Happiest Place on Earth
Walt Disney Family Trip (Part 2)
As I was sitting here thinking about how I was going to start this post,
I began to tear up.
Now that I am a parent and know how it feels to want to give your kids everything they want….
I know how it hurts when you feel like you can’t.
Back when I was little, my parents used to take us camping at the beach all the time.
It was kind of our family thing.
Some people camp at the lake or the mountains, but the Wall’s would always camp at the beach.
In fact, it was normal for us to go for 2 weeks at a time during the summer.
Well, they didn’t have the internet then with all the great deals flashing in your face everytime you hopped on it.
My Mom and Dad always wanted to take us to Disney and it wasn’t until literally about 5 years ago, that my mom realized she probably always could have.
She just assumed that it was something that was too expensive for them to take a family of 5 to, so she never looked into it further.
Everytime I talk about our trip, she shares with me how much it breaks her heart to know that with what they would spend on our
family camping trips to The Outer Banks every summer, she could have taken the whole family to Disney World.
However, that was then and this is now and who knows…..
maybe one day I can take her to The Happiest Place on Earth. ; )
Our first actual day at a Park had to be no other than …….
Magic Kingdom, of course!
And the first thing we did when we got there was get in line for “Enchanting Tales with Belle”.
This wasn’t a ride, but actually a storytelling adventure where they have the children be involved with helping reinact how
Belle and the Beast met.
Two of the kids were happy in this picture and one wasn’t….. can you guess which one?
The only problem was everyone else had the same idea we did. LOL!
It took us 60 minutes to get in.
We thought this was going to set the mood for the day, but luckily it didn’t!
I have to say that it was well worth the wait,
because…..
Because my little baby was chosen to be “The Beast”!!!
He was adorable…. and shy…… and TERRIFIED!
He was fine until the Pretty Belle started to talk to him.
The shoulders went stiff and he couldn’t speak a word.
He did manage to come out of it at the end and smile for the pictures, but they said no flash
photography, so unfortunately, this is the only shot I got.
You can, however, go online to Disney’s PhotoPass and order their pictures they take.
I probably will, but I haven’t yet.
From there, we quickly learned that if the kids are asking about something A LOT, then you best
take them to the ride and get it over with in order to maintain your sanity!
SO!
Our next stop had to be ……
The Haunted Mansion!
We loooooove that movie. Eddie Murphy is hilarious and the dead Master of the house doesn’t hurt the eyes either.
Anyhoo!
I love all the props leading up to the entrance. They even have interactive things to touch along the way.
I have to note that from here on out, the lines weren’t really bad at all.
I think the 60 minute wait at Belle’s was just the fact that everyone wanted to be in Fantasy Land.
Even Mr. Moose got in on the action.
BOO!
We went to Magic Kingdom on two different days. I have to say that I am soooo glad we did.
It is by far, the biggest Park and we really needed two whole days to do the whole thing.
Our AMAZING travel agent, Kim put together an itinerary for us to have in the parks.
I’m talking Major Itinerary!!!
She told us where to go first, second and so on. She told us what time to be there to do that first, second and so on.
She told us when the best time to get a Fast Pass would be.
It was like we had her next to us, holding our hand the entire time.
I gave a link to her site in my earlier post, but in case you missed it, here it is again.
I loved seeing the excitement on the kid’s faces everytime I turned around.
Even the “Big Kid’s” too!
On to our next adventure, Animal Kingdom! (*MOO!)
I have to say that this was probably our favorite Park.
It was definitely smaller than the other ones. (Atleast it felt that way.)
Which, by the way, we didn’t mind.
Since returning, I have heard from a lot of other people that it was their’s as well.
We started off the day with a Safari.
This, by the way, took no time at all to get to the front of the line.
They must have had a million of those cars, the way they came up so fast.
We saw Giraffes….
Elephants……
What I hoped would be followed by a fence…..
Then we rode this (Mt. Everest), which I thought I would only have to do once…
until my 9 yr. old said, “Hey mom! We still have two Fast Passes!”
Then my stomach began to roll and then we got in line again.
Can I just say that Animal Kingdom has it goin on!?!
In the center of the park, there is a big playground with ONE entrance and ONE exit!
And the BIGGEST SANDBOX I have ever seen where you can “dig for fossils”!
We rested there while the kids just ran crazy!
This was probably my favorite thing in The Animal Kingdom.
I’m pretty obsessed with Trees. When I say obsessed,
I mean REALLY CRAZY OBSESSED!
