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Experience Columbus This Summer

Thank you to Experience Columbus for inviting us to visit.  Opinions are honest.

For the third year in a row our family has been invited to visit Columbus, Ohio and honestly it is the highlight  of our summer.  This year we visited all our favorites attractions such as COSI, the Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay, we also added a few new stops on our trip such as German Village, The Franklin Conservatory and did a little shopping at Easton Town Center which was within walking distance of the Hilton that we stayed at.

After getting settled at the Hilton, we took a walk to the Easton Town Center which has over 200 stores and 30 restaurants so needless to say we spent the remainder of the evening walking around and while our daughter fell in love with the frog fountain near the new Build a Bear Workshop and American Girl I was about to get a little free time to zip into a few of my favorite stores while she and Daddy hung out.  If you are a Vera Bradley fan I highly suggest a stop at Occasionally Yours, they have one of the best selections of the Vera collection I have ever seen.

Since I did a little shopping the night before it was my husband's turn and he picked The Book Loft in German Village.  All I can say is if you are a book lover then you can not leave Columbus without a stop at this 32 room book store that requires a map (no joke a map) to find your way around.  I do want to warn you in advance that this store is not accessible for anyone in a wheelchair, the spaces are tight that I found it to be a little overwhelming but my husband and daughter loved it and could have stayed all day looking around if we would have had the time to do so.

Day two was devoted to both the Zoo and Zoombezi Bay, since this was our third visit to both parks we we took our time and visited the areas we love most which for me is the aquarium.  I could spend hours watching the fish, they amaze me every time.  This trip the zoo was extra special for our daughter who not only was able to meet Tommy the Turtle but also take her first pony ride.

I do suggest that you get your child the armband which allows them to ride not only the pony and train but also the carnival rides which connect the Zoo and Zoombezi Bay.  Trust me if your children like to go on the rides it will pay for itself after about the fourth ride.

Zoombezi Bay was a perfect way to cool down after visiting the Zoo.  We spent most of our time in the wave pool and in the children's area that we love since parents are also allowed to play and climb on everything, which for us allows for peace of mind that every parent of a young child around water needs.

Our third and final day started with a stop at the Franklin Conservatory,  this botanical garden was perfect for a quiet Sunday morning and while we arrived when they opened the butterflies were ready for us.  This was the first time I had ever walked around so many butterflies and at first I was nervous about walking into them but they are accustomed to people and just go around you.  While the butterflies alone are worth the trip they also have a collection of Chihuly Glass that you will not want to miss.

Our last stop was COSI.  I love how COSI has something for the entire family no matter age or interest.  The past two years we have enjoyed the water area but this year progression hit home.  I am still laughing when our daughter asked us what a pay phone I still don't think she understand why anyone would ever need one. We did take the time to see the Butterfly movie in 3D on the Extreme Screen, it was worth making the time for the featured films they are very educational and seeing them on this size screen just adds to the enjoyment.



The one stop we wanted to make but did not was at the Santa Maria , a replica of the ship that Columbus came over on but the time on this trip did not permit it.  I know that next time we will be adding it to the itinerary no matter what.


The best way to visit Columbus with the family is with the Roar and Explore package, which starts at only $369 for a family of four when you select the Drury Hotel.


This package comes with:

• Four Tickets to the Columbus Zoo
• Four Tickets to Zoobezi Bay
• Four Tickets to COSI
• Two Nights at the Drury Hotel (which includes breakfast and a kick back dinner)
• Free Kids Sized Pizza from Donatos

Based on your family's needs the Roar and Explore package does allow for fewer or additional tickets to be purchased.  There are also a variety of hotel options that you can select based on your preference, allowing you to customize your vacation to fit your needs.

Personal Photos used in this post belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission.

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Tips for Making Your Disney Vacation Easier

  **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

It had been a very long time (about 25 years) since either my wife or I had been to Disney World so in many ways it was as if we were going for the first time.  We spent time doing some research and getting up to speed on ways to make our stay fun and as relaxing and easy as possible.  We got some great tips from some fellow attendees of the Disney Social Media Moms conference as well as from the Disney Parks website. 

