I cannot claim to be a Disney expert. I might plan every vacation's lodging, food and rough schedule, but I've never actually bought one of those Disney books to plan out every moment to maximize our time and ensure that we saw everything. I remember my mom doing this when we visited when I was a child and I found it stressful. It seemed like we were always on a schedule and it didn't leave much flexibility for lil' old spontaneous me! I will never forget listening to my mom explain that the moment they opened the gates, we were supposed to sprint to Space Mountain so we could ride it without a wait. Makes me laugh now to think about our family of seven, complete with eighties style sunglasses and fanny packs sprinting through the crowds to achieve a quick ride on Space Mountain(which isn't even remotely a star attraction anymore!). I know my mom meant well-we certainly did manage to see everything in the park, which is more than I can say for my family on our trip. I'm pretty sure we visited every BATHROOM in the park, but we missed a lot of rides simply due to the difficulty of having three small children. I don't think my kids felt deprived. We had WONDERFUL time on our Disney vacation. I thought we might outsmart the crowds as we started our vacation at Epcot. I figured that everyone else probably started at the Magic Kingdom on Mondays. Little did I know that the entire continent of South America was visiting Epcot on this particular day. It's funny, we didn't run into any of these tour groups in any other parks, so I guess it was the end of their trip? I felt like we had truly been transported to another world as I heard Spanish and Portuguese much more frequently than I heard English. We managed to fight our way through the Spanish speaking, flag waving, frequently stopping crowd to really enjoy our day.
First stop? Nemo, of course. The kids were PUMPED! I barely managed to get them to pose for photos. Maura and Tristan couldn't WAIT! I couldn't wait to see their faces when they saw Nemo and Crush and all their other faves. I think I was as excited as the kids!
OH, MY GOODNESS, did they love it! Tristan rode with Daddy and I loved watching the complete absorption on his face as he took it all in. Maura just kept pointing and naming all the characters and all the kids were entranced by the jellyfish. As soon as we hopped off, they were begging for another ride and though the line had grown in the time we'd ridden, we still got on again fairly quickly. We also took the time to do Turtle Talk with Crush, where Crush actually singled out Tristan to ask a question to. Unfortunately, Tristan turned painfully shy and wouldn't answer. Bennett wasn't sure what to think about all of this, but if brother and sissy were enjoying it, he was too.
We rode a few more of the rides in the front of the park. We took Tristan to Test Track, which I thought he would love due to his current obsession with race cars, but the whole experience freaked him out a bit and I don't think he was terribly excited to ride it again with me as we did Rider Swap. I dragged him on it anyway. Mean Mommy!! While Brent waited for the kids and I to finish at Test Track, he held a sleeping Bennett and walked over to get in line at the Character Spot. I couldn't WAIT for the kids to meet all their faves. Brent was at the front of the line by the time we got there and we jumped on in, just to realize that I'd forgotten the autograph book in the stroller. We let others go as I ran to get the book, then got back in line just in time to have Maura declare that she was going to pee her pants if she had to wait another second to go potty. We got out of line again for a bathroom break, then got BACK in line to finally meet our friends, just in time to have Tristan decide that he wanted NO part of this meet and greet. Sigh. Bennett was still sleeping soundly as we met Mickey and he had us pose with sleepy Bennett. Just as we went to leave, he stuck his nose in Bennett's face and Bennett suddenly woke up. I waited for an ear-piercing scream of terror, but instead my sleepy boy reached out curiously to touch Mickey. I watched in complete disbelief as he then attempted to throw himself into Mickey's arms.
SO sweet! That's the stuff that precious Disney memories are made of. He gave Mickey a hug and a wave and I may have wiped away a tear or two. I'll never forget that. It may never be duplicated again. Bennett was NOT such a big fan of any of the other characters and even when meeting Mickey later in the week didn't have a similar reaction. H e does have a soft spot for Mickey. He frequently requests that his stuffed Mickey accompany him out of the crib in the mornings. We just love Mickey Mouse!
Maura, of course, was ALL about meeting every character. She talked to them all, gave hugs and kisses and loved having her autograph book signed. Tristan, on the other hand, was not a fan. He's just in an oppositional stage of life, so if he thought we wanted him to meet the characters, he was not going to meet them. We actually caused a backup with his refusal to talk with the characters.
Maura was so sweet and so excited with Daisy. She held her skirt just like Daisy for some of the photos, but those pictures turned out blurry. Tristan was brave only when holding onto Daddy.
After a quick meeting with Goofy, it was time for a snack! Twenty dollars worth of Popsicles all around!! Mmm, we love sharing!
We didn't even make it to the World Showcase until later in the evening, but when we did it was lots of fun. The kids loved visiting all the countries and especially the gift shops so that they could play dress up.
One of my very favorite memories of the whole trip came when we visited Japan. We watched a young couple choose an oyster and saw the Japanese clerks go through the whole oyster opening and pearl celebrating ceremony. As we walked away, Maura told us that she wanted to spend her money on a pearl there in Japan. Keep in mind that the kids ONLY had the $15 they'd gotten from Nan and Poppa from Christmas to spend in Disney. For the whole trip. Maura was just convinced that she wanted to get an oyster more then anything else at Disney. She said, "Mom, you KNOW I want to be a gemologist when I grow up!" How can I argue with that?? So, we went back in I held her up to the tank and she chose the biggest oyster she could find. The Japanese girl gave her a big smile and proceeded to beat on a drum, announce Maura's beautiful pearl and show it to her. Then she said,"Well, this oyster had a secret! He had TWO pearl!" Maura's face was just priceless! She held her hands up to her mouth in complete shock, almost shaking with excitement. She could not believe how lucky she'd been! Maura grabbed both pearls from the clerk to show them to all of us and the girl had to ask for them back in order to clean them. I don't think I've ever seen Maura more excited about anything. Later, while we took our last potty break of the night, she was talking to me from the stall next door when she said, "Mommy, this is the best day EVER!" I asked why and she said, "Because I got TWO pearls! I just knew there were two pearls in that oyster!" I could hear the lady next door to me giggling at Maura's cuteness. I had to agree. It had been one of the best days ever.
