I have been planning our Orlando vacation since we got back from our beach stay in Panama City last summer. In speaking with my parents, we decided that this summer the kids would be at perfect ages to make a trip to Disney World! So we booked the resort and I started researching do's and don't for visiting Disney. Early on, we determined we would not visit a park every single day and that we would just do two Disney parks as well as a water park during our week stay. I knew we would be worn out if we tried to do a park every single day and I just really wasn't up to doing that. I knew Magic Kingdom would be a must for us but was uncertain as to what other park we should try to visit. It wasn't until Friday evening before we left on Sunday that we decided on doing Magic Kingdom twice. I read so many blogs regarding Magic Kingdom and I couldn't tell you how many people said, " If you can swing two days at Magic Kingdom- do it! There is SO much to see and do". I know that one day as the kids get older they won't really care for Mickey Mouse or want to have their picture taken with Cinderella. I have visited Epcot as a kid and didn't care for it (I'm sure I would like it now as an adult) and I also knew there really isn't a whole lot for a 2 & 4 year old to do so I knew Epcot was not an option for us. For a little while I was leaning towards visiting Hollywood Studios due to the fact that some of the Disney Jr. characters are there but after tons of research, the park doesn't really have a lot of rides. They offer more shows for people to watch so I went ahead and decided Hollywood Studios wasn't meant for us this time around either. (I hope to take them when they are older) I have never been to Animal Kingdom (my parents and Adam have) and to be honest, I wasn't interested in visiting a "zoo" with the kids so I marked that off the list. ( and I know it's much more than a zoo, and I have heard it is awesome, but for whatever reason, I'm just not feeling it right now. lol! I'm sure we will visit in the future, though!) We were this close in going to Sea World. I have been twice and absolutely loved it. So I was thinking Sea World, in addition to Magic Kingdom, would be our two parks we would visit. But with a lot of talking and thinking, we decided to visit Magic Kingdom twice to make sure we were able to really soak in the entire park and enjoy everything it has to offer. For my family, this was the absolute best decision for us! I plan on breaking down my posts on our vacation into Day 1, Day 2, etc. and will post lots of info and inside tips that we figured out along the way!
I am so so so so so glad we decided to visit Magic Kingdom twice. The park is huge, so insuring we had two full days and nights to get it all in made things so smooth and calm and we were never in a rush "to do everything" since we had plenty of time to do it all in!
So basically, if you have young children and aren't really sure about taking them to a park every single day of your vacation (shew, I'm tired just thinking about doing that!) and only plan to do 2 or so days, I would strongly reccommend your two days being at Magic Kingdom. They will grow out of Mickey Mouse and Cinderella, they more than likely will not grow out of visiting Animal Kingdom to see zoo animals, or Universal Studios to ride roller coasters. So, while they are in this stage of their life, we embraced it and met every princess and rode every ride we could. Zoo animals and whales at Sea World will always be there, but them believing in the Mickey characters and being star struck by Rapunzel will not last forever!
Sunday, June 15
Time to leave for our Disney vacation!
My mom and dad arrived at our house Sunday morning around 9:00. We got all of our luggage loaded up and we hit the road to the airport! -Sidenote- We (or maybe I should say, "I") determined last Summer that we would be flying to Orlando. I knew I would go bonkers being in a car for 10 plus hours with Landon-HA! I also knew he would be in the middle of potty training during our trip and I was not interested in stopping 50 million times to let him pee. I have never (ever) been a "road trip" type of girl. I would rather fly to Birmingham and that's only 3 hours away. I am the "get me there as fast as you can" type of girl. I have always loved flying and I knew this would be a neat experience for the kids as well. My mom and dad were planning on driving until they learned how cheap our airfare was so they decided to fly, too!
We have obviously never flown with kids before so I did some research on that as well. I knew we were going to have to bring Landon's car seat, Adalyn's booster seat, and our double stroller. Plus all 4 of us. Plus all of our luggage. It sounds like a lot ( and kind of is) so I was a little anxious to see how well we would do with carrying all of that "stuff" with us. I am happy to report it was super, super easy!! We checked 1 suitcase and the car seat and booster seat, and kept the kids in the stroller throughout the airport. Easy! I know people travel with kids and all the stuff that comes with kids all the time, but this was our first rodeo and I am happy to report I would do it all over again in a heart beat. It wasn't a hassel at all.
These kiddos were amazed!!
Landon dozed off while Adam and I were waiting in line to get a deli sandwich. It was his nap time!
Sweet boy.
Adalyn and Granna checking things out!
About to board!
Thrilled!
The flight was just a little over 1 hour and the kids loved every minute of it. Landon looked at a tractor book the entire time while Adalyn played with a magnetic Cinderella dress up doll and colored in one of her coloring books. They ate their snacks and were so content!
To fit all 6 of us for the week, we rented a van. I have said my entire life that I would never drive a van. lol But I have also heard the saying, "never say never". We had a Chrysler Town and Country and let me just say, oh my goodness! That thing was decked out with all the bells and whistles and had SO.MUCH.ROOM. It was awesome. Since we only have 2 kids I don't see a big need for a van, but I am now a believer that if you have lots of kids, that type of van is the way to go! (I can't believe I just typed that-HA!)
The kids fell asleep on the way to the resort and once we checked in, Christopher, Brandy and Hunter met us in the lobby then we were off to check out our condo. It was awesome! And we had the very best view!!
Checking out the view!
Hunter is such a good sport! Landon loves to "pick" him up and move him around and Hunter lets him without hardly making a sound. lol I have to remind Landon to be gentle with him and that he isn't one of Adalyn's baby dolls. ;)
It was raining when I took this picture so that is why everything is empty! This pool was simply amazing.
Our resort was huge and had 6 towers. Just about every tower ( but 1) had a pool and a couple of hot tubs. We visited most of the pools which was great. They had a splash pad for kids, baby pools with a mushroom waterfall in the center, and a few pools had lazy rivers connected to it. So nice!
We ordered Pizza Hut pizza (my favorite!) and then mom, Adalyn and I went to Wal-Mart to buy groceries for the week while the boys swam for a bit. We all got into bed pretty late that night but we were so excited to get up Monday morning to make our way to the happiest place on earth!
I'll post about our first day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow so check back!
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