I almost can’t bear the fact that it’s over. Planning this trip took over my life for basically 4 months. From vying to get reservations at the best restaurants on the park property, to scheduling Fast Passes for 11 people, to watching the weather report like a hawk to ensure I packed the proper sweatshirt to tee shirt ratio, I did it all. At one point, I had my alarm set for 2 AM so that I could get a reservation at the Be Our Guest restaurant that only allows you to book exactly 27 days before your arrival. And I was NOT getting shut out. People wait in line for 3 hours to get into this joint. I woke up, booked that shiz and went back to sleep. I made team tee shirts for each family/ couple in our group with character and team name, appropriate fonts relating to the character on each shirt. This was a job, man. I had spreadsheets and timelines and a countdown calendar to inform me, down to the hour, how much longer we had to go. Sophie knew how many sleeps she had until Disney World. I sent daily emails to our family with a different Disney feature. I was on point.
We left on Saturday afternoon, as per my scheduled hourly breakdown, but we almost didn’t make it out because the snow was coming down so quickly. We sat on the tarmac for about an hour and a half, after de-icing. When we finally landed in Orlando, it was about 7PM and almost 10 before we got dinner. But whatever! We were in Disney World! Finally!!
We stayed at the Coronado Springs which is awesome and enormous. E-norm-ous. We had a room in Ranchos, which is about as far from the front area as you can get, but we’re spry young things, so it was fine with us. We got to stroll along Lago Dorado every morning on the way to breakfast.
Day one was team shirt day at Magic Kingdom, where we arrived on time for each scheduled fast pass. It was 80° and sunny. We skipped past the 100+ people waiting in line at Be Our Guest, and checked in for our reservation. where we sat in the Grand Ballroom. Our pre-ordered food arrived on time and was delicious. Sophie especially liked the “West Wing” room of the restaurant, and gave each of our family members a private tour. We did agree as a group, however, that as lovely as it was, it was the park’s biggest disappointment. Not that it was bad, because it was quite wonderful, but the build up and the 27 day advance reservation made it seem as if it was going to be life changing. It was not. We had dinner at the Polynesian Village Resort’s Kona Cafè. It was delish and I would eat there again in a heartbeat. But I love the Polynesian something awful, always have.
Day two was Epcot, and it was an equally lovely weather day. We separated our group (the people without kids needed a little break, we insisted), after our scheduled Fast Passes, of course. Mission: Space is never a let down, ever. I have a soft spot for Living with the Land, so while the big people went on rides, my sister and I took the littles on that. Soarin’ makes me silly-happy, as does Spaceship Earth. Matt, Sophie and I ate lunch at the quick service in Japan while the others found their favorites. At one point, while Soph was sleeping, we met up with my other sister and her boyfriend in Italy. We watched a weird performance with guys in tights throwing flags at each other. It was cool, but way too long. I drank a wine flight from the Italian wine shop. I was a little foggy by the time we reached our reservation in Germany. I don’t think dinner was as well received in our group as we had thought it would be. Matt and I generally eat until we are gagging when we eat in Germany. This time, not so much.
Day 3 is Animal Kingdom day and “Everyone Wear your Mickey Shirt Day”!, and the weather is slowly turning colder. We braved the Kali River Rapids and immediately changed into warmer clothes after we peeled off our soaked shorts and shirts. We traveled through DinoLand, Africa and Asia before arriving at our Fast Pass. Expedition: Everest is maybe one of the greatest roller coasters ever, if only for the sheer amount of work that went into the whole surrounding areas. The ride itself is pretty bangin’, too. I’d go into detail, but you don’t want me spoiling it for you, do you? That night, my sister took Sophie and Matt and I headed to Monsieur Paul in the France Pavilion. It is the cuisine of Chef Paul Bocuse, the most decorated chef of all time, in all the world. He has had 3 Michelin Stars for all of his restaurants for the last 48 years. His son Jerome is the Chef de Cuisine at Monsieur Paul, and we were not disappointed. We each used 2 of our table service credits on this meal, and I would have spent more. It was a gorgeous restaurant, with fantastic service, and wondrous food. It was a glorious date night. After dinner, we returned back to our hotel for drinks with Alice, my friend of 20+ years who now lives in Orlando, and I get to see once every two years or so. It was a late night, but I went to bed with a full belly and a happy heart.
