Disney ‘12

Here’s the deal:  I love Disney World.  It never gets old for me. 

Vacation was everything I dreamed it would be and more.  I can’t emphasize it enough – Rush and Tate were super travellers. We get to the parks when they open in the morning, no hanging around the hotel room or leisurely breakfasts. We stayed in a great Kissimmee hotel again this year, close to a grocery store and next door to a McDonalds, so it was breakfast in the room or on the way to the parks. McDonalds is the scapegoat of the fast food industry, but it’s the only fast food restaurant that I can think of where we could get yogurt and fruit and oatmeal for breakfast and feed the entire family for less than $10. If we’re going to be eating hamburgers and fries for lunch, it’s helpful to not have to start with a sausage biscuit.

My dad trained me in a Disney vacation style involving two main components:  1. On your trip, go all out. The trip starts when you leave your house and ends when you get to your front door, even travel time is part of the trip. Get up early, stay up late, and no resting.  It’s about having fun with your family.  2.  Choose what’s important to you in a vacation and spend your money on that.  We camped in a tent in Fort Wilderness when I was young but we always had ice cream. 

The worst Disney vacation advice I’ve ever seen is to go back to your room in the afternoon for a quick rest time, then head back to the park in the evening. Crazy! Disney World is no place for rest!

I think the Magic Kingdom was slightly overwhelming to both Rush and Tate.  Rush loved the castle, the trams, riding the train, the carousel.  Tate loved the Enchanted Tiki Room and Minnie Mouse.

Early on during our Magic Kingdom day, I realized we were screwed if we lost Tate’s pacifier.

We came home with a thousand pictures of the boys sharing a Sprite.  At those moments they were contained and focused and we had a few seconds to pull out the camera.

I was so excited about the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade.  We grabbed dinner and staked out a prime spot on Main Street while we waited for the parade to start.  Sitting down two hours before the parade not only guarantees a great view of the parade, but also provides wind down time and people watching. 

Did you know that a 20 oz Sprite has more sugar than half a bag of cotton candy?  We had both that day.  That’s a vacation splurge.

Tate waited until after the parade to sleep, Rush made it through the fireworks.

If it’s going to rain, the best place to be is Animal Kingdom.  I mean, it rains every afternoon in Florida during the summer, but if it’s going to really rain, all day, I’m heading to Animal Kingdom.

I won’t say that every single moment of the trip was one hundred percent perfect.  On previous trips I’ve witnessed seen crying kids and parents who are grouchy because they put all this effort into the perfect vacation, but it’s hot and crowded and the kids are crying for no reason other than being tired and overwhelmed and full of candy.  This was the first time I actually got to live out some of those choice vacation moments.  But who can even remember the details?  The good moments overshadow the trying.

Trent and I hadn’t been to Hollywood Studios since 2003.  We weren’t even planning on going this trip, but we were swayed by the Toy Story ride (which we didn’t even make it onto) and the parade.  The parade was worth it.

And of course it was time for a visit to Pizza Planet

There’s a really fabulous playground at Hollywood, themed as…wait for it…can you guess this movie?

Honey I Shrunk the Kids – maybe it’s time to update the name of that area?  I enjoy watching that movie repeatedly, twenty-five years ago, but it’s not really a timeless classic.  The playground was pretty fun though and we spent a lot of time among the giant Super Soaker and blades of grass.

One of my very favorite places in the entire world is Typhoon Lagoon.  We spent a lot of time floating along the lazy river and I really couldn’t think of any more perfect way to spend a vacation.

There’s a real thing –yes naysayers, it’s real- that my dad invented and I subscribe to called Getting Your Feet Ready for the Waterslide.  It’s a rite of spring and pre-vacation summer that includes making sure you walk barefoot on hot asphalt or similar surfaces to prepare for walking around barefoot on boiling concrete all day at a waterpark.  I was ready.

Rush and Tate were laughing and playing in the water one minute, made it to the parking lot, then proceeded to immediately fall asleep in the car, Tate before we even left the parking lot.

The trip was everything a vacation should be.  Is it too soon to start planning another trip…?