Below are some tips that helped my family and will hopefully help yours, especially if you have never been to Disney World or it has been a long time.

-Order a Free Disney Parks Vacation Planning DVD from the Disney website.  This DVD gave us a great overview of the theme parks, water parks, Downtown Disney and more.

-Download one of the Free official Disney apps.  I personally downloaded and used Disney Mobile Magic, though My Disney Experience is also a really good one.  I used My Disney Experience on my laptop and it helped me accomplish my next tip.  While at the Disney Parks I used the Disney Mobile Magic app quite a bit.  It has maps of all of the parks, you can look at the ride wait time and FastPass times, check out restaurants, make dinner reservations and look for character meet and greets.  My daughter loved checking out this app to and in between activities or while we were waiting for an attraction she loved looking at the character's pictures and figuring out who was out and where we might find them.

-If you are staying at a Disney Hotel, use My Disney Experience to check-in to your hotel online. My family was scheduled to be in Orlando the night before we were set to check into our hotel for the conference so we were hoping to get an early check-in time.  I went onto My Disney Experience and requested an 8 AM time.  I provided my cell phone number which would allow Disney to text me if the room would not be ready at that time.  I never received a text so at 8 AM we drove over to the Contemporary and pulled up to the front, gave the attendant our name and he took us inside immediately and handed us our room keys and other documents.  This was a huge time saver. Without online check-in we would have had to go to the counter and wait for all of our information to be put together. Our vehicle was unloaded, parked and we were in our room in a matter of minutes.

-If you are flying I would definitely recommend using the Disney's Magical Express service from Orlando International Airport. Here is the description from the Disney website:

Board our buses at Orlando International Airport and we’ll get you and your bags to your Disney Resort hotel.
Begin your vacation the moment you step off the plane. Bypass baggage claim and avoid the hassle and cost of driving or finding ground transportation. With this special benefit of staying at select Disney Resort hotels, get from the airport to your accommodations in comfort and have your bags delivered directly to your room. You’ll also enjoy a complimentary ride back to Orlando International Airport on the day of your departure. Please note that pets are not permitted on Disney’s Magical Express but service animals are.

Luggage Delivery Service
This feature of Disney’s Magical Express is available for flights arriving between 5:00 AM and 10:00 PM daily. Your luggage will travel separately, and it may take up to 3 hours after your check-in at your Disney Resort hotel for your luggage to be delivered to your room.

-Disney's Magical Express is just one example of the great transportation system you will find at Disney World.  Whether you are using the monorail or a bus, getting from park to park and to and from your hotel is very easy and stress-free and free.  Bus stops are clearly marked so you will know for sure if you are getting on the correct bus or not.  The bus areas at the parks are also very well marked so finding the right bus to your hotel is very easy.  The buses are clean and well maintained.  I think the longest ride on a bus was no more than 10-15 minutes. If you are not exactly sure how to get where you are going just ask a cast member.

-Even if you are using your own camera and/or smartphone to take pictures, take advantage of the PhotoPass service.  All you have to do is get a free PhotoPass card from any photographer in any park.  Then when you have a picture taken with a character or landmark in the park and there is a Disney photographer there, hand them your card and they will take the pictures and scan the card and add them to your account.  Then when you get home you can either log in or create an account to view your pictures, share them, order prints, customize them and more.  I just looked at the dozens and dozens of PhotoPass pictures taken on our vacation and the Disney photographers were able to capture some great pictures and angles that my wife and I were not able to get.

