Fun at Downtown Disney

After our late arrival on Thursday and our quick change of plans on Friday, we decided we would spend a day playing at the hotel, splashing in the pool, playing on the pirate ship and spend a little time at Downtown Disney.  

The hotel was a huge hit with the kids.  There are times that I hate the fact that we own a Marriott Timeshare....and, then, there are times that I love that we own a Timeshare.  This trip to Orlando was definitely worth the yearly fee we paid for the timeshare.  It is WONDERFUL to have a great big room to spread out in.  I'm sure the Disney resorts are fun...but, cramming 2 adults and 2 kids into one hotel room with no extra room can't be all that fun.  We had a full kitchen, full living room, washer and dryer, dishwasher, TWO bedrooms and two baths.  Mommy and Daddy had their on room and the boys had there on room...and their own beds just for added bonus.  It worked out perfectly!

The grounds of the hotel were pretty great too.  Two pools - one with a pirate ship with various water toys and a second with a slide and a giant splash pad, complete with two huge buckets that dumped water every 5-10 minutes.  They also had great, kid friendly basketball courts, putt-putt, pool, ping pong....a kids dream!  So much of a dream that in the midst of a day in the parks, the kids would ask when we could go back to the pool.  

So, Saturday, spent at the hotel playing with the various kids toys.  We ate a small lunch in the room and headed to Downtown Disney around 3:30.  We didn't have reservations (because our original plan had us in a park) so we wanted to be there early enough that we would not have to wait.  We had decided we would eat at T-Rex - a gaint, pre-historic, dinosaur filled restaurant with mediocre food...but, hey, it's all about the experience, right?!? 

We strolled around and checked out some of the stores before heading in for dinner. 

The last time we were at Disney, Payton loved all the sights...and stores...at Downtown Disney.  

Owen loved Woody, made out of legos!

The boys had fun playing with the legos at the lego store. 

Owen found a hat like Woody's!
I LOVE his sweet smile!

The last time we were at Disney, we let Payton pick one prize - ALL he wanted was a Mac, the truck from cars.  We searched all of Disney - the parks, the stores, etc. for a Mac.  The ONLY Mac they had was a large (as in 2 feet long) Mac that was also a car carrier - so, it was the truck and it was filled with every Cars miniature car.  It wasn't cheap....but it was ALL he wanted.  So, thanks to Mommy and Daddy and Meme and Pawpaw, the kids got what the wanted.  I must say that Mac truck, all the cars and the car carrier has been put to good use over the past 2 1/2 years.  

As we walked into the first toy store this year, I had to laugh...there was an entire shelf full of these perfect little toddler sized Mac trucks....for less than $10 each.  Oh well!  

One of my most favorite memories of the trip will be this simple moment. 

 In the Disney toy store, there is a large section filled with just plush toys.  Owen has a small Mickey that he sleeps with at night - this was  bought on our last trip.  Owen immediately went to the Mickey Mouse section and found the biggest Mickey of all...about 3 feet tall, if not more...grabbed it and gave it the biggest hug in the world.  He was SO happy to have found Mickey.  He ran around with it for a few minutes....luckily, we convinced him that we would have to leave the extra large Mickey and were able to move on through the store.   He was equally happy with the Peter Pan figure who was flying around overhead...he wanted to fly like Peter! 

The large Buzz Lightyear out in front of the toy store

Eventually we made our way back over to T-Rex for dinner.  If you can see all those tiny heads at the bottom of the picture you might be able to understand just how crowded it was for the first few days of our trip....way too crowded! 

Owen was initially scared of the large, fake, loud, moving dinosaur's but eventually he understood they were fake and we were all safe.  

I must say our T-Rex experience was not the best - service was poor due to changing shifts of waiters, the food was waaaaaay overpriced (which is expected and planned for at Disney, but this was a little much!) and not very tasty.  T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe are similiar...both overpriced....but I would definitely Rainforest over T-Rex in the future.  The kids did eventually like the dinosaurs but it just wasn't worth it this time around. 

After dinner, we did a little more shopping.  Both boys were allowed to pick one prize for the week.  I am very proud to say that as we walked through the stores, they didn't find too many things that they just had to have.  We ended up with two new Mickey Mouse shirts...and that was it...for the entire week!  

Since we were there, we had fun trying on a few hats...

Goofy

Pluto and Goofy

...and, we checked out the candy store...

How awesome are these rice krispie treat cakes!?! 

Yum, yum, yum....I am happy we stopped by because I got some great ideas for Owen's upcoming Mickey Mouse themed birthday party.  

 After a fun day, the boys were ready for bed...we had a big day planned at Hollywood Studio's on Sunday.

They were happy to show off their brand new Mickey shirts...in keeping with "tradition," Payton picked the same shirt he had picked 2 years ago...just two sizes bigger! 

We love M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!