What do you do when most of your family wants to try something new but there is also some anxiety about doing so? Promise that since you're flying to Orlando, you get to go to the already experienced and beloved Disney World! K said she was willing to do anything if that meant she got to ride the Tower of Terror again. I'm proud to say that she got to ride it twice and I couldn't help but buy her a T of T keychain on the way out. She loves it so much!
We spent one full day in each of the 4 parks and had about 2.5 hours the last day to soak up a little more before catching our plane. During our stay we revisited favorites and tried new things. At Disney's Hollywood Studios we rode Star Tours, which M was most excited about. Spouse, K, D, and I rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster for the first time and that became D's favorite ride ever. M cried when she wasn't tall enough to join them for it but K was a doll and offered to go on Star Tours again with her instead. We had a lot of dividing and conquering on this trip so everyone to do things they wanted. Luckily the Indiana Jones Stunt Show or the new Star Wars show and fireworks were something all 6 of us could enjoy together. N always likes it best when we are all together as a family. Those shows were things we had never seen before and we really enjoyed them. N ended up having her one and only big accident of the trip there at DHS and it was the one day I didn't have a spare set of clothes in the diaper bag. So we walked as fast as we could back to a gift shop where she had asked for a C-3PO dress earlier. M was with me and was exhausted by the time we got there. The cashier heard why N was getting that dress as a birthday present, saw M being such a good big sister, and gave her an Ewok trading pin off her lanyard. I was so very grateful. Good siblings need credit where credit is due.
Epcot was having their annual garden festival and we have never seen it looking so amazing or so crowded. The flowers and topiaries were incredible and M has added working at Epcot with the garden crew to her list of possible career choices. I know I would love visiting to see her work. The older children loved riding Test Track and eating at their favorite French bakery for lunch. (Of course we had to point out where D fell in the fountain once upon a time.) We ate at the Biergarten Restaurant for the first time and the children had a blast dancing to the live entertainment with their daddy. The wait was so long even with our reservation that the kids were all about to cry but we got really great seats that made up for it as soon as they got some food in their tummies.
After friends convinced us it was worth the day, we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom for the first time. The safari trek and Mt. Everest rides certainly lived up to all the hype! I was very impressed with how well taken care of the animals were and our waitress was super sweet about it being N's birthday when we ate at the Tusker House restaurant. She brought N a birthday card signed by the characters there and a cupcake with a candle in it. Summer was her name and she saved the day when M forgot her Ewok there and Summer chased after us to return it. Totally made up for the fact that restaurant was not a place worth recommending to anyone. We got to do everything we wanted and were more than happy to go back to the hotel and go swimming before dinner.
The Magic Kingdom was insane, as expected, but didn't fail to deliver. Since the kids were now missing a day of school after spring break was over, I insisted the first thing they do was go to the Hall of Presidents. Oh, they were not happy with me, but couldn't deny those robot presidents were pretty nifty. Lol. We made our way through the lands, making a detour to watch the afternoon parade. I had wondered if using a FastPass was worth it for a parade and it totally was. Great seats at the last minute for a parade we had never seen before. N absolutely loved the Tomorrowland Speedway. That and the People Movers were her favorite rides the entire time at Disney World. The rest of us rode the Seven Dwarves Mine Train for the first time and N rode the Barnstormer. She was brave but didn't like it. Poor little sis just wanted to ride what everyone else was riding. Nothing riding the Mad Tea Party couldn't fix, though. We ended the day with the Main Street Electrical Parade, getting as close to the exit as possible to ease the trip back to the hotel and it worked. D and N are so good at falling asleep on the bus ride back. K and M are professional night owls. They are all super great travelers. As we drove home from the airport, I couldn't feel anything but gratitude for such a marvelous spring break trip!
P.S. We really liked flying Southwest Airlines.
P.P.S. K wants you to know our trip was "awesome!"
P.P.P.S. Husband says, "It was great spending time together in a family." When I teased him that wasn't much to add he went into how he's an engineer.... I do love my engineer.
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