-The final tip I have for you is to use FastPass for rides in all of the parks.  FastPass is free and available to anyone with a park ticket. It allows you to scan your park ticket and print a ticket for a return time thus saving you from having to stand in that ride's line.  You come back during the time printed on your FastPass ticket.  Only select rides at the 4 Disney World parks use FastPass. Here is the current list:

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park:

• DINOSAUR
• Expedition Everest
• Kali River Rapids
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Primeval Whirl

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park:

• Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Toy Story Mania!
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Magic Kingdom Theme Park:

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Jungle Cruise
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid

Epcot Theme Park:

• Captain EO starring Michael Jackson
• Living with the Land
• Maelstrom
• Mission: SPACE Pavilion
• Soarin’
• Test Track

My suggestion to you is to get a FastPass for the ride you really want to ride the most early in the day because for the most popular rides the return time may be several hours later or in some cases they may be sold out.  So instead of waiting in the line you can go off and do other activities or ride less busy rides and return when it is your FastPass time and you enter in a different line.  The longest wait for a FastPass was for Toy Story Mania! at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  We got to the FastPass distribution site less than an hour after the park opened and my family's return time was about 3 1/2 hours later.  You can only hold one Fast Pass at a time so once your FastPass ticket time arrives then you can go to another ride and print a new FastPass.

-Your room key, which is also called "Your Key to the World" gives you the option to apply to credit card to it so that any charges made around any of the Disney Parks will be charged to your room.  Right now it looks like a credit card but my wife found out in her meetings that they may be switching to wristbands.  If you don't want to carry cash or your other credit cards, this is a very handy option to use. 

I am confident that my using some or all of the tips above you and your family will have a much easier and more enjoyable vacation at Disney World. 

What is your best Disney tip?

Personal photos used in this review belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission from My Springfield Mommy. 

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Disney's Hollywood Studios

 **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

I think the consensus in my family would be that besides the Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios was one of our most favorite parks.  There were so many fun rides and shows and character interactions our heads were spinning!

We actually stumbled on the area where we found a steady stream of Disney characters.  It is located right by the American Idol Experience. There we saw Donald and Daisy, Stitch, Pluto, Goofy and more.  In other areas of the park you should be able to find Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope, Mike & Sulley, The Incredibles, Lightning McQueen & Mater and more.

If you are a fan of Toy Story then you will want to go to the area called Pixar Place which is where we ran into Woody and Buzz Lightyear.  The line to see them was pretty long but it moved fairly quickly and the kids were kept occupied with scenes from the Toy Story movies that they can pose for picture in.

As you can see my daughter was pretending to be strapped to Sid's rocket from the first Toy Story movie and posed in the box with Stinky Pete from the second movie.  Woody and Buzz are found standing on Andy's bed.

Right across the street from Woody and Buzz is one of our favorite rides, Toy Story Midway Mania which is a great combination of a ride and interactive game where the object is to shoot as many objects as you can on the ride.  I can say that my daughter was an incredible shot and she got a very high score.

The other ride that we really enjoyed and was one my daughter asked to ride a second time as soon as we finished it the first time was Star Tours-The Adventure Continues.  There are over 50 different missions that you can experience it so there is a very good chance you won't ride the same mission which is what we found.

There are also great entertainment including a can't miss on my daughter's list: Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage.  The movie is condensed into a 25 minute or so performance which was a lot of fun.  We also made sure to check out Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Muppet Vision 3D.  If you are looking for a play area for the kids which would give you the opportunity to sit down for a few minutes I would recommend Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Adventure.

If you are looking for something to eat there are restaurants spread throughout the park, but the one place we ate at for lunch that we really enjoyed was the Studio Catering Co.  It is located in the back part of the park by the Studio Backlot Tour and right next to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  My daughter was very happy with her Uncrustable sandwich while my wife and I had some very good sandwiches. 

The thrill seekers won't be disappointed at Hollywood Studios because of 2 rides: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.  If you are not into those kinds of rides you will have plenty of other attractions that will definitely keep you entertained.

Plus there is a Disney Junior area that has a live stage show. Other stage shows include the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and the Lights, Motor, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.

We finished our day at Hollywood Studios by getting to perform a dance number with some of the Disney characters including Goofy, Pluto, Chip 'n Dale and Stitch during a "closed set movie shoot".

Despite all that we did get to see and do at Hollywood Studios we did not have time to do it all all so we will definitely be visiting this park on our next visit to Disney World. 

Personal photos used in this review belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission from My Springfield Mommy.

