Meet the Shaneyfelts

Disney World 2025 Part 1 (Magic Kingdom 1 and Animal Kingdom)

Happy Monday!! This post is long overdue since we’ve been back from our Disney trip for several weeks now….oops! Today I’m going to share our travel day, our first day of Magic Kingdom (we did 2), and Animal Kingdom!

We loaded up the car Thursday, September 18th after school and hit the road! (Merritt is only turned around for the picture–I turned her back rear-facing when we left the driveway). Dustin moved Banks’s carseat to the 3rd row next to Harrison so they could watch movies on the iPad while we drove–we keep the iPad reserved for big travel only, so it’s a real treat when they get to watch it! I checked out a hotspot from our library and we had wifi the whole time in the car.

Since Banks moved back, I sat in his seat so I could be next to Merritt and by the boys in case I needed to hand anyone anything. It just made it much easier. We drove to south Georgia and found a hotel around midnight. Let’s just say it was a rough night with Merritt refusing to sleep in her pack and play, so we put her in the bed with us and she only wanted to sleep on me (in what felt like a full size bed). I did not sleep much that night at all. It was rough.

We were up early Friday morning, so we ate breakfast at our hotel and headed out. The boys were set with their Tonie boxes and Merritt went to sleep immediately (it happens when you don’t sleep any at night lol)

Okay, here’s where it gets funny. When we booked this trip, Dustin and I first said we wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge, which was the hotel we stayed at when we took Harrison when he was 2. But we were also quoted prices for resorts in all levels and ended up choosing Port Orleans French Quarter after we saw it was saving us a couple thousand and we remembered that we really didn’t spend much time in the room at all last trip.

Well, this whole time I was worried about the room size because we would be storing a double and single stroller each night and Merritt would be sleeping in a pack and play.

About 30 minutes out from arriving at our resort, I had convinced Dustin that we needed to swap our resort stay to the Contemporary Resort because the rooms were bigger and we’d have monorail access and wouldn’t have to fold the strollers up to ride it (like you do on the bus). When my parents took us on our first Disney trip as a child, we stayed at the Contemporary and I remembered how magical (and convenient) it was.

Since I had already checked in to the hotel on the app, we had to drive to the French Quarter and then they had to call to swap our reservation to the Contemporary. Also, we had already paid for our trip so we’d only be paying for the upgrade. We had set on a number we wanted to stay over, and it ended up being over but I told Dustin it would be worth it. (Side note: He was SO glad we swapped resorts)

We got to our resort and checked in and LOVED our room size!!! We had plenty of room to store the stroller and put Merritt’s pack and play. We had a view of the monorail and the boys just went crazy watching it–I loved watching them! The only problem was that our (huge) bathroom had a big shower and that was only an issue bathing the babies at night–I just used the detachable shower head and had to stand in the shower and bathe them that way each night. Not really an issue, but not the most convenient when you’re used to a bath tub at home. The couch they are sitting on folds out into a twin bed, so I told Dustin that room would be perfect when all the kids are sleeping in a bed!

We explored our resort a little and then went back to our room to get ready for…

Dinner at Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge!!! I had always wanted to see this resort, so I was excited about this reservation. We explored before our dinner time and loved seeing the animals, but we did not love the food. Turns out, we’re not fans of the African food they had. The kids loved their cheeseburgers, but Dustin and I only liked the naan bread service. (I forgot to mention that I ate gluten on this trip because I wanted to be able to eat whatever I wanted, and by the time we got home, I felt so puffy and my lower back was killing me)

We went to bed and got up the next morning for our first park day–Magic Kingdom!

We are all so excited!!!!!!

I have been wating for this moment forever!!!!!

We rope dropped Dumbo and changed up who we rode with each time since there were very few rides that all 5 of us could ride together.

Winnie the Pooh

We ended up going back to our resort after lunch this day in order to rest for about 2 hours–which we hadn’t planned to do, but when you vacation with little kids, you don’t really have plans and you just go with the flow. We went back and then rode a few more rides before going back to our resort for dinner at Chef Mickey’s!!!! (Since we moved resorts, I had snagged us a dinner reservation there last minute)

The boys LOVED it and Merritt did not. We learned this night that she hated the characters, and well, I had lots of character dining booked after this night haha

Also, this was my first time ever doing dinner at Chef Mickey’s and it was FANTASTIC!!!! I loved the food so much and so did everyone else in my family. It’s something we’ll definitely do again!!

We went to sleep (Merritt slept great in her pack and play for the rest of this trip) and then it was…

time to head to our next park!!!

Animal Kingdom!!!

We did a rider swap for Dinosaur and Dustin and Harrison rode it first. They got off the ride and Harrison said he was NOT riding it with me.

We had lunch reservations at Tusker House (again, Merritt screamed when she saw the characters haha) but the food was good!

Then right as I was going to scan in to Dinosaur to ride by myself, Harrison changed his mind and rode it with me. This is how he rode the entire time…

I don’t have a ton of pictures from AK because it was HOT.

We took a quick picture while Merritt napped in the stroller.

We did the safari, Dinosaur, watched Lion King, and Na’vi River Journey. We rode the train, also. We decided this wasn’t the best park for little kids and wished we would have done Epcot instead.

We rode the bus back to our resort, ate quick service from a restaurant there, and then were all asleep by 9pm that night!

Friday Favorites!

It’s Friday and it’s October! Could I BE any happier?! (Pretend I said that like Chandler Bing haha!) I absolutely love this time of year leading up to Christmas and I plan to soak it all in and enjoy every moment!

