Marvelous Mrs. Morin

Sorry I am a little late with this post, but have a sick baby definitely delayed this for a few days! I am so excited to share all my thoughts with you guys about Galaxy’s Edge! There are two ways you can enter the land, either back behind Toy Story Land or next to Muppet Vision 3D. We went with the entrance next to Muppet Vision 3D and I am so glad we did! It felt like we were leaving the park and going somewhere totally new. If you choose to go that way, it takes you through a rocky tunnel that really serves as a transition piece.

The first thing we did back in the land was get one of the super cool soda bottles they offer. You know, the ones TSA can’t determine are bombs or not (🙄). One thing I loved was that at checkout they didn’t use the term “dollars” instead they said “credits”. It’s tiny details like that that make Galaxy’s Edge such an immersive experience. Although we could see where the new ride is going to be, it obviously is not open yet. Although we could see a decent chunk of the line.

If I can give you one piece of advice, it is definitely walk around the entire land. It is MASSIVE, so if you don’t take your time there may be something you miss. On this trip we didn’t eat at the Cantina as we had reservations somewhere else and have reservations for the Cantina in March. So, I’ll get to what everyone is probably wondering about: Smuggler’s Run.

The wait time when we got in line was 65 minutes, but we only waited 40. The line was moving constantly which was a nice break from some of the newer attractions Disney has opened in the past (looking at you Flight of Passage) where the line moves super slow. Parts of the line are also incredible. Once you get “on” to the Millenium Falcon it 100% looks like you are actually on the ship. We were in awe at the level of detail.

When you get on the actual ride, it very much looks like you are in the cockpit of the ship. I was honestly shocked that it was the actual ride and not just a photo op. My husband and I were the pilots, which from what I have heard is the position everyone wants. I would describe the ride as Mission Space meets Star Tours. I don’t want to spoil it too much, but if you pilot you will actually get to steer the ship, something I can tell you with 100% certainty I did not do well.

We enjoyed the ride. While I was blown away by the line and the fact that the ride actually was in the cockpit, I do feel like the attraction left me wanting more. It wasn’t as mind blowing as Flight of Passage, but I would absolutely go again and I do love that it has a lower height requirement so tiny Star Wars fans can enjoy the experience too. Something tells me the second attraction opening in Galaxy’s Edge is going to be much more intense.

We of course had to try the Blue Milk and the Green Milk. While the blue is a berry flavor, the green is more of a citrus taste. I personally was not a fan of either, but my husband loved both. They are also available with rum or tequila.

Let’s talk character experiences. Character experiences are done a little differently on Batuu. There aren’t necessarily photopass people with a line waiting to take your picture with Chewbacca. Instead you will see characters walking around, working on their ships, going about their business as they would in Star Wars. We watched Rey work on the Falcon. We watched Kylo Ren get off his ship and scare the crowd. We even saw Chewbacca enjoying a nice walk. It is really cool the way the did these experiences. If you want a traditional character meet and greet, BB-8, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader are all still available to meet at Star Wars Launch Bay, although fair warning, they replaced our beloved Photopass Photographers will stupid boxes that take your picture. I am sure I am not the only one who is holding out hope Disney will fix that mistake!

If you find yourself wondering if Galaxy’s Edge is worth the hype, yes! It absolutely is! Even with one ride it is worth the trip over there. I am sure once the second ride opens it will be even more of an experience. I can’t wait to share my ideas on the Cantina with you come March!

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is back!! We had so much fun yesterday exploring the different booths and seeing all that Food & Wine had to offer. Not to mention the parks were DEAD which was awesome because it meant not waiting in long lines for food! My plan for food and wine is to try at least one thing from each of the pavilions and I will be doing a series of blog posts to talk about what we liked and didn’t like along the way, but before we get into food, let’s talk about some of the non-food activities you can enjoy that are part of food and wine.