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Disney's Animal Kingdom

 **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

The biggest of all of the parks at Disney World is Animal Kingdom. It is made up of 7 areas including Oasis, Discovery Island, Camp Minnie-Mickey, Africa, Rafiki's Planet Watch, Asia and Dinoland, U.S.A.

What I really enjoyed about Animal Kingdom is that there is something to see everywhere you look.

While on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride we saw animals like the ones pictured above and below.  Guests load into big vehicles and drive around on trails looking for animals.  We were fortunate that on our tour there was an unbelievable amount of animals out and very visible.  Our tour guide who also doubled as the driver was very engaging and seemed truly excited at the amount and types of animals we were getting to see. There are areas throughout Animal Kingdom that gives you great exposure to animals. They have over 1,700 animals in the park and more than 250 species.

One of the areas that my daughter really enjoyed was Dinoland, U.S.A.  It is a carnival area that has rides and carnival games. We all enjoyed the TriceraTop Spin, but unfortunately our daughter was not tall enough to ride the Primeval Whirl which looked like a really fun ride and we were told by other people it was as well.

In addition to this area, there are rides in other areas of the park.  The biggest ride is Expedition Everest- Legend of the Forbidden Mountain which is a roller coaster that at one point goes backwards.  My daughter was tall enough to ride it, but we chose to wait another year or so before letting her ride it. One ride she did go on was Dinosaur which was a good ride but it did include a lot of bouncing around and some darkness which my daughter was not overly excited with.  If you are a fan of A Bug's Life then you will want to check out the show It's Tough To Be A Bug, but if you don't want to get a little wet I would suggest not sitting in the front row.  We learned that lesson the hard way.  Another great show we watched was Finding Nemo-The Musical.  It is the movie put on stage and lasts about 20-25 minutes.  In addition to being a well done show, it was very nice to sit down inside in the air conditioning and take a break.

A trip to a Disney park is not complete without a parade and we finished our day at Animal Kingdom with a really fun and long one called Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade that included a lot of your favorite Disney characters, floats and more.  It was a great way to end a very fun and educational day.  

Personal photos used in this review belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission from My Springfield Mommy.

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Our Visit to Epcot

 **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

A visit to Disney World would not be complete without going to Epcot.  Just inside the entrance is Spaceship Earth. Inside this amazing structure is a interesting ride about technology and advancements made in history.  Towards the beginning of the ride your picture gets taken so I would suggest that you make sure you take a good one because it definitely gets used towards the end in a very creative and fun way. 

As much as the entire park was a lot of fun and very interesting, if you asked my daughter what her favorite part was and I am sure she would say The Seas with Nemo & Friends which contains a ride based on the movie, aquariums and an interactive show called Turtle Talk with Crush. The little ones have the opportunity to sit on the floor at the front of the theater and if they are chosen get to talk to Crush and maybe even ask him a question which is what my daughter got to do. She asked Crush how fast he can swim and the answer is 18 MPH but in the EOC or East Orlando Current he can go 23 MPH.  We saw this show 3 times and I can tell you that no two are the same.  There is a basic plot that is followed but what happens is really dictated by the audience. 

Then we moved to a building called The Land.  In it you will find a ride called Soarin', a movie based on The Lion King called Circle of Life and a very interesting boat ride that focused on food production and more.  There are several other rides that are must-dos including Test Track and Mission:Space plus several additional ones. 

The other major part of Epcot is the World Showcase. This massive around goes around World Showcase Lagoon and includes stops in Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom and Canada.  You can even pick up a passport or a paddle and get a stamp from each country on your journey.  Something your kids will want to keep an eye out for is that Disney characters make appearances in each country. 

My daughter found Mulan in China just after we had a really great lunch at the 9 Dragons restaurant.  You may also find Belle in France, Aladdin & Jasmine in Morocco, Donald Duck in Mexico, Mary Poppins in the United Kingdom and more. 

The newest Disney character is Duffy and he is a very friendly and huggable bear and we found him in a pavillion on the way towards Mexico.

