Disney World!

When is the right time to go to Disney?  It's been a question of Chris and mine for many years.  We wanted to wait till the kids were old enough and could enjoy the rides and yet young enough for it still to be magical.  In March as we were discussing what we wanted to do for spring break (late planners, I know) we talked about how perfect the timing was to take our kids now to Disney.  We measured Miles and he was 1/4" shy of 40" (a big height requirement for the majority of the rides), I'm not pregnant (in case you were wondering...) and I don't have a little baby, and Jared was still enough to enjoy its magic for the most part. Chris couldn't get work off during spring break so we decided to wait until most school's spring break had passed. We invited our parents to join us, Cherie was the only one able to come, and we headed off the last Friday of April and joined Chris' mom in Orlando on Saturday night.   

We didn't tell the boys anything before going.  I had been packing and preparing throughout the week without them knowing.  Loaded the car all up while the boys were at preschool.  Chris came home early from work and then we picked up Jared from school.  When I went to get Jared he walked out of his classroom with this huge bandage on his elbow and said, "I'm fine mom, I don't want to go home." I told him that's good and that I had no idea he'd been hurt.  He was not happy that I was taking him away and kept saying he was fine.  When he got into the car he was confused and asked where we were going.  We told the them we were going to Florida.  We didn't want to tell them Disney World yet because we weren't going to the actual parks till Monday and we didn't want them asking and complaining till then. So we set off everyone ready for a vacation.

A lot of people think we're crazy for our long distance drives.  Besides saving lots of money we actually enjoy road trips and our kids are quite the travelers:).  (I do admit though I prefer driving to Idaho where we go straight.  Our kids do better when they're asleep for half of the trip.  This trip however we didn't feel we had enough time to recover from a 24 hour drive and enjoy our trip.)  On our trip to Orlando we covered some new states we'd never been through. On the way down we checked off Georgia, Alabama (we drove out of our way to drive in and back out, we'll have to visit another time...), and Florida (for the boys and me).  Coming back home we went an alternative route and checked off South Carolina, North Carolina, and West Virginia.

Driving by the Braves stadium (would've been fun to have planned to stop and watch a game here.  Chris grew up a huge fan of the Braves).

Miles catching some zzz's during a movie.  We had to constantly tell him to put his straps over his shoulders.

 I was excited for the  place Chris got us, villa style, but it was even nicer than I expected. I didn't know we had two rooms.  Woot! Woot!  Ahhh the joy of putting your kids to bed and going to a different room. It also had a washer/dryer which made unpacking much nicer.

After we unloaded everything we stripped down and went swimming.

That night the boys caught a frog and explored the grounds of resort. The kids went to bed very tired and excited to see Grandma the next morning.  Cherie's flight wasn't until 10:00 that night.

The next day we went to church and headed west to the white sand beaches.  If we could redo part of out trip this is one thing we'd do differently.  We would have hung around our hotel which was really fun.  The drive was a lot longer than we anticipated (traffic was monstrous right before we hit the beach but there was only one way to cross over the water...)  At first we decided we'd walk the last mile.  Half way there I realized this was a mistake because the boys would be exhausted on the way back and it was turning out to be longer than a mile. So I ran back to the van and waited through traffic.

Even though we would've done things differently, we couldn't deny the beauty of these beaches.  The sand was awesome and water's color was pretty.

Every night Grandma read to the boys.  This night we told the boys to get lots of rest cause the next day we were going to go to a place where there would be lots of shopping.

Their collection of sea shells they found at the beach.

On our drive to Disney World we told the boys to read the signs.  I thought they might give me some sort of excited reaction.  For a long time they've been asking to go here.  They love the commercials, Disney knows how to market.  Let's just say their reaction is not you tube worthy...  Jared read, "Disney World, Where dreams come true. So we're going to a Disney store?"  I had to tell them where we were going and there was like no reaction.  They were just expressionless.

We decided to do Magic Kingdom first.  One of my biggest suggestions to anyone is to buy a subscription to Ride Max.  It's not affiliated with Disney but you tell it all the items you want to do and how many times, and then it maps out your day for you telling you where to go, when to send runners to get fast passes and gives you breaks in the day.  It was awesome and totally worth the money (it works for Disney World and Land).

I am so grateful for the Ride Max for the sole reason that I didn't have to wait in lines for dinky rides.  I would have thought to go straight to the popular rides but it had us do the dinky rides first.  We didn't wait at all, which is a good thing because those rides were so not fun.  The boys were ok with them but were ready to move on to bigger and better.  That's my boys:).

On the Pooh Bear Ride with Grandma

The boys got autographs books.  We only stopped when lines were short.  They never wanted to wait too long.