First stop? Nemo, of course. The kids were PUMPED! I barely managed to get them to pose for photos. Maura and Tristan couldn't WAIT! I couldn't wait to see their faces when they saw Nemo and Crush and all their other faves. I think I was as excited as the kids!
OH, MY GOODNESS, did they love it! Tristan rode with Daddy and I loved watching the complete absorption on his face as he took it all in. Maura just kept pointing and naming all the characters and all the kids were entranced by the jellyfish. As soon as we hopped off, they were begging for another ride and though the line had grown in the time we'd ridden, we still got on again fairly quickly. We also took the time to do Turtle Talk with Crush, where Crush actually singled out Tristan to ask a question to. Unfortunately, Tristan turned painfully shy and wouldn't answer. Bennett wasn't sure what to think about all of this, but if brother and sissy were enjoying it, he was too.
We rode a few more of the rides in the front of the park. We took Tristan to Test Track, which I thought he would love due to his current obsession with race cars, but the whole experience freaked him out a bit and I don't think he was terribly excited to ride it again with me as we did Rider Swap. I dragged him on it anyway. Mean Mommy!! While Brent waited for the kids and I to finish at Test Track, he held a sleeping Bennett and walked over to get in line at the Character Spot. I couldn't WAIT for the kids to meet all their faves. Brent was at the front of the line by the time we got there and we jumped on in, just to realize that I'd forgotten the autograph book in the stroller. We let others go as I ran to get the book, then got back in line just in time to have Maura declare that she was going to pee her pants if she had to wait another second to go potty. We got out of line again for a bathroom break, then got BACK in line to finally meet our friends, just in time to have Tristan decide that he wanted NO part of this meet and greet. Sigh. Bennett was still sleeping soundly as we met Mickey and he had us pose with sleepy Bennett. Just as we went to leave, he stuck his nose in Bennett's face and Bennett suddenly woke up. I waited for an ear-piercing scream of terror, but instead my sleepy boy reached out curiously to touch Mickey. I watched in complete disbelief as he then attempted to throw himself into Mickey's arms. 
SO sweet! That's the stuff that precious Disney memories are made of. He gave Mickey a hug and a wave and I may have wiped away a tear or two. I'll never forget that. It may never be duplicated again. Bennett was NOT such a big fan of any of the other characters and even when meeting Mickey later in the week didn't have a similar reaction. H e does have a soft spot for Mickey. He frequently requests that his stuffed Mickey accompany him out of the crib in the mornings. We just love Mickey Mouse!
Maura, of course, was ALL about meeting every character. She talked to them all, gave hugs and kisses and loved having her autograph book signed. Tristan, on the other hand, was not a fan. He's just in an oppositional stage of life, so if he thought we wanted him to meet the characters, he was not going to meet them. We actually caused a backup with his refusal to talk with the characters.
Maura was so sweet and so excited with Daisy. She held her skirt just like Daisy for some of the photos, but those pictures turned out blurry. Tristan was brave only when holding onto Daddy.
After a quick meeting with Goofy, it was time for a snack! Twenty dollars worth of Popsicles all around!! Mmm, we love sharing!
We didn't even make it to the World Showcase until later in the evening, but when we did it was lots of fun. The kids loved visiting all the countries and especially the gift shops so that they could play dress up.
One of my very favorite memories of the whole trip came when we visited Japan. We watched a young couple choose an oyster and saw the Japanese clerks go through the whole oyster opening and pearl celebrating ceremony. As we walked away, Maura told us that she wanted to spend her money on a pearl there in Japan. Keep in mind that the kids ONLY had the $15 they'd gotten from Nan and Poppa from Christmas to spend in Disney. For the whole trip. Maura was just convinced that she wanted to get an oyster more then anything else at Disney. She said, "Mom, you KNOW I want to be a gemologist when I grow up!" How can I argue with that?? So, we went back in I held her up to the tank and she chose the biggest oyster she could find. The Japanese girl gave her a big smile and proceeded to beat on a drum, announce Maura's beautiful pearl and show it to her. Then she said,"Well, this oyster had a secret! He had TWO pearl!" Maura's face was just priceless! She held her hands up to her mouth in complete shock, almost shaking with excitement. She could not believe how lucky she'd been! Maura grabbed both pearls from the clerk to show them to all of us and the girl had to ask for them back in order to clean them. I don't think I've ever seen Maura more excited about anything. Later, while we took our last potty break of the night, she was talking to me from the stall next door when she said, "Mommy, this is the best day EVER!" I asked why and she said, "Because I got TWO pearls! I just knew there were two pearls in that oyster!" I could hear the lady next door to me giggling at Maura's cuteness. I had to agree. It had been one of the best days ever.
We headed out of the park with a very tired group of children. We were already exhausted and this was just the beginning...
1 comment:
The last picture of any Disney post always has to be a kid crashed in a stroller! Means it was a good day! The characters really took their time with you and made it special for the kids. They'll always remember that.
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