DISNEY!!!

Being a FL native where growing up it is possible to go to Disney every year (no hotel needed since it was driving distance) I could hardly wait for Noah to have his first Disney experience. David didn't share that same "dream" since he's really only been to Disney once and barely remembers what it is like and in my opinion he thinks it is merely a slightly nicer, more expensive version of the county fair. Anyone that has been there in recent years especially, with a young child knows how amazing and how magical of a place it is. Words really can't describe it so I won't even try. It's just that kind of place. But I digress. Anyway, since my sister was going to be in town for so long with her family we decided to drive to Disney for a couple of days so my parents could be there with all of their grandchildren at the same time. David didn't get to come with us which makes me very sad but we went during the week and he was already back in Mexico working hard as usual. I was soooooo anxious and worried about going to Disney with a 2 year old and not having David there to help me wrangle him! I had visions of temper tantrums in the long Dumbo line, losing him a few times near or in the castle and a huge fear that I would go through all the expense and exhaustion of taking him there only for him to be scared of and hate all the rides, attractions and characters. Luckily for me none of these fears came true (well except for the meltdown in the long Dumbo line but I have gotten over that by now).

We got to Orlando on a COLD Tuesday afternoon and walked around the area near our hotel known as "Downtown Disney" which is an event in itself with awesome shopping, restaurants, hotels and even a few attractions for the kids. We then checked into our hotel and enjoyed the heated pool and put the kids to bed early to prepare for their exciting day at The Magic Kingdom. We got up bright and early and after a bus ride to the park, a monorail ride into the Magic Kingdom, buying the tickets, renting a double stroller for the boys and renting a wheelchair for my mom (we didn't want her to tire out at the park--she had grandkids to take care of after all) we were ready to start exploring and having fun. I couldn't wait for Noah's FIRST DISNEY ATTRACTION! I was so afraid of him being frightened at some of the rides so we carefully chose "It's a Small World" to be our first ride because we assumed Noah would not only not be afraid of this benign boat ride full of happy singing dolls, we assumed he would be completely enthralled by it. Actually what happened was HE FELL ASLEEP. SOUND ASLEEP. We couldn't wake him up. So, at that point my fear of wasting tome and money to take him to Disney and having him be afraid turned into a fear of me wasting all that time and money for him to be BORED! Not to fear--after his 30 minute power nap he was ready to go...and go we did! We rode as many rides as we could safely take Noah on and even all the rides that I thought I would have to miss out on due them being too scary for him (The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc) he even loved those. He actually waved "bye bye" to the ghosts on the Haunted Mansion ride. I was stunned. I took him on a kiddie roller coaster that he was just barely old enough and tall enough to go on and in all honesty, actually scared me a little bit..but he loved it and when the roller coaster stopped he said "GO choo choo GO!" I thought for sure it would terrify him but he was upset that it was over. Go figure. The only thing he wasn't too interested in was the Electrical lights parade at the end of the day...i thought for sure he would love that over anything but, you never know. Maybe next time.

He of course wore himself out and fell fast asleep on the monorail ride out of the park. The next day we had brunch reservations at The Grand Floridian Disney hotel with the characters so we had a blast dining with Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too. Noah was especially THRILLED to see Pooh and Tigger and squealed with glee every time they came near him. He couldn't stop hugging them. It was the cutest thing ever. All in all it was a blast but I can't wait for David to come along the next time so I can finally replace his distorted image of Disney that he has in his mind! After all, he's married to a Floridian Disney frequent flyer!



Does this picture say "I love Disney!" or what??



I couldn't believe how excited he was to see Tigger and Pooh--I didn't even know he knew who they were before Disney but he spotted them from across the room and started jumping and yelling "Pooh! Pooh!" and begging them to get closer to them.



Well of course I had to buy him BOTH Tigger AND Pooh after his adorable reaction to them!



Family pic, getting ready to go wait in some lines! Stacy took the picture so she is not in it :(


Noah was even more excited to see Tigger than Pooh but he kept calling him "Pooh" and was a little confused





I think this is the best picture ever of my dad and Noah. They are riding the carousel





Playing around in teh carriage and the old time cars at The Grand Floridian



Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!



Alyssa was happy to see Mary Poppins but the boys were not...they much preferred Pooh and Tigger to the nannies and the princesses



Playing at the Magic Kingdom



Piggy Back rides all around



What's not to love about riding the classic rides---Cinderella's Carousel" and "Dumbo the flying elephant" although some things never change....no matter what, every time I go to Disney, Dumbo has the longest line in the park!



Yes, he got stuck there



Family fun



OK, I survived and Yes, we WILL go back!