Rocky Mt Railroad, one of their favorites.  Miles favorite at Magic Kingdom was Splash Mountain.
  The first time they asked Miles to stand and check his height he kept ducking under the sign.  He finally got it and every time there was a height sign he'd walk right up to it and about bang his head against it every time.  I wish I would've gotten on video his reaction after measuring and hearing he was good to go.  He would take both hands in fists, yank them back towards him and say "Yes!"  It was the cutest thing.  He didn't get that all the rides were the same height requirement, even if we'd already ridden the ride.  He'd look up after being cleared and say, "I did it!" followed by the "yes!" and arm motions.  He did this clear through our stay.  Towards the end his reaction wasn't immediate.  He'd walk a little ways or maybe turn a corner, but without fail he would celebrate every single time.  Priceless:)

We were the last people Jessie and Woody signed autographs for before they took a break.  Phew!

Pirates of the Carribean

We took a detour from the Ride Max plans.  The boys had seen this car ride earlier and we told them we'd do it later.  When they saw it again we decided to do it.  We were ahead of our plans plus Disney is about the kids right:)?  It was an okay ride for the boys but none of them wanted to go again. Fine by me.

Miles couldn't go on Space Mountain so Grandma stayed with him.

Everyone enjoyed the Buzz ride shooting lasers at targets.  I dominated the first time.

While we were hanging out by Space Mountain we ran in to a talking trash can.  The trash can took immediate notice of our boys and their Chicago Cubs shirts and talked to them for a good 5 mins.  Other people came up to it and I figured he would move on but he stayed focused on the boys.  It was awesome and one of the highlights of our trip.  The boys truly believed it the trash can was a robot.  It took Chris, Cherie and I awhile to figure it out.  There was a guy who controlled it with a remote control that he hid in his bag.  He wore a hat and kept his hand up to his mouth talking through a mic.  Those people are clever and witty.  Later on we ran into the trash can again and he remembered the boys and had another small little chat.

We all really enjoyed Magic Kingdom.  We loved the shows, our favorites: Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and Mickey's PhilharMagic Show.  All the 3D shows our kids loved.  They were often standing up trying to touch things and loved the effects of water, wind, smell.  During Mickey's PhilharMagic Spencer jumped up and accidently threw his glasses.  I gave him mine as I searched around for his.  It was pure delight being at Disney and watching/experiencing it through our children.

It was a good start to our Disney experience.

The next day we started at Animal Kingdom.  (Every day it rained and it was pouring on our drive to the parks so we decided to do Epcot.  While waiting there it dried up and we decided to hit Animal Kingdom then come back to Epcot, good choice).

Right when we got to AK we went on the Dinosaur ride.  None of us had ever been on it so we had no idea what to expect.  We "time traveled" back to when dinosaurs were around and were in a bumpy jeep ride.  It was dark and jerky with dinosaurs around every corner.  At the end a dinosaur pops out at you.  Pretty scary.  When we got off the ride I asked if we could go again.  All three boys shouted, "NO!" (Below is when the dinosaur popped out.  Later Chris said Miles kept that position for the whole ride)

The safari ride was awesome.  We were in a jeep and although I've never been to Africa it really felt like we could've been there.  No fences, animals wandering around, it was pretty cool.

The whole trip Spencer was not too keen about pictures.  Here is our family, minus Spencer :(.  Behind us is the Mt Everest ride.  One of the kids favorite rides. 

Early in the afternoon we headed over to Epcot.  Miles was asleep but Jared and Spencer made sure he got his autographs.

Miles slept for awhile and we saw Captain EO.  Jared and Spencer weren't big fans.  They did however love the Space ride and Test Track.  I think Test Track is one of their top rides.

 I like this next series of pictures.  This is what it's like trying to get three boys to cooperate at times...

The boys ended up enjoying Epcot a lot more than I thought they would.  We didn't walk around through the countries portion but they were obsessed with the rides. At the very end we went on the ride that goes inside the Epcot ball.  I rode with Miles and selected English and right at the last moment he hit Dutch.  Jared and Spencer came out telling me some cool things they learned.  I'm glad somebody learned something because I sure didn't...  We also got stalled on the ride for a good 15 mins towards the end, almost made it to the end...

Day 3: Hollywood.  I loved this park.  I think it may be my favorite.  We loved Toy Story Mania. Had a blast on Star Tours (rode it like 6-8 times), took everyone (yes everyone) on tower of terror, enjoyed the shows (my biggest regret is missing the car stunt show), and I enjoyed that it was smaller and things felt closer together.

Hanging out by Toy Story Mania and sporting the 3D glasses below.

For Tower of Terror I'd been thinking about not taking Spencer and Miles.  Chris early on in our trip had the philosophy that we don't give them an option for any ride.  Don't tell them what it's like or about and just take them.  So that's what we did.  We had a fast pass to tower of terror, walked up and got on.  I felt guilty taking my three-year-old.  Spencer did not like the movie/music prior to the ride.  I think he would have done a lot better if they didn't do such a good job of setting the mood.  Spencer didn't have a desire to go on it again but Miles on the other hand enjoyed it.  He would say, "We went up and down, up and down, and saw outside." 

