Well...we loaded up three kids and four adults into two cars last Friday to head to Disney World. Mapquest promised a 6 1/2 hour drive. Apparently, the entire staff of Mapquest doesn't have children. There are the potty stops, the eating stops, the stretch your leg (and mind) stops so the car driving next to you doesn't contact Child Protective Services after you're six hours into the trip. After paying our tolls on the Florida Turnpike, we started seeing the signs for Disney.
If you haven't been to Disney, they do the marketing thing right. As soon as we turned off the exit, our grown-up excitement started to build. (Porter and Betsy were in the car with Hunter, Jamie's sister, and Brittney, Hunter's friend, so we missed hearing their initial reaction.) There aren't just billboards on Disney's property. Nooooo...there are 3-D, moving parts, life size promotion of the parks, the rides, etc along the side of the roads. Jamie is all but hyperventilating at this point and has declared the money spent worthy...and we haven't even found our hotel or seen the castle! Then...we take a small wrong turn and ended up in an EMPTY parking lot with the precious castle in our sites. Gulp. Admittedly, scenes from "Vacation" are flashing through my mind, and I'm wondering how quickly my non-gun-toting husband can acquire fire arms. But...back on track, we find our gorgeous hotel and we get checked in and find our rooms.
Our accommodations, thanks to my attending a conference, were spectacular. I think someone said the normal rate was over $600 a night. Well...we didn't pay that for sure! Our balcony looked onto a lake that offered a light parade each night, and one step outside our door, gave us a full view of the Magic Kingdom castle and the fireworks display!
It took a while to get things organized. We brought all but the kitchen sink in order to save money by eating breakfast in the room and to make picnic lunches. (I would recommend taking sandwich bags however...so you don't have to familiarize yourself with an Orlando Wal-Mart around midnight like my sweet husband did.) Finally, we all got settled and into bed...Jack in his Pack-N-Play...off and on all night. Sigh...sleep's overrated, right?!
Magic Kingdom...here we come! Our hotel...the monorail literally ran through it and the walk to the park was less than five minutes away. We had our cards/tickets in hand and headed for the gates...two strollers and a backpack...we were ready! Heeding the wisdom shared with us, we headed for Peter Pan and It's a Small World early on. Jack could ride almost all of the rides in that area, and we all had a really good morning. The hour plus wait to see Tigger and Pooh put a small damper on things, but Betsy's face made it worth it as she held on to Pooh's paw and looked up at him lovingly! At some point, Jamie, Hunter, Brittney and Porter headed off to ride Space Mountain (Porter's proclaimed favorite...her big girl roller coaster!) and Betsy, Jack and I explored Minnie and Mickey's houses and waited in line to meet them...without a stroller...holding a 20 lb wiggly boy who started to smell questionable about half way through the wait...this is where the magic was wearing thin for me!
But we soon met back up and the girls and I road a smaller roller coaster so Betsy could enjoy it, and then we hopped on the train to circle the park and rest a bit. Porter conked out hard which allowed Betsy the opportunity to have some Mommy/Daddy time on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride while Porter napped with Aunt B and Brittney who staked out our parade watching spot.
The parade was very fun...just about any Disney character who comes to mind is represented...the kid in me was very smiley! After the parade we decided we need to eat some dinner so we headed back to the hotel. We had called ahead to Chef Mickey (character buffet restaurant in our hotel) to see if there were any reservations available and they said there were none but we could try to walk-in if we liked. I interpreted that to mean, "Fat chance, suckers!" However, we literally walked over to the check in desk at 5:30 to ask when we might be seated. The hostess (VERY magically) asked me how many were in my party. I told her seven. She said, "Seven?" with a smile..."Just give us about five minutes." Huh?! What?! But I need to run upstairs and get Jack some food...and pee...and wash my children's hands...and you can seat our 7 person party?! Yep! It was a Disney miracle.
So, we enjoyed a buffet dinner...all the walking and exercise was of course null and void after eating experience...but we got to meet Minnie, Mickey, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy throughout the course of the meal. Jack shared some Gerber chicken veggie dinner with Mickey. So, we had to wipe that off of his nose. Mickey helped us celebrate Jamie's, Porter's and Betsy's birthdays with a traditional Celebration song and napkin twirling extravaganza (that we heard NUMEROUS times over the course of our stay). The waitress brought all three of them cupcakes...it was a really perfect experience!
