Foster Family's First Trip to Disney World!

The end of April was a whirlwind - a week long PA trip followed by a week in FL.  The next few posts are going to be out of sequential order since Disney is the freshest in my mind, it's easier to write about it now. 

This was Andrew's first trip to Disney, and my first trip since 1997... my mom joked she thought I was more excited than Andrew, but I think she was right... I know the magic of Disney and couldn't wait to see it through my son's eyes!  We used this as a "test" trip - Gram and Pop live just over an hour from Disney World, so we decided to just go for the day to Magic Kingdom and see how things went.  We learned a few lessons along the way, and I'm already looking forward to planning our next trip!

Getting there: Since we had 4 adults and 2 kids in car seats, we decided to rent a minivan for the day.  This way, we could all stay together and only paid one parking fee of $20 (that's how I justified the cost of the minivan... haha).  We arrived around 9:30 - a little later than I originally wanted to, because everything I read said to get there a half hour before the park opened to avoid lines and to see the Welcome Show at 8:45.  However, in order to make that time, we would have had to pick up the minivan the night before, and that meant an extra days cost... we decided it wasn't worth it this trip.  

The front two rows... is it sad that I'm starting to want a minivan?

After parking in the Simba lot (each lot is named after different characters to help you remember), we took a tram ride to the monorail. Lesson #1 - be prepared to collapse the stroller to board the tram, so don't bother buckling your two kids in and spending time organizing all the stuff on the bottom.  We had the option to take the ferry at this point, but Andrew saw the "train" and wanted to ride it - so that's what we did.  After the mono-rail ride, we went right through to the Will Call ticket booth. Lesson #2 - I did not realize you couldn't print out your tickets on-line, so I didn't pre-order and have them shipped to us... luckily, the Will Call line was very short before 10am, so we got our "tickets" (like credit cards) and a button for Andrew's first visit and headed inside.  

Our itinerary: Once inside, we sunscreened up, did a potty stop, and found the Baby Care Center to do a quick nursing session.  The Baby Care Center in Magic Kingdom has a room with 4 rocking chairs for nursing.  (A woman sharing the room with me said that the one in Animal Kingdom has private rooms and is much newer.)   This experience was Lesson #3 - Ideally, wait until your kids are no longer nursing before you go... but since that's not always possible, keep your eye out for other good spots as you go - the Baby Care Center is all the way back at Main Street, so unless you head back there every 2 hours, you'll need to find somewhere else to nurse.  After taking care of the necessities, we let the fun begin and headed directly to City Hall to meet Mickey!  I had gotten a Fast Pass the night before for Mike and I to take Andrew through (you are allowed 3 FastPasses ahead of time, allowing you to skip lines) so I think we waited a total of 5 minutes for Andrew to meet the Mouse.  Lesson #4 - Parents should not get in every picture with the characters unless your kid wants you there - sit back and take it in.  Andrew did awesome meeting Mickey - despite his expressions below.  

Side note - One thing I wish Disney would do - keep the characters in their normal costumes.  Andrew didn't get why he was in a cape and didn't get the whole Pete's Silly Sideshow thing for the other characters either (see further down).

After checking off our Number 1 "To Do" (meeting Mickey), we headed up the street toward the castle. Andrew seemed to take it all in... including the melting down kids... and started to take their cue, so we decided it may be a good time to find somewhere to eat to recharge his engine. We headed through the castle to Fantasyland - and the carousel is right there.  My feeling is, Andrew can ride a carousel anywhere, but this was his trip and that was what he wanted to do.  So, after grabbing an early lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus (pretty decent food and around $60 for 4 adults and a child isn't too horrible), I took Andrew to wait in line.  In typical toddler fashion, Andrew said he wanted to be the first one on, and since we had just missed the cutoff to ride with the group ahead of us, we had to wait for the second group... so he got his wish and we were the first ones on!

After our ride, Gram, Mike, Andrew and I went right across the way to PhilharMagic (no wait) - a 3D attraction where Donald Duck takes you through a bunch of Disney movies.  This was great for us because it introduced Andrew to a bunch of movies that he hasn't seen yet, but then could recognize later on throughout the park.  It was a really good show, and the adults enjoyed it as much as Andrew - he even kept his glasses on!  His reactions to the 3D were great to watch, so I was torn between watching the show and watching him!  Poor Pop waited with Addison and the stroller outside... this became the trend throughout the day... we soooo appreciated his patience and willingness to "babysit".   

