any of it, but it was a night to remember. The park closed at 10 so by the time we got out of the dinner, we had just enough time to take a few pictures with the Beast, a few shots behind the castle (my favorite view at night), and drag our super tired feet back to the hotel since we had 2 very long days coming ahead of us.*Since the last time I tried to save this nothing saved, I'm going to post this unfinished and keep updating it, so be on the look out*
