Disney 2016
After months of planning, phone calls, reservations, t-shirt making and agendas our Disney trip was finally here.
We broke down and unveiled the big trip at Christmas by letting Isla open the box filled with our magic bands. I think the excitement was somewhat muted by the frenzy of Christmas presents and activities, (when asked Isla claimed that her favorite present was her hello kitty chia pet), but by the end of January the kids were ecstatic about heading back to Orlando.
We loaded up to head to the airport early Friday morning. Everything went relatively smoothly, with only a slight delay before we were allowed to board the plane. The kids were angels on the plane, and we assumed we would land fresh, relaxed and ready to begin our day at Hollywood Studios. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Due to a very large and windy storm, we were forced to circle over the airport in the most turbulent plane I've ever been in for an hour. The kids, along with half the plane eventually felt the effects, and lets just say their clothes were no longer fresh, and I was definitely not relaxed. After countless repetitions of the Lords prayer our pilot found a opening and he took it. He landed the plane amongst cheers of very relieved albeit sick passengers.
Despite all this, the kids seemed pretty much unfazed. Soon they were in clean clothes, and we were on our way via taxi to Bay Lake Towers, our home for the next three days.
After a quick bath for the kids, we headed down for some lunch, and then off to Hollywood Studios.
The most anticipated ride of the day was the Tower of Terror...
This would be the kids first "big" ride. Truthfully, I was terrified.
Turns out I had good reason to be scared. The ride was extremely scary - I'm pretty sure Holden had the best time out of the four of us though! Everyone was really impressed with my brave little 3 year old.
One of my favorite things about Disney is the impromptu shows and dance parties. We happened upon this one while we were on our way to dinner.
We had a great dinner with some of Disney's most famous characters, and then decided we would call it an early night after our fun filled, sometimes terrifying day.
Unfortunately, after not having ridden the monorail on our first trip to Disney back in 2014, we were not totally sure on the routes, and missed our stop. Thats okay, we got an up close and personal look at Epcot at night,
And woke to a beautiful sunrise view from our balcony the next morning.
The rest of the trip was filled with the best Disney has to offer. Because Holden is autistic we were able to get him a disability pass. This meant that instead of waiting in long lines, which can sometimes be harder for Holden, we were able to go put our name in at any given ride, or experience, and come back at a time determined by the cast members at the front of the ride. Essentially, we had fast passes for every ride and character experience available. I highly recommend this for any of my friends or family in similar circumstances! It was a lifesaver for us, and made an already amazing trip even more perfect.
We specifically scheduled this trip around Holden's birthday. We've never had a traditional birthday for him, because he really could care less about a lot of the activities at birthday parties. He focuses on the sweets, and would just prefer to stuff as much icing in his mouth as possible. Instead, we've always dedicated the day to Holden, doing his favorite things, and eating whatever he wanted to eat. This year, we stepped it up a notch and celebrated at Disney. He certainly did all his favorite things, and ate lots of yummy treats. I think it's safe to say that #4 will be a birthday to remember.
Barnstormer was the only ride Holden didn't totally enjoy. And he LOVES rollercoasters. He would start getting giddy as soon as we stepped up to a new line, especially if it was one he recognized. I honestly think it was just too early for him. We take full advantage of the Magic Hours at Disney. If you get to the park before they open, they will let hotel guests in early, and you have a very empty park with basically no lines for a good hour.
You can tell, Holden is still grumpy while waiting to board the carousel.
Even though Isla's turned into quite the little thrill seeker, It's a Small World is still one of her favorite rides. Although I'm not sure she's totally understanding the geography of the world quite yet. She kept asking me where the Texas dolls were...
I swear theres something about Disney that brings out Holden's adventurous appetite. It happened the first time we came, and then he kept it going on our second visit. Some new foods acquired during this trip: Broccoli, Eggs, Apples, Rolls and French Fries.
One of the really cool things about our hotel was that we could see the fireworks from them. This was especially nice for our situation as the fireworks are on just too late for Holden to stay awake for. Isla and I went and watched the fireworks show on our second night.
This hairdo finally came out when we got home.
And of course, no vacation would be complete without instagram to document it...
It was such a fun trip, no joke - I'm already planning our visit for 2017! Please disregard the technical difficulties seen in this video. I wanted to share because it captures a lot of the fun we experienced on the trip, but the errors are seriously testing my OCD tendencies. Currently working out a new option for my video editing software!