Merrylandgirl does Disney World

The last time I was at Disney World, George H. Bush had just been elected as president. It was 1988 and I was 12 years old, in seventh grade. Needless to say, I was excited as my children to go to Disney World last week. Of course, I knew about the trip long before they did. We didn't tell them about it until we got to the airport. If you think keeping a secret for a few months is hard (like during the first trimesters of my pregnancies), try keeping one for NINE months!

I've decided to highlight my Disney adventures here so I can look back upon this and smile, or so I can give other families insight into what goes into planning a trip to Disney Parks. (Consider yourself warned....this is LONG!) This is not your mother's Disney World! When I went as a kid, we'd just walk around without a strategy in place. We'd see what rides we could just happen upon and then we'd get in line. The lines seemed to move pretty fast and I don't remember waiting all that long. Nowadays, you have to plan out what rides you want to hit at what times of the day or you may just well forget about them altogether. The lines are very long, but Fast Pass is definitely a time saver! With Fast Pass, you just bypass the long lines and get right on the ride. In the meantime, you can check out other rides with shorter lines, go to shows, grab a bite to eat, etc. In any case, as much as I wanted to fight this truth....having a strategy helps. Sure, you'll stray from this strategy. Without it, we wouldn't have accomplished all we wanted to at any of the parks we went to. (Hollywood Studios had some exceptions, but more on that later.)

Our older son with the "strategy map" my husband put together

When we arrived at the park and got ourselves situated, the first ride we went on was Peter Pan. This is one of the rides I remember from my youth, but it had a different feel now. Maybe I was hoping they'd sing instead of having the music be all instrumental. A lot of it was dark too. However, being caught up in the magic of my first ride at Disney World in almost 25 years got me a little verklempt. Afterward, we went on the classic ride, "It's a Small World." While I loved this ride as a kid, it is definitely different to experience it as an adult. The dolls creeped me out. I was expecting them to stage some revolt at the end of the day. The part with Israel amused me, since it just looks like a Jewish wedding that could even take place in the US. The kids liked this ride though. I was the only one who refused to go on twice. The Winnie the Pooh ride was decent. They had stuff to entertain the kids who were waiting in the longer line. I thought that was smart. Some parts of the ride were a bit trippy (as in psychadelic). It was cute otherwise.

There's a 3D movie called Mickey's Philharmagic. I enjoyed that a lot. Not sure why Mickey gets his name on the title when it mostly features Donald Duck. It was one of the only shows that my daughter was able to sit through without freaking out at some point. It was pretty short though. There were some fun effects too. The next big ride we went on was Under the Sea, which was all about The Little Mermaid. This was a great ride! It took us through the story of the movie, from beginning to end. There was singing, bright colors, realistic looking animatronics, etc. The only slightly scary part for young kids is when Ursula appears, and she just stands over a crystal ball and sings. We went past her really fast anyway. The most time was spent in the "Under the Sea" room. That was the best part of the ride, as well. The second best part was "Kiss the Girl."

After that ride, we went to a dance party by the castle. It was basically a parade and then the characters would get off the floats and dance with the audience. It was cute and the kids seemed to enjoy it. After lunch, we walked around the Liberty Square/Frontierland/Adventureland area. I took the younger two kids on a longer walk while everyone else went to the Haunted Mansion. I used to be a fan of the Haunted Mansion but now I don't like being scared and I know the little kids would have been freaked out. My older son loved it though! We had to take turns with Pirates of the Caribbean, as I knew the younger two wouldn't ride on that either. There was a pirate show to keep them entertained in the meantime. And my older son was able to warn me about the dip since he had already been on the ride once. The Jungle Cruise was fun and the tour guide made corny jokes, as usual. I think I burst my husband's bubble in regards to that ride, but I won't say how as I don't want to ruin things for anyone else.

Next stop was Tomorrowland and the speedway. I tried driving that little race car once by myself and banged my elbow on the car a bunch of times. The boys liked that ride a lot and wanted to go on many more times. We saved it for the next day and instead did some other rides, like the People Mover (which was kind of lame and a lot of time was spent in the dark). The Buzz Lightyear ride was cool though. It was like a live video game.

