We took our first trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando last week. Wow! It was impressive. We all had a really good time, and learned a lot about what we would do the same or differently in the future. First off, I won't ever refer to it as a "vacation," since that implies relaxation. This was not relaxing. It was super fun though!
Poor Tanner isn't at a very good age for theme parks, unfortunately. He's a little too old to want to hang out in his stroller all day, and it was too crowded for me to feel comfortable letting him get out. He didn't want anything to do with the bracelet/baby leash thing that I have, so that made for lots of tantrums. He did master the art of napping in the stroller though, so that was good! He did really enjoy the characters, and whenever we came to rides that he could go on, he loved them. All in all, he was really good. Would we go with a toddler in the future? Nope.
We were able to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Ivy was a Ballerina Princess, Porter was Darth Maul, and Tanner was Iron Man. They loved that they got to dress up. Honestly, other than that and the parade, I don't see the point in spending the extra money. I had read in some other blogs to skip the trick-or-treating and meet the characters instead, but the lines were insanely long to meet the characters so we opted out of that too. The only benefits of being there for us were shorter wait-times for some of the rides and seeing the other guests dressed up.
I loved meeting the characters! After meeting Ariel and Goofy, I realized that it would be a lot more fun to converse with them more, rather than just handing them our autograph books and snapping a quick picture. We learned from Cinderella that her stepsisters try to marry every "prince" they meet, and we learned from Mickey that he and Minnie aren't married, but that she is his one true love.
Ivy and Porter were SO good, the whole time. They loved WDW, and already want to go back. Ivy said she wants to live there! They never complained about the walking or the heat, and were very patient waiting in lines. They loved staying in a hotel, and absolutely loved all of the rides at the parks!
Ivy and Porter also had fun with their autograph books. We didn't get as many signatures as I had hoped we would be able to. I expected to see so many more characters walking around, but most of them are only in specific areas and there are long waits to see them.
I hope this post wasn't super negative! Other than the crowds and long waits for attractions, we really did have a fun time. We loved our hotel, and the Disney cast members were all so nice. I loved that they called Ivy "Princess", and Porter and Tanner were always "Prince." I loved the dining plan, and had fun taking a week off from cooking. It was fun to be able to try different foods every meal. We also loved the parades, Fantasmic, and the rides and attractions. I loved all of the shops, and would have loved to spend more time shopping! I'm sure John is glad we didn't.
So long, Walt Disney World! See ya real soon (ish). Or in like 10 + years.
