WDW: December 10, 2011

By now, you know nothing ever stops us from being up and at it bright and early. We were at the Studios by 7:45 for morning extra magic hours. As has been our "usual" plan lately, Zach grabbed Toy Story Mania fast passes while the girls and I tracked down and visited with some characters decked out in their Hollywood best.

Next was our favorite "breakfast" at Starring Rolls, and the girls' favorite Studios shows (Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Disney Jr Live). Before the second show, we had seen Jake heading backstage, and the girls shouted, "We'll really, really try to see you after the show!" Thankfully, it worked out just like that. :)

After visiting with Jake and Manny, we rode Toy Story Mania - the girls actually playing this time, and thoroughly enjoying it.

We took our chances and returned to the hotel for some downtime/rest in the afternoon, hoping it went better than the first day we had attempted such a thing. Lunch at the Mara was delicious, but that's where the pleasantries ended. The girls had the most epic meltdown, lots of fighting ensued, and we realized we were idiots for ever trying to change what has worked for half a dozen trips now. Lesson learned.

Eventually we gave up completely on rest, finished our meltdowns, and headed to the Animal Kingdom. The girls were so very tired, but we were tired of wasting an afternoon with no relief in sight. A change of scenery helped some, though Emmersyn and Hartley definitely had fewer privileges that afternoon than they would have otherwise. Ultimately, we all very much enjoyed the Festival of the Lion King, Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade, and Finding Nemo: The Musical and the afternoon was moderately redeemed.

Dinner was at the Rainforest Cafe, after almost eating there on several trips prior. It wasn't as great as we had remembered from our honeymoon (haven't been since), but the girls enjoyed it. We were seated by the elephants and a fish tank, and Hartley had a great view of the "rain" and some butterflies she loved.

Bedtime went well enough... but came early. We were all flippin' exhausted.

WDW: December 11, 2011