My sister went to Disney World with her marching band after I had already graduated. How unfair!! And she doesn't even like roller coasters or really any ride more wild than a carousel. Oh the irony! I felt totally gypped.
I know how expensive it is to send one person, let alone 4 and a toddler. But at the beginning of 2012, I started researching on the official website. One of the blessings of Loren being in school is that the money he gets from the army to pay for it allows us an income we otherwise wouldn't have. Couple that with Lipscomb footing half of his tuition and we've got enough that I don't have to work a traditional job outside of being a mom and wife.
In addition to having school paid for, he gets a refund of sorts each semester. So after I put in all the information for us with 2 adults and 2 children (Paxton was free because he was 2), I figured out what we'd have to do in order to pay for the trip. The week before Christmas in 2011, our friends, the Greenwoods, went to Disney World. This is what sparked my interest on planning a trip. With Loren's school schedule along with the kids', it was the best timing for us to go during the same week of December.
I was so excited to think that we'd be going on my dream vacation that it didn't even matter how far away it was! I discussed all the plans with Loren and we decided when it would be best to book the trip. And we also planned to keep it a secret from the kids. How on earth would I keep it to myself for 10 months!?!?
I booked the trip at the end of February. Words can't express the pure joy I felt at knowing our kids would experience something so magical! The great thing about the way Disney works is that I only had to put down $200 to book it. From there you can pay whatever amount you want leading up to the trip and then make the finally payment 45 days from the trip. So after our tax returning March, I paid off half of the trip. Then made small payments here and there until October. Loren received his refund for that semester and we were able to pay off the trip on the due date.
Over those 10 months, I would stalk the Disney Store at Opry Mills. They get surplus merchandise directly from the parks at a great discount. I got several small goodies for them and the best deal was on Mickey Ears that were Christmas themed. $3 a pair!
Another aspect to the planning was meal reservations. You can make them 180 days before the trip, and you really need to if there's somewhere you really want to eat. They fill up so fast! So I made a reservation for every day except the last. It makes it seem more real when you have a loose itinerary. Once those were set, I had an idea of where we'd be on those days. I ordered a set of the personalized maps and a planning DVD, both free. I scoured websites and blogs for the best tips. And the moms panel on Disney's website was so informative! I'm definitely a planner and it made me feel less overwhelmed with so much information.
As the trip approached, I had to figure out how we would tell the kids. I had a few ideas, and there are so many out there online. I settled on making a sideshow and posting it to YouTube. During Paxton's birthday, I showed it to them. And then we gave them their Disney loot. Theona had no idea, even though I had become slightly obsessed with all things Disney.
And once the kids knew, the real fun began! We didn't tell them until 2 days before we left. So we didn't have the battle with "when are we leaving? How may days until we leave?!" And they knew that we were planning a trip to Great-Gramma's house so they were prepared for a long drive. I could hardly sleep the night before we left! I couldn't tell how excited Loren was because all of those months I'd been planning and getting more and more excited, he had barely shown a glimmer of interest. He was more worried about the amount of money we were spending on it. Which I can totally understand. But he had never been on such a trip either. So I didn't know if he was really looking forward to it, or just holding back because I had been so enthusiastic.
One of the goodies I wanted the kids to have was a set of pins. Pin trading in the parks is pretty intense if you really get into it. And I figured the kids would love it, but even Loren too. So I went on eBay and started looking at the kind of deals I could get on a set. Not long before we revealed the trip, I was able to bid on a set of 50 pins for $25 and free shipping! The cheapest pins in the parks are $7.95, so the fact that I got 50 for such a small amount made Loren happy!
I made lanyards for me, Loren and Paxton, and got two from the same seller as the pins for the big kids...also cheap! I divided them up among the five of us based on which ones we'd like the most. Loren hadn't even seen any of his pins until after Paxton's party. He started to show a bit more excitement after that. The Saturday before we left was a blur of laundry and packing...I did take a short break that evening when I had a group of carolers at my door! A nice surprise and welcome distraction!
