Part II

Magic Kingdom:

Caden really liked Pirates of the Caribbean, it was one of the slower rides that allowed him to take every thing in as we went through the ride.  We rode it three times with him.  Of course, we rode, It’s a Small World, Peter Pan (while waiting in line,  we saw Tom Cruise and family pass by on the ride), Pooh, Snow White, the Train, and the Haunted Mansion.

Buzz Lightyear (not the new one at Disney Studios, but the one in Magic Kingdom) was also a favorite of Caden’s — probable because it is interactive and we get to shoot things.  His dad loved that and beat him and his mom’s score on the ride.  He also loved the Carousel and Aladdin (much like the Dumbo ride).

My mom flew in and spend February 14th with us, which was also her 65th Birthday. Yes, she got in FREE.

Mom actually flew in on the 13th, so we ate at Downtown Disney to celebrate my birthday (which was the 11th, no I did not get in Free, we didn’t arrive at WDW until the 12th).   Mom left on the 15th, in the afternoon.

On the 14th, we arrived with mom at Magic Kingdom a little before 10 a.m.  This was the day we rode Aladdin for the first time and we didn’t think Caden liked it during the ride because he hung on to Jennifer tight the entire time. When the ride was finished, he let go and started baby signing and saying “more, more, more!”

After Aladdin, we sat down and cooled off in the Tiki Room, where he passed out and slept for about 15 to 20 minutes.   It was the middle of the afternoon.  When we left the Tiki Room, we were able to sit outside in the shade and rest and let him take a power nap.

We also rode the Transit Authority (what we call the “people mover”) that goes through Space Mountain as well as around Tomorrowland.  About 4:30,  we finished up at Magic Kingdom and took mom to the Contemporary to do a little shopping and surprise her with Chef Mickey for supper!  I would recommend any of the Character Dinning  after our experience at this one place.  It was a wonderful way to end the day, mom’s birthday, and take lots of photos with the characters.

After supper, we went back to the hotel and mom hung out with Caden and Jennifer and I went back to Magic Kingdom to have some “Big Kid Time” and ride the “Big Kid Rides.”

Other Good Magic Kingdom experiences:

1. What started out as a bad experience, trying to leave the park the first night we were there during the night time parade, lead to a really good evening. We couldn’t get out because of the crowds on main street were not moving.A few nights later we saw a cast member directing people a back way out of the park, so there was a way, we just didn’t see it that night.   So we went back to Camp Mickey where there was very few people.  Caden walked through both Mickey’s & Minnie’s Country House,  with no one else around except the cast member.  There also was a fun playground that we wouldn’t have let him on during the day, because of too many big kids, but there were very few kids and they were all around his age so he played and played.This area was also a great place to watch the fireworks!
2. PhilharMagic — is an amazing 3D movie. Not a good idea for Caden, he tolerated it, but we probably wouldn’t have done it if we hadn’t received FREE Fast Passes, while getting Fast Passes for Pooh.
3. Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wisearce Farm (small kids roller coaster) — We thought Caden was going to get to ride it, because someone told us the requirements was 34 inches! He is almost there, 33 1/2,  but when we go there, the requirement was 35 inches.  Next time for sure!
4. Stroller — we rented a Disney stroller which was nice because we got one where ever we were in the park. I do wish we had brought a small one for the Resort, where we ate breakfast every morning.  There was also an option to buy the stroller? I should have ask more about how that worked?

Disney Photos – Part I

I’ll end this post here, as you can see, we spent most of our time at Magic Kingdom, it had the most for Caden to do. We did go to Epcot and Animal Kingdom, but skipped Disney Studios.  Part III coming soon!

Long time, no blog!

As most of you with kids know, there is less and less time to do the things you have been doing the older they get.  I’ve also been extremely busy the last 6 months with my side web site business.  A good problem to have, but does cut into my personal computer time of blogging and producing Caden videos.  ha!

We recently went on vacation, where else, but to Disney World!  We said “pre-Caden” that we would wait until he was 48 inches, but Jennifer and I knew that would never really happen.  Hey, we made it 20 months, that is pretty good, huh?

When we arrived on February 12, it had been 3 years and 1 day to the date since Jennifer and I had last been to Walt Disney World in FL.  We booked the trip, for 5 nights and 6 days,  in September of 2008.

A month later Disney started promoting the “Book 4 days, get 3 days free” + a 200 gift card special.  I quickly called and explained we couldn’t stay the extra day, but would book it if it meant we got a better deal on the price (and the $200 gift card).  Disney came through for us and said they would give us a day free and still give us the gift card.  Never hurts to ask!  (A common motto of mine).

The transportation: We decided to drive.  We broke the trip up over 2 days (both ways) which worked really well.  We were in the car for about 15 hours for the total trip (that doesn’t count stopping for gas, food, bathroom, directions, ha!)

The resort: We stayed at Disney’s Pop Century. It was a lot of fun.  We stayed in the 80’s wing of the resort.  It was the furthermost away from Magic Kingdom, but it had its own bus line, so it didn’t stop at other resorts.

The time: As I mentioned above, the last time we were at Disney World, was basically the same time, and the crowds were great.  Not the case this trip.  While the dates were the same, the days were not.  We hit the trip President’s day weekend.  It was packed.

The Food: We tried the quick service meal plan, which included refillable drinks for the resort (only).  This meal plan included 2 quick service (counter service) meals and 2 snacks a day, per adult.   We feel like it was a good deal.

Caden just shared with us.  The meals included an entrée or combo, a drink, and a dessert or a snack (only for lunch/supper).  We usually ate breakfast at the resort, so we would use our “drink with the meal” to get bottled water and use our re-fillable mugs for breakfast.  For lunch/supper we would normally get one dessert and one fruit snack (as part of the meal) and split them between the three of us.

More to come: I will break the trip blogs up into multiple posts instead of having one extremely long post.  YES I will post photos soon!