Right now for Passholders the chef Minnie Passholder Magnet is available. We got ours over by electric umbrella, where they will scan your magic band and look at your ID. On October 15th this will switch to a Remy Magnet, so make sure you get the Minnie one while you can! Passholders can also snag the chef Minnie Coaster Set after 4 visits to Food & Wine.

I am a big fan of the Disney World Scavenger Hunts, so we made sure we did the Remy one. I liked that this year they did more to find than just one at each country. We had a lot of fun with it and the prize is awesome! You get to pick one of four cups: either Minnie, Mickey, Figment, or Remy. I, of course, chose Minnie. It costs $6.99 to do the scavenger hunt and once you finish the cup is free!

Now let’s get to the main point of this post… FOOD AND WINE! In previous years I would end up only trying a couple booths each visit because while the portions are smaller than normal Disney portions, they are still a decent size and after a couple you will be full. This year we did it different. We split each dish between four people, which ended up giving each of us only a couple bites, which worked out great because we were able to try more things.

I forgot to get pictures of everything we ate, but I will make sure that if I have a picture I post it! Our first stop was The Alps, located just outside the Norway Pavilion. We tried the Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese as well as the Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart and the Frozen Rosé. I LOVED the Swiss Cheese, but I will say it is pretty strong, so if you are a fan of more mild cheeses, I would probably sit this one out. While I thought the tart was kind of bland, I was apparently the only one, because everyone else thought it was delicious. The one thing me and my mom both agreed on was that the Frozen Rosé was AMAZING and it is definitely one of my favorite things of the day!

If you are a seafood fan, do yourself a favor and make sure you check out Coastal Eats. We ordered the Lump Crab Cake and the Baked Shrimp and Scallop Scampi Dip. I honestly cannot say enough good things about either of these dishes. While both were amazing, the crab cake was definitely my favorite. I would say it is in my top 3 and I would absolutely order it again! Coastal Eats is located outside of World Showcase, between the Character Spot and Journey Into Your Imagination. You can find it in a section called “Next Eats”.

Anyone who knows me knows that if there is any kind of apple dessert, I have to try it. Germany was our next stop where we ordered the Apple Strudel. Holy moly is it delicious! It is served with a warm vanilla sauce and wasn’t nearly as heavy as I expected it to be.

Our next stop was Hops & Barley, located near the Funnel Cake stand at the American Adventure. Here, we ordered the New Brunswick Slider and the Freshly Baked Carrot Cake. The slider is slow-braised beef brisket with horseradish cream, crispy fried onions on a potato roll with pickled vegetables on the side. While it was really good, I don’t know that I loved it enough to order it again. The carrot cake I would order again in a heartbeat!

We took the next couple pavilions off because we needed a little break from stuffing our faces, but picked back up in France where we tried the La Passion Martini Slushy and the Creme Brûlée. The creme brûlée is so good. What sets it apart is the chocolate-hazelnut cream flavor. I would absolutely order it again! The slushy was made from vodka, Gray Goose Le Citron, Cranberry, and Passion Fruit Juice. I really enjoyed it, but it was more alcohol heavy and if I had to pick one frozen drink based on flavor alone, I would still pick the Frozen Rosé at The Alps.

I was super excited to see Hard Cider properly represented at Food & Wine this year. I am not a beer person, and while I like wine, I am by no means knowledgeable enough about it to order the right thing. Cider is normally my go to, so to see an entire pavilion based around Cider was really exciting, but I was somewhat disappointed by the Ciders chosen.

Appleseed Orchard is located in the Canada Pavilion just behind the Kid Kot station. What is really nice about it is that it is inside and air conditioned, so we got a nice chance to cool off and I chatted with some really nice people in there. One thing I was really excited to see is one of my personal favorite cider brands from Wisconsin, Ciderboys, was on the menu. I chose to order the cider flight which was the Ciderboys Lemon Cello Hard Cider, Woodchuck Hard Cider Spiced Apple, and the Collective Arts Brewing Cherry Apple Hard Cider. I love Ciderboys, but I wish they would have picked a different one. The Ciderboys peach and raspberry are both amazing and the lemon doesn’t even come close. To me, it was a poor choice. The other ciders were decent, but to me they were not anything special. Honestly I probably won’t visit this pavilion again.

