Disney (First Three Days)

 So we decided to do a thing.  With all of the being stuck in the house, having special things cancelled, and the stimulus money that the government had given us during Covid we decided that we should do something really fun.  This particular week in May was also the first week of Taylor's three month sabbatical. Disney World was running some amazing specials as they opened some of their resorts back up so we decided to take advantage.  We didn't tell the boys until the day before we left that they weren't going to school the next week but were going to Disney instead (Gabriel's teacher discretely sent home the work he would miss. Corban's teacher said Corban would not be be behind in kindergarten if he missed a week).  

On Saturday, the day before we left, they woke up to a kind of game.  Their stuffed Woody was outside their room holding a note directing them to where in the house the next Disney/Pixar stuffed animal was located.  I don't remember where all of them were, but I do remember that Jessie was in the laundry room, Frozone was in the tree house, Anger was in the swing, Winnie the Pooh was in the refrigerator with some honey, Buzz was tucked into the guest room bed, Mr. Incredible was in the bathtub, and lastly Mickey and Minnie were in our closet on top of a box.  In the box was a letter from Mickey with their magic bands and their Disney shirts inviting them to come and visit him for the week.  They were both a little confused at first but then oh so excited.  Gabriel kept hugging us and yelling "I love you!"

The first day we went to church in the morning (at our "sister church" Providence) and then got on the road.  We stayed in Savannah that evening and then drove the rest of the way down the next day.  We arrived before our room was ready so the first stop was Downtown Disney (Disney Springs).

The week that we went Disney was still enforcing masks on all Disney property, even when outside, unless you were still and taking a picture or eating.  They very strictly enforced it too.  Besides having sweaty faces, I was actually ok that.  I wasn't used to being around so many people after the past year of quarantine so being in big crowds with no masks might have been too much.  They also had a lower cap on the number of people in the park.  Two weeks later they took away the mask mandate and expanded the number of people allowed in.  I'm so thankful that we went when we did.  Relatively short wait times for most things every day that we were there.

We told the boys that they could each have $50 to spend on whatever they wanted while we were there.  We ate lunch and wandered around Disney Spring so that they could get a good idea of their options.  It ended up working really well because when there were shops all over all of the parks they could go back to thinking about their options and what they really wanted.

101 Dalmations section of the resort

We stayed at the Disney All Star Movie Resort and it was great.  Nothing super fancy but there was Disney decor everywhere outside.  We were in the "Fantasia" section very near the Fantasia pool.  Since the rest of our days there were going to be spent at parks we used the rest of Monday to explore the resort and go swimming.

Under the Sorcerers Apprentice Hat,
which was right outside our room

Larger than life Buzz in the Toy Story section

Riding on RC with Buzz and Woody in the background

Fantasia pool

They had just watched this movie in Gabriel's class
and he wanted to send a picture to his teacher

The boy's bed in our room.  They thought it was great that
it folded up into the wall and left a table in it's place

On Tuesday we were off to Animal Kingdom.  We thought that this park would be best to get them used to the "Disney experience."  There are less rides and more attractions with animals.  Neither of them had really been on any kind of amusement park ride and we weren't sure what they would think, but they were both determined that they could ride anything.

On the bus to Animal Kingdom

In front of the Tree of Life

We did the Safari first since a video series that I had watched recommended doing it either the first thing or the last thing of the day.  In the middle of the day it's so hot and you see fewer animals roaming around.

After the Safari we we looked at wait times and "Expedition Everest" had a really short wait.  We warned them that it was one of the faster rides and maybe we should wait but they both were determined.  Below are their faces when we got off.  Both of them said "please never make us ride that again"

After that we went and rode "Dinosaur".  I've only been on that once and it was a long time ago.  I forgot how dark and scary it was.  Corban was terrified.  This was not off to a good start.  We did ride the Triceratops ride, which is a lot like Dumbo in Magic Kingdom and he liked that.

We decided to calm things down a little bit and go to the 3D show "It's Tough to Be A Bug."  It never would occurred to me how confusing 3D is when you've never seen it.  Things coming at you and making noise while you're squirted with water and your seat moves proved to be a little much for Corban.  At this point we were not feeling too great about how this experience was going.

