So it's Spring Break, why not do BOTH?
We made the cross-country journey in enough time to enjoy some last rays of Florida sun, admire our rooms & balcony at the Wilderness Lodge, and adjust the fit on our new Magic Bands. Then off to the Polynesian Village for dinner!
The kids enjoyed pointing out everything that was "just like Hawaii!" to their grandparents, shopping for all things pineapple/Moana/Lilo & Stitch in the gift shop, and lounging in the empress chairs while we made our way through the giant hotel.
Dinner was at the Kona Cafe, which I selected as it would not involve a buffet or a luau, and thought the kids might go for some of the sushi or noodle dishes they will eat at home. Instead, they had hot dogs and make-your-own sundaes, aka a scoop of chocolate ice cream thoroughly drowned in every topping offered.
Somehow, miraculously, they went to sleep that night - and were ready for the parks in the morning!
Ages ago, when I was a kid, we stayed in the Contemporary Resort, and took the monorail that ran through the middle of the hotel to the park. And the Grand Californian's direct entry gate into the California Adventure park is pretty cool. But it's hard to beat the trip from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom for sheer adventure -
You step out of the elevator into a national park lodge on steroids:
Cross a bridge over the bubbling "source" of Copper Creek:
Follow the path along the creek down to the waterfall, past the pool, past the geyser, and out to the launch, where you catch THE BOAT RIDE to the park entrance:
On our last trip to Disneyland, I did my best to navigate the Fast Pass system, which more or less meant I went as early as possible to the kiosk for Radiator Springs Racers, picked up our little paper tickets for our designated time, and avoided the 2 hour line. So about a month before our trip, I innocently started an internet search with the words "how to use magic band at disney world".
Hoo boy. The first thing I learned was, there are a surprising number of people who have dedicated an extraordinary percentage of their lives to cracking the code to achieve maximum magic band potential. The second thing I learned was, I should have started that internet search oh, about 6 months before our trip. Because that's when reservations for fast passes open on the Disney website.
(Not that we actually even knew back in September that we were going to Disney World)
The good news is, it's still possible to get fast passes for good stuff a month out. You can still have fun, even without a master plan mapping out every hour of your day. And despite what your 9 year old says, he's not too big to have fun on the spinning teacups.
Also, no fast pass is needed for trying on silly hats:
Or running through misters with your little sister on your back:
I also loaded "Heads Up" on my phone, so we could while away waiting time frantically trying to guess which animal or Disney Character is displayed on your forehead based on the clues your line companions give you.
Shopping for souvenirs with Grandpa is always fun. And it helps work up courage for -
SPACE MOUNTAIN!
We visited the other parks too - but Disney World is so sprawling it's hard to check out everything in just 3 days.
I did make time for lunch at the Garden Grill, because that was the only way I was going to get these photos:
Of all the parks, I enjoyed the Animal Kingdom the most - the architecture, design, and landscaping work hard to make you believe you're in some exotic locale rather than a drained swamp outside Orlando. Lucie loved seeing all the animals from the safari truck, and Grandpa Marshall seemed impressed by the Expedition Everest rollercoaster.
By day 3, Gangi & Grandpa Marshall said they were all theme-parked out. So while they had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and packed up for the next leg of our Florida journey, we got up early and made it into the Magic Kingdom in time for opening (which I now know is "rope drop" in Disney Planning Enthusiast lingo) and made a mad dash for the one attraction Brennan & Lucie really wanted to ride - the Seven Dwarves Mine Train:
It took a little less than an hour, during which time I sent the kids to ride the nearby flying elephants without me, worried that sending them alone was sh*tty judgement, befriended the family behind me, asked them to hold my spot so I could confirm the kids were neither lost nor riding Dumbo over and over again, desperately wished for coffee, introduced my kids to the other family's similarly aged kids (SCORE), and formulated a rudimentary business plan for some sort of rickshaw-mounted expresso machine (perhaps you would peddle to froth the milk?) that could travel around the park to rescue adults in need.
I don't know that the mine train was worth all the hype, but it was fun, we weirdly enjoyed our time in line, and these two look pretty satisfied:
Since we got such an early start, we still had time to use our fast pass for splash mountain, eat a waffle, buy our novelty hats - and have Gangi & Grandpa change their minds and join us after all.
Even though it's exhausting - and hot - and crowded - we had a really fun time. Brennan & Lucie are already planning their next visit.
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