Disney makes my heart happy!

It's been a while since I've posted about Disney!  What is up with that?  Disney is something that is so near and dear to my heart, and Dave's, and Ashley's!  Just the other day we were talking about how we need to go again, even though we practically just got back.  Well, it has been 2 1/2 months now, but still...it's so fun and addictive that we are never tired of it!

Here are a few pics from our trip.  We went from Dec 26th to Jan 1st, the craziest, busiest time of year for anyone to go to Disney.  Honestly, you must be crazy to go that week.  Luckily we are a little crazy, and since I work at a school our vacation time is limited during the Sept-June months!  Luckily, with the help of Tour Guide Mike we never got stuck in the crowds unless we chose to (like at night during Extra Magic Hours or fireworks, which he practically forbids during this week, LOL) and didnt really notice all the craziness.  We got up super early, hit the parks before they opened which was great because they always let us in early, and did all the rides (some twice!) before the major crowds even got there.  We rode everything we wanted!  It was a great trip!

What is a trip for us to Orlando without stopping in Harry Potter World first?  This is in Universal and we take a little side trip.  This was our second time here, it was so insanely crowded it was hard to enjoy, but we managed anyway!  Just walking down the streets of Hogsmeade was great.  Although, it was 80 degrees there so it was hard to get in character on in the "snowy" town.

Dave & I posing with the Hogwarts Express!

Alas, we said bye to HP, and started our Disney fun!  Family pic at Magic Kingdon.  That is Thunder Mountain behind us.

Dave & Ash posing with Goofy at Chef Mickey's, our fave restaurant!

We stopped into the Grand Floridian to take a peek at their decor, it was beeeautiful!

Our hotel was cool too - this is Pop Century at the main pool!  Groovy!

Ash & I posing with Roger Rabbit on the huge computer key board.  That was our room building behind us.

Ash with her blingin Mickey Ears.

Me wiating in line of one of my fave rides, Expedition to Everest in Animal Kingdom.  Awesome!

Epcot is my absolute favorite park.  I love the World Showcase.  Because I love traveling!

Happy Blands at Magic Kingdom!

We do Disney at least once a year.  Actually, we are looking into buying a share of Disney Vacation Club, it's like have a time share IN Disney World, but with major perks!  It's like buying a house, but way way cheaper so the "mortgage" payments are less than $100 a month! It means we will be able to go down to Disney more than once a year, and we won't have to pay for lodging but we will get to stay a few of the best hotels there:)  WIN!!

Last month I started contributing to a blog called The Affordable Mouse.  It's so fun!  Every other week I write a article for the Thrifty Thursday column.  The blog admin there is Nancy, and she is a Disney Vacation Planner too!  You can get a no obligation Disney Vacation quote from her, she'll plan your trip down to the meals if you want her too;)  Do me a favor and tell her I sent you!  Writing for this column as been so fun.  I've only done two articles so far but I love working with the folks over at TAM, it's a great blog to be a part of.  Go check it out!  Lots of great Disney info over there...

Dave & I are going to Paris & Italy this summer and we have decided to try Disneyland Paris.  I am thinking that is going to be the best thing ever?!?  Disney + Paris = Tina is going to die happy!

That's all for today, friends!