Sunday came and went like a flash. We spent most of the day in the car. The kids were great travelers and the only time Paxton got fussy was when he got tired. And as soon as I gave him a blanket, he stuck his thumb in his mouth and fell asleep. That night was quick too. We spent some time with Gramma and my aunt and uncle and cousins and then went to bed. We woke up the next morning, ate breakfast, repacked the car and left for Disney. The van needed some work done on it before we left Nashville, but it was drivable. Just hot. The farther south we went, the hotter it was and we had to run the heat in the van because it was the thermostat that was messed up.
Needless to say, it was a relief to get to Orlando and see the first signs advertising Disney World. And by 3:30, we had arrived! I did online check-in on the way, so all I had to do when we got there was give them my name. The guy that checked us in called me princess...normally something that would make me cringe...but that's just what they do there! Once I got our packet with room keys, we went straight to the room and loaded in.
We only had about an hour before our first reserved dinner. We didn't know how fast the transportation was from our resort to the restaurant so we left with plenty of time to spare. we waited for a bus for about 20 minutes. Then from the bus to Magic Kingdom (a real tease since we couldn't go in yet ), we took the monorail over to the resort where the restaurant was located. all with 3 kids and a double stroller (which had to be folded up on the buses). but we made it with 10 minutes to spare. Chef Mickey's is one of the more popular character meals because it includes the classic characters. We waited in line (in which there were people who didn't have reservations) for about 5 minutes. Once in, they take you to a photo op with big plastic characters of Mickey and such. You can purchase the photo...we declined the $30 fee. And then we waited for another minute while our table was prepared.
Once we sat down and ordered drinks, Loren went with Kaden to get food. Most character meals are buffets which works for us! Paxton is such an eater that the meal plan was so worth it. AND he was free! We were greeted by Donald, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie. My trip would've have been amazing if that was the only thing I had experienced.
By the time we were done eating, we knew that Kaden and Paxton were ready to decompress. We had planned to go to Magic Kingdom because they had extra magic hours that night, but we didn't want to overload them on the first day. We got back to the room and settled in. Loren went to the Walmart close by for milk and a sippy cup (one of the only things I had forgotten) and the kids and I watched the old Mickey cartoon channel that plays 24/7. I was actually glad for the rest because I wanted to get up early the next morning for Magic Kingdom.
I'm going to pause at this time and go back one day...during our 8 hour drive to Jesup, GA, Kaden developed a mysterious rash on his arms and legs. I think now that it was the shirt he wore...brand new and hadn't been washed. So his sensitive skin couldn't handle it. And on top of that, he'd been wearing pants and a thick hoodie that held in every bit of body heat he had. I had gotten him some Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream for the itch. But after posting about it on Facebook, my awesome pharmacist friend told me to get gold bond cream. And my mom suggested aveeno body wash. I knew we'd get looks from people because of the severe look of the rash, but Kaden wasn't bothered by it so we were fine. And it's not really prominent in a lot of the pictures because he developed an aversion to the camera. Ha!
Okay, back to the trip. Our second day at Disney was amazing! We started with Magic Kingdom. It was hot, so after a couple of rides we got our allotted snack for the day...2 Mickey ice cream bars, a smoothie pop and a coke. After that we went to ride Dumbo...long wait, so we got a fast pass. Best idea ever. Especially for families who have small kids. If the wait was longer than 10 minutes, we didn't even try. While we waited for our return time, we rode the Buzz Lightyear ride, a family favorite now, and went to the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor show (super funny)! We rode Dumbo after that. Kaden really liked that one, he thought it was so cool to control the cart going up and down. We ate lunch after that and decided to head back to the room so Paxton could take a nap.
While the boys slept, Theona and I went to the food court at our resort to get our free drink mugs. We use them just about everyday now! Even though I hated to miss park time, I was grateful for the boys to have at least some nap time in there. Once they had been asleep long enough, we went to an early dinner with the Cinderella characters. Theona isn't huge on the princess thing, but she had a good time meeting her and the Prince and all the Steps. Anastasia, especially was fun to meet.
After dinner, we made our way over to Epcot. They had their extra magic hours that night. We walked around, rode the Nemo ride, did a Perry Mission (from Phineas and Ferb), then saw the Illuminations fireworks show. It was a great first full day!
