Disney World. We had SO much fun!
lite-bright
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We got back from Disney about a week ago, and it was just an awesome, awesome time.
We spent three days at my parents' place on the beach about 90 minutes away, with my parents, my sister & her family. DD1 got to see a nesting sea turtle, play in the ocean and swim in their pool, and cooed over her baby nephew and made silly faces to entertain him.
We did three days at Disney World. Stayed at a two-bedroom condo in Bonnet Creek, which is inside the larger Disney property but isn't a Disney resort. Loved having double beds for the girls, their own room, a full kitchen and laundry. We did the first day at Magic Kingdom, second day at Hollywood Studios, then decided to go back to MK for day 3.
It was SO great. I had two apps (Disney's free one and WDW Lines) and used them a ton to check wait times, nearby characters, restrooms, etc. We ended up not doing the SN pass -- honestly, there was so much to do that between the regular Fastpass and being able to always find something with 0-10 minute waits on the apps, DD1 was just fine. I think we went on the carousel half a dozen times over two days because the girls love it and there was never a long wait, lol. We also brought Camelbaks full of cold water so that both the girls could always get a drink.
The longest wait over three days was an hour to meet Woody & Jessie -- and then they danced with the girls when their turn came, it was SO cute and they were just thrilled. Getting frozen lemonade while we were in line made that bearable for everyone, because it was late afternoon and hot as hell, but my girls soldiered through it.
We did the character lunch at Hollywood & Vine because the girls love Jake the Neverland Pirate -- that was totally the highlight of the trip, although the rest of that park wasn't overly kid-focused and we cut that day short.
An FYI for those whose kiddos have food allergies, I was really impressed with Disney on this. I'm lactose intolerant and made note of it in the meal reservations I made (we did a sit-down lunch each day to get a break inside with A/C, and it was a very good strategy for Orlando in July), and each time the chef came out to talk me through the menu or buffet and offer other options that were available to be brought to me (like lactose-free cookies or mashed potatoes only available on request). They were very responsive on that.
It was really, really great. The only bummer was that on day 3 someone walked off with our rented stroller in late afternoon and we never got it back, but luckily it was late enough in the day that we could manage and it wasn't too much of a PITA.
I was so impressed with the parks. I hadn't been to the MK since being there as a child, and even with that fuzzy memory of long lines and hot sun, they have made so many changes for the better to make the experience more pleasant. I look forward to going back sometime, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to say that!
Here are some pics:
Day-nester. That lump in the sand is a sea turtle.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
Re: Disney World. We had SO much fun!
That sounds like an awesome trip!! Thanks for the report! I know who I'll direct my questions to about WDW when the time comes for us to make the trek!
DS 09/2008
We went there last month and also had a wonderful experience. They really treated DS2 well (although we did do the guest assistance pass). They were equally awesome regarding his food allergies and where we got funnel cake they even showed me the ingredient list.
We also went to Sea World and I wanted to 2nd the awesomeness with dealing with food allergies. Your experience at DW was the same as ours at Sea World - the chef came out and talked to us about options, etc.
I had never been to DW before so besides the heat and humidity I was really impressed with everything! So glad you had a great experience!
Eli 6.18.09 35.5w
Silas 1.25.13 35.4w 10 days NICU, allergies/asthma, gluten intolerant