Grandma and Grandpa Moore treated the entire clan to an amazing Disney vacation!! 16 of 18 grandkids (Justin & Garrett made it way into All-Star playoffs and had to cancel last minute)were here together and had such a blast! This is the Grand Floridian where we stayed for 4 nights. It was truly a different experience to stay "on the premises" - we could be at the entrance to Magic Kingdom in 5 minutes from the tram which picks you up right outside the 2nd floor of the hotel.
Can't leave Disney without this background picture!
Pirates of the Carribean was closed when we were last here (3 years ago) for updating so it was cool to see the new and improved ride with the Jack Sparrow
Our very own Jack Sparrow. Dad took Austin into the gift store they trap you in at the end of each ride. You can see he was pretty pleased with his newly found treasures.
DJ and Andrew were NOT happy about having to do "It's a Small World" but it's a required ride for me - can't leave Disney without having that annoying song in your head for days...and yes, at least Austin enjoyed it too-
Finding some shade after standing in the sweltering heat for the Indy 500 ride.
Riding the boat back to our hotel - We were able to hit Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studio and Animal Kingdom with our park hopper pass but didn't make it to Epcot... so much to do! Our overall favorite ride was definitely Aerosmith's roller coaster in Hollywood Studios - really awesome!
Catching a group shot of Grandma with all the kids while waiting to be seated for dinner at the Polynesian - this was a "grand-gathering experience" with a table long enough for all 29 of us to sit together. Really cute to see the older cousins take care of the younger ones at the table - cutting up their food, etc. The food was delicious- skewers galore of every kind of meat and seafood you can think of. The Disney family reunion t-shirts came in handy keeping track of the kids! Dave kept them entertained before we were seated by hiding a red crayon and telling them all whoever found it first got a $1. Once again, the master of distraction returns- good to see they haven't outgrown the scooby-doo stories at night either- they were still requested!
Andrew and Sean having a squirt-fan fight-
Ah... finally, all of us in the same picture. Waiting to take the safari ride over to another grand-gathering dinner. Saw lots of very cool animals from the jeep at an almost uncomfortable close range... but the driver assured us we were safe.
Austin & Matthew taking a break-
Very fun character dinner...
Night light parade was every night before the real fireworks started at Magic Kingdom. Had a perfect view from our own hotel balcony!
Andrew, Austin and Joey playing a little Nintendo DS before the fireworks start
After a day of rides we were all ready to hit the pool back at the hotel!
Quick siesta while waiting for his big brothers to do a 'big-boy' ride.. but by the end he was doing them too- did Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain (he just BARELY meet the minimum height requirement)!
The last 2 days of vacation we spent in Gainsville, FL celebrating our newest cousins Christenings. Uncle Robb and Aunt Minja now have 3 adorable children- Nikolas, and the baby twins, Michael and Sonja.
