Disney World! Part 1
So we finished watching our last few movies in the car but we did it. We watched every animated Disney movie in order of release before our trip. (If I'm honest, we did leave out Chicken Little, Home on the Range, Atlantis, and Nightmare Before Christmas on purpose and Wreck it Ralph and Emperor's New Groove on accident). But my kids knew every character they saw and understood every ride and I really think the Disney education made our experience more fun.
I feel like I've told so many people about out trip already but here is a quick summary. Friday we drove the 13 hours with just one stop! My kids are awesome travelers and we made good time which was great because we were excited to get to the Wilson's house. It was so fun to see them and catch up. I really miss them and it was super fun to spend time with them again.
Saturday we spent the morning with the Wilsons then left about lunch time to head to our hotel. We met up with my in-laws and since our room wasn't ready, we went to Disney Springs. We shopped around and ate then went back to our hotel for some swimming in our awesome hotel pool. I loved our hotel and it was perfect for our family (Art of Animation). Cool decor, I loved having our own bedroom and bathroom and space away from the kids, everyone was comfortable and slept well and the cafeteria food was good. The pool was really fun and big too. I also loved being able to take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. It was a delightful way to start and end the day.
Sunday morning we spent in Future World in EPCOT. We went right to Test Track and even with a delayed opening, only waited in line about 20 minutes. It was Brandon's first ride at Disney and I was a bit worried we were going to traumatize him but he liked it and everyone else loved it. We ended up doing just about everything in Future World (Soarin', Nemo, Figment, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth) and even had a cool photo experience with Mickey. It was off in a building and you had to have a Disney Visa card to get in so I showed them my card and we got in a very short line for a mystery character, which turned out to be Mickey! It was so fun and low-key, which was perfect.
Then we headed to Magic Kingdom for the Mickey's Not-so-Scary Halloween party. I don't love Halloween so I was not stoked for this party, but expected the park to not be crowded and to have short lines. I was right about the short lines but the park was pretty crowded and I was disappointed. We did get to do a good amount of rides but it was hard to walk around in the dark and not lose track of my little kids among all of the costumed people. There were long lines to meet characters and for trick-or-treating. We got some candy as we walked around and did as many rides as we could, including Pirates and Haunted Mansion because they had live people on the ride for Halloween. The parade and fireworks were fun but really crowded. My kids were tired and didn't last as long as I had hoped they would and we didn't even get a special Halloween treat or watch any of the shows. Overall I think we all had a good time but I won't ever pay for it again because it did not meet my expectations, which I'll be honest, were high.
Monday was kind of a tougher day because everyone was tired. We went to Hollywood Studios because there isn't much there for my kids and I knew we could make it an early day. We did Star Tours with the big kids while the little kids went with my in-laws to meet Olaf. We did Toy Story Mania (a family favorite!) and the Muppet show, Beauty and the Beast, then the lame Little Mermaid show, the Cars show, then we did some shopping and the girls headed to the Frozen Sing a Long who (SO fun!) and then the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. That was when a huge thunderstorm came rolling through so we were dry but the show got cancelled. We probably would have left then (Brandon had fallen asleep on my lap waiting for the show) but we had fast passes for Slinky Dog at 6pm so we hung in there until then, rode Slinky Dog, then left the park. We had dinner at the hotel and got to bed nice and early that night.
Tuesday was a truly magical day. We went to Magic Kingdom and it was a low attendance day since the park closed at 6pm for a private event. We did almost every ride we hadn't done during the Halloween party. We started with breakfast at the Be Our Guest restaurant and then headed to the 7 Dwarves' Mine Train, which we all loved! We did the teacups then all of Tomorrowland (Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, People Mover, Buzz, Space Mountain, the cars) then we moved on to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain and watched the parade in Frontierland. I'm not usually a parade watcher but the kids loved it and it was fun; it helped that we had popcorn and a shady spot in which to wait. We did the Tikki Room, the magic carpets, Jungle Cruise and then I did Splash mountain again (my favorite!) and then we met up at Winnie the Pooh and called it a day. We stayed until they kicked us out, went to the hotel, did some swimming, ate dinner and went to bed. It was a pretty perfect Disney day.
I feel like I've told so many people about out trip already but here is a quick summary. Friday we drove the 13 hours with just one stop! My kids are awesome travelers and we made good time which was great because we were excited to get to the Wilson's house. It was so fun to see them and catch up. I really miss them and it was super fun to spend time with them again.
Saturday we spent the morning with the Wilsons then left about lunch time to head to our hotel. We met up with my in-laws and since our room wasn't ready, we went to Disney Springs. We shopped around and ate then went back to our hotel for some swimming in our awesome hotel pool. I loved our hotel and it was perfect for our family (Art of Animation). Cool decor, I loved having our own bedroom and bathroom and space away from the kids, everyone was comfortable and slept well and the cafeteria food was good. The pool was really fun and big too. I also loved being able to take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. It was a delightful way to start and end the day.
Then we headed to Magic Kingdom for the Mickey's Not-so-Scary Halloween party. I don't love Halloween so I was not stoked for this party, but expected the park to not be crowded and to have short lines. I was right about the short lines but the park was pretty crowded and I was disappointed. We did get to do a good amount of rides but it was hard to walk around in the dark and not lose track of my little kids among all of the costumed people. There were long lines to meet characters and for trick-or-treating. We got some candy as we walked around and did as many rides as we could, including Pirates and Haunted Mansion because they had live people on the ride for Halloween. The parade and fireworks were fun but really crowded. My kids were tired and didn't last as long as I had hoped they would and we didn't even get a special Halloween treat or watch any of the shows. Overall I think we all had a good time but I won't ever pay for it again because it did not meet my expectations, which I'll be honest, were high.
Tuesday was a truly magical day. We went to Magic Kingdom and it was a low attendance day since the park closed at 6pm for a private event. We did almost every ride we hadn't done during the Halloween party. We started with breakfast at the Be Our Guest restaurant and then headed to the 7 Dwarves' Mine Train, which we all loved! We did the teacups then all of Tomorrowland (Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, People Mover, Buzz, Space Mountain, the cars) then we moved on to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain and watched the parade in Frontierland. I'm not usually a parade watcher but the kids loved it and it was fun; it helped that we had popcorn and a shady spot in which to wait. We did the Tikki Room, the magic carpets, Jungle Cruise and then I did Splash mountain again (my favorite!) and then we met up at Winnie the Pooh and called it a day. We stayed until they kicked us out, went to the hotel, did some swimming, ate dinner and went to bed. It was a pretty perfect Disney day.
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