One of the perks of homeschooling is going on vacations during the slow seasons. We went to Disney World February 6-9 and it was awesome! The weather was perfect, we spent minimal time waiting in lines, and I felt like we definitely got in enough rides and shows to get our money's worth. The only thing about the trip that I hated was that I tore my ACL the week before and had to do Disney in a wheelchair. I felt so bad for Paul and was apologizing up and down every day for him having to push me everywhere. We were so lucky that Paul's mom had decided to come on the trip with us. She pretty much saved our vacation because she was a huge help with the kids. I do have to say that I was impressed with how accessible all the rides were. It did help that I could use crutches to transfer into the rides. I could do every ride I wanted to do. The only one that was a problem was one of the rides (I don't remember which one) requires you to keep your legs in a small space and bend them at a 90 degree angle. That was a little painful at that point in my recovery process (and once I was in and realized it was going to hurt, it was too late to get out), but it was the only ride that gave me a problem.
We kicked off our Disney trip in Animal Kingdom. We did the safari, Festival of the Lion King, Rafiki's Planet Watch, Finding Nemo, Dinosaur, and Triceratops Spin. I was SO impressed with the Lion King show, and I also loved the safari and the Dinosaur ride.
We ended the day at Epcot. Our huge splurge of the trip was going to Akershus Princess Storybook Dining to see all the princesses. The food was great, the ladies playing the princesses were awesome, and Mika loved getting pictures with the princesses and doing the little parade around the restaurant.
We started the second day at Hollywood Studios. We did the Frozen Sing-along, Beauty and the Beast, Disney Jr., Toy Story Midway Mania, and the Great Movie Ride.
We also went to Epcot the second night and between the two nights we did Soarin' twice, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and Living with the Land. We ate dinner at the Tangierine Cafe the second night and watched the fireworks.
We spent the last two days at Magic Kingdom. During those two days we did Mad Tea Party, It's a Small World, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea, Prince Charming Carousel, The Barnstormer, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We went to Gaston's Tavern for cinnamon rolls and we ate lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. I loved it, it was like eating Thanksgiving dinner in February and no one had to spend days planning, cooking, and cleaning up. We ate dinner at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe.
We started our fourth and last day with breakfast at Be Our Guest. I loved the restaurant, and I also loved getting to walk around Magic Kingdom before it opened up to everyone. We got to mosey around Cinderella's castle and see the mosaics. We also got nice pictures of the kids in front of the castle without having 800000000 people in the background.
We ended the trip with the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. The food was great and we all loved the entertainment.
Paul and I hadn't been to Disney in yeeaaars and this one was the first one I had to plan, so...I was really overwhelmed by how much goes into a Disney trip. You really need to plan meals and rides for each day, or else you'll be standing in line way more than necessary. My biggest mistake was doing the four parks in four days with no rest days. It's such a first-world problem that I shouldn't complain about it, but we were exhausted at the end of the trip. Now I know that it's not smart to go more than two days in the park without a rest day. Some people recommend a rest day after each day in the park. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. It was nice and quiet, so the little rest we got was never disturbed by loud guests.
Of course I am already scheming on how I'm going to get Paul to do more Disney trips. I'd like to go when Mika is 5 or 6 so that she's young enough for it to be magical but old enough to remember it. I wouldn't mind saving money by staying in a value hotel, not doing the Memory Maker picture package, and not doing the dining plan. Basically bare bones everything except for a few sit-down meals.
Paul and I loved going to Disney from a young child's perspective. All the times I went with school groups was pretty much spent running for the roller coasters and interesting older kid/adult stuff. It was refreshing to do the little kid rides and shows again.
