Disney World - Part 1

We spent the week of October 23rd at the "happiest place on earth." We had been planning the trip for about a year. We honestly thought about not going with our new adoption plans, but we don’t know if our child will be here in a few months or years. (Yes, I said years. They actually tell you to expect a five year wait. We are obviously praying that God’s timing is much sooner than that.) I’m so glad we decided to go ahead with our plans because we had an incredible week…and this is from the person who (up until about a year ago) has never had any desire to go to Disney World.  Ever. 

We left Sunday, October 23rd. It’s about a 10 hour drive from our neck of the woods. Nate did great traveling. He watched movies and played a travel Bingo game that his Granna (Darren’s mom) gave him. She also gave him a big bag of Dollar Tree surprises for every time he played. About every hour or so we would play and he would get a prize. This is a super idea for anyone traveling a long distance. We arrived Sunday afternoon in time for a nap (Nate did not sleep any on the way there or home). Later that evening we had our first character dinner at Chef Mickey’s.

We were very blessed to be able to go during a week of “Free Dining.” I honestly thought “free dining” was some kind of gimmick, but it truly was free and we enjoyed some wonderful meals that would have been way over our budget. The free dining plan was enough food to feed us for the entire week - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. We did take a few of Nate’s favorite snacks, but would have been fine without those.

We got up Monday morning and headed to the Magic Kingdom. I had my plan from the Ultimate Guide to Disney book. That book was a huge blessing the entire week. I highly recommend it for first timers.  We had another character meal that morning at the Chrystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and friends. This was definitely our least favorite dining experience. We walked out of the Crystal Palace and immediately saw (and heard) a parade. You’ve never seen a parade until you’ve seen a Disney Parade. They also play really fun and loud music during the parade.  Nate got to dance in the street with Woody and Jessie.

Nate had a great time at the Magic Kingdom. He rode everything he was tall enough for, which is a lot. We were very surprised that he wanted to ride Splash Mountain. This is the same child that had a melt down at a McDonald’s the day before because the tube slide was “scary.” I showed him the huge fifty foot drop and he still wanted to ride. He loved it. We were also surprised at how much he loved the “fast train.” I still don’t know the real name of this ride, but it’s like the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags. We ended up riding it a total of 5 times during our two days at Magic Kingdom.

Monday night was Extra Magic Hours for the Magic Kingdom.  We watched the fireworks and rode lots of rides with little or no waiting.  We did not get back to our room until after midnight.  It was a great first day!



Waiting in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Do I look tired or what?

Waiting on Mickey's Philharmagic