Anyone that knows our kid even a little bit is probably well aware that she is Frozen obsessed. While her favorite princess is Rapunzel (#hairenvy), her next favorites are Princess Anna and Queen Elsa. She is quick to inform you that Elsa is actually a queen, thus making Elsa her favorite "queen" but... semantics. All of that being said, she learned from Disney Jr. (Remind me to place a phone call sometime about their not-so-subtle marketing tactics) that there is a new Frozen ride at Epcot. She's right, but we were hoping to not reveal that quite so soon. Typically, new rides are notoriously difficult to get Fastpasses for and we were not going to stand in line for more than an hour or more (it was about 4-6 during the week it opened!!!) to ride a ride. Nope. Not happening. Doesn't mean we don't periodically peruse the Disney app though to see if any FP are open though.
This week Steven didn't have to work much due to his crazy amount of work put in last week so we already knew that he was going to take Friday off. While we can't just take an all day Disney trip on a weekday any longer because of school, we still have afternoons and weekends. So, about a week ago we started checking out the app and seeing what types of rides we might be able to FP. Lo and behold on Wednesday I got a call from Steven because we were looking at the same time and I booked a few FP at Magic Kingdom but he found FP for Frozen Ever After!!! He immediately told me to cancel the ones I was working on as he couldn't reserve anything with me holding up the system and we were able to get a time on Friday evening. So, with that... we were officially set to take our first trip back to Disney after the long summer break in our passes. Yay! Unfortunately, Disney makes some FP hard to come by because they only allow you to book so many in certain categories sometimes. We really wanted to also FP the fireworks because the seating is phenomenal for it and it is early enough at 9pm but it is in the same category as Frozen which was more important to us at this point. We finally told the kids about Disney on Thursday night and when Kenzie found out she was going to get to ride the Frozen ride, she was ecstatic. Will kept yelling, "Mickey! Minnie! Pluto! Goofy!" etc. I think he named every one of Mickey's friends. We actually also FP meeting the characters but we weren't sure how Will would actually take to that. Last time, he wasn't into it despite having no issues the time before that. Now, he is even more into Mickey and the gang so we thought he might be okay. Who knows though? I have to tell you that if I were not even 3 feet tall and confronted by a 5 foot tall mouse, I would freak out. So, I can't blame him.
Kenzie had school in the morning so we all dropped her off and then ran a few errands. We really had to get the shaggy hair of one adorable little man cut. He was long overdue. This kid has had more haircuts in the last year than I think I have had in 3-4. Yeah... I know to keep his haircut short requires far more haircuts than it does to let mine grow, but he just seems to grow hair so fast. It turned out great though. We went a bit shorter than usual just because we hope to carry him through to the holiday season before he needs another one. Steven really wanted to buzz the whole thing, but I put the kabosh on that.
While Kenzie was in school, we loaded up the car, fed Will lunch, and packed up sandwiches for ourselves to eat on the way down to Disney. We left a few minutes early to get gas and hoped that Will would fall asleep before we picked up Kenzie. We knew that if he didn't, that he would likely not nap because he gets so excited when we pick up Sissy and wants to eat any of her snacks that she might not have finished at lunch and brought in the car. Mission accomplished! He was asleep after we got gas and we were able to keep him asleep through picking up Kenzie and all the way to Disney. The entire ride to Disney consisted of Kenzie asking us if we were there yet and then insisting on knowing the time. She must have had an appointment we didn't know about. Weird kid.
We got to Epcot pretty quickly and lathered the kids in sunblock in the parking lot (as usual). Turns out, that sunblock was almost unnecessary. Except we are Floridians and know that even with the clouds, you can get burned. The kids never even put on hats for the trip though because they were mostly pushed in the stroller under the covers or in buildings. The weather was perfect, too! It was breezy and in the high 80's or early 90's so while it was warm, it was tolerable.
Once we got into the park and settled (as in put our bags away after the inspection and pulled out the autograph book for Kenzie), we went to the first character spot. Usually Pluto is there, but Kenzie was pretty excited to see Daisy in his place. We haven't met Daisy at Epcot before. I think we have only met the Daisy in the Circus area of Magic Kingdom and this was just normal Daisy. Kenzie was so excited to get her first autograph. She did later tell me that Daisy wrote her name too big and she wanted it smaller. Too bad kid. Will was iffy on meeting Daisy. He was super excited about her, in general, and yelled her name as we approached but decided he didn't want to actually say hello. We didn't push, Kenzie got to meet her and we moved on.
