Disney Recap

Whew! I am finally sitting down to write about our much anticipated trip to Disney World! It always seems to take me forever to recap our trips because I want to be sure and capture every little detail. Which seems like an insurmountable task. So I'll just stick with the highlights.

First, came that fact that the kids were FLYING for the first time! (Well, technically this was Reese's 3rd time. The first 2 times she was a toddler and flew to Alabama and Chicago. Drue and Tate also flew in utero, but I don't think we'll get that technical).

No doubt about it, everything is more exciting when you're experiencing it with children. Flying is always kind of exciting to me though. But it was 1000 times more so seeing it through their eyes. We even let them order diet cokes when the flight attendant came by to take their drink orders. That, in and of itself, made them squeal with joy. They each had their own little pack of gum to help with their ears during take offs and landings. The girls started frantically chewing their gum right as we started to pull away from the airport. They kept talking as though they were riding in a spacecraft, instead of an airplane. Reese said, "My favorite part is blasting off". And when we finally landed back in KC she said, "We're back on Earth!".

Our phrase of the week became, "But we're at Disney World...!". For instance, the first day we went to Magic Kingdom and the kids kept asking when we could go back to the hotel to swim in the pool. Really?! (Part of that stemmed from the fact that David told them we could go swimming the first night we got there, but by the time we got shuttled and checked into the hotel, it was almost midnight! So I think they all just kind of fixated on that.) Drue was upset on Friday that she wasn't at school because that's the day they get to pick out a 25 cent trinket from the treasure box. I explained to her (A) she didn't have school that day because of conferences and (B) WE'RE AT DISNEY WORLD for crying out loud!

While there were quite a lot of people at the parks while we were there, the lines weren't long at all. We waited just a few minutes each time. With the exception of 2 rides: Soarin' at Epcot, and Toy Story at Hollywood Studios. Those were long lines. But we had heard that we couldn't miss them. Tate freaked out if he heard the word "ride" so while we banned the girls from even saying it. We didn't take him on anything we felt would have been to scary for him. But he freaked out when a bar went down over his lap or he had to be belted in. While we were in line ready to board our flight home he asked in trepidation, "Will it go upside down?".

The kids really were excited about everything! Even the little things. They couldn't wait to see what kind of animal our housekeeper would form our towels into each day. One of Tate's favorite parts of the whole trip was getting to walk through the turnstyles at the park entrances. And his all time favorite ride of the whole week? The "people mover" in Magic Kingdom! A little car that goes over an elevated track that lets you see all the different rides available in Tomorrow Land. Or Future Land...something to that effect.

It almost felt as though we'd actually traveled abroad. Most of the people around us were from England. It was their midterm break. 2 weeks. And half the country headed to Disney World. I loved hearing them talk. Whenever David hears an accent, though, he starts talking in that accent. Which thoroughly embarrassed me. I kept saying, "Shhhh! They're going to think you're making fun of them!". Everything does sound more proper when said in an English accent. A mom and her two small kids sat behind us on a ferry boat ride to Downtown Disney. Her children were getting a tad bit restless and rowdy. She simply said, "Steady" (remember to say that with an accent) and it sounded so refined. Much better than when I hiss "Settle down or I'm going to flick you".

The girls and I got asked numerous times if they were twins. Drue is catching up to Reese in height. Add in the fact that I dressed them in coordinating outfits, did their hair the same, and they both sported their "It's my birthday" buttons, yeah, I guess I can see why people would ask that.

Drue is a roller coaster riding fiend. The girl has no fear. Reese liked them too, but Space Mountain did her in. So Drue quickly volunteered to ride again so I could go. I made David and the girls try all the roller coasters first, before me. Our favorite one was Everest Expedition in Animal Kingdom. The girls kept whispering as we were walking up to it. So I knew something fishy was going on. At one point the ride stops and it looks like the track is broken. Then it surprisingly whips you backward at full speed into a dark cave! They were both giggling as the ride came to a stop and said, "Daddy told us not to tell you it did that!".

Did I mention we made it to all four parks during our 3 days there? I could have spent a little more time at Animal Kingdom and Epcot and a little less time at Hollywood Studios.

Great trip. Great memories. Great time all around.