At Refreshment Port, you will find Duck Confit Poutine with Fig Demi Sauce and Brie Cheese Fondue. FOR SURE order it. Just make sure you have people to share with! The portion is HUGE and it is super rich. Between four people we didn’t even make a dent in it. The refreshment port is located when you enter World Showcase on your way to Canada.

Shimmering Sips is another one located near the entrance to World Showcase. I was really excited to try the Key Lime Mimosa, but I will say it was the most disappointing drink of the day. I am a Florida girl. Anything Key Lime I will jump at the opportunity. The Key Lime mimosa tastes like straight cranberry juice. They do have a cheesecake flight there that is really good and they have a strawberry soft-serve that I am looking forward to trying next time we go.

The last pavilion we tried was the Chocolate Studio. I ordered the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart and I LOVED IT. I definitely recommend it for my chocolate lovers out there, but I do want to go back to try their Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle!

So that was our first day of Food & Wine! I look forward to going back and telling you all about the other foods we try! What was your favorite dish at food and wine? Let me know!

Hollywood Studios used to be my favorite park. I love a good thrill ride and the two biggest thrill rides in Walt Disney World happen to be at Hollywood Studios. My love for Hollywood Studios changed when I got pregnant. Suddenly I couldn’t do much at my favorite park. The one ride I could do, shut down to make room for something new (still super bitter about Great Movie Ride being gone). All I could do was shows. While I love the shows at Hollywood Studios, it did make the park seem slightly less exciting.

Worried that I wouldn’t be able to find anything fun for my kids to do, we have for the most part steered clear of Hollywood Studios with the twins, excluding going over for the holiday fun they do around Christmas. This last staycation we decided to give Hollywood Studios a chance to prove us wrong and see if we could really spend the day there as a family.

If your tinies are into Disney Junior characters like ours are, I highly recommend the Disney Junior breakfast at Hollywood & Vine. The restaurant itself is buffet style and we were able to meet Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Doc McStuffins, and Roadster Racer Goofy. We loved the breakfast because it meant us getting to skip the lines to meet Vampirina, Nancy, and Doc McStuffins. To my knowledge, the character breakfast is the only place you can meet Roadster Racer Goofy. The food was great and the characters spent quality time with our kids, especially Amelia who loved having the opportunity to hold their hands and talk to them. We would definitely do it again!

While I wasn’t super excited to do shows all day, I was excited to see how the kids handled them. Back by Star Wars Launch Bay you can find Disney Junior character meet and greets as well as the Disney Junior Dance Party.

Our kiddos LOVED the dance party. The dance party includes songs and characters from Vampirina, Doc McStuffins, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, and The Lion Guard (Grayson’s favorite). We ended up taking the kids to see the dance party twice in the trip because they loved it so much the first time. There is definitely some serious Disney Magic in the show, but I don’t want to spoil anything!

Another show we decided to do was the Frozen Sing-a-long. Neither of my kids had seen frozen in full, but they were familiar with Let it Go and had been on the Frozen ride at Epcot, so we figured it was worth a go. While Grayson slept through it, Amelia was DEFINITELY a fan. She was locked on to the show the whole time and, much to our surprise, has been singing Let it Go since we went! The show has great humor for adults too, so we enjoyed having a good laugh while sitting in the nice cool air conditioning.

Let’s talk rides for a minute. The only E-ticket attraction that does not have a height requirement at Hollywood Studios is Toy Story Midway Mania. We chose not to do it because while it has no height requirement, my kids are not going to keep 3D glasses on their face for a full ride.