One event you won't want to miss is the end of the night show called IlluniNations: Reflections of Earth.  This is an amazing fireworks, light, laser and music show which was a great end to a great day.  You will have a good view of it anywhere around World Showcase Lagoon. 

If you really make the attempt to do it all at Epcot you may find it difficult to do it in just one day.  I have just scratched the surface on all that there is to see and do during your visit.  We did not get to everything we wanted to during our time there, but we definitely left satisfied and now have some things to look forward to on our next visit.

Personal photos used in this review belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission from My Springfield Mommy. 

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Merida's Coronation at The Magic Kingdom

 **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

Of all of the events surrounding the Disney Social Media Moms conference the one that we were most looking forward to in regards to our daughter was the Coronation of Merida from "Brave" as an official Disney Princess.  We did not tell our daughter about the event until the night before but when we did and explain what she might get to experience she was very excited. The reality is that the events far exceeded our expectations and it is not an understatement to say that it was a "magical" time.

"Brave" is a favorite movie of my daughter.  I appreciate that Merida while being a Princess is also a bright, independent and feisty young girl who is a bit of a tomboy. She illustrates that a Princess can be made up of many different traits.  Proven in this clip released by Disney with an I Am A Princess theme.
 


The event was historic for a few reasons, one being that a Coronation has never occurred at the Magic Kingdom.  Our group arrived about 15 minutes before the park opened and were immediately escorted in.  As you can see in the picture at the top my daughter was dressed for the occasion.  Because of her outfit we were unbelievably lucky to be put in the front row at the rope line.

Here was our amazing view for the ceremony.  The beginning of the event began with Sophia Grace and Rosie from the Ellen DeGeneres show signing a song.  Then the emcees of the event was introduced and it was Olympic Gold Medalist Gymnast Gabby Douglas along with her mother. 

Then all of the 10 current Disney Princesses were introduced one by one. Next Merida was brought in on her horse Angus along with a group of drummers and bagpipers. She was officially crowned by her mother, Queen Elinor, an event that was even more significant since it was Mother's Day weekend. After accepting the crowd Merida stepped forward and said "I am strong, I am brave, I am Merida and I am a Princess!"  Fireworks went off over Cinderella castle and the audience roared. 

Right after her Coronation was when the picture above was taken showing all 11 Disney Princesses together.  This event is very significant because it is very rare to have all of the princesses together at one time.  Our daughter did not know who to look at first because she loves all of them.  This event is one that I am positive our daughter as well as her mother and I will not ever forget.    

Personal photos used in this review belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission by My Springfield Mommy. 

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A Day at Disney's Blizzard Beach

 **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

Margie had all-day meetings for her conference on our second day at Disney so my daughter and I decided to visit the Blizzard Beach Water Park.  I gave our daughter the choice of Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach and after my daughter researched it by viewing the Disney DVD and looking at the information online she made her choice. Getting there from our hotel was very easy. The Disney transportation system is very well organized and easy to figure out.  All we had to was walk out of our hotel and get on a Disney bus that took us directly to Blizzard Beach.  

My daughter saw these melting snowpeople and wanted to have her picture with them.  The description of this park from Disney is "Legend has it that a freak snowstorm hit Florida and a ski resort was built, but the sunshine melted it into some of the fastest, longest, downhill thrills and fun for the whole family".

There is definitely something for all ages at Blizzard Beach.  Before we got started we rented a large locker for $15 which includes a $5 key deposit which will be returned to you when you return the key.  I also grabbed a FREE life jacket for my daughter. Blizzard Beach has a multi-person tube ride that is similar to a ride my daughter loves at another amusement park so she decided that is where we should start.  The quickest and easiest way to get up the mountain just like at a real ski resort is the chair lift.  The chair lift is a great way to get an overview of the park and we were able to scout out where we would go next after our ride on Teamboat Springs which is a very long and fun tube ride that can hold up to 6 people.  If you don't have that many in your group, don't worry you will be paired up so that at least 3-4 people will be on your ride. 

