We recently surprised Kemper with a trip to Disney World! He knew we were going on vacation but didn't know where. He also knew that MeMe and Pops were going with us. We let him in on the secret the day before we left and he was so excited (even though, at that point, he really didn't know what to expect!).
A view of the lobby
We stayed on Disney property at the Art of Animation Resort. It is Disney's newest resort and was so incredibly nice! They have 4 sections at this resort - Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, The Lion King and Cars. We reserved a suite in the Cars section.
The other end of the lobby - as you walk, the drawing become more detailed.
Our suite had a bedroom, 2 bathrooms and a living area that had a pullout sofa and a Murphy bed. Kemper thought it was so cool that his bed folded up into the wall. MeMe and Pops slept out in the living area with Kemper while Hudson and I slept in the bedroom. (I'm not going to lie - his pack n play fit in the bathroom attached to the bedroom and we both sleep better if nobody is in the room bothering us so that's where he slept!)
The check in desks
This wasn't just a first for Kemper and Hudson - it was also a first for MeMe and Pops! I think they were pretty impressed with our hotel (as was I!). I had visited Disney World after graduating high school in 2001 but we didn't stay on property. They really know how to put the special touches on things and just make everything so magical!
Other end of the lobby
Our suite was in the Cars section. It was really neat how the entire area had been decorated like Radiator Springs! Kemper was losing his mind as we walked towards our building. They had life size replicas of cars from the movie sitting out in front of the buildings that you could touch and play with. Each building (3 total) was decorated as something specific from the movie. There was Luigi's Casa del Tires, Sally's Wheel Well Motel, and Mater's Garage. Our room was in Mater's Garage.
Detail over the entrance to our building
I wish I had thought to take pictures of our room before we unloaded all of our luggage and settled in but it was also decorated very nicely in accordance with the theme. The legs of the end tables were orange cones which Kemper thought was hilarious! The coffee table looked like an old road map. The shower curtain had a picture of Mater on it.
This sign greeted you as you walked from the lobby area into the Cars area.
We drove from Tennessee to Florida and split the drive into 2 days. Our goal on the first day was to make it approximately 9 hours into our 11.5 hour drive because Mom and I had gotten tickets for a spring training baseball game as a surprise for Dad. The game was at 1pm and we wanted to be able to make it without having to rush on our second day of driving. Due to some wonky GPS directions, we actually pulled in and parked with 15 minutes to spare, caught a bus to the front gates of ESPN Wide World of Sports and sat down just after they sang The National Anthem. The Atlanta Braves have their spring training camp at the Disney/ESPN Wide World of Sports complex and it just so happened that on this day they were playing the New York Yankees!!! I live in a house divided with James being a Braves fan and myself having grown up as a Yankees fan. We had a good time but only lasted through the seventh inning stretch before Kemper and Hudson were ready to move along.
Kemper's Murphy Bed
After checking into our hotel, we drove over to Shades of Green to purchase our park tickets. Shades of Green is a resort for military members and their families. We were able to purchase our park hopper tickets using a military discount through them. It is a very lovely resort! We then drove to Downtown Disney with the intentions of grabbing something to eat but with long waits and crabby children (and adults), we decided to head back to Art of Animation and eat in their restaurant. We all were ready for bed that night and excited for our first day in the parks.
Lightening McQueen and Sally outside of the Wheel Well Motel building.
Up first, Disney's Hollywood Studios!!
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