We went to Disney World!! And lived to tell about it. Phil and I had been thinking about doing it before we missed a good ‘window’ with Wil and Evie — but were scared to take Zev as well, but my parents were down to go — so we decided to make a big family trip out of it!
Wil had an early fall break at the end of September. So we flew down on a Thursday and stayed at the airport hotel that evening — then spent Friday through Monday at Disney. Friday we woke up early to get over to the new hotel, drop bags, then get on the bus to Animal Kingdom. The kids were getting pretty restless after traveling most of thursday and on buses all of friday morning — but we finally made it to our first attraction around noon on Friday afternoon. We hung out at the Dinosaur playground before it was time to do the Dinosaur ride. We had to rider swap a lot because Zev wasnt tall enough — but he was able to do smaller things like the ‘Dumbo’ type rides. We also lucked out with him napping in the stroller for a while since we couldnt make it back to hotel that first day. Once he was awake he enjoyed the bird shows and ice cream 🙂
We avoided a few thunderstorms while in shows like the Lion King and in Pandora land. Pandora land was super cool! We got fast passes for the new River ride but unfortunately didnt make it onto the Flight of Passage. We made it on the Safari — but had to high-tail it home after that because kids were breaking down. There was no way they were going to make any of the night shows.
The next morning we were up bright and early for a full day at Magic Kingdom. We had great weather in the morning and did nearly all of fantasy land in one swoop! We had a few things we knew the kids would want to do — but kept options open in case Evie wanted to meet princesses or anything — but she was all about the roller coasters! It was awesome. We did Goofy’s barnstormer 3 times in a row when no one was in line. We were in walking distance to magic kingdom so it was easy to be there early with less crowds and easily make it back to hotel for nap time around noon.
We headed back to Magic Kingdom for our Seven dwarfs Fast Pass around 3. Then Wil and Evie had reservations at the Bippity Boppity Boutique — while the Dads found activities for Zev. Evie was a bit unsure of the boutique but eventually got into it, Wil loved it! They made a great princess + Knight pair! After that we killed some time and avoided some rainstorms in Adventure land with Aladdin and the Tiki Room before our Thunder Mountain Fast Pass. A few months ago I worried that we wasted a Fast Pass on Thunder Mountain, not sure if the kids would be able to handle a big roller coaster — but after a full day of rides once we got there — I knew it would be a hit. And they loved it!!
After that the kids were getting grumpy again — so we headed back to the hotel and watched the fireworks from the balcony instead of trying to stick around for any of the shows in the park.
On Sunday — we slept in and spent some time at the pool before our Character Breakfast at the hotel. I wasnt sure how much the kids would be into the breakfast since they didnt care too much about meeting people in the park — but once they were there — they loooooved it. I love these smiles.
After a quick Zev nap and more pool time, we headed back to magic kingdom for our last few rides. Kids liked the Pirate of the Caribbean and Zev loved the Buzz Light year ride. We headed back even earlier on Sunday to spend more time at the pool before bedtime!
Monday morning — we packed up, headed back to the airport and made it home by 5 that night to get ready for school the next day!!
It was such a whirlwind and we were completely exhausted, but Wil and Evie love talking about it and had a genuinely awesome time. I’m so glad we brought Zev in hindsight — he had a great time too — even if he wont remember it. And we definitely could not (would not) have done it without my parents. (THANKS MOM AND DAD!).
I feel like I’m part of a club now that I’m ‘on the other side’ of this trip. I had no freaking idea how big and involved this trip was going to be when were throwing around ideas to go last spring. But once it was a go, my Mom (super planner extraordinaire) had hotel reservations, bippity-boppity boutique and character breakfast planned exactly 6-months out. Then I worked on the itinerary and fast-passes 60 days out. We were researching food options and stroller rentals a few weeks out. Nearly everything we did was planned before we left, which was really overwhelming at the time, but once youre there — you just follow the plan (and take care of 3 children under 6….). Piece of Cake! Without the pre-planning we definitely would have missed out on something — but I really feel like we did it all.
And now we’re riding the post-vacation high — where we get to sit on the couch and do nothing and just look at pictures and remember the happy times (and not how hard it was!). We’ll go back in like 4 years when Zev is old enough (and tall enough) to have a good time. Until then — I’ll look at the pictures daily and be thankful for the good trip we had!
Woznation 