her time share with us in Orlando, we found good airfare, and away we went {my mom, my sister, my 8 month old nephew, Avie and Me}. It was a crazy trip, but awesome research for planning our family trip in 2019 {since visiting, I have decided there is no way I’m taking THREE 5 year olds to Disney—too much indecision and walking}.
We drove up to Syracuse on Monday night, since our flight flew out at 6am {yea, we’re crazy}, but we arrived in Orlando just after noon, which left us the afternoon to recuperate and get things together for Disney. Avelyn had no idea where we were going or anything else, not until we had parked the car in Disney and I showed her the video that Matt had made for her.
She was beside herself with excitement to be in Disney World: She didn’t even have words, just a smile and huge eyes. We got our tickets and headed into the Magic Kingdom…and froze ourselves. The high for the day was around 54* and we had brought clothes in preparation for the 66* they had been calling for {we did have warmer clothes from home and ended up wearing them}.
We didn’t make ourselves crazy with seeing and doing everything, because quite frankly it’s impossible unless you take advantage of the FastPass or whatever other thing they have to get through lines faster. We did what we could and enjoyed it. Of course you do have to try and pull the sword from the stone.
Ave’s two favorite rides were Winnie the Pooh {which used to be Mr Toad’s Wild Ride} and the Pirates of the Caribbean {which she loved because she got wet…the rest of us were not thrilled about that}. I think that Winnie the Pooh was my favorite too. {Our least favorite was Dumbo…it took forever in line and it was really lame. Ave just kept saying how “frusterated” she was.}
We didn’t get crazy with meeting the characters, because it was just too long a wait. I don’t even understand how the princess line worked: It was 30 minutes to see Cinderella and Rapunzel, but 150 minutes for Frozen, but it was all the same line. Ave stood there for 10 minutes and then was over it. I didn’t make a big deal about meeting the princesses, so it wasn’t a big deal. She was excited just to see whomever walking around. She was disappointed that we missed seeing Merida; I even tried buttering up the attendant to let us in {they had just closed the line a few minutes earlier} by mentioning that Ave was the biggest sister to triplets too…no go.
We did get to eat lunch at Be Our Guest, in Beast’s castle: That was pretty neat! They had themed rooms that you could eat in: The Ballroom, The West Wing, and another room. We ate in the Ballroom which was all decorated for Christmas.
Let me tell you, Disney has this thing down to a science. Be Our Guest is considered one of the upper level restaurants. You stand in line at a kiosk, order your food from a computer, then take a buzzer and put it on your table. They bring your food out when it’s ready, no servers coming around for drinks or orders…very streamline. It’s one way to push a lot of people through fast.
We did get to see Rapunzel’s tower off in the distance, which thrilled Ave to no end, especially when she realized we were walking through her village. My sister and I managed to sneak onto The Haunted Mansion. Avelyn had a fit that she wasn’t allowed to go on, but she has nightmares enough…she would’ve been freaking out.
We did manage to hit up Ariel though for an autograph. I didn’t know how Ave was going to do with it, since any time she had even seen any of the other characters {in the morning} she couldn’t even wave to them, because she was scared stiff.
She warmed up quite well to Ariel though: They thoroughly enjoyed their discussion about Bubbles.
Then, slowly, the sun began to set…
Then Ave, my mom, and my sister went on the teacups…which thrilled Ave to no end {my mom….not so much}.
Then was one of my favorite rides…The Carousel of Progress. I think I just like the old kitchen….I was rather disappointed with the family of today…they were rather lame.
Ave did get to meet Buzz Lightyear, but we won’t be telling Henry that {it’s his FAVORITE!}
Then we hit up the Incredible’s Dance Party for a few minutes.
And we caught the castle all lit up.
We were in the right place at the right time to catch the Frozen show in front of Cinderella’s castle which was wonderful {it was Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf “icing” the castle for Christmas}, even if I did start to have a bit of a panic attack with all the people pressed in tight. I ended up with Ave on my shoulders so that she could see and I knew where she was. Also, I may or may not have started to tear up {several times through out the day} at the thought of sharing such a time with Avelyn.
After that we started to head out, it was dark, people were tired and cold, and it was enough. We did hang around to do some gift shopping and to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.
After that it was a warm bath and bed…
The next day we visited Downtown Disney and…
and the Lego Store.
And Ave got to meet her favorite princess: Aurora {I think it has to do with the pink}.
And then…it was time to go home.
And boy….was I glad to be home. If you want to see the whole album of our pictures you can find them here.
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