We took the kids to met BB-8 which they loved even though they have obviously never seen Star Wars. The Launch Bay includes character meet and greets and a Star Wars exhibit, another great place to either cool down or avoid the rain. We finished the day off at the new Lightning McQueen Racing Academy, which is ADORABLE and definitely worth checking out if your kids are into Cars.

Other experiences your tiny ones can enjoy are Muppet Vision 3D, Beauty and The Beast Live, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. While Hollywood Studios probably won’t be our go to park until the kids are a little older, there are definitely some experiences worth checking out while they are tiny too. For now, I would say it is a half day park, but it is a magical half day nonetheless!

Yesterday we were lucky enough to snag a dinner reservation for Akershus Banquet Hall, the Princess dining experience at the Norway pavilion in Epcot. In my 26 years of Disney experience, this is one of the few restaurants I can honestly say I had never experienced, so it was exciting to try something new, especially something that involves dining with princesses.

Prior to trying Akershus, the Disney Princess dining experience we chose to go with was always Cinderella’s Royal Table. For years I heard how people said CRT was so much better and Akershus wasn’t that good. This may just be my experience, but I can say that after dining at both of them we will probably be choosing Akershus for any future Princess dining. Here are the things I liked about Akershus compared to Cinderella’s Royal Table:

Like Cinderella’s Royal Table, before you sit down and begin enjoying your dining experience, you meet a princess and take a picture. At Cinderella’s Royal Table that Princess is obviously Cinderella, but at Akershus, the Princess you take a picture with is Belle, which was super exciting for us. Amelia’s favorite princess is Belle, so she was insanely excited to see her.

The rest of the princesses we met inside were Aurora, Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella. My experiences with the characters at CRT and Akershus were very different. At Cinderella’s Royal Table, the character experiences felt very rushed. While eating at the castle is definitely a great experience, I care more about the character experiences than what building I am eating in. The cast members and characters at Akershus went above and beyond. while all the princesses at the restaurant were amazing, Ariel went above and beyond. Grayson was kind of crabby and tired and she managed to get him to giggle and played peek-a-boo with them. They both LOVED her!

I personally also LOVED the food. The food was bursting with flavor and definitely left us satisfied. I ordered the Norwegian meatballs which came with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. I ordered the same thing in children’s portions for the kids and they finished their plates. My mom had the pork which she also loved.

The dessert is served family style and was a plate of a chocolate mousse cake, apple caramel cake, and a rice pudding. Me and my mom are torn down the middle about which was better, but I can tell you I will probably have dreams about the apple caramel cake, while she made sure to not leave a crumb of the chocolate dessert. While we personally didn’t care for the rice pudding, my kids loved it more than the other desserts and finished it.

Overall, if you are torn between Cinderella’s Royal Table and Akershus, I would personally pick Akershus every time. I can’t wait to go back and bring my husband with next time!

Okay guys I almost don’t even know where to start because this years Halloween party was AMAZING. The first thing I want to say it even with pretty minimal crowds, it is impossible to do everything. We picked the things that were most important to us and rolled with those. It made me think that next year we may honestly look into the Mickey’s Not So Scary season pass because I could definitely see us going more than once. THAT BEING SAID, I want to share some of the things that helped us save time and experience everything we wanted to at the party.

While you can get into the party at 4pm, we chose to go in at 6pm so our kids could take a long nap (something I definitely recommend if you have tiny ones). We got our trick or treat bags and rode people mover because none of the special Halloween stuff starts until 7pm. At 7pm we were ready for dinner and we all REALLY wanted to try the Lots-O Burger at Cosmic Rays. It was AMAZING and totally worth the hype. It is also available where the descendants dance party is, so we were able to check that out too.

The next thing we did was head back to the Disney Junior Dance Party in Storybook Circus. For us the dance party was absolutely one of the highlights of night. Amelia LOVES Vampirina and she was able to dance with Vampirina and Fancy Nancy. The characters were amazing and spent so much time dancing with each kid. Amelia lit up and watching her was probably one of the best parts of the event. Grayson was more on the shy side, but he was able to watch from a distance and was smiling.

