We finally took the boys (the older 2) to Disney World!! I love Disney and the last time Andy and I went, in 2003, we decided to wait and not come back until our first child (hehehe) was old enough to enjoy it. Well 8 years and 3 kids later we finally got up enough nerve to book a trip. We ultimately decided to leave Mack with my parents, since he doesn't like confined spaces and wouldn't make it during the long days. I hated leaving him, but it was the right thing to do. Especially after getting there...I don't know if I have ever seen so many crying babies and toddlers in my life! I think he would have enjoyed some parts, but we would have not enjoyed the whole trip and Cale and Carter would have especially not enjoyed the trip as much as they did. Next time, hopefully in the fall of 2012 if I have my way, we will take Mack.
At the airport and ready to take off!
On Disney's Magical Express...so excited!!
This trip made me realize a lot of things about Disney that I had never noticed pre kids. I don't mean the excitement and joy, I LOVE Disney and have always had that, but I mean the ruthlessness and crazy people that are there! I told Andy before we left that I have summed up Disney as survival of the fittest. Meaning if you can't push your way to the front of the bus, bathroom line, or trying to slowly front you in line for a ride (that almost happened to us) or win at a game of walking down the road/sidewalk chicken then you are going to get flat run over and leave bruised and battered. Yes, that is exactly how it was. I was actually laughing right before we boarded the bus to go to the airport because this family was pushing their way to the get on the bus even though us and another older couple were clearly there before them. Me and the older couple just looked at each other and laughed. Why were they in such a hurry to board a huge bus when not that many people were waiting to get on? Ugh! That is how it was the whole time. This is why our society is the way it is. The adults teach the children such terrible habits and no manners. We taught our children that it was better to stand back and be patient because Disney World wasn't going anywhere! I was also amazed at how pushy people were just to get into the park. Going through the ticket machine you had to put your ticket through and then adults had to scan their finger. Well everyday the person behind me was right on my heels and I mean literally on my heels. I can only go as fast as the machine will let me and I had to put through two kids tickets as well. Andy said he wanted to do a documentary on how this was really not the happiest place on Earth or at least from the parents perspective. He actually heard one dad the morning we were leaving yelling at his kids, that looked to be around Cale and Carter's age, "You've ruined my whole day!" Andy said the kids were back talking him, but still. We just tried to laugh and find humor in the silliness that went on. Life is just too short to care.
In spite of it all, we had a great trip and we (well the boys and I) can't wait to return! We decided to go big and stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. So worth it!! In my next post I will put some shots from our room. So cool to watch giraffes sleeping and eating right outside. We have stayed at All Star Sports before and it was just like a Mickey themed Motel 6, so I wanted something a little more special this time. This was seriously the nicest hotel and I highly recommend it.
Our flight left at 7 Saturday morning, so we were up and at the airport at 5. It is a good thing we only live 10 minutes from the airport. We arrived at the hotel about 11 and then off to Epcot we went. We didn't make it to our room until after 11 that night, which made for a very long day. We had a character meal at The Garden at Epcot, so good!! It was our favorite one. The Land itself is an awesome place to eat. All the food is just so good. The boys favorite ride there was Spaceship Earth and the Test Track. I was surprised that they actually did everything and liked it pretty good, no tears! The only downer of the day was that it rained starting about 3 or so and didn't stop until about 8 and then really cooled off.
The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful day! The boys were so excited to ride all the rides. We ran and did Buzz Lightyear two times in a row because no one was there and then the boys wanted to ride Space Mountain! We were so happy since that is one of our favorites. The liked it ok. It was just a little too fast and too dark. I had really forgotten how dark and scary these rides could be to a child. It is funny the things you don't recognize until you have kids. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. That was good. The boys aren't too into the characters, but do appease me by getting their pictures made with them. Their all time favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad! We rode it three times! We also rode Splash Mountain and they weren't too thrilled about getting wet. We were in the front.
Here are some of the pictures for Magic Kingdom the rest and the rest of our trip will be in the next post. Enjoy!