Jared's all time favorite ride was Rock N Roller Coaster.  He liked that it was really fast and went upside down.  He was the only kid old enough to go on it.  We forgot to get the picture of Chris and Jared but here's the picture of Grandma, Jared and me.

Grandma bought each of the boys a lightsaber that they got to assemble themselves and pick and choose their pieces.

For dinner we ate at the Sci Fi drive in.  It was a cute environment.  Our kids weren't too enthusiastic about it but I thought it was cool.  We sat in cars and watched old Sci fi movies or clips.

It'd been raining on and off that afternoon.  Earlier that day we'd signed the boys up to be part of a Jedi Training Academy.  They were stoked.  Well when their time slot come up it was pouring.  Before being dressed in their appropriate attire they were quizzed on their star wars knowledge.  Jared and Spencer dominated the questions.  I had no idea they knew so much and I don't know where they learned it.     

Getting dressed to see Darth Vader.  Sadly they didn't get to fight him.  Only get a picture with him:(

We rode star tours a couple more times.  We just walked right on to the ride it was awesome.  The first time we rode the ride Spencer got so excited at one point and jumped up shouting, "Yeah!"  He quickly sat down and put his glasses back on.  And once Spencer was the spy on the ship and another time it was Jared.  Good fun.

Our last day we let the boys pick the things they wanted to do. We also liked their cubs shirts, easy to spot, they wore the first day so we washed them and had them wear them again.  We went to Animal Kingdom first and pretty much only did Mt Everest.  I tried to get them to do the dinosaur ride but once we got to the ride they all changed their minds.

Then we headed to Epcot where the boys wanted to do test track.  The line was longer than we wanted so we got a fast pass and waited but doing the Space ride and going on a Phineas and Ferb mission.  Below Chris and boys are listening to the phone for their clue.

After our "detective mission" we used our fast pass for test track.

Finished up there in a few hours and headed to Magic Kingdom next. At MK we went straight to Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.  I think Splash Mountain was Miles Favorite ride.

We rode several rides and it started to pour hard.  We were trying to decide whether or not to leave the park for an early dinner or stay and eat dinner there.  (We weren't impressed with the food quality and Chris wanted a good meal.)  I didn't really want to leave because I knew it'd be likely that we wouldn't come back but finally we decided to leave.  A few suggestions were thrown out as to where to eat and I decided on Olive Garden.  It wasn't cold but I was wet through and through and felt like unlimited soup and breadsticks.  It was perfect.  We had a great waiter, the kids enjoyed their pizza and the adults got to sit and relax.  After dinner no one wanted to go back, sigh. 

After four days of running (when I say running I literally mean it) we were exhausted.  Chris and I tag teamed running across the parks getting fast passes and meeting back up with the group.  We hardly took breaks and got to bed late every night.  Cherie was beyond amazing.  She had polio in her leg when a baby and one leg is a lot smaller.  I was exhausted.  I'm sure she was beyond spent but she never complained.  Every day we asked her if we could get her a wheel chair to which she refused.  Finally the last day Chris got her one without asking if she wanted it.  That woman truly amazes me!

Although it rained every day I think our timing was perfect.  It was still crowded (I can only imagine what it's like during peak season, no thank you!) but our wait times were minimal.  The most we ever waited was once for the 30 mins and a few 15-20 min waits.  It was really great timing for the whole thing.

Friday morning we said good bye to Grandma, went swimming and then headed to Downtown Disney.  We went to Disney Quest where there's a flat rate to enter and you have unlimited access to floors of arcade games.  My boys were in heaven.  I honestly think this was their favorite part.

Getting ready for a virtual ride where you have a weapon and fight a bad guy. 

We stayed at Disney Quest for close to three hours and left cause Miles was ready to crash.  We ordered food to go and while waiting for it Miles fell asleep with his head in his hands. 

And so we began our trek back home.

We took a different path home so we could hit some states we'd never been in before.  Around 8:00 at night we hit Savannah Georgia.  We got of the freeway to drive around a bit but Spencer was not happy about the detour.  He just wanted to get home.  So we made it quick and got back on and drove a few more hours before stopping for the night.

My absolute favorite part of the drive was West Virginia.  I loved the rolling hills, green landscape and country feel.  I know we were in the Appalachian Mountains but I can hardly call them mountains.  I always thought people exaggerated when they said they were big hills but I now get it.  There were only a few spots I would actually consider them mountains.  Beautiful nonetheless.

  

We arrived home late Saturday night.  I'm glad we took advantage of the timing of our children's ages and went to Disney.  Definitely a memorable trip.