We Schools cannot live without regular excitement thus our Easter break trip to Florida and the Most Magical Place on Earth. This trip has been a year in the making. Lolo and Lola were roped into coming with us for back-up. We have been consulting our friends, or Disney geniuses as I like to think of them. On the way to the hospital to deliver Max we even called the reservation hot line to book character meals and princess make-overs. MFS proved some hardcore daddy dedication by calling Disney almost everyday for weeks until the Bibiddi Bobiddi Boutique computer scheduling glitches were fixed. If you only learn one thing people, it is 180 days. Set your alarm to 5:55 AM. You're welcome.
Over hushed conversations and code words, we were able to hide the plans from the kids in hopes of some grand reveal. Though caught on video, our surprise will never make it to the Disney commercials as the reaction was a bit anticlimactic. The Easter Bunny loaded up Mickey Mouse buckets full of Disney goodies and fun with an invitation from the Mouse himself. But there was no jumping. No yelling. Just a lot of skepticism, and even, "I don't wanna go to Disney. I wanna play with my new Cars 2 puzzle. And we can't go to Disney. Ate's not 8 years old yet."
"Well we're going. I packed all the bags. So get up and get dressed! Don't you believe us??!!"
Julia in a deadpan voice, "Not really."
Even packing up the 12 passenger van she was still questioning us.
Rolling down the interstate we wondered with we would ever arrive in the sunshine state. We stopped halfway in Savannah to rest overnight and continued our journey after Easter Mass at the cathedral. The resort was wonderful and very close to Disney.
Now, the first day at Magic Kingdom and even the second day at Animal Kingdom we were not feeling the magic. More like heat exhaustion and annoyance at the lack of personal space. MFS and I vowed to just take the children out of school next time. But the ears got us in the end after 4 days of hopping the parks. All the joy and excitement of my children had me all emotional all week.
The trip turned out to be very educational for this mama. One evening, MFS and I went to Epcot with friends while the kids hung out with Lolo and Lola. We LOVED it. Not crowded, easier to navigate and the attractions were more to our liking. We were told that we wouldn't spend much time in Epcot and that kids really just love the Magic Kingdom. The issue was that the princess dinner is located in Epcot. Well our 4 apples definitely did not fall far from the tree. They loved the more educational rides and voted Epcot as their favorite park with the Animal Kingdom a close second. More breathing room also was a big factor. My little geeklings.
Their favorite attractions in no particular order: Spaceship Earth, Mickey's PhilHarMagic, "It's a Small World", The Carousel of Progress (I was as shocked as you are) and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and the Kilimanjaro Safari. My personal favorite was the Festival of the Lion King.
Every day the bedtime seemed to get later and later...the last night at the Magic Kingdom we didn't get home until midnight. The warm breezes, short ride lines, light parades and fireworks were all too much fun to pass up. My babies were wonderful during all of it. They traveled well, were fearless with all of the characters, grumpiness was short lived and they were so thankful for it all. Max gets the gold star for putting up with all of us flipping his schedule inside out. He was in the best spirits all week.
A breakfast with Mickey and the gang followed by the Animal Kingdom. The funny part about the breakfast was that though Ella loved meeting the characters, she could not part with her bacon on the table. That's my girl.
A highlight for the girls was the Bibbido Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella's Castle.
Big sister soaked up all of the pampering...
See? I told you so.
Ready to eat dinner with the princesses!
Though diving back into school and work has been a little painful, the exhaustion is well worth it. I'm sure we'll see Mickey and the gang repeatedly in the future. Anything for these four.
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