Our Life: Spring Break-Disney World

Baby Lawson loves Mickey Mouse. And when he eats at the dinner table he has a place mat that is a map of the United States. We have been teaching him some of the states and when we talk about Florida, we tell him that it's where Mickey Mouse lives. So he was very excited to be going to where Mickey Mouse lives. We would ask him what he would do when he saw Mickey and he would always say, "Hug him." We planned on only spending one really long day at the Magic Kingdom, thanks to our friend, Lydia's future mother-in-law, Brenda. Lydia is Lawson's sister's sister-in-law and Lawson has known Lydia forever. So we were so thankful that we were able to do this.

I love Disney World. I love everything about it (except the long lines and bazillions of strollers-ours included). It is so wonderful. I have only been to Walt Disney World one other time when I was around 25, and went to Disney Land at the ages of 2ish and 6. So I was just as excited as Baby Lawson. Well...I was way more excited. He had no clue what was about to happen. It's a production to get to the actual park. You have to park, then take a tram and then the monorail. You have to go through a bag check and then get in to the park. But wow, when you walk it, it's amazing! So wonderful! We met Brenda at 9:30 Tuesday morning. She walked around with us for a bit and told us some insider things about Disney and a little of what she did working for the company. We headed to Mickey's Toon Town to see Mickey and Minnie. Standing in line was not Baby Lawson's strong suit. It was a bit tough. But seeing his reaction to Mickey and Minnie was priceless. He was in awe, total awe. He hugged them over and over and would just look at them and kissed Minnie on the nose. It was absolutely precious. We had to drag him out of the room. Next, Baby Lawson and I rode his first roller coaster, Goofy's Barnstormer. He loved it. Even raised his hands. Unfortunately, as we kept walking around the park, the lines to the rides were so long! We watched a show, Mickey's Philharmagic, and even had to stand in line to change Lawson and Judah's diapers. By this time it's around 1:00 and we hadn't done that much. Lawson and Judah fell asleep in the stroller, so Lawson and I got lunch.

Obligatory family shot.

Talking to Brenda about how much I love Disney World.

Mickey Mouse

Mickey's Philharmagic in 3D

The tickets that Brenda got for us were park hopper tickets, so we decided to go check out the Animal Kingdom, since we didn't do that on my first trip (Lawson had been to Disney many times before.) However, that involved walking out of the park, getting on the monorail, waiting for a bus (which surprisingly had a 20 minute wait), folding up the stroller, getting on the bus and then taking a 15 minute drive to the park. It was not a crowded there. We walked around, just checking out the park and then decided to get a FastPass for the safari ride. We happened to be in the right place at the right time for the parade and we ended up being right at the starting point, so Lawson got to see all his favorite characters and they all came over to him to say hi. He would dance to the music and wave to all the characters. He was quite impressed with the parade. After the parade we got him a Mickey Mouse ice cream, which he loved and generously shared with Judah. We were able to walk around for a couple of hours checking out the animals. The park is beautiful.

Mickey Mouse ice cream bar.

Sharing with Judah

A mama gorilla with her 3 week old baby. She was so precious!

Tree of Life

On the safari ride

We left Animal Kingdom around 6:00 and headed back to the Magic Kingdom. By now, my feet are beginning to hurt. As well as my back. Judah didn't love being in the stroller, so I had him in my Ergo sling. And Lawson was on his monkey leash. The stroller carried all our stuff. When we were on the monorail, we were in a car where another little boy was named Lawson. Both families got a kick out of that. When we got back to the Magic Kingdom, the crowds had thinned out, so it was much easier to go on some rides. We went to a Monster's Inc show, ate dinner, rode several rides in Tomorrowland, took Lawson on "It's A Small World" (he loved it), walked around, caught some of the parade. Then is was time to get to a place to watch the fireworks. We pushed our way through throngs of people to find a spot close to the bridge leading to Tomorrowland. There is something so magical about the fireworks. Lawson was mesmerized. Judah was sleeping. Fireworks started at 10:00, so both boys were tired. But Lawson was hanging in there. The fireworks were beautiful! It's so neat how Cinderella's castle is the backdrop. I loved every princess movie growing up, so even as an adult, I relive all that excitement! After the fireworks, we rode Buzz Lightyear and Pirates of the Caribbean, one of my favorites! By now, it's around 11:00, so we decide to head back to see if we can ride Dumbo. Even at 11:00pm, there is still a 20 minute wait. And my feet were killing me now.:) Lawson and Lawson rode in one, and I had Judah in another one. Baby Lawson loved it. He cried when we got off. Whether that was from exhaustion or being sad he was leaving Dumbo, I am not sure. We decided to call it quits after Dumbo. As we were making our way out of the park, Lawson was in the stroller, crying. He was one of several children crying as we were leaving the park. Shortly after we left, he fell asleep, so we did not want to disturb him by taking the tram to our van. That meant we had to walk. And by now I am limping. My poor feet! But it was so worth it! We left the parking lot at 12:00 and got back to Mammaw's around 1:30am. What a fun day! We spent the next day recuperating!