We are back from Walt Disney World just over 24 hours and the adjustment to reality has not been easy! Mom and Dad could use a few days on a beach to recover from the week-long marathon, and the kids are suffering from "Post Disney Letdown Syndrome" which causes random fits of hysterical crying and falling on the floor upon realizing that the magic of the Magic Kingdom can't last forever.
Ben is the only one with some sense - he says "I was happy to be at Disney World, and I'm happy to be home too!" He slept for 12 hours last night! We didn't catch more than 8 a night the whole time we were away, and the poor kid was like the walking wounded by the end of the trip (heck, he was a zombie by day two, who am I kidding?!)
Now that we've been there and done that, we know that there is simply TOO MUCH fun to be had at WDW, and even with me devising pared down, priority-only to-do lists, we still tried to fit more than we should have into the seven days. It bit us hard a few times - lesson learned!
But in the end, it's probably better to try too hard and fall on your face a few times than not try hard enough. The kids will certainly remember this as the vacation of a lifetime - they are already devising ways to save money so we can go back!
Here is our Disney Retrospective, in pictures of course!
DAY ONE:
Goodbye Illinois, Hello Orlando!
Daddy sprung for a limo to take us to the airport.
The kids were mighty impressed.
They wasted no time becoming accustomed to luxury.
Molly stretched out to take a nap and Jack poured himself a champagne flute of water to drink.
We had such a bad experience with JetBlue last time, that we flew United this time. Only they pulled the same stunt! We got on the plane, backed away from the gate on time, and then were informed that there was a mechanical problem. After a 20 minute delay, we had to go back to the gate, deplane, and wait an hour until it was fixed.
Lucky for us, Daddy is a fancy schmancy club member with United, so we got to spend that time in their swanky lounge with fun snacks.
Munchkin-Pops!
(the kids devised this idea themselves by sticking coffee stirrers in their donuts)
Finally, we re-boarded, and in the blink of an eye (two hours later) we were in sunny Florida!
We were in the Hawaii building of the Polynesian Resort.
The accomodations were nothing to write home about, but the amenities can't be beat!!
We had just enough time to unpack (Mom)
take a quick dip in the pool (Dad and kids)
eat a quick room service pizza
and get ready for the night's festivities.
We got to the park just in time for the Parade!
This here is Pre Vizsla from Star Wars the Clone Wars,
minus the mask that we thought might not make the trip in one piece,
or the light saber that wouldn't fit into the suitcase.
I don't think Jack is invested in the character - he is kind of evil after all.
But he had the coolest accessories, and Jack had birthday money to burn.
He also has a sense of direction to burn, because he got himself lost not ten minutes after walking into the park. Luckily, he was found a few minutes later, andwas properly admonished into pretending that he wasn't an independent adult for the evening.
(don't get me wrong, he still THINKS he's an independent adult, he just decided to pretend he wasn't so we'd stop nagging and harassing him).
He also has a sense of direction to burn, because he got himself lost not ten minutes after walking into the park. Luckily, he was found a few minutes later, andwas properly admonished into pretending that he wasn't an independent adult for the evening.
(don't get me wrong, he still THINKS he's an independent adult, he just decided to pretend he wasn't so we'd stop nagging and harassing him).
The little guy below, most 30-somethings will know well.
He's a Ghostbuster!
Looking for some ghosts to bust, he's totally in the right place.
(as for how this costume came about - there was a commercial last Halloween featuring a two second clip of the Ghostbusters. He was obsessed instantly. I've gone only as far as letting him research costumes and watch the music video and movie trailers. Even without ever seeing the actual movie, he is still 100% committed to his Ghostbuster fandom.)
Apparently, when they're not fighting Slimer, Ghostbusters like to dance the night away!
This is our little Pheonix, thanks to Nana and Papa's Christmas gift from last year.
She coveted the Chasing Fireflies costume so badly that many, many tears were shed when Mommy would not pay for such extravegance.
When she opened up that box on Christmas Day, she was in orange, feathered heaven!
This Halloween, she finally has the chance to be the Pheonix she's always dreamed of....
she didn't even complain that the costume or feather wig itched!
Here comes the parade!
The park was jam packed for the event, and admittedly, we were kind of wiped out from the day of travel. But we managed to score at a few of the candy stations around the park and even saw a few of our favorite characters along the way.
The park was so amazing at night, all dressed up for Halloween
And the fireworks did not disappoint...well, at least they didn't disappoint ME....the kids were slightly offended by the noise since they were half asleep at that point!
And then it was really time to call it a night.
We said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom...
...hopped a Ferry across the lake to our hotel...
...and Pre Vizsla surveyed his domain as we set sail for the shore.
Despite a few hiccups, a good day was had by all.
1 comment:
Love!! So impressed you have already posted! Happy that you all had too much of a good time at WDW. Looking forward to the next posts! And happy early birthday!
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