Disney World Day One in Pictures – Magic Kingdom

We loaded the children, double stroller, suitcases, Halloween costumes, cases of Gatorade and Minute Maid fruit punch, boxes of fruit snacks and granola bars and cereal, and my trusty new birthday camera into the car on the morning of Wednesday, October 9, and we were off to Orlando.  (After two false starts and quick returns for forgotten items!)

Eight . . . looooooong . . . hours . . . later . . . we were driving the back way into the Disney property, marveling at the Monorail and the quick glimpses of Disney castles and tippy tops of roller coasters that we could catch through the trees.  We pulled into Shades of Green, the discount Disney property for military families, and dragged two very wound-up children down the hall and into our trio of rooms.

A little aside . . . my father is the retired career military serviceman who was able to “sponsor” our stay at this hotel.  Most of the families that I met there were the wives and young children of current servicemen, at Disney celebrating Daddy’s latest return from Afghanistan, squeezing in a quick family trip before he has to leave again.  I heard women (all women, no men) swapping stories about living for years with small children and no spouse – going to the pool was almost like being in the middle of a support group meeting.  Being a military family is a different sort of experience these days than it was when I was young.  God love them all.

In any case, though we were geographically closest of all the family members converging on Disney for this trip, we were last to arrive.  I, of course, blame the children for our late start.  When we knocked on a hotel room door, a flurry of hugs and squeezes and kisses and love awaited my boys, who basked in the glow of their aunts and uncles and grandparents the rest of the evening.

We had pizza and a “briefing” (sticking with our military theme), and then the 11 of us settled into our three rooms for the night, resting up for tomorrow’s big day.

The boys slept well, and the next day we were up bright and early for 7am breakfast.  (Free breakfast buffet at Shades of Green throughout October for up to 2 adults per room – and it was good, too.  An omelet bar, fresh fruit, four kinds of meat, two kinds of potatoes, oatmeal, yogurt, toast, bagels, cereal . . . we loaded up every day.)  After breakfast, with day bags and coolers packed, PB&J sandwiches made, stroller loaded, sunblock applied, and Gatorades firmly in hand (gotta keep hydrated), we headed out for a long walk through the property and across the street to the Polynesian Hotel, where we would catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

This was a Thursday in October, which is kind of an ideal time to be there.  Although the crowds weren’t exactly thin, we could definitely see a huge difference between Thursday/Friday and Saturday/Sunday.  The weather was lovely – I could have done with about four degrees cooler, but high 70s/low 80s is pretty good for Florida.  The whole place was decorated for Halloween, though all of the decorations were friendly and not scary, which was a pretty smart move.

We took the obligatory shots in front of the castle, and then headed down to Frontier Land (or is it Adventure Land?) and then we caught some iconic rides.   And by “we” I of course mean “everyone but me,” as I could count on one hand (maybe two hands) the number of rides I could do.  But I participated by attempting to take awesome action shots of the kids on the ride, so now I have a bunch of those.

We head to Thunder Mountain Railroad to get Fast Passes, and then the roller coaster riders split off to do some more fun stuff.  The rest of us eat PB&J sandwiches and apples across from Tom Sawyer Island and watch the big paddleboat go by.   Then we load back up in the stroller and drift along, taking in the sights.  Our wandering takes to the Haunted Mansion.  Jack cannot handle it and we make a hasty exit – but using a Rider Switch Pass (love those things) I am able to take a turn once the rest of the family gets off.

After that, it was about time for an ice cream break.  I bought myself some ice cream while waiting for the boys to go on the Barnstormer (a roller coaster Liam was tall enough to ride – – – we would revisit it on later days, since it was his favorite).  The kids heard about it when they got off the ride, and nothing would do but Mickey Mouse ice creams for all.

Almost done, folks, I promise.

After ice creams, we put the boys on the Dumbo ride, and then Liam and I split off to go relax in the Hall of Presidents and perhaps nap during the quiet, air conditioned 22 minute presentation.

Liam sits still and quietly in my lap with his arms folded.  His head lolls into the crook of my shoulder, and though the combination of him plus fetus means I absolutely cannot breathe, I sit very still and hold him close in hopes that he will fall asleep.  Alas, the presentation ends about three minutes too early for that, and when everyone claps he perks his head up and claps, too.  I hoist him up and he nestles his nose into the crook of my neck, and he is almost asleep . . . I put him in the stroller where he closes his eyes . . . and then we get trapped, right where we are, by another loud and raucous parade.  Up pops his head, out of the stroller he goes, and that’s  it for nap.  Oh well.  At least he got to see all the princesses.

After the parade we meet up with the rest of the family.  We hit the Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, and maybe one or two other things before my goose is cooked and I take the boys back to the hotel for the evening.  Unfortunately, on this particular Thursday and Friday the Magic Kingdom closed early for some kind of stupid Halloween party that you have to buy additional $65 tickets to attend, which kind of tweaked me off.  We could definitely have come back after a rest if that hadn’t been the case, but instead we went back to the hotel for good, swam in the pool, and ate leftover pizza for dinner.  Tomorrow, after all, was another day.