Hello Everyone. We made it back from our 10 day trip a few days ago. I had a lot of fun working on my last trip report, so I wanted to do one for this trip too. The big change from last time??? We took both kids along for their first trip to Disney.
Leading up to our trip, I had a lot of conversations with people I work with about our vacation plans. I guess I was just so excited that I was steering conversations that way. What I learned is that a lot of people see visiting Disney World with kids as an obligation. When I would tell them where we were going, I'd get, "Oh, you're going there..." It got to the point where I'd be able to finish their story before they did. They spent (insert high amount) of money to go there, it was hot and the kids only wanted to go to the pool, and they ended up not remembering the trip. They knew that Disney was something they should do with their family, but did not enjoy their trip while they were there. Maybe it had something to do with the fact I talked to a lot of dads.
I'm glad to say our trip was nothing like this. Sara, myself, and the kids had a great time, and Luke, our 4 year old, is constantly talking about what he enjoyed and what characters we met. As any parent can tell you, traveling with young children certainly has it's challenges (and that might be a nice way to say it). But it also has some truly great moments as children are able to fully immerse themselves in the magic. I'm very happy to say we had a good number of those moments.
The trip started at 3:15am on Friday.
We had done most of the packing the night before. The kids slept in comfortable clothes, so we were able to get them up and place them in their car seats with the goal being to have them go back to sleep. They did fall asleep, but Luke woke up again before the sunrise.
Yes, this was a drive to WDW, first time we had done that. We did have a DVD player in the minivan, and I can't put into words how helpful this was. Ok, I could, but I doubt you'd want to read it. We threw on a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, and made it south of Richmond for breakfast at McDonalds. They liked the play area.
After breakfast, we continued our trek through the Carolinas, and ended our day in Brunswick, GA.
A few driving photos:
Sara taking a turn
Luke watching something on DVD
and Makayla taking it all in
We stayed at a Hampton Inn for the night, and had dinner at a Toucan Ale House. It was right by the hotel and made for an easy dinner. We don't have them in Pennsylvania, but it reminded me of an Applebee's.
Luke enjoying his meal.
Sara and Makayla
Time for a selfie (or groupie) Not sure what the cool kids are calling it these days. Obviously forgot to wipe Luke's mouth first.
Makayla didn't eat a lot for dinner (which is completely unlike her), and we noticed that she had a bit of a fever. We hoped it was just due to a long day in the car and gave her some children's Tylenol. It was time for some sleep and then we'd finish the drive to WDW the next day.
Leading up to our trip, I had a lot of conversations with people I work with about our vacation plans. I guess I was just so excited that I was steering conversations that way. What I learned is that a lot of people see visiting Disney World with kids as an obligation. When I would tell them where we were going, I'd get, "Oh, you're going there..." It got to the point where I'd be able to finish their story before they did. They spent (insert high amount) of money to go there, it was hot and the kids only wanted to go to the pool, and they ended up not remembering the trip. They knew that Disney was something they should do with their family, but did not enjoy their trip while they were there. Maybe it had something to do with the fact I talked to a lot of dads.
I'm glad to say our trip was nothing like this. Sara, myself, and the kids had a great time, and Luke, our 4 year old, is constantly talking about what he enjoyed and what characters we met. As any parent can tell you, traveling with young children certainly has it's challenges (and that might be a nice way to say it). But it also has some truly great moments as children are able to fully immerse themselves in the magic. I'm very happy to say we had a good number of those moments.
The trip started at 3:15am on Friday.
We had done most of the packing the night before. The kids slept in comfortable clothes, so we were able to get them up and place them in their car seats with the goal being to have them go back to sleep. They did fall asleep, but Luke woke up again before the sunrise.
Yes, this was a drive to WDW, first time we had done that. We did have a DVD player in the minivan, and I can't put into words how helpful this was. Ok, I could, but I doubt you'd want to read it. We threw on a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, and made it south of Richmond for breakfast at McDonalds. They liked the play area.
After breakfast, we continued our trek through the Carolinas, and ended our day in Brunswick, GA.
A few driving photos:
Sara taking a turn
Luke watching something on DVD
and Makayla taking it all in
We stayed at a Hampton Inn for the night, and had dinner at a Toucan Ale House. It was right by the hotel and made for an easy dinner. We don't have them in Pennsylvania, but it reminded me of an Applebee's.
Luke enjoying his meal.
Sara and Makayla
Time for a selfie (or groupie) Not sure what the cool kids are calling it these days. Obviously forgot to wipe Luke's mouth first.
Makayla didn't eat a lot for dinner (which is completely unlike her), and we noticed that she had a bit of a fever. We hoped it was just due to a long day in the car and gave her some children's Tylenol. It was time for some sleep and then we'd finish the drive to WDW the next day.