It's hard to describe how utterly fascinating it is to enter this magical world where your real life ceases to exist. And there was definitely not enough time to do all the things we wanted. And with smaller kids, bigger restrictions come in to play. On Wednesday of our trip, we went to Hollywood Studios. We went straight back to the Toy Story ride as we had been told to do by several people and got our fast pass. From there, we went to the Disney Junior show and then to Star Tours. After the big kids and Loren rode that, we got our snack. While we were walking to the snack stand, Paxton fell asleep. After that the big kids and I went to the Magic of Animation and learned how to draw Goofy. So much fun! Then it was time to ride Toy Story! I can understand why the line is so long for that one. Kaden would've been content to ride that and that alone the entire time.
After Toy Story, we went back to the room. After a short rest, we went back to Hollywood Studios for a late lunch. After that, we made our way over to the Fantasmic show. We all enjoyed that, though there were several parents who had to take their crying children out because it was so scary. It's mostly villains so it's not for the easily frightened.
After the show, Loren just wanted to take the kids back to the room. But Theona and I were wanting to go back to Magic Kingdom. So we had a girl date! I took us forever to get there because Hollywood Studios was closing and everybody had to catch a bus or tram. We finally made it almost an hour later. We didn't get to do much because a parade was about to start so Main Street USA was super crowded. We made our way back to Tomorrowland and ate a late dinner. From there was went to Space Mountain. The one big roller coaster we were going to get to ride. We got all the way to the top of the ride and they announced that there was something wrong with it and that they were closing it down. But the good news is they give fast passes out when that happens. By that time, the big fireworks show but the castle was about to start, so we found a spot to watch it from. That was one of the best parts of the trip for me. We both enjoyed it and we didn't have to worry about a fussy Paxton or Kaden.
Thursday was another Magic Kingdom morning for us. We watched Mickey's Philharmagic...one of the best shows!! We rode Buzz again, of course! Theona and I used our fast pass for Space Mountain. I was afraid she'd be really scared but she was totally fine! And we ate lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus, my favorite quick service restaurant. We did some pin trading along the way. Saw Marry Poppins. Got our names put on our hats, met Merida from Brave. Watched a show in front of the castle. Basically, we were go go going all the time! We didn't really have time to go back to the room, so we went straight from there to Epcot where we had a reservation at the Garden Grill. While we waited for our reservation time, we did Nemo again, went to a Kidcot station (they had coloring for the kids and it gave Paxton an opportunity to run around a little) and went over to the restaurant.
Kaden fell asleep (it's a rotating restaurant with big circular booths, so he just laid right down). And Paxton entertained the characters with his bipolar attitude towards them. He'd start crying and cowering if they came near, but as soon as they walked away, he'd start waving and saying "Hey!" When dinner was over, we walked clear across the park to watch the Candlelight Processional, narrated by Trace Adkins. On our way over there, we saw a family from church. We had no idea they would be there the same week as us! They were going to the same place so we walked together. They knew where they were going!
The processional was really sweet, even though Kaden threw up and Paxton was a wreck from not having a nap! This is where I have to give props to Loren. He took Kaden out when he got sick and then got Paxton when he started fussing. Luckily, you can still see and hear the show from outside the seating area. Needless to say, we went straight back to the room after we got some food in Kaden's stomach. And we had a great night's sleep because we went to bed so early.
Our last day at Disney...so sad!! Nothing bittersweet about it. Just bitter!! We went to Hollywood Studios one last time. Rode Toy Story, the big kids and I learned how to draw Mickey. They met McQueen and Mater. We saw the Muppet Vision 3D show. They played in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids movie set. And we ate our last meal at Pizza Planet.
We were SO bummed to have to leave. And as soon as we started the drive back, we started planning our next trip. The two things we will absolutely change: we'll get a family suite, and we'll add an extra day. I love that we went the week before Christmas because it was decked out for the holidays so we will go during that week again. Right now, we're thinking 2014!!! Until then, the pictures I took will have to tide me over!
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