Walt Disney World Recap

Truth: I have ALWAYS loved Walt Disney World. My parents started taking my brother and me to WDW & Disneyland when we were young children. I still remember certain things from those early trips {like our parking spot from our Disneyland trip - why I remember this who knows -- or the fact that my father got lost before the days of cell phones and spent 3 hours or so riding It's a Small World}. I cannot deny my love of Disney movies, books {go read the Kingdom Keepers if you haven't}, and even the music. I love the mystery and the magic of the parks. I love the extreme hospitality that the cast members off while in WDW {I pray I am able to emulate some of this hospitality in my own life}. I love the diversity of food that I can eat at the different restaurants and quick serve opportunities throughout the parks - my mouth waters just thinking of all of the delightfulness. I love the ways in which while at WDW it feels as if I am transported to somewhere else, somewhere outside of this world, where imagination and pixie dust actually have the power to change the world.

And now I am beginning to pass on the love to our daughter - who in turn is allowing me to see the world (both the real world and Walt Disney World) through new eyes. While I have to admit I hadn't ridden the carousel for YEARS I would have spent our whole trip on the carousel, Lucy LOVED it! I have spent way more time than I want to admit mocking It's a Small World and yet again I would have ridden the ride on repeat, Lucy LOVED it! There was something fabulous watching her experience it for the first time and seeing the ways in which she jumped as we watched the dolls dance and the ways in which she bounced to the song {even if it gets stuck in my head for what feels like an eternity}, Lucy LOVED it and I LOVED experiencing it with her. We are going back to WDW in November so Marc and I can run the Wine & Dine half marathon and I am excited to see how Lucy falls more in love with WDW at 16 months rather than at 6 months. She will be mobile and probably less interested in sitting in her stroller to watch parades and soak things in and it will be different but I think this new stage will also be marvelous. Plus my parents will be joining us which will add a level of fun to the trip.

While I was a little skeptical on what Lucy would think of the loud parades and the fireworks she soaked in the parades with great joy. The fireworks she was in our Tula and slept happily through them all. With her in the Tula it was AMAZING to be able to keep her sleeping while we rode the bus back to our resort (we stayed at Saratoga Springs) and not have to wake her. I also have to admit this was my first trip with a stroller and at first I was a bit uncertain of my feelings towards hauling a stroller everywhere but much to my surprise having to bring a stroller into the parks is AWESOME. We had somewhere to put our sweatshirts {I always haul a sweatshirt for the night time}, we had some where to put our water bottles, we had somewhere to put Lucy's stuff, & on the last day we had somewhere to put the stuff we bought {other than the last day I ALWAYS take advantage of the free room delivery of the stuff I buy so I don't have to haul it}. It will be crazy to go back to the strollerless days again {although we have at least a few years with a stroller}.

I also recommend Saratoga Springs - I realize it is one of the older resorts but I LOVE IT. I like that it has it's own bus so that when heading to the parks and at the end of the day you don't have to stop at several resorts to get home. Yes, there are several stops within Saratoga Springs, but that doesn't bother me because they are all pretty fast. The other thing I discovered I loved about Saratoga Springs is that there are paths to Downtown Disney! {I apparently was behind the 8 ball on discovering this} Downtown Disney is less than a 10 minute walk from the main building of Saratoga Springs, which to me is AWESOME, it allowed us to walk down there as we wanted without having to wait for a bus. We went down in the morning {although we were surprised that most of it doesn't open until 10:00am}, one afternoon when we came back to do a little swimming {which we did swim were done long before dinner time and had a little more time to use} and one night after watching Wishes we headed downtown for ice cream at Ghiradelli. 

This trip we weren't on the meal plan {my first trip not on the meal plan in a long time} and it was fine but I REALLY like the meal plan. We are going to have the meal plan in November. This trip it was okay to not be on the meal plan because it was a quick trip, planned a little last minute, and we were able to split a lot of meals {which did in turn save us some money} but then we were very careful on not spending lots of money, when I am on the meal plan - while yes, it does feel like a lot of food- I am a bit more relaxed on the prices of the food because I have already paid for it. It is a little bit of a catch 22. We also did get a memory maker this trip. I am thankful we did because they were able to capture quite a few awesome pictures of Lucy meeting characters, some magic photos {I am printing out the picture of Lucy holding tinkerbell}, as well as some photos from around the parks and on the rides. We had a phenomenal trip and I am stoked to go back in November. So thankful for the opportunity to travel with Lucy!

Do you have any Disney trips on the horizon?

Any vacations coming up for you?

Where is your favorite place to vacation?