Our story begins with me discovering that at the ripe old age of 37, I have been blessed with the impending arrival of child # 2. Instead of thinking, "My goodness! We must plan and prepare for this addition to our family! There is a nursery to do, a college fund to start, a chaotic house to clean and organize so that this child's first crawling experience does not result in him covered with dog hair!" I thought "Oh, man, we better get to Disney before I get too big to waddle around the parks, because once junior gets here we're not making it down there for another 3 years."
So I booked a trip for May 18th - 26th, complete with the basic DP. Accompanying me would be Grant and our DD Emily (6). About a week prior to leavingeek, I realized if we were going to make full use of the plan, it might help if I actually made some table service ressies. By being flexible about times and dates (thanks to the advice of fellow Magic members) I managed to get some decent ressies. Now, as I was making these plans, Grant decided to helpfully advise me that I was "nuts" for "overplanning" and that I should just "go with the flow". I mention this because it will be important later in the week.
The day before departure was spent (of course) packing and shopping. I also took Em to get this done:
Adorable,no?
The flight down was uneventful, despite the fact that as a pregnant person I could not self-medicate via Budweiser to calm my flying jitters. When we arrived in Orlando I had my first experience with Magical Express. Service wise, it was no better or worse than any other transportation company.
When we arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter, I was greeted by this happy sight:
Em made herself right at home:
We changed and Em and I headed to Downtown Disney to look for a bathing suit, since the two brand new ones I had bought her for the trip did not fit (a fact I did not find out until 9 pm the night before we left). Grant went to the pool bar to watch the hockey (Flyers v. Penguins). There was not a suit to be found in DD, so we headed back and she swam in shorts and a tee. When you're as disorganized as I am, you have to be flexible.
We had dinner at the food court at the hotel and then headed to MK. I would say crowds were light, but it didn't matter, as Em didn't want to do much besides visit her beloved Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. In the dark, this is not so much fun, but it is her favorite thing to do. What can I say, we've all got our quirks.
We then went to Pirates, which I already knew she would not ride. So I suggested to Grant that we do a kid swap, at which pint he had his first little meltdown, because he said it would be no fun to ride by himself. I said "your loss" and did the ride on my own. Sorry, but to me it's a don't miss ride.
We then did the teacups as a family - holy moly - Grant spun us sooooo fast:
Can't post the pic of me, since I literally look like I'm going to lose it. But it was fun!
We fought our way through the SpectroMagic crowds and headed home for the night, with every good intention of getting up and back to MK before park opening. Ha ha ha.
So I booked a trip for May 18th - 26th, complete with the basic DP. Accompanying me would be Grant and our DD Emily (6). About a week prior to leavingeek, I realized if we were going to make full use of the plan, it might help if I actually made some table service ressies. By being flexible about times and dates (thanks to the advice of fellow Magic members) I managed to get some decent ressies. Now, as I was making these plans, Grant decided to helpfully advise me that I was "nuts" for "overplanning" and that I should just "go with the flow". I mention this because it will be important later in the week.
The day before departure was spent (of course) packing and shopping. I also took Em to get this done:
Adorable,no?
The flight down was uneventful, despite the fact that as a pregnant person I could not self-medicate via Budweiser to calm my flying jitters. When we arrived in Orlando I had my first experience with Magical Express. Service wise, it was no better or worse than any other transportation company.
When we arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter, I was greeted by this happy sight:
Em made herself right at home:
We changed and Em and I headed to Downtown Disney to look for a bathing suit, since the two brand new ones I had bought her for the trip did not fit (a fact I did not find out until 9 pm the night before we left). Grant went to the pool bar to watch the hockey (Flyers v. Penguins). There was not a suit to be found in DD, so we headed back and she swam in shorts and a tee. When you're as disorganized as I am, you have to be flexible.
We had dinner at the food court at the hotel and then headed to MK. I would say crowds were light, but it didn't matter, as Em didn't want to do much besides visit her beloved Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. In the dark, this is not so much fun, but it is her favorite thing to do. What can I say, we've all got our quirks.
We then went to Pirates, which I already knew she would not ride. So I suggested to Grant that we do a kid swap, at which pint he had his first little meltdown, because he said it would be no fun to ride by himself. I said "your loss" and did the ride on my own. Sorry, but to me it's a don't miss ride.
We then did the teacups as a family - holy moly - Grant spun us sooooo fast:
Can't post the pic of me, since I literally look like I'm going to lose it. But it was fun!
We fought our way through the SpectroMagic crowds and headed home for the night, with every good intention of getting up and back to MK before park opening. Ha ha ha.