Downtown Disney

Wow, so I took over 300 pictures while at Disney! That's a lot for me!! There's no way I'm going to post every single picture so I'll just highlight my favorites. I plan on making a scrapbook online to have printed so Lauren can look back on her first trip to Disney! 

I'll start off and say we stayed at Buena Vista Suites if anyone is looking for a place to stay. We really liked it! I looked at Mousesavers.com for months while planning our trip. They recommended Buena Vista Suites for an off Disney property hotel. We didn't really have an interest in staying on property because I wanted a suite hotel so Lauren could have her own room. She isn't the best when sleeping in the same room of us so this was important. I also wanted a free breakfast so we could save some cash to eat out later in the day.

Our room was basically 2 rooms. We had a living room with a desk, pull out couch, chair, TV, refrigerator, microwave, etc. 

They were out of king size bed rooms when we booked (about 2 months ago) so we had 2 double beds. It was still nice and spacious. The hotel has a shuttle schedule going to the parks. It was very convenient and the buses were very nice charter buses showing movies. The rides were about 30 minutes because of traffic and we picked up at 1 other hotel. The hotel was only a couple of miles from the parks but it still took a while to get there.

We made our way to Downtown Disney our first day there. After driving overnight to Orlando, we took it easy in the morning and just went out in the afternoon. The shuttle didn't pick up at downtown Disney until 11:15pm so we just drove over. They have free parking and it was incredibly easy to park there so it worked out perfectly. 

We were hungry and wanted to beat the dinner crowd so we ate at T-Rex around 4pm. It was so nice eating early and not having to wait for a table. Later in the evening, we noticed they had a wait so it worked out great for us.

Doesn't Lauren look thrilled in the picture above? She was tired from sleeping in the car all night. She was a trooper though and was great considering she's only 2. We kept her entertained by.....

coloring....she loves colors!

and emptying the sugar caddy. I seriously can not believe how many times she can empty and refill that thing! 

We then made our way to the shops and had some nice retail therapy. We met Cinderella along the way and Lauren thought she would give her a nice pat and say hello.

We then found lots of Minnie Mouse stuffed animals. A sweet girl working at the shop played with Lauren and wanted her picture taken with her. She was very sweet and even gave Lauren lots of stickers. Lauren didn't come home with those 2 Minnies though. She got a small one for her stocking.

It then turned dark so we decided to ride some little rides. These costs money and we were sooooo "those parents" paying to take our kid on multiple rides. Todd and I love the kid rides just as much as Lauren. Sometimes I don't know who the adult is :) First up: the little train that goes in a circle about 6 times. Hey, for $1, we went a few times.

Then on to the carousel. This is my favorite. Lauren likes the trains best I think. She just screams "chooo choooo" the whole time. It comes out more like "shooo shoo" but same thing :)

We then capped off the evening with some adult beverages and popcorn. Lauren was getting cranky big time and popcorn always does the trick. She's is definitely my child. We both love our "corn" as Lauren calls it.

Just like every other night we were there, Lauren fell asleep before getting back to the hotel. Disney wears a Princess out for sure.