Today I went to Disney World. This should actually read, "today we took Aidan & Reese to Disney World." I'm not going to lie; I was probably more excited, if not 110 times more excited than they were about going. As a kid we did not take vacations and we definitely never even thought that going to Walt Disney World was even an option. Mr. Gourley is amazed by this because in his late teens his family lived less than 40 miles from Walt Disney World and they vacationed all the time. They thought nothing of packing the car and driving anywhere, we'd be lucky to get to downtown Chicago to my grandma's house without killing each other or without mom killing us because we couldn't stop fighting. Thus we never planned vacations or trips to Disney. But today was my day! Oops, I mean Aidan & Reese's day.
It was the most beautiful perfect Florida day. Nat dropped Diana and I off with the kids on at the parking lot of Walt Disney World. As we started towards the ticket line, I started to cry tears of joy and I thanked Diana over and over again for making my dream come true. She slapped me and said "oh shut up, we are not even there yet." Aidan proceeded to tell her that saying "shut up" is not very nice and she should say sorry to me. That was all the laughter I needed to pull myself together.
Lord forgive my mother in law for telling the people at Disney that Aidan is 2 years old and not 3. She is now $63.00 richer for having sinned. To the Disney people, I'm absolutely certain that we more than donated that $63.00 and then some to you in souvenirs, soda and snacks.
We had our tickets and I (I mean we) are finally there! No wait we have to take the ferry to get there. Let's board the ferry (makes me a little choked up too - but because I miss my New Jersey life). As the ferry nears I can see Cinderella's castle. There it is. I am seeing it with my own eyes - here come the waterworks! We're here! No wait - must go through security. After we pass through security and then go under a tunnel and enter Main Street. I look at Diana and say "Are we here yet?" "Yes, NOW you are here."
I was overwhelmed by everything around me. We do not know where to look there is so much going on. We stopped to take our picture in front of the castle and turns out we are right on time for a show on the stage of Cinderella's castle. We waited in anticipation and as soon as the characters came out, Aidan and Reese cannot take their eyes off of them. Amazing. This made it completely worth the trip.
Next stop, It's a Small World. We were greeted at the line by a "Cast Member" who instructs us to leave our stroller (which has two fresh sodas in it) at the stroller parking station. The line is approximately 30 minutes long. Let me get this straight, we have to wait in line with the children and whatever we can carry with us? I have never visited a theme park with my own children or even thought of how I would manage with my entourage. My stroller also cost me a pretty penny, so the thought of leaving it unattended made me cringe, but it is all for the good of the cause. Armed with two children, my camera and two cups of water for the kids, we entered the line and waited. Not bad. We kept moving and then entered the boat. We enjoyed the ride and apparently it was too much for Reese and she passed out before our boat made it back to the station. We returned to our stroller to find two very watered down sodas - note to self no more soda today. In fact I think that I have it coming out of my pores and I should probably switch to water for a while. Also, the ice here does not taste delicious and it is making my beloved Coca-Cola not taste delicious!
While Reese was getting her beauty sleep, I took this opportunity to take Aidan on Dumbo and then to play in the water at Ariel's Grotto. I had so much fun watching him splash around. I couldn't bring myself to wait 45 minutes to see Ariel, so we moved on. Our goal was to make our way to Toon Town and meet Mickey, Minnie and the Princesses.
We entered a big top Souvenir shop and to our surprise, this is where we wait in a very long line to meet the princesses. After 45 minutes (read: an eternity) we are finally brought into a room where Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty are waiting for us. Reese was excited and Aidan could't believe it. He couldn't take his eyes off of them and whispered to me... "There they are Mommy, it's the princesses!" He was so star struck. We waited our turn and then we met Cinderella first. She's Reese's favorite, but true to Reese's personality, she dirty looked Cinderella. Now in Reese's defense she had a lot of make up on and they all had bad wigs. Reese can be very judgmental and I just can't imagine where she gets it from! We took pictures of Cinderella and then Belle was next. Pretty much the same scenario there. Aidan got kisses, Reese gave dirty looks. Now for the one he's been waiting for, we met Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora). This is the fan favorite in our house because this is the movie we watch all of the time. Aidan skipped over to her and gave her a big hug. Aidan got more kisses and she whispered a secret in his ear and they danced to "Once upon a dream.." Aidan is in love!
We went to Tomorrow Land and rode on the racetrack, we rode the train, we visited Minnie's house and Mickey's house and then waited in a long line to meet Mickey & Minnie. The kids spotted the playground and wanted a little fun time. With so much to do here, they just want to play on the playground! We got some great photos of the kids and it was a good time for Diana and I to rest.
Our day was not complete without seeing the electric parade and the fireworks so we held on to the bitter end and lined up with all the rest of the sweaty, cranky people on Main Street for the parade to begin. It was amazing. What was even more amazing is that this is the moment that I figured out how to use the record a movie feature on my camera. Once the parade was over and we were done being trampled we ducked into a gift shop to waste time until the fireworks. We carefully chose our gifts - Aidan got mouse ears and I convinced Aidan to get Woody & Buzz Light-year figures that the limbs come off and Diana won't forgive me because she thinks they are junk. Reese got a set of Princess Dolls and I picked up a few things for Finni (my friend Lisa's daughter who is a huge Jasmine fan). We were just in time to step on to Main Street for the fireworks. I cried again.
It was the perfect day - one that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life!
0 comments:
Post a Comment