From there we hit the biggest piece of advice I have: DO THE DESSERT PARTY. While it is an additional cost, it is well worth it, the first reason that being most of the sweets I wanted to try around the party were available at the dessert party.

On my plate is the Amuk Amuk Amuk cupcake, the Jack and Sally push pops, Constance’s For Better or Worse Wedding Cake and so much more. It was all delicious and gave us the chance to sample everything without making multiple stops and getting huge portions, while avoiding long lines.

Doing the dessert party gets your priority seating to fireworks, but you do not have to stay in the area. They give you a wristband and you can come back. After we had our sweets we watched the Boo to You parade. My favorite addition to the parade this year was the bride from Haunted Mansion. She absolutely commanded that street!

Once the parade ended we went to the plaza garden to wait for fireworks. It was a great place for the kids to run around and play while we waited for the show. They were able to get some energy out and play with other kids in a more controlled space.

When the fireworks started: WOW! I always loved Hallowishes, but honestly this new show is probably in my top 3. The Jack puppet that narrates in front of the castle is amazing. They used the trick or treat song from one of my favorite classic Disney shorts as well. With incredible projections, fireworks, and music we were all obsessed. All we could talk about afterwards was how amazing what we just watched was.

With the kids starting to crash, we decided we only had time for one more thing and we chose to do Pirates of the Caribbean. What is special about Pirates of the Caribbean for Mickey’s Not So Scary is they incorporate live actors into the ride and line to create a more unique experience. They were so funny and I am so glad I didn’t miss it!!

While we left the party super excited with everything we did, here are some of the things I wish we had time to do.

1: more character experiences: Mickey’s Not So Scary is a prime time to meet characters in either unique costumes or characters you may not normally see like Jack and Sally and the Seven Dwarves.

2: Space Mountain: Space Mountain goes totally dark during the party so you are riding in complete darkness. I’m bummed we missed it, but hopefully next year!

3: Monsters Inc Laugh Floor: Apparently the monsters are prepared with all kinds of Halloween jokes during the party! They are more interactive as well.

Hopefully this helps you plan out your trip! As every year prior, Mickey’s Not So Scary is definitely one of my favorite parts of the fall season at Walt Disney World and something I would never recommend skipping 🎃

I cannot explain how great the twins first birthday party went!! I am an over-planner and perfectionist by nature, so when it came to the babies first birthday party I wanted to make sure it was memorable and fun for everyone who came. Though it was a small party, I wanted the kids to be able to look back and see how much our first year with them meant to us.

We were fortunate enough to have two of my cousins in town to celebrate them, as well as my mom dad, sister, brother-in-law, grandma, and my niece. When planning their party, I wanted to pick a theme that meant something to the twins, something they would recognize and be excited about. For our family, that was obviously Mickey & Minnie. The twinsicles LOVE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and meeting him on Disney days. I decided to stick with the classic red, black, and yellow color scheme so it would be cohesive. There is also a little pop of blue.

Party City has adorable Mickey first birthday supplies and we were able to snag some table decor from them, as well as napkins and plates. We got two balloon bouquets and a life size Mickey Mouse balloon that was a huge hit with the babies. On amazon I was able to find a retro party supplies store where I found 90s Disney baby plates, napkins and thank you cards. It took me back to my childhood and I was so excited to be able to use them! For the banners and high chair decor, I went through Etsy. I promise any birthday theme you can think of, you can probably find decor to match. While lots of the Minnie Mouse stuff I found was pink, most gave the option to switch to the classic red.