 

The big slide in the middle is called the Summit Plummet which is a 120-foot vertical body slide. I was not able to ride it because I was alone with my daughter but both of us watched several people go down it as we rode up the chair lift 3 times total throughout our visit.  There is another fast slide called the Shush Gusher and you can race against family and friends on the Downhill Double Dipper.

The area we spent the most time in and around was the Ski Patrol Training Camp.  We found  two tube slides that my daughter could easily ride by herself as well as a zip line and the ThinIce Training Course which is an area that has ice flows for the little ones to walk over that has an overhead cargo net.  I lost count how many times we rode the tube slides.  My daughter got really competitive and kept wanting to race daddy down to the bottom. 

Another great area for families with little ones is called Tike's Peak which is a scaled down version of the park.  It is designed for kids 48 inches and under.  There are small slides, side by side downhill slides, a small inner tube ride and chutes that actual take the riders through the snow.  As much as she enjoyed the big people areas of the park, my daughter had a lot of fun in this area to and I could sit down and be able to keep an eye on her and know she would be okay.

It would not be a water park without a lazy river which at Disney's Blizzard Beach is called Cross Country Creek.  This literally goes around the entire water park and is 3,000 feet in length and has 7 entrances so you can take your time and ride all the way around or do what my daughter and I did which was get in at the back part of the park and float about halfway around to get to the front. It was a nice relaxing way to get around and it certainly beat walking.

Another area that is a staple of water parks is the wave pool and the one at Blizzard Beach does not disappoint. Our final stop was Melt-Away Bay which is at the base of Mount Gushmore.  Here you can grab a tube and float on the waves or swim and jump the waves or ride them back to the shore.

We spent just a little over 4 hours at the park and I can say we definitely had a great time and left worn out but very happy.  We hopped on our Disney bus and within 10 minutes were back at our hotel.  

Personal photos used in this review belong to My Springfield Mommy and may not be used without written permission from My Springfield Mommy.  

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Our First Disney Stop: Downtown Disney

 **I was invited to the Disney Social Media Mom's Event, my family was responsible for the conference fee as well as travel costs  **  Review by Mike

On our first full day in Orlando and before we visited any of the parks my family and I went to Downtown Disney.  Before we left for our trip we had watched a show on television about Disney World and one of the areas shown was Downtown Disney and we could not wait to check it out for ourselves.   This area is a great mix of shopping, eating and entertainment that really has something for everybody.

The first place we visited was the World of Disney which is billed as the world's largest Disney Store.  Words cannot accurately describe how massive this store really is.  It seemed that there was room after room of shopping and it would never end.  We all found items for sale that we had not seen at other Disney Store's we have visited. 

In addition to an unbelievable amount of merchandise for sale there is also a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique so your little one can be transformed into a Disney Princess right before your eyes. 

The next store we visited was the Lego Imagination Center which as you can imagine had a number of Disney themed creations both inside and out.

My daughter saw this Lego creation of the rocket scene from the first Toy Story movie and she insisted on having her picture taken by it. 

Then we could not pass up the opportunity to visit Build-A Dino by Build-A-Bear Workshop which is located inside the T-Rex Restaurant building.  A really cool thing about this building is that the lights dim every 20 minutes and you can experience a meteor shower. 


As I said before there are plenty of other stores and restaurants for the whole family including the Orlando Harley-Davidson store, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Fulton's Crab House which is located on a paddle boat,  a 24 screen AMC movie theatre and a new 2 story bowling, pool, dining and music location called Splitsville Luxury Lanes.  Even if you don't go in you have to go by it to see how beautiful this structure is from the outside. 

Plus, if you enjoy games and more you have to stop by DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park which is 5 floors of fun.  And if you are a fan of Cirque du Soleil then you will be excited to find out that they have an exclusive show at Downtown Disney called La Nouba. 

As excited as we were to get to the Disney Theme Parks I think my family would agree with me that visiting Downtown Disney was a great place to start.  I have really only scratched the surface about all that there is to see and do.  

Personal photos are the property of My Springfield Mommy. Photos may not be used without written permission of My Springfield Mommy.  

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