Disney World Vacation - Part 1!
Ever since I (Natalie) realized that children under 3 years old got into Disney parks for free, I have been wanting to take Noah and Micah there before their 3rd birthday. Once we realized we had another baby on the way, I started seriously thinking about such a trip to Orlando/Disney World and figuring out the timing. We decided that the beginning of January would work well for us for a few reasons: 1. I'd be just entering my third trimester, and would likely still feel well enough to be on my feet all day; 2. We would miss out on the Christmas/New Year's vacation rush; 3. Mitch wouldn't have started his Spring semester of classes yet. Papa and Nana also decided to make the trip to Orlando, since they could combine their travel to meet up with our family as well as Pam's son who lives in Tampa. I booked an Airbnb house about ten minutes outside of the Disney Resort, and it proved to be a great space to unwind and have low-key fun when we weren't at the parks. Everyone got their own room and bathroom (well, the boys shared a room with two twin beds and a Mickey/Minnie theme that they loved), and there was a 4th bedroom that had a play tent, bunk beds, and kiddie table set for the boys to use as a playroom. The house even had a small private pool, but we didn't bother having the water heated since we didn't have time to use it. Maybe next time! ;)
The drive to Orlando/Kissimmee would be about 8.5 hours without traffic in a straight shot. We decided to break up our drive down by stopping about halfway in Savannah, and left the drive home open-ended as to whether we'd tackle the full drive or hunker down somewhere for the night to break it up again. When we arrived in Savannah, we were at the tail end of an Arctic chill that had brought snow and ice to Savannah for the first time in at least 20 years. Sufficed to say, we did not last long when trying to walk around the historic River Street district (we managed to go into a candy shop so I could get my beloved pralines) nor did we make it to any of the pretty parks around the city. Oh well! Sharing a single hotel room with the boys was an interesting experience--when it was their bedtime, they were so excited about mommy and daddy being in the room still and also about being in toddler air mattresses for the first time, that it took a good hour for them to calm down and fall asleep. In the early morning, one of them (I think Noah) also woke up to sing "Twinkle twinkle little star" for a while, before we were all up for the day around 7:15 am. Our room was right on the river, so Noah helped himself in getting out of his bed and sneaking behind the curtains to boat-watch. After a quick stop to get breakfast at a friend-recommended donut shop, we hopped into the car for the 4.5 hour drive to Kissimmee. The boys had a nice nap in the car, and we arrived at the house, excited to see "Mickey Mickey" and Papa and Nana.
After a couple hours of decompressing, we headed to Disney Springs to walk around and get dinner. The boys got their first taste of Disney excitement at the World of Disney store, and had fun "shopping" while daddy was busy putting everything they wanted back onto the shelves. Mama got busy eating some delicious poutine at the snack stand outside the store. ;) After some playing with Legos at the Lego Store, some shopping (mama bought the boys Mickey shirts from Uniqlo), and dinner at The Polite Pig and mini cupcakes from Sprinkles, it was time to head back to the house for the night for a busy day at Magic Kingdom awaited us the next morning.
The drive to Orlando/Kissimmee would be about 8.5 hours without traffic in a straight shot. We decided to break up our drive down by stopping about halfway in Savannah, and left the drive home open-ended as to whether we'd tackle the full drive or hunker down somewhere for the night to break it up again. When we arrived in Savannah, we were at the tail end of an Arctic chill that had brought snow and ice to Savannah for the first time in at least 20 years. Sufficed to say, we did not last long when trying to walk around the historic River Street district (we managed to go into a candy shop so I could get my beloved pralines) nor did we make it to any of the pretty parks around the city. Oh well! Sharing a single hotel room with the boys was an interesting experience--when it was their bedtime, they were so excited about mommy and daddy being in the room still and also about being in toddler air mattresses for the first time, that it took a good hour for them to calm down and fall asleep. In the early morning, one of them (I think Noah) also woke up to sing "Twinkle twinkle little star" for a while, before we were all up for the day around 7:15 am. Our room was right on the river, so Noah helped himself in getting out of his bed and sneaking behind the curtains to boat-watch. After a quick stop to get breakfast at a friend-recommended donut shop, we hopped into the car for the 4.5 hour drive to Kissimmee. The boys had a nice nap in the car, and we arrived at the house, excited to see "Mickey Mickey" and Papa and Nana.
After a couple hours of decompressing, we headed to Disney Springs to walk around and get dinner. The boys got their first taste of Disney excitement at the World of Disney store, and had fun "shopping" while daddy was busy putting everything they wanted back onto the shelves. Mama got busy eating some delicious poutine at the snack stand outside the store. ;) After some playing with Legos at the Lego Store, some shopping (mama bought the boys Mickey shirts from Uniqlo), and dinner at The Polite Pig and mini cupcakes from Sprinkles, it was time to head back to the house for the night for a busy day at Magic Kingdom awaited us the next morning.
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