As always on a Friday, I’ve got some FAVORITES to share with you!!!

one

DISNEY!!! I cannot get over our trip to Disney last week and how wonderful it was! I plan on working on my Disney blog posts this weekend (probably tomorrow night) and have those posted next week. The re-entry from Disney has been pretty tiring and I’ve been collapsing in bed each night. This picture was taken at one of my favorite restaurants, Woody’s Rodeo Roundup, on our last day at Disney.

two

I know these have been around a very long time, but I just recently bought these self tan face drops! I went back and forth between if I should buy the light drops or the medium drops. I ended up buying light since it’s my first time using them and I wasn’t how sure dark they would actually end up being. They are so easy to apply and there’s no smell or stickiness involved like I have sometimes with my body tanner. The first time I used them, I added 2 drops to my nightly moisturizer and woke up the next morning unsure if they actually worked (I should have taken a picture the night before of my skin). So I waited a couple of nights and then added 3 drops to my moisturizer and definitely could tell the next morning!

You won’t be able to tell when I have make up on, but on the days I don’t wear make up, my face will finally match the rest of my body since I try to keep some sort of color year round haha! Once I use these drops up, I plan to buy the medium shade just to see how those work next time. But I don’t see me buying any for a while–these will last a long time!

three

We got back from Disney last Thursday night, and Harrison had his Sockhop Dance that Friday night. We didn’t waste any time haha! The theme this year was the Wizard of Oz and first grade dressed as scarecrows! I had been so focused on getting us packed and ready for Disney that I totally forgot about getting his sockhop outfit together. My mom came to the rescue and made his costume and it turned out so cute!!!

We are all Harrison’s biggest fans!!! (And I had to go to work that day–I feel like you can look at that picture and see how tired I am haha)

four

The boys built light sabers at Disney and we’ve had lots of battles in our house 🙂

five

This book is my book club pick for this month and we meet Sunday evening to discuss. It’s historical fiction for those who enjoy that genre (me!!), but it’s also pretty long. I remember when the musical Hamilton was finally released on Disney+ and I was so enamored with his story. I’m enjoying this book so far, but the only thing that bothers me as I’m reading is knowing Alexander Hamilton is a cheater. If you watched the musical you saw it, and the book began with Eliza (or Betsy as he calls her) telling us how much she loved but also hated Hamilton for what he did to her. If there’s one thing I can’t stand in life (and in my books or shows I watch), it’s cheating! Aside from that, the story about the founding of our country has been interesting to read.

six

I can’t quit this weighted vest!!! I know I shared this summer about it, but I’m still wearing this when I go on walks. I took this picture on Monday when I walked, but I was thinking yesterday afternoon on another walk that I feel like this 9 weeks has been much harder to have any sort of workout routine. School starting back and being tired from that along with having to cook dinner each night and Harrison in soccer season and having games twice a week has really made it hard to workout. Once I’m “free” at 8pm, I’m ready to sit down or I’m having to wash my hair or fold laundry. Soccer season is almost over and I’m hoping that will make it easier for me to get a quick workout in after Dustin comes home because he also won’t have to mow the grass or anything when he gets home from work.

seven

This girl. She is something else haha! The weather was so nice yesterday that we stayed outside once we got home from school. I looked up and Merritt was trying to climb UP the slide, but her hair was so staticy lolol. Dustin said the other day that if we don’t think something can be done, just watch Merritt. She gets into things that both boys NEVER did! She’s showing us things we didn’t even think about baby-proofing :). But she’s a sweet girl and we all love her so much.

Reasons Why I’m Excited It’s October!!

October is here!!!! Because of this, in my mind it means that the weather will finally cool down and I’ll be able to wear light sweaters and sweatshirts. In reality, today the high is 86…whomp, whomp…

Today I thought I’d do something new and share a few reasons why I love October! And don’t worry, I’ll be sharing a recap of our Disney trip soon!

1. It’s my birthday month!

I love celebrating my birthday! Growing up, my mom made our birthdays so special. She didn’t spend a ton of money on them, but it’s the things she did that mattered most. She made it feel like the entire day was about us. We had to make our own bed every morning growing up, but on our birthday, my mom always made out bed. It was a big deal back then ha! She also decorated the kitchen and I loved waking up and walking into the kitchen to see all of the decorations!

October is not only my birthday month, but it’s also my sister’s! Her birthday is 2 weeks before mine!

2. It’s the last month I enjoy my fall treats

During September and October (and let’s get real, August now, too), I let myself enjoy candy corn and PSLs! These aren’t frequent treats, but every once in a while during these months I’ll treat myself and it always feels so special because it’s seasonal.

3. Fall TV

During this time of year, I love watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with my kids or putting on You’ve Got Mail while I’m doing something else. It’s fun to watch something that we save to watch during a certain time of year. It makes it feel extra special.

4. My fall music playlist

I have a playlist on my phone I named Cozy, and I always listen to it in the fall. It’s full of jazz and old standards, and something about it just makes me feel like fall. We also like to listen to the Great Pumpkin soundtrack at home since it’s all instrumental.

5. Fall activities

There’s a pumpkin patch train ride I want to take the kids on (we took Harrison the fall before Banks was born). We also have our fall festival at church that we look forward to each year! While I’m not a big Halloween celebrator, we’ve made a tradition of eating a special meal before we go out trick or treating. Two years ago, my sister started coming over to go trick or treating with us, and now she has a little boy old enough. We will eat a special meal Halloween night and then go trick or treating in our neighborhood! I love that my kids will get to grow up spending this holiday with their cousin.

Happy October!!!