Disney World Adventures

Now that we live in Florida, it has been an absolute must to visit Disney World. Since it is only a 2 1/2 hour drive from us, we have made several trips this summer and have now successfully visited all 4 of the Disney World theme parks. So here is a recap of all our exciting Disney adventures.

It all began on May 9 (our 11th anniversary) at Epcot Center...

Donovan still talks about the "Big Silver Ball".

We started off eating lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh.

It even included a belly dance show.

He joined the dance.




Japan World even had a life-size torii just like at Miyajima, near where we used to live in Japan. Epcot was quite fun. Donovan even rode the Test Track race car and loved going into Spaceship Earth (the Big Silver Ball).









It was a long and hot day walking through all the various countries represented, but we all survived.

On our next trip, we visited the Magic Kingdom (the original Disney park).

Cinderella's Castle

Goofy boys.

Donovan loved the teacups after he rode them, but wasn't quite sure what to think before it started.

The Buzz Lightyear adventure was great because Donovan actually got to meet the real Buzz Lightyear.

Goofing around in It's a Small World.

Flying in Dumbo.

Donovan's favorite ride of the day (with maybe one exception to be noted later on). The Walt Disney World Railroad!

Now that the summer had ended, we thought it would be nice to actually stay overnight and go to more than one park in a trip. So we headed back to Orlando last weekend and a wonderful time.

Here is Donovan at our hotel Shades of Green (right across from the Magic Kingdom).

We got to Orlando on Friday night and headed to Downtown Disney after checking in.

We had dinner on a steamboat and then dessert at Ghiradelli's. Mmmm, good.

The next day, we went to the Hollywood Studios park.

Donovan was finally able to meet his absolute favorite movie stars of all time...

Lightning McQueen and Mater!

He was enjoying this quite a lot, when Donovan touched Mater and at that very moment, Mater beeped his horn.

He still had fun in Radiator Springs; he just didn't want to go to near Mater again.

We also got to meet Mike and Sully from Monsters, Inc.

and got to ride a tram around the studios.

The new Toy Story ride was quite fun

Donovan showing off the talking Mr. Potato Head.



Donovan's favorite ride of the day was the Tower of Terror. Before he went in it, we just told him it was a really fast elevator.

He did really well and never screamed, but he sure was in a hurry to leave the building. We asked him if he liked the ride, and he said yes, but when asked if he wanted to ride it again, he said no.

After leaving the park, we were able to ride Donovan's most favorite thing at Disney...

the Monorail.

waving bye and watching it leave.


The next day, we headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom and Donovan got to ride another favorite...

the parking lot tram.

The park brought out our wild side. "Roar".

Riding the triceratops (a lot like Dumbo).

Since it was Dan's birthday, we had lunch and cake at Rainforest Cafe.

Happy 35th Sweetie!

On our safari around the park, we saw a lot of animals, but they never want to pose for the camera. This is the best picture I got of the giraffe.

We saw many wild animals and then, in true Disney fashion, got to watch a Mickey and Minnie safari parade.

These have been our adventures of the summer and it was a blast. Seeing Disney through the eyes of a a 3 year old is amazing. I hope you enjoy the pictures.