Saturday, we went to Hollywood Studios. It. Was. Hot.
My phone said the air temperature was 91 degrees, but with humidity, it
felt like 99 degrees. Ugh. We got to go on the Slinky Dog ride in Toy
Story Land and both boys said it was their favorite of all the rides we went
on. This is probably my least favorite
park, but the boys really enjoyed it. We
also went on a Star Tours ride (Starwars) and a spinning saucers ride (Toy
Story) that the boys really liked. We
had dinner at the 50’s Prime Time Café.
A lot of people love this restaurant, but it was my least favorite of
the places we ate at. Another fun day
and we headed back to the resort where the boys enjoyed the pool once again.
Sunday, we headed to Epcot.
I really thought the boys would like seeing the buildings in each
country, but they got up too early this day and just weren’t super into
it. I know Epcot is generally the least
popular amongst kids, but I had high hopes.
It was also really hot on this day, which didn’t help their moods. We only made it half way around the world and
a big storm came through. We were all
completely soaked. Everyone did enjoy
the Test Track ride and that was probably the highlight of the day. We headed back to Magic Kingdom for dinner at
Cinderella’s Castle. When we ate here 7
years ago, the food was really good. But
I have to admit, I was very underwhelmed this time. Dinner was nowhere near as good as it was
years ago.
Monday was our final day at Disney World. We decided to take advantage of “Extra Magic
Hours” to try to get on the Avatar Flight of Passage ride at Animal
Kingdom. This is probably the most
popular ride at Disney and a 3-4 hour wait time is not uncommon. We did make it on and it was awesome. But that meant we lost a couple Magic Kingdom
Fastpasses because we couldn’t make it back fast enough. Also disappointing, we were told S was too
short to ride. It appeared that he was
just at the 44 inch mark, but the operator wouldn’t let him on. The ride is simulated and consists of sitting
on what looks like a motorcycle and viewing the screen through 3D glasses. I respect rules, but S definitely could’ve
handled it. We finished the day at Magic
Kingdom.
Our flight ended up being pushed back (which we knew about)
and then delayed 2 hours – that meant our flight finally took off at 12:30am.
Yuck. On the bright side, the boys slept
the entire time, but we didn’t arrive home until 4am.
We had an amazing time, but I will admit, Disney was more
challenging that I expected. I hated not
being able to make our Fastpass times.
For one, the boys were pretty awful about standing in line. They wanted to climb on railings or would
begin fighting with one another.
Fastpasses saved my patience. But
there were times we just couldn’t make them.
EVERYTHING took longer than expected.
Parks were crowded, monorails broke down, S would sometimes refuse to
sit in the stroller, W needed to go to the bathroom like every 30 minutes. I’m the type of person who likes to do
everything and see everything when I’m on a trip. I was frustrated that there were so many
things we couldn’t do/get to. It rained
every single day. I know Florida gets a
lot of rain, but it would have been nice to have one dry day. I also would’ve loved an extra day to try and
make the rides we really wanted to go on, but didn’t get to do and it would’ve
been great to give the boys a little more pool time. It was also difficult all sharing a hotel
room. The resorts are expensive and we
didn’t want to spend more than we had to, but that meant we all had to go to
bed at the same time, A didn’t have time to do his vest, we all had to share a
bathroom, and A and I really didn’t have much down time. Definitely minor issues, but challenging.
Things we did right:
Staying on property was huge. I
mentioned that everything took longer than expected, but it would’ve taken even
longer if we’d had to drive, park, etc.
It’s pricey to stay on property, but worth it in my opinion. The boys haven’t sat in a stroller in years,
but I decided to rent one from an outside company. BEST decision EVER! Do this.
We didn’t have to worry about a bulky stroller on an airplane. It was delivered right to the resort with a
cooler and a rain cover. The boys could
sit and ride when they were hot or needed a snack and we had a place to put
stuff (ponchos, extra clothes, cups, etc.).
We were diligent about sunscreen.
We had to be. Meal plan – I would
definitely be more strategic about this next time. But now that I know how it works, it was so
nice to pay for food upfront and just swipe our Magic Band for meals and
snacks. We also used a travel
agent. They are FREE!! And so incredibly helpful.
Overall, it was a really magical vacation and I definitely
want to return in a couple years! I
think W was at a great age (6) – he was tall enough for all the rides, mature
enough so he didn’t really have any major meltdowns, and things still seemed
magical. He asked me numerous times if
things were “real”, which was so cute.
The only thing he had issues with was going to the bathroom all the
freaking time. We actually had him
tested for diabetes previously so this is not a new characteristic, but I can’t
wait for him to outgrow this phase.
So thankful for a wonderful vacation!
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