A Pretty Cool Thing

Remember last year, when we went to Disney and I became completely obsessed with all the planning? Apparently, I’m not the only one that happens to.

I don’t know how many hours I’ve talked with friends about planning their trips. I’ve talked to just as many friends who want to plan a trip, but have no idea where to start and feel overwhelmed with all the choices. And let’s face it. Not everybody is a detail freak, loves to spend time on message boards, and creates spreadsheets and color coded lists for fun. 

My friend Jenna approached me with an idea to start a blog on Disney planning, focused on helping make things easier for families. Lindsey agreed to join us in this crazy venture, and together, we’ve started Real Mom’s Disney. We each get to share what works for our families, and you’ll get to see lots of things from three different perspectives. Feel free to email, tweet, or Facebook us with things you’d like to see on the blog or with Disney planning questions.

We just launched the site last week, and there’s already some great content waiting for you!

Getting Started: Setting a Budget (and a free spreadsheet)

Crowd Calendars: Who, What, Where, When & Why

Budgeting for Souvenirs Without Breaking the Bank

 Getting Started: How many days should I spend in the parks?

We’ll have new articles up every day this week. Go check it out and let us know what you think!

Disney 2013: Park Day 5 – Magic Kingdom (Again)

Go here to see more posts from our Disney trip.

For our last day in the parks, we decided to go back to Magic Kingdom. Yes, we completely skipped Epcot - for several reasons. We’d originally thought we would spend two days at Hollywood Studios. And if the kids had been more into shows, I think we would’ve. Hollywood Studios was even hosting a Villains dance party as part of Limited Time Magic, and I really wanted to go. But we knew that for us, Magic Kingdom would be a bigger win this time.

Since we’d already done a lot of things, we knew we could be more relaxed about our schedule and just do what we had either missed before or just wanted to do again. It was a good choice for us. We arrived early again, so we could see the Rope Drop Ceremony one more time.

Once we got into the park, we headed straight for…

Space Mountain! After Caedmon’s adventure on Expedition Everest, we asked if he wanted to try Space Mountain. He was ready. While he and Husband rode, Honor and I waited outside. It didn’t take her long to spot Stitch, and insisted we go see him.

 

Since it was early, there was no one else in line to see Stitch, so Honor got to play with him for several minutes. She had a ball!

Then, Husband and Honor rode the “rockets” while Caedmon and I hit Space Mountain. Again, I was instructed to not scream and to keep my hands down. I think I could’ve gotten away with doing what I wanted since we were in the dark, but I tried to be good.

We all rode the “rockets” together, then split up. The guys went to ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain, where Husband began posing for the ride photos.

When you’ve ridden something six times, you have to do something to break up the monotony, right?

Honor and I made our way to have a Dole Whip and see Tinkerbell. This was by far the longest line we waited in all week. But it was hot and the queue was in the air conditioning. Plus, we couldn’t not see Tink!

After a few more rides, we had lunch at Pinocchio’s. When we finished, we found the Step Family making their way out for a meet & greet. I couldn’t resist!

They were so much fun! I made sure they knew Caedmon was single, and the Step Mother said that since he didn’t bring her anything, she wouldn’t even consider him as a suitor for the girls.

As we were walking away, Honor pitched a fit. I mean, a legit tantrum – a kicking, screaming, red-faced fit. Anastasia and Drusilla stopped what they were doing and clapped, shouting, “Bravo, Honor! That’s how it’s done!” It was hilarious.

We hung out a little more – shopped a bit, rode the carousel a few more times, and decided we were ready to head out. I mean, you can really never be “done” at Disney, but it was time for us to say our goodbyes to Magic Kingdom. On our way out, we caught the parade.

Ironically, Honor was on Husband’s shoulders while Caedmon was watching from here.…

We left Magic Kingdom and went back to our resort. We packed up what we could that evening and pulled out early the next morning. As we left the Disney property and I told the kids to wave goodbye to Disney World, I heard from the backseat, “But I don’t want to leave!” I didn’t either. But you have to go home from vacation sometime.

It was such a great week for us, and so, so much fun. All the obsessive planning and late-night reading really paid off. I don’t think there’s anything I would’ve done differently for our first trip. Sure, we left a lot of things “undone”, but that’s just another reason to look forward to going back. And I might already be planning a trip for 2016. Maybe.

If, after reading all of this (or not), you still have questions about anything we did, please feel free to comment or email me. I’m definitely not a Disney expert, but I can tell you what worked for us and more importantly, what didn’t.

Disney 2013: Park Day 4 - Animal Kingdom

Go here to see other posts from our Disney trip.

For our fourth park day, we hopped a bus over to Animal Kingdom. We arrived about 8:20 and were among the first to get into the park when it opened. The last time we went to Disney, Animal Kingdom didn’t even exist. So this was a totally new adventure for us!

I know that Animal Kingdom is the favorite park of some, but we didn’t plan to spend a whole day there. There weren’t a lot of things Honor could ride, the kids weren’t really interested in shows, so we decided we’d do as much as we felt like doing, then head back to the resort.

This picture was taken right after we walked into the park…before the ridiculous humidity got to my hair.

Everyone says Animal Kingdom is the worst park for humidity, and they’re not kidding.

Our first stop was Kilimanjaro Safaris. It was a lot of fun, and the kids loved it. We also got really close to some of the animals. I could almost reach out and touch this baby giraffe.

Caedmon’s favorite…flamingos!

We had to stop and wait for a few minutes…the rhinos were in the way. Such a strange problem to have!

Caedmon decided he wanted to ride Dinosaur, so we made our way over to that corner of the park. While the guys rode Dinosaur, Honor and I rode our own dinosaurs.

