Disney Trip

In March we took our first big family vacation to Disney World.  We stayed at one of the Disney resort hotels- Saratoga Springs.  Our villa was wonderful- it had a separate bedroom for us & the two big boys slept on a pullout sofa in the living room. 

We hadn't told the kids about the trip, but instead decided to surprise them the morning we left.  Barrett & I snuck up to their bedrooms & woke them up at 4:30 in the morning so we could make our flight.  Dean was confused & Max jumped on the bed he was so excited.  

Our trip included 5 days of park tickets.  So we were able to head straight to the Magic Kingdom after we checked into our hotel.  It made for a long day, but the kids were so excited I'm glad we were able to head there immediately.  When we got to MK it had started to rain & it was mid-afternoon.  So the crowds were gone.  Wyatt was exhausted & had fallen asleep in the stroller, so Barrett stayed with him while Max, Dean, & Mommy were able to ride a bunch of rides while dashing in & out of the rain.  We ended the day at dinner time & headed back to the hotel for a pizza delivery dinner.  

We decided to spend our first full day at Magic Kingdom and started the day with a character breakfast with the Winnie the Pooh characters at the Crystal Palace inside MK.  The neat part of having breakfast at the Crystal Palace is you are able to enter the Magic Kingdom before the gates open to the crowds.  It was pretty awesome to be able to walk down main street without hundreds of people around.  The food at the breakfast was delicious & the boys had fun seeing Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, & Eeyore.  I was looking forward to seeing Wyatt's reaction to Tigger since he loves his tigers so much.  However, Wyatt was completely terrified and cried whenever one of the characters came near.  We spent a few hours on rides & then headed back to the hotel for naps.  We had planned for a late night & wanted the boys to have a rest before the evening fun.  After dinner we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks, which were amazing (one of my favorite things of the whole trip).  

The next day was our day at Hollywood Studios.  This was the day the two big guys were able to sign up for Padawan Jedi Training.  We had to kinda fudge on Dean's age so he could participate, which may or may not have been a good idea.  The boys both had the opportunity to "fight" Darth Vader & it was adorable.  Dean was scared & I could understand- Darth Vader was HUGE.  Our Hollywood Studios day included a lunch at Hollywood & Vine, which had the characters from Disney Jr- Jake from the Neverland Pirates, Sofia the first, Handy Manny.  The food was delicious, but the experience was pretty loud.  The boys had a great time, all except Wyatt who again did not enjoy the characters.  Wyatt did really enjoy the Little Mermaid show- I think it was the music, colors, lights.  He just kept jumping on our lap & clapping & smiling from ear to ear.  Hollywood Studios day ended mid-afternoon.  This was the hottest & most uncomfortable day of our trip.  The boys were tired from the late night fireworks the night before & we just needed to end the day early.  After our rest time we were able to enjoy the pool at the hotel.  We attempted to enjoy Downtown Disney that evening, but I think we were all just way too tired.  We walked down the main area of Downtown Disney & then decided to call it quits & head back to the hotel for a dinner in our room.  

Epcot was where we headed the next day.  I had received mixed reviews of whether the boys would enjoy Epcot, but we loved it.  We spent the morning riding a few rides & enjoying the aquarium.  Max was able to go on a big boy ride with Daddy, while Dean, Wyatt & I visited Mickey & Minnie & rode the Nemo ride a couple of times.  Wyatt loved the Nemo ride & all of the aquarium.  The only downside of our Epcot day was the boys did not enjoy the lunch at the Moroccan restaurant we chose.  It made for a long meal, but it was also our signal to head back for our rest time.  We wanted to be able to come back to the park in order to enjoy some more fun.  We headed back in the early evening, so Max & Mommy could go on a big kid ride.  Then we had some dinner in the park & we gave the kids the choice of watching the Epcot fireworks or going on a ride with Daddy- they chose going on a ride.  

After the late evening at Epcot I wasn't sure if we would be up & moving early on our last full day, but the boys were ready.  So we headed first thing over to Magic Kingdom for our last day.  Barrett, Max, & Wyatt started the day at the old fashion barber shop on Main Street to get their hair cut Disney style.  After they were finished, we planned to use the last day to go on the rides we hadn't had a chance to visit yet, as well as do the boys favorites again.  Max loved the Space Orbiter ride the best & the race track.  Dean definitely liked the race car track the best too.  Our last day was a beautiful Sunday & definitely the most crowded of all the days on our trip.  We were very lucky that we went at a good travel time of the year.  I can't imagine if all of the days had been like Sunday.  We had been emailed at the beginning of our trip to make reservations at Be Our Guest restaurant & we chose this day to do it.  The restaurant is a replica of the castle from Beauty & the Beast & I thought it was beautiful.  They have a tracking system with our Magic Bands & were able to magically find us in this huge castle to deliver the food we had pre-ordered with our reservation.  It's pretty amazing the technology that Disney has pioneered & I really enjoyed seeing all the ways they are making things magical for their guests.  After our rest time at the hotel we went back to MK so we could go on a few more rides to end our trip.  Daddy took the little guys on the train around the park to cap off the night, while Max & I went on a roller coaster.  

It was a long travel day home with all of us so tired, but all in all the kids were great travelers.  Wyatt was a real trooper for his age & never really got grumpy.  It was at times difficult when trying to stand in lines & Wyatt would want to toddle off, so I'd wear him in the ergo so that way he wouldn't be tempted to wander off.  The airplane rides were really not bad, but were a big workout keeping the wiggle monster on my lap.  

Overall we all had a blast!  Even Barrett thoroughly enjoyed himself throughout all the exhaustion of travelling with kiddos.  I can't wait to plan our next Disney trip & I'm sure it won't be long before we are heading back to the most magical place on earth.