For the desserts and cake I found two AMAZING vendors who really brought the party to life. The dessert table was the focal point of the party, so everything needed to be perfect. The cake that Erin O’Neill made was not only the cutest birthday cake I have ever seen, it also was DELICIOUS. My family is still raving about the cake and not one crumb went to waste. I cannot wait to work with her in the future and I will recommend her to anyone needing a custom cake! For the rest of the desserts I booked Danielle’s Delicious Desserts in Tarpon Springs. She has different package sizes and the middle one was great for us. She went above and beyond to create Minnie & Mickey sugar cookies, cake pops, marshmallow pops, rice crispy treats, chocolate covered Oreos, and chocolate covered pretzels. Her attention to detail was amazing and brought the entire party together!

Our twins were spoiled by all their loved ones with toys and clothes galore! I am already mentally planning their party for next year and I can’t wait to see everything come together. Some people think first parties are dumb, and that’s totally fine! Everyone can have their own opinion, but I think it was a great experience and it felt so good to see my babies being celebrated for their first trip around the sun!

With the twins’ first birthday coming up, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the past year and thinking about my pregnancy. I am very thankful that while carrying the twins I had no serious issues, but that being said, the pregnancy was HARD. I was tested every day. My babies were so worth it, but for anyone wondering if me and James will be expanding our family, for now I am going to say no.

I have already touched on how bad the morning sickness was. For three months I lived with my head in a trash can or toilet, even with the medication. I had such bad popped blood vessels in my eyes that they were almost 60% red. I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks. The first trimester was nothing short of a nightmare. I threw up in the bushes at Disneyland. I threw up at a vineyard during the reception of my sister’s wedding, but mostly I threw up every night from 11pm-4am. Me and Netflix got very acquainted during that time.

Things got better in the second trimester, for a little while anyways. The puking stopped. I was gaining weight quickly but that was mostly because if I didn’t keep my stomach full I would violently dry heave. An empty stomach was the quickest way to sickness for me. I started getting energy back. Up until 27 weeks, I really did feel good. I would say this was the only good time while I was pregnant.

Around 28 weeks the round ligament pain got BAD. I remember the first night we were in Wisconsin and crying to my mom and mother-in-law because I was in so much pain. It felt like I was being repeatedly stabbed in the stomach. I had to wear a crazy support belt that was far from comfortable, but it helped with the pain. I thought at that point we would be okay. It was just growing pains.

I would rather take morning sickness all day every day over PUPPS, which is what I developed the last THREE MONTHS of my pregnancy. Pupps is an insane rash that starts on the stomach but can spread. It is quite literally a reaction to pregnancy and there was really nothing that could be done to help. I had to shower with Pine Tar soap so I smelled like a camp fire all the time. The scars I have on my stomach from PUPPS are way worse than my stretch marks. PUPPS didn’t go away until I delivered, but then it came back for a week and spread to my arms, legs, and hands.

I remember everything I went through. I remember I was in pain and miserable. I remember feeling like it would never end, but all those horrible memories feel so insignificant compared to the memories that came after. From the morning sickness came Amelia’s giggle. From PUPPS came Grayson’s determined crawl and wild spirit. To anyone struggling with pregnancy: it is hard. It feels like it will never end, but at the end you will hold your baby (or babies) and it will all be worth it.

I wish I knew then what I know now. I wish I could show pregnant me how worth it all the pain was. Will I get pregnant again? Probably not. If I do, I can 100% promise it was an accident, but if I had to go back in time I would still do it all over again because the outcome would be Grayson and Amelia.

Happy 2019 everyone!! To kick off the new year, I wanted to talk about something very near and dear to my heart: Disney!

Living only an hour and a half away, we are lucky enough to be passholder a to the most magical place on earth. When I was pregnant we went to Walt Disney world too many times to count and even out to Disneyland! My last trip to Disney world before I had the kids was when I was about 29 weeks. After that it just got to be too hard with how big I was getting and the heat. I was DYING to get back, but I didn’t want to bring the kids too young and risk exposing them to germs from all around the world.

Finally at 2 months I caved. My kids were already obsessed with all things Mickey and Minnie. We didn’t stay long because it was hot and honestly it was hard, but it helped educate us on hot better prepare for Disney trips, so now I want to tell you our do’s and don’ts for taking your babies to a Disney Park.