We passed Expedition Everest, and offered Caedmon the opportunity to ride. He didn’t want to, so we didn’t push it. We made our way on over to Kali River Rapids, where Husband donned a poncho and Caedmon put on flip flops. Honor and I left the guys to ride the rapids, and we went to go see what fun we could find.

We found Mickey and Minnie…

Pooh,

and Tigger!

We found the guys, and they decided to ride Kali River Rapids a couple more times. So Honor and I headed off to see some more friends.

Honor could hardly wait to see Donald again.

Can you tell she loves Donald? And figured out the posing thing.

Next up was Chip n’ Dale…who Honor calls “Chicken Dale”. There wasn’t anyone waiting behind us, so she got to play with them for a little bit.

Then, we met up with the guys (who were pretty wet), and met Dug and Russell.

I asked Honor what she was supposed to tell Dug. She turned and said, “You a good dog.” He liked that…and demanded I come give him hugs. They were a fun meet & greet.

Caedmon decided by this time that he wanted to ride Expedition Everest. I rode it with him first. Under the strict instructions not to raise my hands in the air or scream. Apparently that was embarrassing. But then Caedmon got a little freaked out, so we got the picture just as I put my hand on his leg.

Caedmon rode again with Husband…who videoed the ride.

I’d heard lots of great things about Flame Tree BBQ, so we had lunch there. It was very good. Worth going back to, for sure.

We had fun, but that was all the fun we could stand for the day. We will plan to go back to Animal Kingdom next time – when the kids are a little older and we’re not pushing a stroller. It’s a big park!

We went back to the resort for rest time. I slipped away to do a little shopping at Downtown Disney while they finished their naps, then we had dinner and an early bedtime. We had to be ready for our fifth day in the parks, and our third day at Magic Kingdom!

Disney 2013: Park Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

Go here for other posts from our Disney 2013 trip.

For day three, we headed on over to Hollywood Studios!

My camera lens was horribly fogged up every morning, and I forgot to let it de-fog before our first pictures…and the sun was “so, so bright,” so we started off the day in an interesting way.

We arrived pretty early because I’d been reading on the DIS Boards that they’d been opening the park around 8:30. We were literally the second people in line when we arrived at a little after 8am, and we waited until 8:45 for the park to open. Passing the time was…interesting.

Like many others, we did the “Toy Story Sprint” once we were in the park, only stopping for a quick picture.

We walked right onto Toy Story Midway Mania, and we had fun with the 3D glasses.

Honor was super excited to ride with me – and she’s a pretty good shot, too!

Next, we went to Star Tours, for the first of Caedmon’s four times to ride it.

Then it was the Disney Junior Live show.

The kids loved it. They especially loved the bubbles, snow, and gold dubloons that fell from the ceiling!

Next, it was Lightning and Mater.

Then, it was lunch at Pizza Planet, and the best dessert I had all week. I wish I had a photo of that cappuccino cupcake, but I gobbled it up too quickly. It was huge and I planned to only eat half of it. I blinked and it was gone. And I didn’t share a bite of it. Not one. While I was busy snarfing my cupcake, Caedmon got to play a few games at the real Pizza Planet just like in the movie.

Then, it was time to meet Phineas and Ferb. I loved this greet. Someone got creative with the sidewalk chalk,

and all my favorite Phineas and Ferb songs were playing. One of the character handlers and I had a nice little duet going for a minute. It’s probably sad that I knew all the songs. I mean, he works there and listens to them all day long. I…well, I just watch a lot of Phineas and Ferb. Oh, and the kids loved this greet, too.

And we can’t forget Ducky Momo.

We did a lot of criss-crossing at this park, and for some reason, I had a hard time wrapping my head around its layout. We had 4:30 dinner reservations, so we decided to power through and not go back to the resort for naps. So next up was Indiana Jones.

Caedmon was invited to kick the show off by saying “Lights, camera, action,” but he declined. No amount of bribery could get him to agree to go out on the stage in front of people. But we got a “VIP” seat anyway, so being three or four rows back wasn’t too shabby.

And we loved it!

It’s a 30-minute show, but the kids loved every second of it. Even when it was loud.

Next up was Mike and Sulley. One of the fun things about this greet was that while we waited in line, we were listening to fight songs from different schools (just the bands – no lyrics). We hadn’t been waiting very long when the Razorback Fight Song started playing, and both the kids sang right along, just like proud little Razorbacks. Then when it was our turn, they basically tackled poor Sulley.

Honor wanted kisses from Mike.

And then insisted on holding Mike’s hand for pictures.

We stopped for a frozen snack and then found a Green Army Man.

I know. You’re thinking “whoop-de-do, a Green Army Man.” Of all the characters I wanted to meet, one of these guys was at the top of the list.

Of course, Caedmon thought he was pretty cool, seeing that we have about a thousand of this guy’s brothers in arms at our house. We assured him that we take great care of them. (Don’t look at my hair. Florida is not kind to it.)

Then, it was inside for a bit to see Frozone and Mr. Incredible.

Mr. Incredible kept trying to get Honor to smile.

We watched the MuppetVision 3D show, but didn’t get to see the Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast shows. We also skipped the Sofia and Jake greets. It was too hot and the lines were too long to wait outside to see them. And the kids weren’t that interested, honestly. I was surprised, but didn’t push it. I was fine with finding somewhere with air conditioning.

By late afternoon, it was hot and at least one member of our party was getting a little cranky. The guys headed off to ride Star Tours a few more times, and Honor and I hit the stores. Also? This happened. For the first time in the history of ever, my child fell asleep in the stroller.

It didn’t last very long, but it was glorious.

We had an early dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant.

It was fun, and worth staying in the park for.

We went back to the resort and crashed. But not before I got everything ready for Animal Kingdom the next day!