Mike, Andrew and I then headed to "It's a Small World" and had our longest wait - probably around 20-25 minutes.  Gram and Pop hung out with Addison and the stroller and Mike wondered how he got stuck on this ride... but Andrew seemed to enjoy it, and hey, at least we were in the front of the boat!

We then headed towards Dumbo - where I had a FastPass to take Andrew on... although I'm not so sure it was much faster and we seemed to miss a play area due to it... the ride was super short, so I feel like we missed out by not going through the play area first.  I could be totally wrong, but we won't waste a FastPass on it next time.  Before leaving Fantasyland, Gram and Pop took Andrew on the Winnie the Pooh ride.

We then headed towards Adventureland so we could all get on the Jungle Cruise using our FastPasses.  We had a little time to kill, so Andrew, Mike and I headed up the Swiss Family Treehouse.  As soon as we reached the top, we were told we had to come down immediately because there was lightning in the area and all outdoor attractions were closing.  Ugh.  There went our Jungle Cruise plan, so we wandered around aimlessly for awhile trying to decide what to do next while staying dry.  Lesson #5 - If you're like me and have a hard time just going with the flow and feeling like you're wasting time... then have a rain plan!  Luckily, Gram brought her ponchos, so we stayed as dry as a piece of plastic can keep you in 100% humidity (although in Florida, it feels like 150% humidity).

Staying dry!

When the storm passed over, we ventured out to the closest indoor attraction (the rides were still closed) and tried the Enchanted Tiki Hut.  Big mistake.  Lesson #6 - Don't do the Enchanted Tiki Hut.  It was dumb, and Andrew fell asleep so Mike and I sat there wondering if we could escape out the door the whole time.

 

We eventually decided to head back towards Fantasyland because there were more indoor attractions there, and on our way we passed the Haunted Mansion.  Since Jungle Cruise had closed, we were given a "free" Fast Pass to get on a few different rides at any time, so we used it to bypass the VERY long line and Mike and I headed into the dark mansion for refuge. This was my chance to redeem myself from my scaredy cat reaction as a child... and of course, we go on the ride in a thunderstorm that caused it to briefly shut down.  (Thank goodness we weren't in the pitch dark, claustrophobic "holding room" when it happened.)  Overall, as an adult, the ride is not scary... at all.  Man, I was a wuss as a kid. 

Afterwards, Gram, Andrew and I used another FastPass to get on the Little Mermaid ride. It was cute and Andrew seemed to enjoy it for not being too familiar with the movie.  

From there, we went to Pete's Silly Sideshow to meet Donald Duck and Goofy.  Andrew was very excited during this 20 min wait and did great meeting both characters. My one regret was that he really wanted to meet Minnie, but her line was separate and we would have to wait another 25 minutes to meet her.  He now tells people "Minnie was too long."  No one understands what he means, and it breaks my heart every time he says it.  Next time, Buddy!  I promise!
Another note - Next to this attraction was a Fast Pass Kiosk under a tent with chairs and tables, so we updated our passes again and Gram and Pop stayed dry and rested their feet.

With the thrill of meeting Goofy and Donald behind us, we headed to Tomorrowland to grab a bite to eat and wait out the worst of the rain at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe.  We were soaked and pretty ready to leave... but I pushed Mike to stick it out and run to Space Mountain with me using our last Fast Passes... well, that's my Lesson #5 - ride a roller coaster FIRST thing.  The endorphins released on a roller coaster are the best way to start any day of heat, rain and crowds... and it gave us the second wind to keep going.  I could not stop smiling!

When we got off the ride, we couldn't find Gram, Pop and the kids... this is why:

  

Andrew got his first pair of ears!  And a button to celebrate it!

From there, Gram and Pop took Andrew back to Fantasyland to use their last Fast Pass on the park's most popular ride - Peter Pan's Flight.  We decided to meet them at the entrance, figuring the outside attractions probably wouldn't reopen at that point and it was getting late...  this is how we kept busy:

  

Gram and Pop then texted that they were taking Andrew on the Teacups at his request... around the same time we heard that the outside attractions reopened! So, after checking my Disney Experience app for the wait time, we decided to head back to Adventureland and try the Jungle Cruise again.  We got right on and  left the stroller in parking - so this was Addison's first ride!  

Above:  Riding the teacups and staying "dry" as we head back to Adventureland.
Below: Jungle Cruise at twilight!

Overall, I'd say the trip was a success.  Andrew had a great time and we learned a lot for our next visit.  I'm looking forward to trying other parks and doing a resort stay some day.   

A happy mini-Mickey and Pop!