Let the magic begin

Raising young children is an adventure in itself; traveling with them is a whole other story.

Who doesn’t dream of taking a family vacation to the happiest place on earth? I have two sons, John, 7, and Jude, 2. Don’t get me wrong; I am not what you would call an average happy-go-lucky theme park kind of gal, but I love watching my children’s eyes light up just like the best of us. I have to be honest, at first I was surprised my husband, John Sr., even went for the idea to take a family vacation to Walt Disney World. The idea of crowded places, long lines, crying kids, and a plethora of dressed-up Disney characters in every which direction does not exactly match his type A, fast-paced personality. But, he went along with the idea, and the next thing I knew, I was on an airplane on my way to Orlando, Fla.

“Let the magic begin,” said John the moment he stepped on the bus that would take us to our Disney resort. His little, 7-year-old eyes were as bright as stars and big as moons. My husband and I looked at each other and instantly knew we made the right decision in choosing Walt Disney World.

One of the first things we planned was to have breakfast with Jude’s favorite Disney characters. As we sat down to breakfast, out of the corner of our eyes we saw Mickey Mouse. With a tone to excite my children even more, I said to my family, “Look who it is! It’s really Mickey Mouse!” Jude was so excited. John looked at me and said, “Ya know, Mom, it’s just a guy dressed up in a Mickey suit.” My mouth dropped to the floor! The idea that my baby would ever think this life-sized Mickey wasn’t real was semi-heartbreaking (although I secretly knew he was over that phase). John looked and me and said, “What? It is.”

Throughout our trip, I kept waiting for one of the many fiascoes that happen on a daily basis at home between John and Jude to present itself. I had so many solutions for problems that I was sure would come about on our trip. I had Band-Aids, water shoes, anti-bacterial, Benadryl, ice packs, crayons, snacks, you name it, I had it! I carried around a backpack full of remedies for long lines, temper tantrums, falls, hunger, etc. I never opened my bag.

Because of an ingenious idea called “Fast Passes” my family was able to walk on rides without long lines. My kids got along extremely, abnormally well. We had food reservations for all of our meals. My kids went through enough snack food at the parks to fill a football stadium. The rides that John wanted to ride, Jude was just tall enough for, and the rides that Jude couldn’t ride, John was too scared to ride. Between buses and boats, there was no need for us to drive anywhere.

On our last day, because it was our last day, we covered some serious ground. We woke up early and hit three parks that day; we took a boat ride, a train ride and waited in an hour-long line for John to meet his favorite character, Baymax. At about midnight John looked at us and asked, “How many hours have we been out today?” My husband said, “About 15 hours.” John was quiet for about a minute, then he looked at us and said, “Then that means we have had 15 full hours of non-stop, Disney fun!” I looked at my husband and his smile was ear to ear. We both knew this would be a trip that John would never forget.

For anyone considering making a trip to Disney World with small children, I would strongly recommend staying on Disney property. The easy access to fast passes, park hopper tickets, and extended park hours allowed us to go from park to park as needed and to enter the parks during hours not open to others. This just may have saved our vacation.

I have to say, I was a little nervous to take my kids to Disney World. It was untouched water in our house. But through all of the long lines, crowded places and never-ending walking that I was worried about, I would do it again in a heartbeat. There is something about Walt Disney World that brought the magic out in my family.