That night, we spent some time hanging out in Downtown Disney, which is really inconvenient to get to from Disney World. They need a better system like a monorail that goes directly there, or a bus straight to and from the park. Transporting there and back was a huge waste of time. At least we had gotten a lot accomplished that day and we made it back just in time for the Electric Parade. For the kids' sake, I'm glad we got to see it. They loved it. For me, it seems a bit outdated with all old school movie characters. The music is weird too. I never liked the music for that parade to begin with. However, the shows at the castle were cool. They displayed different movie scenes on the castle and played music to go along with it. Afterward, they had a fireworks display above the castle. It was a perfect way to end the day. And luckily, people who work at Disney World know how to get everyone out to the monorails in an efficient manner. It still took a while to leave the park. I think our monorail kept stopping for long periods of time, as well.

And that was just the first day. Tired yet?

I know someone was tuckered out....

We started out later on the second day, arriving at the park at around 11 am. We first took pictures with a bunch of characters. My older kids liked the characters dressed in Mickey and Pluto costumes, but my daughter was scared of them. However, when we met the princesses, she went to them like they were old friends. It was so cute to watch her interact with Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and even Snow White (which worked well since she had the same dress). I was hoping to meet Belle since she's my Disney alter-ego, but that didn't happen.



Afterward, we went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory. The show was cute and my daughter laughed for a little while. Then she decided she had enough, making it hard to follow the rest of the show because she was about to freak out. We went on the Carousel of Progress afterward. It was another ride I liked as a kid but find to be weird as an adult. First of all, the characters are immortal. They are the same age from 1900 to 1920 to 1940 and then at the end of the 20th century. The dog seems to live a lot longer than your average dog, as well. And if they're going to modernize it to show more current progress, they should at least get it updated to the end of the first decade of the 21st century. It was fun for the kids to see, as we're always telling them how lucky they are with what they have, compared to what we grew up with.

We spent time in Fantasyland again after that, riding Peter Pan and Small World again. (I didn't go on Small World this time, but my sister gets the "best aunt" award for going on again). Afterward, there was a parade featuring lots of Disney characters. It was cute. The ground was slick and some people were slipping around while trying to dance. A couple of them fell. I felt bad for them.

After the parade and a snack break, we made our way around other areas of the park, checking out things we didn't see or do on the first day. I went on the Aladdin ride with the kids, which was fun but I definitely felt like I was moving up and down a lot afterward. I skipped the Dumbo ride, but I know the kids had a blast on that one. I got to go on the Under the Sea ride again, which I was glad about. I even let my younger son drive while I worked the gas pedal on the speedway. I just know that I am never going with him when he practices for his license. We did the Buzz Lightyear ride one more time and then met Buzz afterward. We left the park early that evening by way of ferry boat, in order to get dinner and do some souvenir shopping. We still got home late anyway.

Only 11 years to go...then look out, world!

On the third day, we went to Animal Kingdom. The first thing that hits you when you get there is the smell of animal poo. However, it isn't bothersome throughout the park, just at the main entrance. I was expecting the place to be like a zoo, but it was way different. There were some animal exhibits, but most of the park is focused on culture. There's an Africa section that tries to authentically replicate a neighborhood in Africa. Then there's an Asia section that branches out beyond China and Japan. There were these guys demonstrating an instrument called an Angklung. It was really cool and they even played "It's a Small World," much to my younger son's delight. They were really nice and when I told them where we lived, they said that they had gone there recently for some sort of music convention. Small world! Afterward, we went on the safari ride. That was really cool. A driver just takes you into this area with lots of different animals. My daughter loved seeing the giraffes and elephants up close. They had some rare animals, as well.

My older son wanted to get his face painted, so we hung out watching that for a while. Then we went to the Finding Nemo musical. That was totally worth the price of the park tickets. It was very professional and the songs fit perfectly into the story. It wasn't long, but they managed to get most of the story in there. The woman playing Dory was adorable....so full of energy! Everyone wore costumes and carried around replicas of the characters that they could control, as well. They were able to make the characters' mouths and eyes move. If my daughter hadn't melted down by the end, it would have been a lot easier to stay focused on it. I could totally see it going to Broadway someday and being expanded with more music and effects.