After that, we headed for one of the kids' favorite rides, Spaceship Earth. It is still weird to me that they love this ride so much. Steven and I enjoy it, but you would think small children might get bored. Apparently not. Will sat with me and Kenzie sat with Steven. Both kids had a blast. Will was enamored with the stars at the end of the ride this time.
After that we headed over to Figment. We knew when we could get FP to Frozen and every other ride had available FP times that it was likely to be a slow Disney day. This is notoriously a slow weekend apparently due to the fact that it is right after Labor Day and most schools through the country are in session. We noticed a lot of languages being spoken and many, many accents. I think this is typically one of the times of the year that people from other countries visit. The Figment ride had a 10 minute wait but it was actually about 2 just because that is how long it took to walk to the ride. Seriously. No one was in there. These are always my favorite Disney days. We need to make a point to hit up Magic Kingdom in the next few weeks while the crowds are super light.
We then had FP for the Character Spot to visit Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie. The crowd was so light that they let us into the FP area but didn't even make us scan our bracelets. We met Mickey first. This is where we wondered if it would all break down for Will. He ran right up to Mickey for a hug. Kenzie got another autograph. When we tried to get a picture of the kids with him though, Will wasn't up for that. Oh, well. We got one of the entire family.
Goofy was next. Kenzie got herself another autograph (she was so excited with this process and I'm glad we waited a while before we started it so she could get something out of it). Will, on the other hand, was not having it. Apparently a dog that is taller than Daddy isn't his favorite. (Though he actually loves Goofy on TV.) We think it was his height that threw him off. He was not going to go say hi to Goofy alone. Oh well.
Next up with Minnie. She is one of Kenzie's favorite characters and apparently Will was in love. Minnie was so exciting that he even got kisses from her.
When we were done with our character experience, we headed out to the Cool Spot for a "soda". This is an area where you can try drinks from around the world. We hit this up every time we are in Epcot. The kids just like the tiny cups you use. We are knowledgeable enough at this point that we know to NEVER try the Beverly. We both prefer the South African drink. It isn't carbonated and is probably mostly sugar. We let Will take a sip or two. Kenzie was offered, but didn't want any. She isn't a sweets kind of kid usually. She likes small amounts of it, but usually won't go out of her way for things. Will basically eats (or drinks) anything and will at least try things once. So, he was all for trying a sip of the drink.
We had some time until our next FP so we decided to go check out Land. Once we got into the Land building though, we realized that the Soarin' ride had a really short wait. Kenzie is finally tall enough to ride (and it is finally fully renovated) so we figured we could ask if they had a child swap. Even if they didn't, one of us could take Kenzie. Turns out, they do have a child swap. Steven and Kenzie got into the line and once they got to the front, they were given a FP for up to 3 people to go straight back in. I waited with Will in the child swap waiting area. Although, at 4pm, it should really be called "The Disney Effect Child Meltdown Area". It was crazy. Crazy, I tell you. Will and I just sat around watching the craziness going on. About 3 kids were in tears. Serious tears. Children were running in drunken circles. One child was licking the floor. We saw 4 head on collisions. Most of the time between kids that didn't even know each other. One poor little girl's head hit the concrete floor so hard when she was run into by another child that the thunk it made actually made me (and probably every other person in a 25 foot radius) feel ill. That slowed everyone down for about 2.3 seconds. Also, I know this is Disney and it is likely somewhat cleaner than some of its amusement park counterparts, but parents! Where are your kids' shoes!?!?!? When Steven and Kenzie finally came out after their ride, I advised Steven that if he was going to wait, he might want to do it somewhere safer. It seemed like they were gone forever. Mainly because I was watching the toddler version of Fight Club it seemed while they were gone. I don't think they were actually gone that long though.
