Downtown Disney and Resting

May 12, 2014

After 2 full days of Disney parks, it was time to have an off day! Truth be told, our house was nice enough with it's own pool that we could have just sat around there all day. But I said no way- we have to enjoy it all. After cooking a good breakfast, which was much needed after 2 mornings of breakfast bars and donuts, we all got ready for the day and headed to Downtown Disney. Thankfully, Addison was feeling much better and they were able to join us for a fun outing. Grandmama decided to stay at the house and rest so she could enjoy swim time later in the day.

Of course, being the planner I am, it is hard for me to leave any time of a Disney trip unplanned and un-researched. Once I saw that Downtown had a T Rex restaurant, I knew I wanted to take Caleb there. It is almost exactly like the Rainforest Café except with dinosaurs. Our kids play dinosaurs daily and Caleb is really into them right now. Unfortunately, the service just wasn't up to par with my expecations. Our first sign that should have sent us leaving is that it took almost 30 minutes to get seated and we were there right when it opened along with a few other people. Once we finally got seated and ordered it took a long time for our food to come out. Now I realize that we are supposed to enjoy the scenery, etc. but come on! Then the food was just ok and overpriced. So yes- I wish we had done something else for this lunch. BUT the experience was cool and Caleb still talks about it...although while we were there a lot of the roaring was a little too loud for Caleb and a bit scary. Addison and Kailyn loved it, of course!

After lunch, we walked around and did some souvenir shopping. The kids had spending limits so they were cautious to not spend it all in one place, which I thought was cool! Caleb even became a bit stingy and didn't want to buy anything because he knew we still had days at the park and he might find something else to buy later. Maybe we are doing something right! Kailyn ended up buying a stuffed Nola (from Lion King) and a Lion King figure set. Caleb picked out a sword and Peter Pan figure set. And of course, they could not put down their new toys for a family photo!!

Kailyn was getting the hang of this Disney photography and wanted to pose with everything she saw. She also liked to stop and smell all of the pretty flowers along the way! We really enjoyed seeing some of the Lego creations outside of Lego Land.

Everyone was having a great time shopping and exploring but this mean ole Mom and Dad were continually checking the time so we didn't miss the kids' naptime window. After all, this was a REST day to get re-energized. While the kids napped, we sat by the pool, it was cloudy but still nice to sit and relax.

After naps, the kids were ready to swim!! We decided to go and check out the neighborhood club house. They have a zero entry pool so it was nice to have an area where the kids could touch in the water and play. They even had a cool water slide and a pop jet area!

That night the kids ate lunchables and the adults ordered Chinese take out for dinner. We enjoyed our laid back day, which is truly necessary when you are at Disney World! Time to get a good night's sleep before a full day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow....