This easily could've gone in another direction. Heat. Crowds. Disney. 5 young kids (ESPECIALLY my 4 year old). It didn't have the makings for being a good day. A fun day. One we'd want to look back on, smile and be happy about it.
However, It couldn't have gone any better. Really. I know, I know. I can't believe I am writing that sentence either. Especially given our rocky start trying to get Sam out of the house. She was being, well, herself, and it was not looking good for the day that followed. I threatened her many times to behave or else she wasn't going to come with us. Miraculously, Jen was able to get her in her car seat. More miraculously, by the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, Sam became agreeable and in a better mood.
Our big saving grace was that we didn't have to pay to get in. Knowing that we weren't shelling out almost $600 dollars to get in to the Magic Kingdom made it a little more tolerable that so much money wasn't on the line. Many thanks to my stepfather who took his day off from work and spent time with us. 5 kids and 2 adults may have had us outnumbered, but honestly, the kids did really well.
Since having kids I've never done the traditional full day at Disney. Since Jim can get himself and 3 others in at any time, it was never necessary to try to fit everything in, in one day. But because we had Jen and her kids with us, we needed to use his special passes he is given. He doesn't get very many of these and it was important we got the most out of them. Therefore, our plan was to go when Magic Kingdom opened, spend a few hours and then return in the evening for the electrical parade and fireworks. The time flew by and before we knew it, it was already 6:00pm. Yes, we spent over 8.5 hours at the Magic Kingdom during the day and another 3 hours at night! Jen and I worked the Fast Pass system and it was amazing. We barely had a wait for anything and walked right on most rides. I am still in awe over how well the day unfolded.
Sam had one crazy meltdown at lunch, but after 10 minutes, she rebounded. Ian complained of his legs hurting from all the walking, but it was manageable and not enough to make me want to go running screaming from our group.
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| Such a great moment! Sam was so excited that Minnie was there too! |
And if that wasn't good enough, we pushed our luck even further and took the kids back to the Magic Kingdom 2 hours after leaving. Yes, at 8:00pm, the kids were loaded in the car and we were going back for the electrical parade and the fireworks. We are crazy like that. What an amazing day it was!
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| Sshhh! Don't tell Jeff how late it is and these kids' night is just getting started! |
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| Because you simply can't go to Disney and not get ice cream, right? Jen and I are so the fun moms! |
- Philhar Magic Show
- It's a small world
- The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Mad Tea Party
- Dumbo the flying elephant
- Lunch - at the park (btw, Sam does not like meatball subs, contrary to her insistence that she NEEDS to have one).
- Peter Pan's flight
- Prince Charming regal carousel
- Monster's, Inc. Laugh Floor
- Buzz Lightyear's space ranger spin
- Tomorrowland transit authority people mover
- Walt Disney's carousel of progress
- The magic carpets of Aladdin
- Pirates of Caribbean
- Jungle Cruise
- Met Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Dinner break at Lori's house
- Main Street electrical parade
- Ice cream
- The magic, memories and you! - show
- Wishes nighttime spectacular - fireworks
Pretty impressive, huh? Yeah, it blew me away too. And not once did I threaten Sam that she was going to be sent to my mom's house in a taxi. Sam really turned it around once we got moving and behaved quite well. I have to say, there was not one thing we did that I wouldn't do again. Everything was a winner!
A funny moment:
Within 5 minutes of getting the kids back in the car, Evan, Sam and Nathan were fast asleep. Well, 8:00pm is their normal bedtime, not to mention the very full, active day they just had. We parked the car and began unloading all the kids. Jen took Nathan out of his carseat and stood him next to her minivan. Nathan continued sleeping standing up! And then all of a sudden, he was running keeping up with us walking back into the park. It was hilarious!
Once our day was finally over, and we were headed back to Lori's house, all 5 kids were fast asleep before we even left the parking lot. This was something we were unsuccessful in achieving the whole drive down to Orlando. I guess you need to spend 12 hours at Disney to get results like that.
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| Wow! Pretty impressive. Too bad we have to move them. |
Talk about funny, Jen and I each took one kid at a time from the car and put them directly to bed. When it came to Ethan and Ian, we needed to wake them up to get out of the car. Their seats were all the way in the back and it was impossible to reach them. I said, "Ian, you need to wake-up." Ian woke up and in the time it took him to move his hand to his seat belt latch, he fell back asleep. These kids had hit their fun limit for the day!!
I have come to the conclusion that neither Jen or I are the voice of reason. We will not talk each other out of anything, no matter how far fetched it sounds. Drive 5 young kids to Orlando, straight-thru the night? Sure! Do Magic Kingdom, clearly outnumbered during a very hot summer day? Sure! Go back to the park again, and keep them up very late into the night to see the parade and fireworks? Sure! Give them ice cream way past their bed time? Sure! We seem to keep moving the bar higher and higher on how adventurous we are getting.
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| Some times you've just got to go for the whole experience! |
Stay tuned for more from Robyn's crazy adventure to FL....
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