Disney World

In the middle of May, we took the kids out of school and headed down for our very first trip to the Magic Kingdom! We had been planning the trip for months, and when the day came for us to fly out, we could barely believe it was finally here!

(Nicholas & Paige at the Indianapolis airport)

We were transported from the Orlando Airport by the Magic Kingdom transport ... it stopped at several resorts before stopping at ours (Port Orleans Riverside) so we were able to take in a lot of scenary before [FINALLY] getting to our place! We hadn't planned on going to any parts that day--we arrived in Orlando around dinnertime--so we just found our room and got some food, and then hit the hay, preparing for our trip to Hollywood Studios the following day.

If you were to ask the kids what the best part of being down at the Magic Kingdom was, I'm sure they would have a variety of answers: the rides, the food, the pool, the souveniers ... but looking back, I have to say the best part was meeting the characters! Prior to heading to Florida, we had been told by several different people to make sure we had autograph books for the kids so they could have each character they met sign them. We picked up one for each kid as soon as we got to our resort ... it was the best $10 we could have spent! Everytime we saw a character out, both the kids asked for their autograph books, and they were off to stand in line and wait to meet him or her. Most of our pictures are the kids with the characters they met, so I made little collages of the best ones below:

(Click to enlarge)

The first park we went to was Hollywood Studios. It was a good park to start in--a little smaller than the others! The downside to the day was that Paige was running a small fever, so she was cranky and sluggish ... probably the worst part is that we didn't realize she wasn't feeling well until about mid-day, so nobody won the "parent of the year" award that day!

Both kids LOVED the Tower of Terror! It takes you up several stories, then drops you down ... then repeats the process four or five times! I looked over at Paige at one point and thought she would be scared, but all I saw on her face was sheer JOY as we fell several stories. Thrilling!

The first characters we met were the Power Rangers ... I couldn't have chose it better had I tried! For as long as I can remember, Nicholas has LOVED the Power Rangers! Since there are a few girl Power Rangers in the group, Paige has been taken with them, as well--it doesn't hurt that it is one way she gets to spend time with her big brother!

The second day, we took on The Magic Kingdom! Paige had been given a few doses of Motrin at that point, so we were all good to go!! One of my two favorite moments happened during this first day at the Magic Kingdom: Paige and I were watching one of the performances in front of Cinderella's castle, and it was some of the villians fighting Disney favorites--Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Peter Pan, etc. Anyway, the favorites were encouraging the crowd to "believe" in magic, and that we could get rid of the villians if we believed enough. As the show ended and the villians were defeated, Paige whispered in my ear, "Mom, I will NEVER stop believing." She was so serious and so earnest that I almost teared up. Disney World was truly magical for us and this statement by my five-year-old made it even more so for me. I have been there more times than I can count, but never have I enjoyed it as much as I did when I took my kids!

Lucky for us, Brian is a planner, and he brought along some ponchos. It only rained on us one day while were there, but we were able to bust the ponchos out of our backpack and continue to walk through the rain while everyone else was taking cover. We even were able to get on a few rides without a wait because we were able to walk through all that rain!!

Not quite the ducks we were looking for ...

On Tuesday, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom ... this park was probably our least favorite overall, but also had the most fun roller coaster (agreed upon unanimously by all four of us!). We did enjoy seeing the animals and riding the ride so it wasn't a wasted day by any means!

The "Tree of Life"

Nicholas on Expedition Everest ... his favorite!

In the middle of the week, we took the day off and stayed away from the parks. We did have breakfast scheduled with Lilo and Stitch, so we got up and headed to the Polynesian resort (this is the resort I'd like to stay in the next time we go to Disney ... probably not in our budget but a girl can dream!).

Paige after breakfast with Lilo & Stitch

Everyday we were at the parks, towards the middle of the afternoon, all the kids could ask about was playing in the pool. We tried to get to the pool several times--but we promised them multiple hours on our day off ... I mostly lounged and read (and got bit by deer flies), but Brian was in the water with them the entire time!!