The first thing I want to rave about are the Baby Care centers. They are PHENOMENAL! If you are a breastfeeding mama they have a nice quiet air conditioned room where you can get away to nurse or pump without all the mayhem of the park. The baby care centers also have my absolute favorite changing pads. They are huge, comfy, and have disposable covers you can put down on there. They also sell diapers, wipes, sunscreen, baby food, basically anything you may have left at home. Every theme park has one, so make sure you locate it on the map when you arrive at the park.

Now let’s talk parks. My two favorite parks for infants are Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I feel like out of all the parks these have the largest number of attractions suitable for tiny ones. At Magic Kingdom my kids are huge fans of It’s a Small World, The Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Next time we go we have fastpasses for Peter Pan, which is another attraction that is safe for tiny ones. At Epcot we enjoy Frozen, Living with the Land, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, the boat ride inside the Mexico pavilion, Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment.

Our other big favorite thing to do at the parks is meet characters! My kids have never had a problem being scared of them, but I also think that is in part because we introduced them to the characters so young. Every park has a location where you can meet Mickey Mouse. The only one we haven’t been to yet is at Hollywood Studios, but we are hoping to cross that off our bucket list this weekend.

Things to pack: I bring so much stuff that honestly I get a locker most visits. Between my breast pump and all of the kids stuff, it can be a lot. Here I just want to mention a couple things we now learned to keep with us. Cooling rags and fans that clip to the stroller are a must if you are planning on going during the warmer months. Babies get hot easily so I more recommend going when it’s cooler, but if you must go when it’s hot, make sure you are prepared. I also recommend a baby carrier. My babies love their carries and it’s more fun for them because they get to see and experience the same things we do. Finally, I recommend getting one of the portable phone chargers from the kiosk in the park. You can swap it out anytime it does. We take SO many pictures of the kids at Disney and you never know when a magical moment will present itself, so be prepared!

I could honestly write for days about Disney, so this is just a start! As we continue to go I will write more about our experiences for everyone to share!

Since before I had kids I always knew someday I would want to take them to meet Santa at Epcot. When we found out we were having twins, this made me want to go to Epcot for this experience that much more. What is special about Epcot is that they feature Santa AND Mrs. Claus, so there was someone for both babies to see.

The day we went to Epcot was super busy, something we failed to think about prior to going. It was the first day the Christmas festivities had started and it also happened to be Mickey’s birthday. Ad beautiful weather into the equation and you have some massive crowds. Luckily we were there for Santa’s first appearance of the day and we got in line 45 minutes early, even though there was no one in line yet.

We took advantage of the wait time and fed the babies. The last thing we wanted was for them to be grumpy for their first Santa meeting. The line quickly formed behind us and was shut down by five minutes before Santa and Mrs Claus were due to make their appearance.

The Santa and Mrs. Claus we met at Epcot were honestly nothing short of magical. I wasn’t sure if they would hold my babies. I wasn’t sure if my babies would cry. There was a lot of uncertainty to this encounter, but the babies meeting Santa was something important to us. All my fears were quickly set aside when Grayson locked eyes with Santa. He played with his beard and smiled at him the whole time, while Amelia was fixated on Mrs. Claus’s dress. It was the most perfect Santa meeting I could have possibly imagined.

Another perk to meeting Santa at Epcot was the photo pass team. I didn’t have to worry about paying for a picture or trying to get it on my cell phone, or even worse, lugging my camera through the park. As annual pass holders, our passes include Memory Maker, meaning every photo taken by a photo pass person we can download for free. The photo pass cast members at the Santa meet and greet made sure they captured every second of the babies’ first Santa meeting and they are honestly photos I will treasure for the rest of my life.

For years to come we will definitely be making the Epcot Santa are go to Santa. He can be found at the America Pavilion in World Showcase. I highly recommend arriving early and also staying to enjoy all the festivities Epcot has to offer!!