I’m realizing now that if I go on like this for each of our days at the park, you will have given up and gone back to reading The Onion. I better wrap it up.
Day 4 was Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with the Sci- Fi Drive In as our sit down meal for lunch. It’s so cool in there. We rode The Great Movie Ride (that thing really sucks and hasn’t been updated since the first time I rode it in the early 90s), Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster is so great, and id the best coaster at the park, hands down. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is possibly one of the best rides of all time, ever, ever (my husband will vehemently disagree with me, but he’s a wiener with terrible taste in rides). That night Liz and Brian went to Jiko: The Cooking Place in Animal Kingdom Lodge for their date night while we had the kids at the Pepper Market Food Court in our hotel.
Day 5 was back to Magic Kingdom with Fast Passes at Splash Mountain (again), Space Mountain (again) and Pirates of the Caribbean. I think we left half way through the day to do more of the World Showcase at Epcot and enjoy our dinner at the San Angel Inn at the Mexico Pavilion. It was wonderful, but I was disappointed that we didn’t get a table in the main room with a view of the water. We kind of got stuffed into a corner. I guess that’s what happens when you have a table for 11.
Day 6 was straight up cold. I wore a tee shirt, a sweatshirt and a sweatshirt on top of that, all covered with a flimsy windbreaker disguised as a raincoat. Sophie and Emmett had the only appropriate jackets. I guess my tee shirt to sweatshirt ratio was off. Damnit. We headed back to Animal Kingdom for some last round Everest riding. We rode Dinosaur, but only because there was no line. I can live forever without riding that again. My nephew, who is 3, lives for dinosaurs, but this ride would have been too much for him. He would have dino nightmares for a month. That night we ate at the Whispering Canyon Cafè, which I had my doubts about, but it was awesome. Maybe my favorite dining experience of the trip. It was so interactive and fun. The kids loved it. It doesn’t hurt that it’s located within the Wilderness Lodge Resort, which swiftly moved its way up to my top choice in hotel if we ever have the money to stay there, since it’s considered deluxe. We rode the boat to Magic Kingdom after dinner to catch our bus back to Coronado Springs. On a not 40° night, it would have been amazing, but it was so cold (and starting to rain), that we just wanted to get back and put on our jammies.
We decided to spend the extra $10 per person and add another day to our park pass. Our flight didn’t leave until 5:15, so we had time. And it was a pretty bad idea. It rained like it was a joke. We were soaked to the bone. We managed to get on Small World and the Haunted Mansion before the crowds piled in, but we should have just stayed back and relaxed, or visited another resort, or something. The bus from the Magic Kingdom back to our hotel took 45 minutes to show up (we had yet to wait more than 10 for any bus, the whole time, but yet, the day we are in a hurry?!?!?!). We missed our Magical Express Bus back to the airport. We had to beg to get on another bus. When we finally did, we had a pretty smooth flight, and arrived back in Newark, where it took them 25 minutes to find our gate-checked stroller. My parents and sister had to wait 45 minutes for any baggage to show up, and when they did, it was so wet that it left a puddle on the rug below. Clothes ruined, souvenirs ruined. It was a shitshow. New Jersey was saying “Welcome back to Newark, effers.”
And here we are. Now it’s over. All of my planning and stressing and calling and waking and spreadsheeting and Photoshopping. Done. We came back Saturday night to 19 degrees and woke up Sunday morning to another 6 inches of snow and ice. School was delayed this morning because the buses were sliding all over the roads. I’d like to be one of those people who says that they are glad to be home (cue wiener husband, again), but I’m not. I want palm trees and 80° and Mickey Mouse.
Mommy Said a Bad Word 