Art of Animation was A. MAZE. ING!

Be prepared for a TON of photos!

When we originally booked this trip, way back when, we were booked for Pop Century. But then my parents needed to postpone. I was really bummed...but then I realized something awesome. Art of Animation would be open for the new date! SWEETNESS! So we rebooked for a Cars suite. And then my parents needed to back out completely. Bummed again. We couldn't afford the suite on our own....well...we probably could have, but it cut $1200 off our package to switch to a standard value resort room. And that's just too much of a savings not to. I was bummed to not be able to stay at the new resort. But then, they changed the projected opening date for the standard section at Art of Animation! The Little Mermaid rooms were supposed to open mid December 2012, but then it changed to mid September! Woo Hoo!!! I made the switch and I was so so excited!!

We arrived and were simply blown away. Even the lobby is breathtaking with all the drawings on the wall and the way the front desk area is lit up.

Our room was ready, so we headed over. The walk wasn't exactly short, but we didn't care. Room was so fun!

The resort is breathtaking. SOOOO much attention to detail. Every morning and evening, we had to walk through The Lion King section. Very very cool with the character statues, elephant graveyard, and foliage. Really felt like we were somewhere else.

The Little Mermaid section was so bright and colorful. We loved posing with Ariel's treasures and of course, the statue of Prince Eric!

The Cars section was amazing...like walking into the movie. We were instantly transported to Route 66 and Radiator Springs. Cars is one of our family's favorite movies, and we were in heaven!

And lastly, Finding Nemo. Very colorful and fun. The pool was awesome. Loved the giant scuba mask!

We had lunch at Landscape of Flavors and it was so so good. The variety of meals was wonderful. I had the portuguese sausage and it was really good. The decor in the food court was really pretty. A really great place to eat!

I think the only downside to staying there was the buses. Maybe it's because the resort is new and filled to capacity when we were there, but the buses were crazy packed. Our first night at Magic Kingdom, we took one look at the never ending bus line and hopped in line for Pop Century. We had a bit of a walk, but it wasn't bad. If you walk through Pop and take the Generation Gap bridge over (if that's even what they're still calling it.....), it's pretty convenient. In our opinion, far better than standing in line for an hour waiting for a bus. We did this several nights. It was just easier. And the views from the bridge were so so pretty :)

Been busy....

I feel awful! 2013 started out quite awesome for me and my career, so many other things took a back seat, including this blog. I had big plans to write all kinds of posts about our most recent trip. But I just didn't have time :(

BUT I have plans to get back to it! I love this blog and I love sharing my experiences and helping others plan their Disney trips!! So i promise to get back to it very very soon!!!

The New Fantasyland!! TONS of pics!

Been home for almost two weeks and finally I have the chance to start writing some blogs about our trip!

It really was a fantastic trip! The kids are both at great ages. My youngest could finally go on almost everything. That was so so great!! So many attractions we can FINALLY enjoy together as a family!! No more making one parent wait while the other goes on with kidlet #1!

We got to experience some pretty cool things on our trip, and one was the new Fantasyland expansion! It wasn't "officially" opened yet...we missed that by one day. We came home on December 5th. But it was all open and we got to experience everything!

The one thing I wanted to experience most was the new Little Mermaid attraction, since it is one of my favorite movies! :) I was prepared to wait in line for it...longer than we normally wait. But to our surprise, since we went there first thing, there was no line! Walked right on!!! And it was so so awesome!!

Eric's castle :)

Inside the queue.

There she is! Not a great photo though :(

Outside the attraction.

After the ride, we checked out the Ariel meet n greet in her new grotto. Waited maybe 10 minutes!!!

We checked out Gaston's Tavern next. Very cool! We weren't ready for a snack but vowed to come back another time.

Inside one of the dining rooms.

We then headed over to Storybook Circus, which was also still dead at this time of the morning. We rode Dumbo right away, and even though there was no wait, we let the kids check out the new waiting area. It was cool, but I think I expected more. It was real nice not having to wait in a long line and I bet the double Dumbos really helps during busy times.

The Dumbo play area.

We lucked out and did character meet n greets, which was really cool to see Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Minnie all decked out in circus wear!

We also met with Pluto and Marie in another tent. We rode the reimagined Barnstormer then headed back into the other part of the expansion for an early lunch at Be Our Guest. The place is GORGEOUS!! Like, unbelievably amazing. I only wish the food would have been as amazing :( We got in line before 11...pretty long already. I think we got in and ordered somewhere around 11:30 ish. The touchscreen was real nice and there were CMs there to help. We sat in the main ballroom and the food arrived shortly after. Nice to have it delivered like that! I had the croche monsieur sandwich, which was just a fancy name for grilled ham and swiss. It really wasn't anything special. And it just came with regular Disney fries. I guess I assumed because the menu said pomme frites it would be something different and special....though I do know that just means friench fries in French. Oh well! Hubby had the steak sandwich, which he said was okay, and the French onion soup, which was pretty blah. He was really disappointed since he is a connoisseur of French onion soup and must try it everywhere. My daughter didn't eat her kids pork meal...and when I tried it, I wasn't overly impressed. But the place was gorgeous. Maybe dinner is better :)

On the bride leading into Beast's castle.

Two of these lions flank the doors.

The hallway leading to the ordering room.

The ordering room.

The main ballroom.

My sandwich.

The blah soup.

The rose room. Kind of a dark photo...but it was pretty dark in there.

The rose!

The third dining room.

Mosaic on the way out.

One thing I noticed that to me made SUCH a huge improvement to the current Fantasyland was the moving of Dumbo. It really was in an awful spot and it made maneuvering through extremely difficult at busy times of the day. Without it, the land feels so open and so easy to walk through. Kudos on the move Disney!

New entranceway to the expansion, where Dumbo used to be.

Our second day at Magic Kingdom, we got some tasty treats from Gaston's and got to meet n greet with him :)

LeFou's brew, giant cinnamon bun, and chocolate croissant, all bought with DDP snack credits :)

So there you have it! I think the changes to Fantasyland are wonderful and I look forward to seeing it when it's all finished later on with the new Dwarves mine car ride :)