Day 5 - The Magic Kingdom

After two quick trips into the Magic Kingdom, we realized we still had a lot to see. So we decided to spend the entire day (with the exception of nap time) there. We got there right before it opened and got to see all the characters ride the train into the park to open it up. So cool. And we noticed that they had put up even more Christmas decorations! Disney really does it up right. We beelined to Peter Pan’s Flight since it always seemed to have 30-45 minute wait times. The ride is like 2 minutes long, so there was no way we were waiting that long. As luck would have it, we waited only 5 minutes! Lucas is in love with all the rides and sits so nicely on them. He just looks and points and says “wow” when he sees something he really likes. We got super lucky with waiting in line for rides. I think the longest we waited was maybe 10 minutes?? Out of all the rides we went on, I think It’s a Small World was his favorite. We went on it twice and that felt like more than enough for me. But I suspect that Lucas could have ridden on it all day. Bryan’s favorite ride was Splash Mountain (which Bryan went on with L’s Grandpa since the rest of us were too little or too smart). I think my favorite was Peter Pan since it was so much work to find a time it had a short line. I know my Dad’s favorite was the Haunted Mansion. He is still upset that Mr. Toad’s Wild Wide got the boot in favor of Winnie the Pooh and liked seeing the secret Mr. Toad tribute at the Mansion. And I think my Mom liked them all! She has vowed never to return to Disney without Lucas. And I can’t blame her. Disney is way more fun when you take a kid! Lucas even suckered his Grandpa (and Grandma) into buying him the coolest balloon ever. I hated the idea of ever seeing this thing deflate. I think Lucas did too. He knocked that thing around our hotel room like crazy! If I had a big enough suitcase, I would have packed it up!

I had no reservations for dinner and we still had two sit down dinners on our meal plan. Not wanting to waste them, I called Disney Dining and asked what reservations they had for the Magic Kingdom that night. We ended up eating at the Crystal Palace again because that was basically all they had open. And by “open”, I mean they had one reservation that I was able to snag. Basically, if you don’t have a reservation for a sit-down meal at one of the parks, you are eating fast-food. Lucas did not mind eating there again and my parents hadn’t been there during this trip, so everyone was happy. We ended the night by checking out a bit of the Electro Magic parade and said good-bye to Disney. Thanks again to my parents for making the trip great! We had so much fun!!!! Next up, the journey home.

Day 4 – Breakfast with the Gang

While visiting Disney World, I think going to a character breakfast is a must. I have never seen Lucas wilder than he was at our character breakfast. He went crazy when he saw Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie and Pluto. Of course, his favorite was Pluto (because he is a dog). He likes to see / talk to the characters, but he doesn’t want them to get too close to him. He was so excited watching all the characters that he could barely eat. It was so fun to watch him get so excited about everything. I couldn’t believe how much he enjoyed it.

We decided not to go into any parks that day and instead went to Downtown Disney and hung out by the pool. It was a total pain to get from our hotel to Downtown Disney, but it was worth it. I got some personalized Mickey Ears for Lucas and he picked out a stuffed Mickey and a crazy spin-around light-up Mickey thing as his souvenoers. I picked out a few Christmas ornaments (I pick up an ornament from every place we visit). Don’t feel bad for Bryan because he got a t-shirt made out of recycled Coke bottles at Epcot as his trip sounvenior.
Lucas played in the pool until his lips turned blue and he was shivering. He never would have admitted he was cold though. He was just having too much fun. You could hear him yelling from across the pool. It was hysterical. He rounded out the night by hitting up the arcade and “playing” some video games. He was so into it (even though he wasn’t really playing).

Before we left for the trip, Lucas had been waking up crying in the middle of the night (a few times a night) because his teeth were hurting him so bad. Even with Motrin, he would be up. I think he is getting his two year molars. He finally got those pesky canine teeth and I thought he would get a break after that, but I guess I thought wrong. But at Disney, he was out like a like with no Motrin and slept without making a peep. Amazing. I thought between school all day and playing at home, he was pretty tired out everyday. But I guess it’s nothing compared to being tired out from vacation. He would see his Pack N’ Play and point and try to crawl in before nap time / bed time. He knew it was time for sleep and was actually looking forward to it!

Day 3 – Animal Kingdom and back to Magic Kingdom

Our plan for the day was to head to the Animal Kingdom to check it out. This is the one Disney park that I have never been too. After a quick breakfast at the hotel (where we saw the alligator that lives in the lake in the middle of the resort property, we headed there. We went on the Safari ride first and saw tons of cool animals. One of the rhinos was so close to our truck. I swear I could have reached out and touched him. The Tree of Life is also very cool and has hundreds of animals carved into it. I think Lucas’ favorite part was Dino Land. He played some carnival type games and rode on the flying dinosaur ride. He also totally loved the play area there and went crazy in there! We rounded off the morning with lunch at the Rainforest Café. Lucas was more interested in the sounvenir cup he got than anything else, but I think he did enjoy the “shows” they have.

After nap time, Lucas played at the pool / sandbox area for a few hours before we headed into the Magic Kingdom. Even though we could have seen a lot more things if we skipped nap, we know better than to risk it. A nice nap leads to a super cheerful Lucas. Lucas loved playing in the kiddie pool fountains again and he totally loved swimming in the big pool. He also loved playing in the sandbox. His Grandma bought him some sand toys because he forgot his at home. I think he could have stayed at the “Dig Site” for the entire trip. We had to pull him away every time it was time to go.

We had just been to the Magic Kingdom two days ago and it was decorated for Halloween, but this time they had started to put up the Christmas decorations! How crazy is that? They work so fast. We hit up a few classic rides (It’s a Small World, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) and called it a night. Of course, Lucas loved It’s a Small World and couldn’t figure out where he wanted to look. Talk about sensory overload. I personally still have that song in my head and it’s driving me crazy.

