Disney Day #1

Dreams do come true.

Well, I can’t exactly say that taking two 2 ½ year olds to Disney World was ever in my dreams; however, here we are!! And the boys are doing really well—likely because of the patient people we are traveling with!

We opted to drive-thru-the-night, which was a big success. After several movies, the boys did just as they were supposed to and slept. As for baby Tucker, well, he’s at the perfect age  (which I barely remember for the boys) and he just slept the whole trip away. Minus a long stop for breakfast, it only took 16 hours in the car---not bad considering it’s 11 hours to Grandma & Grandpa Raeder’s.  

Day #1: I have decided that dealing with Evan and Jaden in Disney World is more than a full-time job! Food: I must plan plenty of snacks to have in the parks, and a variety of foods. When they get hungry, they are hungry! We have a rotation of two single umbrella strollers and a carrier (around the body front or back) for the three kids. It has worked well so far. Evan is content anywhere!

We basically have our own personal Disney Tour Guides---who know where to go what time of day, what is best for 2 year olds, where the fast-pass kiosks are, where the best food and drinks are at Epcot, and the best seats in the house to watch the fireworks. We are truly blessed on this trip. Since Brooke worked here for a semester and met her friend Alex- who currently works here with Tad, they are up to date on all the new things to do at the parks. 

We had a wonderful and busy first day. We started out at Animal Kingdom. The boys love animals, so it was fun to watch their excitement on the Safari. Let’s just say that before we left they found an ant in our condo, and they were SO excited to follow this ant around……that excitement quadrupled as they saw all the animals from their favorite book ‘Goodnight Gorilla!’

We had our first character meeting with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh……Evan screamed and had a death grip on Nathan, so he just waved from afar. Jaden and Tucker were so excited!

We tried to be the smart pro-active parents and come back to the condo for a late lunch and naps, before going back to the park for the evening. The boys were exhausted, but took a while to settle down for naps. But sleep always wins……at least for Jaden. Evan didn’t nap- went swimming with us instead (don’t worry, our room is right next to the pool and a monitor reaches!) 

After naptime, we went to Epcot to see the big ‘golf ball.’ Thanks to Brooke & Dan, we all got to meet Pluto and Minnie Mouse! I was glad Evan had practice at Animal Kingdom with Pooh, as he did great with these characters. We are making progress!

At night we were fortunate to go with Alex and Tad on a pontoon boat ride and get a tour of the lake, see the lighted boat parade, and the amazing fireworks from our view on the lake. Unfortunately, it was dark and I had nothing to entertain the boys for the first 30 minutes of the ride---so they were very fussy. Thankfully there was snacks and water on the boat that they devoured—but of course screamed loudly every time they wanted water or popcorn! I am sure as my dad says about kids in church, they seemed louder to us as they did everyone else. After the parade started, they were quiet and loved the lights and fireworks. Jaden ooh’ed and awe’ed at every single firework explosion!! Evan; well, he fell asleep during the show. Our very busy, very amazing day #1 had finally caught up to him!