Kenzie LOVED Soarin'! We were initially sort of worried about how she would take to "flying" so high in the air but she thought it was awesome. Steven said she got so excited when she saw the Eiffel Tower and yelled out the name of it. The lady next to her was apparently cracking up. She liked it so much, that she went back with me to ride again. Unfortunately, I forgot to check if she had to go potty before we went back into the FP wait. She said she couldn't hold it so we got out of line but the lady at the front was nice and told us to just go and come back that she would let us back in. Kenzie went but then decided she was "done" with Soarin'. We convinced her to go back in with me though and I think she was probably glad she did. She told me and everyone else on our ride that she had just gone on it and they would see the Eiffel Tower and Tinkerbell. I forgot how much I enjoy that ride. They changed the entire thing as far as the pictures and everything. We used to have the California version, but I liked this one so much better. Although I did miss the orange blossom smell. It was awesome to see things like the Great Wall of China, Australia and Africa (and of course, the Eiffel Tower... which Kenzie yelled about again with me). She also got super excited with Tinkerbell going over Epcot at the end. It is such a cool ride. I'm glad it's back and that Kenzie enjoyed it so much. We will definitely go on it again soon.
While Kenzie and I were taking to the skies, Will and Steven were taking to the water. They decided to kill some time by going to ride the Land ride. Steven said it had a 0 minute wait. Seriously. 0 minutes. They walked through the cue and right onto a boat. Never even slowed down. Steven said Will had a blast just watching everything go by. The timing was perfect too because they had just come out and were waiting on us when we finished. Will saw me and screamed, "Mommy! Boat ride!" to tell me about his ride. It was adorable.
We then headed over to Nemo as our next FP was starting. The wait there was minimal too but with the FP, we walked right on anyway. As we were going through the ride, Kenzie and Will were yelling out the names of some of the characters. Will kept saying, "Doooooorrrrryyyyy??? Where aaaaaaarrrrrreeeee yyyyyyooooouuuu?" So funny how much more interested he is in everything now even compared to 4 months ago. After the ride we checked out the aquarium. The kids would spend all day in aquariums if we let them. However, it was also dinner time and we were hitting the dinner time crazies that both of our kids get struck with when they start getting hungry so we took a few pictures and then ran over to Electric Umbrella to have some dinner.
As usual, we brought some food for the kids from home. Since the kids eating is always sort of a hit or miss, we don't like to spend $10-$15 for a meal for them to split that they may not eat. Steven and I each got nuggets and fries. This time, it came with apple slices too so that was nice. Each kid ate a peanut butter sandwich and half of one of our meals. As in, Will ate 1/2 of mine and Kenzie ate 1/2 of Steven's. They likely would have eaten more but Steven and I were starving since all we had at lunch was a measly sandwich. Kenzie ate both bags of apple slices and Will ate an applesauce pouch. Then they both continued to inform us how hungry they were. It was a bit crazy. There is no hungry like Disney hungry, apparently. We told them we would get something later and to let their food settle. We decided to head over towards the World Showcase then because our Frozen FP were coming up. On the way there, we looked up the times and learned that the wait to meet Anna and Elsa was only 5 minutes so we decided to jump on that first. This has been one of Kenzie's dreams since we started going to Disney but when they were still in Magic Kingdom the wait was always at least an hour.... usually more. So, we never did it because we could never get FP to it. We had not yet seen Norway since all the Frozen inspired changes were made. Let me tell you, they did an awesome job. The wait to meet Anna and Elsa was so cute.
When we finally got into the room with Anna and Elsa, the kids were so excited. Kenzie was almost starstruck. Will seemed okay... until it was our turn. Then he LOST IT. He ran screaming. It was bad enough that Steven had to take him out. Who knew that he would be totally cool with a 5 foot mouse but freak out about a face character? Crazy kid. Kenzie, on the other hand, was in her element. She got Anna and Elsa's autographs and loved meeting them. Her smiles are a bit silly when she met them because I think she was seriously a bit overwhelmed. She didn't say much too them compared to her normal banter with characters. She was so in awe. It was definitely a moment to remember.
