Eleanor and Henry had a week off from school, so we decided to take advantage and head down to Disney World. Neither had been before, and they were both pretty excited about it. The trip started off well, with Eleanor and Henry invited up into the cockpit of our plane for a photo. Once we arrived, the kids were excited about all the Lion King and Little Mermaid decorations in our hotel. We hit the pool for an afternoon swim, and then headed out to meet cousins Paula and Tom for dinner at the T-Rex cafe. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but Eleanor loved pointing out each time the giant overhead octopus moved, and Henry couldn’t stop ROAR-ing. The next day we hit the Magic Kingdom for our first rides. We started with the Small World, and then on to Alladin’s Magic Carpet. After that we tried Pirates of the Caribbean, which got a big thumbs down from both kiddos. The racecars were a hit, but then Space Mountain was perhaps a bit to aggressive a pick, both kids were super scared and made us promise we would NEVER do that ride again! I think perhaps if we had done that one at the end them might have been OK, but as our first real roller-coaster it was a bit much. We finished off the day with a desert buffet overlooking the fireworks show.
Day two took us to Epcot, and we stared with the “Soarin’” ride, which the kiddos found a bit too scary as well. A few slower rides and a movie and we were back on track. Dad was really looking forward to “Mission to Space”, but it didn’t turn out to be a favorite. After a REALLY long wait for pictures with Mickey and Minnie, we enjoyed the Nemo Under the Sea ride, and checking out all the cool marine life. Then, it was off to “Norway” for the Frozen ride. The backwards waterfall was a little scary, but for the most part they liked this one. We had dinner in “Japan”, and Henry was the happiest guy in the room when his meal came served on a monorail plate. We finished the day with a photo session with Anna and Elsa.
Day three was back to the Magic Kingdom, we hid Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain, and then got soaked with a giant rainstorm. Some tasty tacos for lunch, and then it was off to the circus area for the Dumbo ride, and the Barnstormer mini-rollercoaster. Turns out this is the one we should have started with, as the kids loved it! After a few runs on it, they were thinking that Thunder Mountain was pretty fun after all, and wanted to give it another try. We also hit Buzz Lightyear again, and this time Dad tied the all time highest score on the ride, maxing out the scoreboard with 999999. I didn’t even get a certificate or anything! Of course, it helped that the ride broke down for about 10 minutes and left me free to shoot Emperor Zurg repeatedly.
Our last day was a mix of favorites from previous days, and trying to hit everything that we had missed so far. Dad and Henry hit Splash Mountain a few more times, with Mom and Eleanor doubling up on Thunder Mountain. We finally got around to the tea cup ride, as well as the riverboat and the Bear Country Jamboree (Can’t believe that one is still there!). Henry and Dad did a full Monorail ride (I remember asking my Dad to take me on the monorail – I’ll have to dig out the picture of me asleep on the ride). And then, finally, we got our turn to do the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, which turned out to be a great one. Capping off our last day, Henry finally got to ride on a slinky bus back to our hotel.
A few of Eleanor’s favorite rides: Under the Sea with Ariel, Dumbo’s Playarea, The Barnstormer, Frozen, Peter Pan, Tomorrowland PeopleMover
A few of Henry’s favorite rides: Splash Mountain, The Barnstormer, Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride, Alladin’s Magic Carpet, Tomorrowland Speedway
They both agreed on their least favorites: Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean.
As if that wasn’t enough activity for one week, when we got home Papa was in town for a visit. The kiddos were super excited to see him, and immediately went looking for the orange bucket to do bucked rides. Amazingly, they were both still able to fit inside. We had lots of fun playing games and getting nighttime stores and videos with Papa. On Saturday night, Eleanor kept Papa up way past his bedtime with some crazy storytelling – we are all pretty sure that Papa fell asleep first.