After the show, we had a picnic lunch in the Dino-Rama area. It's like a Dinosaur themed carnival. They had lots of games, but for $4 a ticket (yes, you read that correctly), there was no way ANYONE was going to play them. We then walked around for a bit so I could settle my daughter down for a nap. Then everyone except my younger two kids and myself went on the dinosaur ride. They said it was awesome, but it didn't sound like my cup of tea. (Speaking of tea, I had no voice for most of the trip and finding a cup of hot tea at Animal Kingdom was rather difficult.) I think we just walked around for a while after that and then saw a 3D movie based on A Bug's Life. I wasn't too fond of that one...especially all the extra effects. I don't want to ruin things for people who like to be surprised though. I liked all the bug-themed Broadway posters though.

Later in the afternoon, there was a parade. It was actually really cool. I liked all the floats and how artsy they looked. My daughter loved seeing all the characters and would wave "bye bye" to each of them as they left. Then we went to a Lion King show that was more like Cirque Du Soliel. Simba just stood there and talked a little. Pumbaa also didn't get to dance around with Timon. The main guy leading the show sounded exactly like James Earl Jones. There was some interaction with the audience. They had guys dressed like monkeys doing a cool tumbling routine. There was also a nice air ballet (that's the best description for it) act to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." (Of course, they sang the pop version instead of the movie version.) My daughter eventually started to lose interest though. It wasn't even as long as Finding Nemo.

After the show, we left for the day and met up with some friends for dinner. One of them is an author I had met up with last summer. It was cool to see her again. I felt bad keeping her waiting, but our GPS messed up on directions and sent us to the other end of town first. Couple that with lights that are as long as the ones in Maryland and it was a longer drive than I expected. Once we got there, it was nice and she got along well with my family. She even had a lot to talk about with my husband, as they had some things in common. I learned from her that the Winnie the Pooh ride replaced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. (I don't even remember Mr. Toad's Wild Ride though.) She also told us about concerts at Epcot. (We didn't go to Epcot at all, but I was told by my family that the kids would have been bored, so I'm glad we made that decision.)

On our last day at the parks, we went to Hollywood Studios. Being a movie buff, I really liked it there. We first went on the Great Movie Ride. It was cheesy though. The tour guide got out and suddenly there was this wild west fight going on. Then one of the characters took over the ride and later got himself in "trouble," so the tour guide was able to come back. The tour guide reminded me of the manager at Babies R' Us when we were registering. (Are you here to see a movie or movies?) Afterward, we went to Star Tours, but had to split up the group since our daughter was too little for it. She wouldn't have liked it anyway. I thought it was a cool ride and I'm usually not one for lots of crazy motion. I didn't like that they incorporated Jar Jar into the ride, but you can't win 'em all! While I was waiting for my turn to go on the ride, I took my daughter to watch a light saber demo done by kids. Standing in front of us was another kid with cochlear implants. It made me really happy to see that. (I had also seen a kid with hearing aids at Disney World.) From Star Tours, we made our way to the Muppets 3D movie. It was cute enough, but not as good as Mickey's Philharmagic. (Maybe I was just hoping Jason Segel would have a cameo. Is that too much to ask for?!?)

After lunch, we took the kids to a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area. They loved it. My daughter was crawling around all over the place and going down slides. The boys didn't want to leave that area. However, we had to get to the car stunt show. They were only doing it twice a day and we didn't want to miss it. My daughter wasn't a big fan of this show and I lost interest after a while, so I took her out for her nap. Then we went to the Midway Mania ride. BEST. RIDE. EVER!!!! It's based on Toy Story and you wear 3D glasses and play different types of carnival games with this device in front of you. It is so fun and addictive! I could have just gone in there over and over and kept playing! On the way to the parade, the unthinkable happened. My older son became separated from our group. Thankfully, he didn't wander too far and my husband and sister found him. He was more upset than we were, if that's possible. The whole trip, he tended to wander a bit and we kept warning him something like this would happen. We all got so lucky but we made him hold hands with someone or hold the stroller for the rest of the day. We weren't taking any more chances.

The parade was cute. It was all Pixar themed. However, they left out Wall-E and Cars. (I was surprised about Cars since it seems like such a big deal these days.) It was a short parade though. Afterward, we went to take pictures with characters from Wreck-It Ralph. For such a new movie, they had quite an elaborate set-up for the people waiting in line to get pics.

