Disney World

During Drew's October Intersession from school we went to Disney World. It was fantastic! It is definitely not a "relaxing" vacation but what vacation is when you have small children, right? We had so much fun.

It was Alex's first plane ride so that was exciting! Drew was happy to share with Alex that he had been on a plane MANY times & it was fun. Ha! Drew was also the "safety patrol" worrying about getting our seatbelts tight enough, chewing gum as we took off, everything being in the right place while flying such as our bags, toys, etc. Once on the plane Drew got stuck in the bathroom. David was taking Alex to the bathroom & noticed the door shaking so he knew it must be Drew stuck! :-)

It was so wonderful to see the boys' faces when they saw the castle at Magic Kingdom on our first day. It was as if we weren't at Disney World until we saw the castle you see on TV because when they boys saw it they said "we're here! we're here!". I can, without a doubt, say that every sore foot, soaking wet clothes, exhausted meltdown, pennies spent, long line, and crowded bus was far outweighed by the wonderful time we had!

I'm not going to deny it though...crowds make me CRAZY and ANGRY and FRUSTRATED. By Thursday I was tired of the crowds for sure! I don't even like shopping in a crowded store at home much less having people sit on top of me in a bus. The boys did great though & understood going into that there would be times we had to be "patient". David & I needed to remind ourselves of that as much as we told the boys. ha!

Our first night we ate at Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. We waited over an hour (I felt a little like Clark Griswald on National Lampoons Vacation where they visit the amusement park) because I was determined to wait because I just KNEW the boys would love eating there for the surroundings. Well...I was WRONG! Alex did not like the thunderstorms. When we finally got to our table he said "I not like the rillas (gorillas) moving or that tunderstorm. I not like this bacation (vacation). It too cary (scary)." I just had to laugh!

While there Drew found a pen he has been asking for since September. Someone at school had a pen with fuzzy hair & he wanted one too and insisted Gran would know where to find one. Well, Gran couldn't find one. Instead though we went all the way to Orlando, FL to find that pen.

We also went to the Legos store and the boys were in absolute heaven. They are so into playing with their Legos right now. We let them each pick out 1 box of legos and they couldn't have been happier. They played with them every time we were in our hotel room and Drew actually asked one morning if we could stay at the hotel that day to play Legos. We didn't, of course, instead of we made them suffer through another terrible Disney World themepark! Ha! :-)

We had a 6 day pass so we repeated Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios.

At the end of the week we asked the boys their favorite things...

Drew - Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster & Haunted Mansion & Tea cups

Alex - Haunted Mansion & Indiana Jones

Poor Alex has no fears...he wanted to ride every ride David did but didn't meet the height requirements for a few. He was so sad to not get to ride the "big rides" with daddy & Drew.

On Tuesday night we did the "Not So Scary Halloween Party" and it was fabulous! The boys loved the parade & fireworks. My favorite thing was that we were able to stay late & ride any ride without a long wait!!! When we were there during the day we didn't do anything in FantasyLand because of the long lines & no FastPass. That night we did every ride in FantasyLand. The park was only open to those who bought the Halloween Party tickets so it was crowded but not as crowded as during the day. Disney amazes me with their productions, upkeep at the parks, & friendliness of workers (besides the lady who wouldn't let us on the Buzz Lightyear ride 1 minute before our FastPass started). ha!

Just a few factual things or pointers to look back on that we took away from our 1st Disney trip...upgrade to ParkHopper next time, expect to pay for additonal table service meals because the quick service meal choices got old after a few days, DO NOT go in the summer when it's hot because we so much enjoyed the perfect weather while waiting in lines, utilize fastpass as quickly as possible or they run out, value resorts were completely fine but a moderate or deluxe closer to the parks will be our choice next time.

By the end of the week we were ready for homecooked meals & our beds but sooo very thankful for an opportunity to go on this trip.