Disney 2018
Many vacations usually get mentioned in our normal
monthly updates…but I think when you go to Disney for 5 days and visit all of
the parks, it deserves its own recap!
We decided to keep the trip a secret until about 2
weeks before the trip. We decided to
have the girls open a package that had some clues and then told them where they
were going. I think they were so
surprised by the news that they really didn’t know how to react. Over the next 2 weeks, they seemed to get
more excited as the trip got closer. We
flew out on Tuesday evening at 6PM and got settled into our hotel at 9PM.
We stayed at the Polynesian resort. This place was pretty awesome and lived up to
the hype we had heard about the place.
Between the pools, easy transportation and plenty of food and drink
options, the convenience was something that can help make a trip like this more
memorable. The only negative was that we
didn’t get a balcony, so Deb and I were huddled in a corner of the room at
night talking about the day and enjoying some drinks.
Our first day was at the Magic Kingdom and Sarah was
determined to ride a roller coaster that caused her many tears when we went 2
years ago. Sarah enjoyed the Barnstormer
ride and was calling Debbie a “scaredy cat” after the ride was over. We went around the park that day filling out
our autograph books on the characters and princesses. Allison and I went off and used some fast
passes on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain while Sarah and Debbie rode some
more “mommy friendly” rides. After going
back to the hotel for dinner at Kona, we returned to the park and met up with
some friends from school for the evening fireworks.
Our second day we were off to Epcot. The annual wine and food festival was going
on which made it a little busier. We
enjoyed the many of the “kid” type attractions and our favorite was Soarin’
which is a simulation ride which takes you around the world. We went to lunch at Akershus in Norway and
got to meet several princesses. We all
went on the Frozen Ever After ride and the Allison and I also went on the
Mission SPACE ride which Allison loved and I survived.
Our third day we arrived at Hollywood Studios before
it opened so we could get in line for the Slinky Dog roller coaster as it
usually has one of the longest waits. In
typical Keith and Allison fashion, she and I ran to Rockin’ Roller Coaster and
Tower of Terror since the waits were shorter than normal. We sent the rest of the day with Debbie and
Sarah going to the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast along with the Frozen
Sing Along. After the park, we went to
dinner at Chef Mickey’s were we met Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald
Duck. The girls were really excited for
it and that was when we knew we had picked the right age to take them on this
trip.
Our fourth day took us to the Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed walking through several of the
trails around the park and a few shows, like the Bird Adventure and Tough to be
a Bug. Allison and I had fast passes for
Expedition Everest and the Avatar Flight of Passage. We left and went for a late afternoon swim
before going to the Luau at our resort for dinner.
Our fifth day had us back at the Magic Kingdom early
for breakfast at Be Our Guest. Not only
was this an awesome experience to enjoy breakfast inside Belle’s castle, but
you are also given early access to the park so all of us were able to ride the
Seven Dwarf’s Mine ride twice before the park opened. We took advantage of what seemed to be smaller
crowds that day and never seemed to have a wait more than 25 minutes. All of us did ride Splash Mountain which
again had Sarah calling Debbie a “scaredy cat!”
We had dinner at Tony’s Italian before taking a boat ride back to our
resort.
The alarm went off at 3:15 and the girls did well
getting up and napped on the flight.
Very ironically, as we approached our bus to take us to the airport, we
ran into one of Allison’s best friends from preschool and her family. It was quite a fun surprise and a fun way to
end our trip.
Sarah’s Things of the Trip
We
decided to make this trip without a stroller and for the most part, it was a
great decision. Now, I did find Sarah on
my shoulders about 30-40% of the time, but we still think that was better. I was pretty proud that Sarah went on the
Seven Dwarf’s Mine ride, Slinky Dog and Splash Mountain. I had to talk her into Slinky Dog by
promising to eat chocolate, which I hate.
Thinking she would forget, 5 hours later she opened her ice cream bar
and I had to take a bite!
Allison’s Thing of the Trip
I wasn’t really concerned about Allison wanting to go
on the coasters, but she did have some hesitation to the Tower of Terror. So, I promised to eat a bit of chocolate and
that was all the motivation she needed!
What made this trip work it was the 40 seconds before each coaster ride
where Allison would be waiting for the gate to open. She would bounce and hop
left to right and be so excited that she couldn’t contain herself!