Later, the "girls" headed back to the park and Jamie and Jack chilled out in the room. Sadly, Space Mountain was closed so I missed that ride and Porter didn't get to ride again. But we did ride a couple of other rides and see the fireworks up close...and that crazy Tinker Bell who flies from the top of the castle...what do they pay THAT person?!
The following day, we headed to Epcot. *Suggestion...for the sake of children AND grown-ups, you should take a day off between parks...and both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot...deserve more than one day! Porter loved the huge golf ball and wondered if Uncle Jed knew it was there. We explored just a few of the really cool science/learning type areas while waiting on various rides. We then all but sprinted through the various countries to make it to our 4:25 dinner with the princesses in "Norway." Admittedly, this experience did not meet the fun we had meeting Mickey and friends, but it was fun to hear the girls identify each princess and excitedly meet them and pose for pictures. The most amusing story from this evening was when Jack met Jasmine (from Aladdin) who was sporting a bra-like top with beads. Jack was really interested in her...ahem...beads...and kept reaching up to touch them. Luckily, he's only 9 months old. Otherwise, we would have likely been escorted from Epcot very quickly. You can see pictures of the "kisses" he collected from the princesses below. Pretty cute.
Jamie and the girls left Monday morning to head back to Auburn, and my sweet sister-in-law and her friend stayed with me so I could attend a conference for the rest of the week. I did have time to take Jack out of the lake beach...that most normal people would assume might be snow from the pictures since it IS December...until you notice that the child is barefooted. It was even WARMER a couple of days later and we got in the water. I didn't put him in the pool (heated) because I failed to take swim diapers...but there were ducks IN THE POOL so I'm thinking hygiene wasn't at the top of their priority list. (Hello Disney...just because we all love Donald doesn't mean we want to swim with real ducks in a pool...should I choose to swim in a lake, that's another thing.)
Jack also experienced an outside dinner and dance. At this conference last year, I actually line danced while 6 1/2 months pregnant so I figured why not dance with him this year too?! And as if I hadn't pushed this poor little guy's limits for late night dining enough, I took him with three other colleagues to a VERY nice restaurant. I walked in and gulped, fearing that I was going to be "that woman." I could just hear the other patrons thinking, "Who brings a baby into a restaurant like this?! She better not ruin my $60 + meal letting that kid scream and throw food everywhere." You've done it...you've had those thoughts too.... But Jack wasn't that kid. He was amazing. He flirted with one of my coworkers who gave him pieces of bread (I was sure he was going to explode by the end of the night.) and the waiter made him a mouse from a lemon which he promptly ate with not a grimace from the acidity and sour taste...crazy kid.
One afternoon I even got to visit with my dear college friend Stacy. She was meeting a high school friend at Magic Kingdom so she just came over to the hotel for dinner and to visit. I got to see Bryson (her son), and she got to meet Jack. Really weird...I saw HER friend two different times that day but didn't get to talk to her as neither of us was completely sure who the other was...just that nagging feeling that, "I know you but don't know why but there are like a million people here and why did I just randomly see someone I know?" Just like the ride says (over and over and infectiously so), it IS a small world after all!
Overall, it was a great trip! I think that 6 and 4 were great ages to experience the parks, and you couldn't beat the early December weather! Jamie and I do want to go back some time on our own too...is that bad?! Enjoy the slide show. I tried to capture just a snapshot of the trip.
6 comments:
How fun! We used to go in January and the weather and lines were great. Have a good Christmas!
When we went to Disney, Matt and I had matching jams and the whole family had matching sun glasses. We drove in the wood-sided buick station wagon with a car top carrier. Around the half way stop, a girl at a McDonalds drive through window asked if we'd ever seen Vacation.
Glad your trip was fun. Merry Christmas!
It looks like you had a blast! Welcome back and have a Merry Christmas!
What fun! Glad you guys had such a great time!
Love the stories from Disney. You know John and I are obsessed. My parents just got back like a week ago from a conference and they said this was the perfect time of year to go. John and I are already planning our trip for next December (he will finally graduate from grad school) and this will be our celebratory trip. We are even going to leave Will behind :)
P.S. I just got a look at some of the cards you had drawn over the years on your lines dots curls blog. Um, you are amazing. Is there anything the amazing katie mantooth cannot do? :o)
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