The Tree of Life is what they call this tree. It is just breath taking.
I almost felt like I was in a scene from Avatar.
If you look closely, you can see all the animal’s faces that have been carved into the side of it.
AMAZING!
We decided not to go with a stroller, so this is a scene that occurred quite often.
Z didn’t mind though. Just a Daddy and his little boy.
By the last day, we were all tired. Especially the smallest one.
We saw very little of Hollywood Studios because of this.
If I had to make a suggestion, I would say this…..
If you have smaller children, maybe think about taking a break in between a few days.
By that, I mean hang out around your Hotel.
Maybe go see a movie.
(We didn’t do this.)
So, by the last day, when little ones who are used to getting a nap during the day and didn’t……
finally had a meltdown….
we decided that next time we would not only take a break,
but we would incorporate a pit stop at the beginning of the trip and one at the end.
I’m so glad we did this trip. I do not regret one single thing.
Except for maybe the nap thing. 🙂
It truely IS the Happiest Place on Earth!
Until next time…….
Love,
Esther
*I want to note that we went during January and during the week when the lines are not as long and it is considered their “off season”. Some of the eateries inside the parks
were closed, but not enough to really notice. Lines are always longer during Holidays and breaks when children are out of school. Please keep this in mind
when planning your trip.
Disney World Family Trip (Part 1)
We FINALLY made it to Disney World!
We are that family that says every year, “THIS is the year we are going! We are ! We REALLY are going to do it this year!”
Then that time comes and goes and we say, “So!……………Next year?”
Well, this one kind of just happened.
Z and I had planned on going and taking advantage of the Holiday weekend recently and decided to
ship the kids off to my mom and dad’s and take off for a Romantic weekend to the Mountains.
BUT!
Because we are the CRAZIEST, COOLEST, MOST AWESOMEST parents in the world…..
we decided to go to Disney World instead.
Not only that,
we convinced the babies that THEY were going to the Mountains too.
The morning we were leaving, we decided to let them in on the little surprise.
At first, they were shocked,
then they were in disbelief,
then my little one told me that it was ok!
We could just go to the Mountains after we go to Disney World. (How nice of him and his Large Bank Account!)
We made a pit stop in Savannah for the night and then the next day, we were off to “The Happiest Place on Earth!”
Since this was the first time we were doing this, I had to ask for help.
I didn’t know anything, so I turned to some friends who then gave me the sweetest travel agent’s info.
Her name is Kimberly Hill with Mouse Tales Travel.
I thought she would have tips for us, but I had no idea how much she would actually do for us!
(More on that later!)
Her company specializes in all things Disney. Whether you want to go to the Parks or want to do a cruise, she can plan it all for you.
Did you know they even have Disney Trips to other countries?
Might try that out when the kids get a few years older.
If you want, check out her site here.
On the way from Savannah to Disney, I was trying to get the kids excited about getting there, so I decided to video tape them.
If only I didn’t have to deal with my crazy husband…
Here is the video I took.
Try to make it to the end…… it’s worth it!
Now that you see how crazy my husband can be, let’s move on. : D
We stayed at The Art of Animation.
Our hotel ROCKED!
Even though I don’t really have anything else to compare it too, I think you can agree that anything “themed” is a win win for Families!
The hotel was themed in Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Cars, and The Little Mermaid.
We stayed in The Lion King suite, so our whole suite looked like it.
The kids got such a kick out of everything being so BIG!
Just in case you can’t see what they are doing….
What?
Oh! You didn’t know they were over the top models?
PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT !!!
SPIRIT FINGERS, LEE!
WHERE ARE YOUR SPIRIT FINGERS????!!!!!??????
(*I swear I’m not a “Stage Mom”????)
They even had an “elephant boneyard” to climb and explore in.
This was perfect for my climbers.
This one especially! She climbs on EVERYTHING!
I definitely wouldn’t want to run into one of these guys while out strolling around.
OR! One of these!
Since, we didn’t get there early enough to really enjoy one of the parks that day, we decided to go to Downtown Disney.
It was VERY COOL! They had a Lego Store where there were so many Life Size Characters all made out of ….. you guessed it…..Legos!
ROAR!
No wonder they call this the Happiest Place on Earth! This was my happiest place!
Well, that was our first day!
I’m going to break this up into a few more posts because there is so much to cover.
I promise I will try not to be boring.
Well, atleast not too much!
-Esther
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