We wanted to go back on Midway Mania after that, so we did. This time, I had my daughter with me and she wasn't such a fan. Made it a little harder to play the games though. Then we took a tour of the back lot. It was more interesting for adults than for kids though. They had some action sequences that we got to witness, but otherwise we were just riding on a tram through different areas. We were hoping to get pictures with the characters from Monsters, Inc. but it would keep us from seeing the last Beauty and the Beast show. As big of a BatB fan as I am, I wouldn't have minded missing that show. It's not the same as the Broadway version. However, I was amused to see a Katy Perry look-alike as one of the dancers. The girl playing Belle wasn't that great though. She didn't carry off Belle's sweet personality all that well. And, of course, my daughter got antsy about halfway through....and it was a short show anyway. 

One thing with Hollywood Studios is that the show times are set up to conflict with other show times, so you really can't see all the shows you want unless that's all you do all day, which would mean not going on rides or eating. My husband wanted to see an Indiana Jones stunt show, but the timing didn't work out. I get that the cast can't do the same thing the entire day and they need a break. We probably should have had a better plan in place for seeing shows to begin with. And really, taking toddlers to too many shows in one day is very taxing. Having said that, we went to one more show at the end of the day. A show that also required people to arrive an hour ahead of time to get seats. It's called Fantasmic. They do stuff with water, fire, lights, film, and lots of characters. Thankfully, they had some people entertaining the audience before the show. There was this one part where a cute little girl sitting right by us got to sing. They asked her to sing "When You Wish Upon a Star," but she sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" instead. Too funny! Fantasmic was pretty cool. I will advise anyone and everyone not to sit too close to the show. The water sprays out a lot. I'm sure it's the reason my cold escalated the way it did. They also have a lot of bright lights, making us shade our eyes at times. The way they projected movie scenes on the spraying water was cool, but I would have liked it more if I didn't have the water shooting mist at my face the whole time. There was a lot of focus on Disney villains during this show. They also brought up movies I had forgotten to associate with Disney, such as Pocahontas. There were some Hercules references too. I think the kids enjoyed the magic element of the show. After the show, it was time to go home. Getting out of the theater was a bit scary, but once we were at the stroller area, there was a passageway through the park that brought us right to the front. 

Overall, we had an amazing trip. It was fun to be a kid again in some ways and also see the parks through my kids' eyes. I definitely want to go back in a few years, when strollers and diaper bags aren't as much of a necessity (or when we can get away with schlepping something smaller around in which to carry our snacks). I do wish the parks would consider that people fork over tons of money just to get in the door and not charge an arm and a leg for ice cream, soda, souvenirs, etc. That's wishful thinking though, and once you're in the Disney monopoly, that's what happens. I am definitely thankful to the people who told us to get a guest assistance pass. We were weighing out the idea before we even left for the trip, thinking we'd feel guilty about it because our kids can walk. However, it was really good for shows where it would be easier for our kids to read lips when needed. And after reading this blog post from another mom who has a kid with cochlear implants, I also felt validated. For all the kids have been through with speech therapies (and all the miles we've logged going to and from these sessions), getting the implant surgeries, the first scary time for my daughter when she got activated, etc., for a way to make their trip more pleasant, it was very much worthwhile. It worked the same as a Fast Pass for the most part. No one looked at the card except people working at the park, so for what most people knew, we had a Fast Pass too. There were some rides where it was more obvious though. (Pirates of the Caribbean just bypasses the Fast Pass line altogether.) There were other people using these cards at the same time we were and looked even less obvious, but I wasn't going to judge since some needs are more internal. (Such as sensory issues, physical pains, etc.) What my husband witnessed and didn't like was when some girl used her card as a Fast Pass for a ride and was taunting her friends with it. It's what gives people a bad name. Really, no one said anything to us about using it, so we just let the kids enjoy being able to quickly get on a ride whenever they wanted.

Also, it was nice to be able to share this experience with my parents and sister. I remember going to Disney World as a kid and my late maternal grandma being there too. (I remember after riding Big Thunder and how she was all freaked out by it, I joked around saying "Throw mama from the train!") It was nice that my kids got to experience Disney World with their grandparents and aunt and that we got to relive some family memories (such as my sister and I taking an updated picture with Snow White). The kids loved having them there and it was a lot easier to team up on handling three young children at one time. Especially since one of them tended to wander off a lot. There were times when we did our own thing too, but it was easy to find everyone when we needed to, thanks to cell phones, which didn't exist the last time I was at Disney World.

                      Then.....                                           And now!


So long, Disney World, for now...we WILL be back!

Bonus: Here's a video showing how we surprised the boys. There's even a photo slideshow afterward.