Magical Disney Spring Break

This year we surprised the girls by taking them to an incredible Spring Break week of fun at Disney World. It was so neat to see how excited they got when they figured it out. Sweet little Abbie actually started crying, she was so happy. We really didn't know what we were going to do until about February. Our original plan was to go out West to Sedona, but that fell through. I had heard that many people were taking advantage of the smaller numbers at Disney and asked Ken to look into It.

We planned to stay there 7 days and 6 nights. We also decided to stay off resort this time and found a place about 15 miles away from the theme parks. It was the perfect fit for us, a one bedroom condo that could sleep the five us with ease. This time we actually flew to Florida and rented a car. This helped us not feel so sluggish, plus we basically got to drive a car we have considered purchasing in the past. {We decided we wouldn't have liked it and are thankful for the Santa Fe!}

We landed in Florida in the mid-morning with just enough time to unload the car and head over towards Orlando to meet up with a good friend of Ken's from college. Our meet up was at the Crayola Experience. This was a neat hands on attraction that the girls enjoyed so much. From naming their crayons, decorating play-dough, and melting crayons to make a colorful art wheel, the girls had so much to occupy themselves with that the parents had plenty of time to catch up. We shared a quick bite to eat and then headed home to rest up for the big the day.

Ken was really thoughtful on how he scheduled the week. We were planning on doing all four parks and spending a day at each. The first park we went to was Magic Kingdom. It should surprise no one who knows him, that Kennie did his research on how to tackle the parks during the reduced capacity. So based on his research we started our day at Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride. This was Ellie's first real coaster ride and boy was she excited. From the moment we started til it was over she laughed and had her little hands in the air, in complete and utter enjoyment and that enthusiasm continued all day. We didn't really stick to the proposed route (because I complained) and ended up tackling the park by neighborhoods. We found it to be easier and at no point did we have to wait longer than 60 minutes for a ride. {This may sound long but when we took Abbie three years ago we saw wait times closer to two hours.} One tip that people we knew suggested was to really think about when you anticipated you would want to eat. There were not a lot restaurants open so reservations were hard to come by. You had to pre-order your food at different locations at certain times. {This was true for every park we went to.} Overall our day was so much fun and the girls had a blast. We were able to ride every ride we wanted to, shop, eat and play with plenty of time to spare and saw plenty of characters in their parades. The renovated castle is also worth seeing!

Day 2 was Hollywood Studios. We didn't do this park the last time we came so it was all new to us. Most of the theater shows were closed, so that was a bit disappointing but that didn't dampen our fun. The first ride we road was Mickey's train ride, which is brand new. The girls loved it and wanted to do it again and we had to lure them away with the promise that if they still wanted to later we would. Next on the list was the Toy Story neighborhood. This was one of the areas that had some of the longest waits, but the rides were worth it. We did the carnival ride shooting contest and the alien slingshot ride. When then took a break and got ready for the main event for me. I am not afraid to say that I am a HUGE Star Wars fan and begged Ken to add this park to our list simple so I could ride the rides in the Star Wars neighborhood. The main ride had a system where you had to log into the Disney Park App and get qued in the first set was at 7 am and the second set started at 1 pm. If you got in you were given a boarding number. You know its love when your husband wakes up early to try to get you a spot. {He did by the way}. The other fortunate thing is that this ride was one that all five of us could do. I won't spoil the details of the ride but I will say it is extremely realistic and you feel like you have stepped into the Star Wars universe. Ken, who is not a huge Star Wars fan {I don't know what's wrong with him}, even remarked at how well done it was and how true to the movies it seemed. {This was the parents favorite ride of the trip}. From there we did a dinky ride and then lined up to pilot the Millennium Falcon {We weren't the best crew but we had fun}. We finished our day buy splitting up. Abbie and I went to ride the Aerosmith roller coaster and the Slinky ride, while Ken, Brenda and Ellie went to the Cars attraction and shopping.

I was really proud of Abbie, she found out this ride had loops and it was in the dark and still tried it out. We weren't thrilled but she attempted something new. She did however fully enjoy the Slinky roller coaster, that was super fast and no loops. While we were getting our thrill on, Ellie was busy giving us one of our best stories from the vacation. Ellie decide she no longer wanted to ride in her stroller but wanted to push it, so she pushed and parked it outside the Cars ride. On their way out of the ride, she saw a man trying to take her stroller, she ran before Ken could stop her and went up to the man and said, "Hey! You can't take that, that is my stroller. Let it go!" The man was caught off guard and didn't know what to say and looked at Ken and his response was "She's right." He quickly realized his mistake and took off and all was right in Ellie's world.

Ken planned to have a break in between the parks, and so the next day we took the girls to Kennedy Space Center. It is important to me to try to find something educational for the girls to do on the trips we go on, when we can. The center had a small window of when it was opened but it was just the break we needed. The girls got to play in the amazing play area that had slides, trampoline like spaces, climbing tunnels and games. The whole area was designed to look the like the universe and each level had different planets from our system. They loved it and we had to drag them out screaming. Our next stop was to go see the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This entire exhibit was so well done. There were two videos that we watched and each one was in a different room that was leading us to the main hanger with the shuttle. The doors open and it is hanging there in all of its glory. The size of it is truly awe-inspiring. There are so many interactive stations in the hanger. You start at the top and work your way done. At the bottom there where a simulation of a launch that you could do, so Ken took Abbie and they did that together and had a blast. There was also a small section in remembrance to the two space shuttles that exploded in the history of the program. It was very still and chilling walking through that.

One thing that they offered, that was included in our ticket but you had to make a reservation, was a bus ride out to the launch sites that have occurred there since the 60's. We didn't do that because we thought it would be a bit much with the girls, but we intend to go back one day when they are older and do it then. When the parked closed, we drove to have dinner with some friends of Kennie and Brenda‘s and catch up. Overall it was a pleasant day and was just the right pace for us. It allowed us to recharge and tackle the last two parks at Disney.

Day 4 was Epcot. I am glad we did the park, but in reality this park really isn't for kiddos. The girls enjoyed the rides like Elsa and Finding Nemo, and we started the day and ended the day with rides. In between we walked through the different countries. We happened to be there during their flower festival, so that meant food samples from the different counties and amazing topiary. This park is open the latest of the four and I think it is to cater to the adult crowd. The girls also worked on a scavenger hunt by collecting badges from each country. This was a fun way to keep them engaged.

Our last day was Animal Kingdom. Just like the other parks it was crowded, but not overwhelmingly so. We were able to do all that we wanted with time left to spare. This year we got to ride the Avatar ride that we didn’t last time. Last time the wait for this one ride alone was well over two hours; this year maybe 40 minutes. Abbie loved it so much. Unfortunately Ellie wasn’t tall enough so Abbie got to ride it twice, she was very happy. One thing that was different about Animal Kingdom opposed to the other parks, was that the day we went to Animal Kingdom, Disney started to allow brief maskless pictures. So we were able to get some pictures without masks - which was nice.

Overall our trip was amazing and so much more enjoyable than last time. We did miss the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique experience but that was it. It was nice but having to choose between character meet and greets and rides. While wearing masks all day, except for eating and drink, was a pleasant experience at times; the trade off of fewer people and more room was definitely worth it to us. If you find yourself wondering if you should take advantage of the reduce capacity, I would encourage you to do it. It is different than the normal experience but it was still enjoyable for all.