I’ve been dying to comb through our 200+ pictures and sort
out the wonderful (and some not-so-wonderful) adventures we took on our Disney
trip so I could post them up for you all
to see in one comprehensive, lucid blog post.
The reality? The Homiller house
is in summer survival mode—barely able to keep up with the laundry (seriously? How much laundry can two tiny people
create??), the organizing (ha!), the cleaning (ha!ha!) and maybe able to hold
on to a thread of sanity while I’m at it.
That being said, I am going to
start this post without a clue as to whether I will actually finish writing it
before the kids' “nap time” is over and my second shift begins.
My first picture of the trip – waiting at the airport gate
for our plane to begin boarding. And now
is the time to tell you that the tall, thin, and devilishly handsome man
checking email on his iPhone is the entire reason our Disney trip was so successful. Will researched all-things Disney for months
before we left; he had memorized the park’s layout; and, in what would turn out
to be his best decision perhaps of his life (I exaggerate, but only a little), he booked our trip through
AAA. This was key because Disney
contacted AAA looking for individuals traveling to their park during the exact
dates we would be there willing to test out their pilot program:
The Disney magic bands!
These babies allowed us to skip every single line at the park. We waltzed onto the most popular attractions ahead
of everyone else (similar to “Fast Passes” for those of you who know
Disney-speak; except the bands use “Fast Pass Plus.” Thereby ends my knowledge of Fast Pass
anything). We had our picture taken many
times by park officials because we were the first family to test out the
program (keep your eye out for sweaty Homillers in future Disney literature : )). In short, it was incredible.
And even with these magical bands, it was still a grueling,
hot, exhausting and sometimes nauseating (George!) trip in the June Florida
heat. But it was completely and totally
worth it.
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| My little sweatball |
We stayed at the Contemporary Hotel (another brilliant
decision by Will), allowing us to walk to the Magic Kingdom or take a quick
monorail ride to our doorstep. This was
particularly helpful our last night when we stayed late to watch the fireworks
show and could beat the crowd heading for the buses, boats and train and just
walk right to the hotel.
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| The view from our room! George still talks about the "Mickey pool." |
I know, I know – enough about the boring logistics of the
trip, right? Let’s get on to the
attractions!
[Warning: this part is very picture-heavy!]
We met some friends:
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| Our first big sighting - Princess Jasmine and Aladdin rode the Magic Carpet ride right in front of us. |
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| Minnie! |
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| Lightning McQueen and Mater (George was in shock) |
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| One of the green army men from "Toy Story." (Gotta love those shoes!) |
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| Jake signing George's autograph book. |
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| Handy Manny |
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| The ant from "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." |
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| Mickey!! We never did get to take a picture with him, but we still got pretty close. And just so you know, even a thirty-six-year-old mother of two tears up when you see this guy - there's just something special about him. |
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| Chip and Dale |
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| Daisy! |
Rode some rides:
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| Frances in 11 years. Be afraid - she was a terrible driver! |
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| Ready for Mickey's Philharmagic, an impressive 3D movie. |
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| Frances and me on the Ariel ride. It was amazing! |
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| Daddy and George on the classic Dumbo ride. |
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| The Jungle Cruise |
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| George's latest fascination is maps, so he helped Will navigate the park (very well, I might add). |
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| George and I had a private showing at the Tiki Room. |
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And this is what Will and Frances (back row) were doing while George and I were listening to the macaws sing. This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.
Disney World really does bring out the kid in all of us. |
George was not as impressed.
Although he fell head-over-heels in love with Belle. Smart, literate, a wee-bit older--I think he picked a good one!
It was a truly spectacular trip. Disney doesn’t just do a good job; they do
the best job—the rides are realistic, the special effects are breathtaking, the
park employees are all (ALL)
friendly, helpful, and called Frances “princess” at every turn. Yeah, she didn’t like that at all.
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| Coloring books saved the day when we had to wait for the park to open. |
We had a few temper tantrums (it was about 1,000 degrees in
the shade) and George threw up after the teacup ride (can you blame him?). It’s also never ideal to have four bodies in
one hotel room. But those few things
aside, our trip could not have gone any better.
Thank you for the memories,
Disney World! See you soon. But not too soon.
I've been to WDW about 12 times, and I can't tell you how jealous I am about those bands! What amazing luck! I am so glad you had a great time. It is a very magical place!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, that poor Tiki Room has been giving private performances since the 80s. At least you didn't do the Hall of Presidents! (Which I think is still there.)
Susan - that is hilarious. The "Hall of Presidents" (which is definitely still there) was always our standby attraction when we were between rides ... we never did make it thankfully : ) The Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree were two I swear I'd never visit again (I've been one other time when I was 6-years-old) - and sure enough we went to both. The things you will do for your kids.
DeleteThe magic bands were indeed magical. I think they'll be in full use very soon for everyone to use!
Such a great trip! The Disney geek in me is totally jealous that you got to try out the new Fastpass system with those wristbands. I've been reading all about it the past few months -- it will come to Disney World first then Disneyland next, so we will be much later here in California. Super-cool! And I'm totally impressed by your logistics. Go Will!
ReplyDeleteNo doubt, we totally lucked out! I had NO CLUE what the bands would do until we got there and started using them. I kid you not that every single employee (sorry, 'cast member' : )) who saw us wearing them got very excited, too. You are not alone : )
DeleteAnd yes, Will is a superstar. I would very likely still be in line at the Toy Story ride but for his planning.
Thanks for the info. We were chosen and are going next Friday. This sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteCissie - how exciting!! You are going to have a blast (and the weather will probably be much kinder to your family than mid-June!). I didn't go into much details about the magic bands, but you will love those, too. My husband found the iPhone app to be the most helpful for signing up for the Fast Pass Pluses (and while they still have regular Fast Passes, you can double-up and use both to get onto more rides). Be Our Guest restaurant had a special the weekend we visited that allowed us to preorder our food and make reservations for our meal - they may have something similar when you go (or another restaurant in the park). I would highly recommend that if you can swing it.
DeleteHave fun! As exhausting as it was, I would go back tomorrow if I could.