A few photos from our weekend safari tour of Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, part of the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Central Florida.

Have you ever been to Disney’s Animal Kingdom? What’s your favorite part of that park?

Helping folks find their way to Cinderella’s Castle. Icons on parking lot floor of Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World.

My family and I recently attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. We were part of a media group invited to attend as guests of Disney and were able to join the fun of celebrating Christmas Disney-style. This is our second year attending Mickey’s Christmas Party and it was just as fun as our first time attending!

Some of the highlights of attending the holiday events at Disney World are special character sightings, special event merchandise for those who collect Disney merchandise, and event-only parades and other activities. During Mickey’s Christmas Party, we got to see Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, which has a special appearance from Santa at the end. You can also catch a holiday version of Wishes, Magic Kingdom’s fireworks show. There were also a couple of character-themed dance parties for the kids; baby girl got to dance with Jessie from Toy Story!

Throughout the night, we spotted some new characters we had never run into in the past: Abu from Aladdin, the bears from Frontierland’s Country Bear Jamboree, and Captain Jack Sparrow. I’m not sure if these characters are normally out and about at the parks and we’ve just missed them, but I know that it was our first time being able to get their autograph and picture. We actually had something really nice happen to us as we were waiting for Abu’s autograph. As is normal for character greetings, Abu and Aladdin were switching out with Jasmine and the Genie. The only character my girl was missing was Abu, since she’s met the others at previous park visits. As she was getting close to the front of the line, it was announced that only one more person would meet Abu and Aladdin, as Jasmine and the Genie were about to come out. So, baby girl was going to miss her chance to meet Abu! But, the very nice little boy in front of her told her it would be okay to switch places since he was fine with meeting any of the characters!

Something my girl was really looking forward to was the complimentary hot chocolate and cookies that are provided to guests throughout the park. The night we attended, it was actually pretty cool out and windy, so hot chocolate came in handy. The snow on Main Street is also a fun treat! Another bit of Disney magic that happened for us that night was not being charged for baby boy’s skullcap; the cashier told my husband as he went to pay, “I can’t let the baby be cold!”

We had a nice evening out and enjoyed seeing Magic Kingdom decorated for Christmas. It’s always fun to visit the parks during these special events because you see them in a whole new way. In the coming weeks, we plan to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

Have you ever visited Disney World or Disneyland during the holidays? What is your favorite part?

Photos © ModernMami.com

New Magic Kingdom parking lot set-up.

I recently participated in the Trekaroo KidsMobile blog carnival, where a few Orlando bloggers created lists of their favorite kid-friendly activities in the Orlando and Central Florida area. Many of the lists created have suggestions for traveling to Disney. I offered up a list of Free and Low-Cost Activities in Orlando for Preschoolers.

Since Orlando is a popular vacation destination for those with families, and you may one day find yourself coming to visit the various theme parks housed here, you might find these links handy.

The Orlando KidsMobile blog carnival has many recommendations from Trekaroo families and local bloggers. Check out the following lists for more information on activities for kids in Orlando:

• Top Activities for Kids in Orlando, Florida – voted by Trekaroo parents
• Top Kid-friendly Hotels in Orlando, Florida – voted by Trekaroo parents
• 5 Tot-friendly Restaurants Favorites in at Disney by Two Kids and A Map
• Disney Hotels for Tweens and Teens by Travel with Teens
• Top 5 “Must Do” Walt Disney World Attractions with Teens by Disney Everyday
• Water Parks in Florida – Cheerio Family
• More Disney, Less Waiting – A review of RideMax – Li Er Hanson
• 71 Activities for Kids in and around Orlando, Florida
• Kid-friendly hotels in and around Orlando, Florida

The Trekaroo KidsMobile’s next stop is Memphis, Tennessee. The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while 1) expressing their unique point of view, and 2) getting a web of link exchanges. Join them for one of their next stops.

Last year around this same time, I took my daughter to see Disney on Ice. It was a spur of the moment thing, since a friend of the family had discounted tickets and asked if we wanted to go.

My daughter was only 2 1/2 at the time and had never been to Disney World. But, she did watch Playhouse Disney and I thought “Why not?”

So we went. And we watched as the performers skated around in their costumes and did lovely flips and twirls and sang. My baby girl was enjoying it for the most part even if she was a wiggly toddler.

Then, the Lion King came on. And, well, the Lion King can be kind of dark and ominous and scary. For a 2 year old anyway. Especially one who had never seen the movie and didn’t know what in the world was happening to Simba’s dad! But, she knew Simba was sad. That much she could tell.

And so my baby girl decided to be empathetic…for Simba. And she cried. And was  scared.

I felt so bad for her because I had brought her here thinking it would be fun and instead she was scared! But…we made it to the end of the show and she enjoyed the Little Mermaid and Tinkerbell segments much more.

This year, she’s much less wiggly, more willing to sit and watch a show, and has been to Disney twice.

So, when I was contacted by Jennifer Bisbee and offered to attend the latest Disney on Ice show with my family, I got all excited at the opportunity to try again. And…of course…one of you gets to go and take your family as well! Just don’t stalk me and my family or anything. Ok?

Show Information

Disney On Ice presents Celebrations! will be the first time audiences see Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, live on ice, from the upcoming film, Walt Disney Pictures’ The Princess and the Frog. You’ll get to see Disney characters celebrating holidays and festivals from around the world, including:

• Halloween with the Disney Villains
• Valentine’s Day Royal Ball with the Disney Princesses
• Brazilian Carnivale parade
• Hawaiian luau party
• and a Japanese Cherry Blossom festival

The Prize

I’ve been told I can give one of you four tickets for the opening night show on Friday, September 11 at 7:30 p.m in the Amway Arena.

How to Enter

1. If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below and let me know why you wish to go see Disney on Ice.
2. For an extra entry, you can tweet about this contest with a link back to this post and include @modernmami in your tweet. You must leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet for your entry to count.

All entries must be in by Saturday, September 5th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your comment.)

You can also purchase your own tickets via www.DisneyOnIce.com.

Updated 9/14/09: Contest is closed. Winner has been chosen and show has passed.

This past weekend, I visited Walt Disney World as part of a group of Florida moms that were invited to visit and tour the facilities. We had a blast and our families got to enjoy the parks while we “worked.” I’ll go into more details of our trip and my baby girl’s first visit to Disney soon (maybe next post?). Right now, though, I wanted to share with you the moms I met and hung out with.

Disney Florida Magical Moms

• Shellie Ross of Blog 4 Mom
• Daisy Sutherland of Dr. Mommy LLC
• Leigh Caldwell of Theme Park Mom
• Shari Keating of Diary of a Crazed Mommy
• Stefanie Fauquet of Mommy Musings
• Cindy Schultz of The Mom Maven

I feel like we’ll be having a #magicalmoms mini-reunion, since most of us are going to be attending BlogHer in about three weeks.

They are all lovely ladies and I’m thrilled to have been a part of the #magicalmoms weekend. Check out their sites and get to know them as I did.