We then went over to ride the ride. It was awesome. It is basically the same ride as the previous ride at Norway that's name escapes me at the moment as far as how it moved, but it was all Frozen themed. The kids thought it was awesome. Steven and I were seriously impressed with the effects. I'm not sure how they made the faces, but it was so well done. My favorite part was the Let It Go sequence when the boat goes backwards. Kenzie said she didn't really like it as far as going backwards but liked Let It Go. Will and I were in the row behind her and Steven singing Let It Go as loud as we could. He laughed anytime the boat dropped. I'm so glad we got the FP because that was one well done ride.
Once we scanned our FP at Frozen we decided to take a gamble and see if we could get FP for the fireworks. Remember, we couldn't book them with Frozen so we had to use those first. Lo and behold, some were available so we snagged them. Score! After riding the ride, we decided to circle the World Showcase on our way back to the FP fireworks viewing area. We didn't take too much time because we only had about an hour to get back around. We did take a few pictures though. The sunset was gorgeous and Disney at night is beautiful.
We made it back around just in time and sat to wait for the fireworks in the viewing area. We got some popcorn for the kids which they promptly demolished like we never fed them dinner. We had brought our usual light up toys from home so they were super happy with that. We even got a 2-for-1 deal because we could see the fireworks show from Hollywood Studios while we waited for ours. Once the fireworks started, the kids were so excited. I held Will and he would yell "Boom" anytime the fireworks would go off. He kept saying "Fireworks boom loud!" Kenzie was just screaming in excitement. Silly kid. Now, if you ask Will what a firework says, he will say, "Ah Boom!!!" It is adorable. Nobody does fireworks quite like Disney. The Epcot show is probably my favorite of all the options. I just love it. We made it out of the park in pretty good time and had both kids changed into pjs back at the car before long. Will fell asleep fairly quickly. Kenzie chatted most of the way home and then passed out. Both kids transferred to bed fairly easily. It was a great day. It's hard to believe we started the day with Kenzie going to school. How she kept such a good attitude and stayed awake that long is beyond me but they both did well. This was also the first time that Will didn't take an evening nap before fireworks and he did amazing too.
There are a few things that have changed in the last 4 months that made this trip a bit different and even better. First off, Will likes to walk now so he does a lot more walking between rides and onto rides. He loves it. I also can't wear him anymore. Since I cannot physically wear him on my front any longer due to his weight and how it affects my back (though he is still within the weight allowance on our carrier), I don't wear him because wearing him on my back at Disney doesn't make as much sense for us. I can't wear him onto rides and he likes to walk whenever possible so we didn't even bring the carrier in this time. It was weird to not have it, but we never even missed it. It was a bit sad for me to think that we left it behind. Our babywearing days are starting to come to an end. Kenzie was a lot like this. At some point they decided they would rather walk and we let them. Will still loves to be close and be worn a lot of the time but the chance to walk is definitely starting to trump the need to be worn. At least this was a gradual thing for me because I don't know that I could have handled him going cold turkey with babywearing. It was something so special for us (Kenzie was never as into it as Will likely thanks to her super independent personality) and I'm going to miss it.... my back won't miss it... but my heart will. Okay, enough about that. I'm just lamenting my baby growing up like his sister did. We will likely continue to push the stroller for quite some time to come. One because they need a place to ride when they are tired and two because sometimes it is too crowded to let them walk on their own still. Also, Will no longer uses a highchair in most restaurants so it made life easier at dinner. We didn't have to search for one, make sure it is clean, and then deal with taking up that much more room at a table.... and he was perfectly happy in a chair next to me. Kenzie loved getting autographs so we are finally to a good age for that. She is so excited for me to print out pictures of her meeting each character to put next to their autograph.
One other thing we noticed about Will since we went last time is that his understanding is so much better. Also, he is able to tell us more so we realize he is getting more out of it. He is almost to the perfect age for Disney. Kenzie was about 2.5 when we took her for the first time. Will is getting there and we are starting to see it in him, too. He loves it and recognizes a lot of what is going on. It's so fun to watch both kids get more and more out of each trip we make and yet despite going frequently, continueto be filled with wonder each time.
It's been a long four or so month drought for us as far as Disney goes. We didn't think much of not going over the summer though because we were so busy and it was way too hot for Disney anyway but we are happy to be back. Here's to another year of fun!
Best way to start fall... football last week and Disney this week. Can't ask for anything more. Football is back on today though so.... Go Knights!
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