Later that afternoon we took the water taxi to Downtown Disney ... we ate dinner there, and did some window shopping. Nicholas was very interested in the Legos store and could have stayed in there forever! We also stopped by the Harley store--our tribute to Pa-pop and his love for motorcycles--and Nicholas posed for a few pictures while we there, as well!

At dinner, Paige was SUPER cranky and wouldn't eat any of her food. She curled up in a ball and, after several minutes of her not moving, we realized she was sleeping! She was just SO worn out!!

The best day, according to both Paige and myself at least, was the 2nd day we spent at the Magic Kingdom--Thursday. We took our time getting to the park that day, but we needed to be there on time because we had a date at Cinderella's castle to eat lunch with the princesses! Paige got all dressed up and we went to the barber shop just off main street to get her a fancy hairdo.

Once we got to the castle, we were ushered in and our whole family's picture was taken with Cinderella (not on our camera--although they gave us a copy, I haven't scanned it in to our computer), then we were shown to the dining room. Each princess came to our table and met Paige and Nicholas, who had been given a magic wand and a sword, respectively. Brian and I were both somewhat suprised that Nicholas wanted his picture taken with the princesses, but he was up getting each of their autographs and posing for a picture at every turn!



Towards the end of our meal, the announcer had the kids hold onto the "wishing stars" they were given, close their eyes and make a wish. We snapped this picture of Paige while she was doing as they asked.

We left our luncheon at the castle in wonderful spirits! We brought Paige a change of clothes,but she opted to stay in her dress for a little while. It was at this time that my second favorite moment in the parks happened. We were walking to a ride when a man stopped us--he worked for Disney, maybe in one of the shops or something--he appeared to be on a break. He just started gushing at Paige, "Oh my goodness! I hoped that you would be here ... they told me not to get my hopes up but I just knew I would see you! Would you PLEASE sign my autograph book?!?" He proceeded to pull out the very same autograph book that each of my kids had, and as he flipped to a blank page, I saw the names of several little girls scrawled in child's writing. Paige gave me a questioning look, so I explained to her that this man thought she was a princess and he wanted her autograph ... I told her to go ahead and sign her name. She did, and was just in AWE of this stranger who thought SHE was a PRINCESS! I tell you, I had tear in my eyes then, and I do even now as I write this ... it was so special, and he really went above and beyond his job description. Disney definitely has it right when it comes to customer service ... I can't say enough about how kind and helpful everyone we encountered was, especially this man!

Shortly after that experience, Paige decided to change back into her "street clothes" and we continued on with our day.

We decided to stay for the Spectramagic parade that night, and staked out our curb-side seats on Main Street more than an hour in advance. We had PRIME seats and got so many good pictures--we were front row and loved every minute of it!

Our last full day in Florida, we went to Epcot. We had toyed with not going there at all--just because it's so large and the kids are still a little young to appreciate it, but in the end we thought it would be a good experience and there were several rides we could enjoy. We had a nice time while we were there--the kids met several new characters and we were able to ride fun rides such as Soarin' and Mission: Space ... probably our favorite part was Turtle Talk With Crush, which we went to after the Finding Nemo ride. We topped our morning out with lunch "in" Japan at a Hibachi grill, and then headed back to the hotel for some swimming and packing.

Nicholas and Paige in front of the jellyfish tank

We honestly had the BEST time on this vacation! The kids were very well behaved ... obviously they had their moments, but there weren't enough to speak of. We had a great time as a family--an absolute BALL! Our plane left the following morning at 7:30 am, which meant the Magical Express picked us up at our resort at 5 am! Once again, the kids were absolute troopers and we made it to the airport with plenty of time to get a *healthly* McDonald's breakfast!

Nicholas managed to throw up on the plane ride home ... he didn't tell Brian until it was actually happening so he (Nicholas) had it all over him. Brian cleaned him up the best he could and then Nicholas changed as soon as we had our luggage so he didn't have to sit in it on the way home from the airport. Luckily, that was really our only major downer the entire week! We'll definitely go back--hopefully in two more years when Brian's brother and his family are ready to make the trip for their first time; the only thing that could top this experience will be sharing it with more family!!