Disney: Day 2 - Epcot!

We started off the day with a quick breakfast and headed over to Epcot (which as Bryan learned, stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). It was not crowded at all (compared to when I used to go to Disney years ago over Easter vacation), so we got to go on lots of Lucas’ friendly rides with hardly any waiting. The Nemo ride and Spaceship Earth were his favorites. He also totaled loved the Coke area where you could taste different Coke products from around the world. He was bored with the World’s (aren’t all kids though?) and totally fell asleep. I feared we were in for trouble because we needed to stop and eat lunch before going back to the hotel for naptime, but Lucas perked right up when he saw the food and ate more than I have seen him eat in a while. I was totally amazed. He also met and flirted with two little girls (older women to him) at the table next to us. I think they liked him too, because they took his picture and kept giggling at him.

During a two hour nap at the hotel, Grandma and Grandpa (Papa) arrived. Lucas did not seem at all surprised to see them when he woke up. I guess he thinks everyone goes wherever he is? We had early dinner reservations at the Coral Reef restaurant at Epcot, so we headed back there after nap. The restaurant was super cool and we got the best seats in the house (right in front of the aquarium). I am not sure if Lucas loved it more or if we did! We saw a shark and a giant turtle and tons and tons of fish. So cool. And we even saw some scuba divers that were in the tank. After dinner we rode on a few more rides (Lucas sits so nicely on the rides and doesn’t go all crazy because he has to sit still, which is amazing for him) and made it back to the hotel a little (well an hour) after bedtime. Once again, Lucas was out the minute he laid down. Disney really does have a magical way to tire out kids. Next up is Animal Kingdom.

Disney: Day 1 - Magic Kingdom!

The Disney Dining Plan was “free” with out 5 night / 6 day vacation. It includes a Sit Down Meal and a Quick Service Meal per person per day, plus a snack for each person. I didn’t want to spend too much time eating at the hotel when we could be trying out lots of fun places, so I made reservations to eat at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom for dinner on our first night of vacation. Luckily, we had some time before we had to eat, so we got to go on a few rides.

We went on the Carousel of Progress (a classic), the Mad Tea Party (i.e. the spinning tea cups), Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Cinderella’s Golden Carousel. Lucas loved the spinning tea cups and was trying to make them go faster. He also loved ridding in the giant Dumbo and making it move up and down). It was so fun to watch his face light up at everything and take it all in. I am not really sure he had any clue what was going on. So much to see! For some reason, Lucas hated the carousel. He was so freaked out when it started moving that I had to quickly get him off his horse, mid ride. I don’t know why he didn’t like it, but he sure was mad!

The Crystal Palace is a character dining buffet restaurant. Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eyore live there. We didn’t meet Winnie (had we stayed longer we would have), but Lucas got to meet everyone else. He loved them from a distance, but up close, he wasn’t so sure. He did give Tigger a high-five and started bouncing when Tigger was bouncing, so I guess that meant he liked him? The meal itself wasn’t much to speak of (Lucas liked the all you could eat grapes) and I was happy I did not pay $33.95/person (it was free on the Dining Plan). But it was worth it for the experience.

After dinner we strolled down Main Street and called it a day. Lucas’ bedtime was approaching and all of us (Lucas included) had been up since before 6am and none of us had a nap. Lucas usually gets up at 7am (not 5:30am) and takes a 2 hour nap, not a 20 minute one, so we were running on borrowed time. Very borrowed. Lucas was such a good boy though. He conked out in his Disney provided Pack N’ Play (we usually travel with our own, but decided not to this trip) the minute he laid down and slept 12 hours. He so needed it. Next up, Epcot!

Disney: Day 1 - Getting There & The Pool

Last week, we took Lucas to Disney World for a family vacation. Some people say that getting there is half the fun, but I have to disagree. Lucas was a good boy and got compliments on his traveling skills, but I just want to get there already! Lucas totally loved riding on the moving sidewalks and up and down the escalators at the airport. He thought he was the coolest thing ever because he didn’t have to get carried or ride in his stroller. Once we got on the plane and got settled, Lucas fell asleep. All was well until about 20 minutes later when the pilot got on the plane and started YELLING over the loudspeaker about what time it was we were landing, etc. Of course, Lucas woke up. Thanks a lot Mr. Pilot. We all know what time we are landing, you don’t need to tell us. Lucas spent the rest of the flight reading books, watching Yo Gabba Gabba and eating snacks. I give him an 8 out of 10 for the flight (10 out of 10 = sleeping the entire flight and 0 out of 1 = screaming for the entire flight). So basically, he did awesome considering he was awake almost the entire time.

We took the Disney Magic Express from the airport to the hotel (which may be one of the few things Disney offers for free) and let them handle our bags. Our room was ready right away, so we dropped off what we had with us and set out for lunch (we had the Disney Dining Plan and it was fabulous). After lunch our bags still had not arrived, but luckily for Lucas I packed his swim trunks in my carry-on.

Lucas spent some time splashing (with Bryan in his rolled up jeans) in the kiddie pool. Lucas went wild. He loved the fountains and was shrieking with excitement. It was so fun to watch. He was having the time of his life in those fountains! We had to drag him away to go check on out luggage. It had arrived, so we set off to the Magic Kingdom….

No Idea??

I have no idea where Lucas picked up his love of chapstick from. It couldn't be because I put it on every two seconds could it?? Now, if he sees me with it, he snatches it away from me and insists on applying it. Only, he tends to get it all wet because he is so drooly (or is it droolie)? But I do love that we are starting to share an interest and I will happily share my chapstick with him anytime. Except the expensive Kiehls stuff that he uses WAY too much of!