The Big Disney Trip

We got home yesterday from our big Disney trip. We spent just over a week enjoying all the parks, and the hotel. It was a great trip. Jackson was crying at the end and wanted to know why we can't live there. Our pets were happy to get us back, and get home. All the cats slept with me last night, the puppy in his crate. Kiddo even slept in this morning! He was up late a lot, got less sleep than he really needs I think.

We stayed at the Yacht Club, got a great deal on the room. We had 7 day park hoppers and I got us fast passes for all the rides I knew we wanted to try. We also planned to go to one of the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, ended up at both that were on while we were there. I didn't have the dining plan and we only planned on 4 sit down meals. I planned to spend a certain amount on souvenirs, but of course went way over budget! Jackson loves his toys. At least he is so far playing with them. I had ordered some food for the room, including a case of water. We didn't need most of it and I left behind a bunch of water. It was hard to carry it around. Which was annoying at times, and heavy. We had the memory maker, and got a lot of photos.

I knew that Splash Mountain would be closing for refurb after our arrival day so I made a fast pass for it, and we headed to Magic Kingdom after trying to swim. Thunder storms in the area closed the pool, which left kiddo quite unhappy. We had an awesome time at MK, it was our favourite park, and I think we will try to stay closer to it next time. Jackson loved all the thrill rides. Big Thunder Mountain, Splash, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. He even went on Space Mountain and loved it. We rode it 3 times, well I rode twice and he rode the third time alone. He has a better tolerance for those rides than I do!

Our second day was our first time at Hollywood Studios. We both agreed it's not the best park for us. There is construction going on that will add some rides we will enjoy. We met some characters, had breakfast, tried to stay for Fantasmic but rain made kiddo upset and we left before the show started. We actually had a great time swimming that day as well, spent close to 2 hours at the pool. Jackson went on the water slide many times, I went twice, it hurt my back but he had a lot of fun. Lines weren't long for it that time. We had breakfast at Hollywood and Vine, with Fantasmic tickets. Which were wasted. And kiddo hardly ate. So I don't think we will bother next time.

Our first Halloween party was awesome. Most rides were just walk on. Kiddo rode Barnstormer about 10 times in a row, I only did it a couple times then waited for him. This was the first fireworks we saw, and he said they weren't that bad so maybe we could see the others. Good to know. We enjoyed the party so much we decided to go to the next one. I wish the tickets weren't so expensive. The second party it rained so we didn't do as much. But it was when kiddo agreed to Space Mountain, which is something I have wanted to do since I went to the parks when I was 11. We had dinner at the Beast's castle, which I really enjoyed. Kiddo had steak and green beans, he enjoyed it. But it cost a lot for what we got, and the time it took. And the "scary" room we ate in.

Animal Kingdom is our favourite park. We really enjoy the rides, and the animals. We did a special tour where we got to see a lot of elephants. It was behind the scenes, and super cool. We were so close to the elephants! We got to hear a lot about them, and how they are cared for. They told us about all the animals. How the giraffes know when it's time to go in and start heading for the door. So they had to move their door further out into the park or no one would be able to see them! It was all very interesting.

Epcot was great as well. We went on Test Track and Soarin for the first time. Jackson loved Test Track so much we rode 4 times! We did it twice with fast passes and twice in the single rider lines. It's great that he is 7 and can ride alone. We barely saw the World Showcase. And didn't enjoy anything at the Food and Wine festival that started while we were there. But we still enjoyed the park.

Funny things, Jackson really liked It's a Small World and Spaceship Earth, two rides a lot of people don't care for. After Test Track he found Big Thunder Mountain slow. We enjoyed the new Pandora rides, but he didn't really like Flight of Passage because of all the story telling around it. He found that scary. I tried to eat kids meals for the most part but the choices were more limited so by the end I was eating adult meals. The buffets were not worth it for us, he just doesn't eat enough at those meals. Ordering food was not worth it either, I'm not sure we will do it again. If we can go bag free it might be better.

Now that this trip is done, we start planning the next! And I start a diet. I got a lot of pictures taken, and I hate them all. I need to do better.

School starts tomorrow. We have everything bought, I think. Will need to get a snow suit at some point sooner than later. Time to get the school bag ready for tomorrow.

Travel gets easier and easier with kiddo, he is an old pro now. We are looking forward to the next trip. I am hopefully starting a new position at work shortly, and it better not be a problem going on the December trip or any of the others! I guess we'll soon see.