Gabriel was the master of studying the maps

Next we went to the Pandora section and rode "The Nali River" ride.  This ride is in slow moving boats similar to "It's a Small World" in Magic Kingdom.  There are really beautiful decorations and music all around.  Corban loved this ride and asked to go on it more than once.  His attitude seemed to quickly shift from apprehension to excitement

Lion King characters on the river

Rafiki's planet watch petting zoo. 
Right up Corban's animal loving alley

We rode a couple of things a second time (Triceratops, Nali River, Safari) and looked at the other animal exhibits.  The big ride in Pandora is called "Flight of Passage".  It's a 3D ride where you sit on what looks like a motorcycle that is your flying banshee.  I thought this might be scary for them, but I'd never ridden it myself and it sure sounded fun.  Gabriel was all about trying it, so we waited in line for a little over an hour (one of the longest waits all week) to ride it.  Corban and Taylor went and rode the Nali River a couple more times.  Gabriel was really nervous when we got on the ride but he was ready.  He was talking to all sorts of people while we waited in line and an older couple had answered all his questions so he knew what to expect.  He ended up loving it and was saying for the rest of the week that it was one of his favorite rides.

On to Magic Kingdom on Wednesday.  They were of course really excited to go to the Magic Kingdom.  We had talked to them about some of the rides so they were ready to try them (Corban a little uncertainly).  Our friend Amelia made them amazing matching shirts to wear that are still a favorite shirt for school.

These buttons.  One of them is the "first visit" button.  Another was given to them at Animal Kingdom.  The second time we were on the Animal Safari Gabriel found some money in his seat (I think it was $5?).  When we got off of the ride he tried to give it to an employee but she said to just keep it.  This didn't seem to sit well with him.  Animal Kingdom had many signs about contributing to their animal conservation fund, so when we were leaving we stopped at the customer service desk and Gabriel told the woman there how he had found that and wanted it to go toward the animals.  The woman seemed very touched and gave him a button for it.

We headed to the Jungle Cruise first since it tends to have long lines.  We were let in before the park opened so we just walked over and hung out there for a while

If you've ever been on the Jungle Cruise you know that the more excited and animated your tour guide is the better.  Well, Corban wasn't so sure how he felt about rides in general but one time the tour guide pointed to some pretend people on shore with spears and suddenly yelled "everyone get down!"  Corban hit the deck so fast and all I could think was "please can he like rides better then yesterday?"  Gabriel at this point had decided that no ride was too scary for him.

After the Jungle Cruise we did Pirates of the Caribbean and checked on the wait times.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had a very short wait and we asked if they'd like to try a ride more like a roller coaster.  Corban asked multiple times if it was in the dark and we assured him it was not.  Well he LOVED it.  He still says it's one of his favorite rides.  After that he turned into his dare devil self.  He was putting his hands up on every ride (even Winnie the Pooh) and wanted to ride in the front car for Space Mountain.  He kept saying after that that the rides should be faster.

Swiss Family Robinson treehouse

Dumbo, a favorite, that Corban wanted to ride many times.

My favorite, Winnie the Pooh

In line for Peter Pan

Matching masks

Zurg at the end of the Buzz Lightyear ride

This.  Taylor told them that once when we were at Disney he actually pulled the sword out of the stone, but he said that he didn't want to be king so he turned it down.  They totally believed him and were trying to get it out themselves.  We had to tell him later that he was joking.

Space Rangers

My cousin Melissa had some coupons for free Disney treats
that she wasn't going to use so she mailed them to us. 
Ice cream was definitely a daily afternoon treat each day.

Carousel

Seven Dwarves Mine Train.  Another favorite for both of them

The end of an awesome day with the classic characters waving "goodbye" from the porch behind us

I don't think that we could have had a better day.  We rode everything that we wanted to ride and rode multiple things twice (and we did a 3D show that they both loved and wanted to do again).  They did such a good job entertaining themselves in line talking or playing with the little toys, pipecleaner, or putty that I brought along.  They enjoyed the rides and seeing the characters different places.  It was for sure a long and tiring day but it was totally worth it

Teaching Corban how to read the map on the bus back to the resort

Winding down from a great day