Disney '14: Part 3

Day 5: Another character breakfast this morning but this one was later at 10:30 since we had the morning off from the parks. We got to ride the monorail two days in a row and the kids loved it. Since we have been home, Miller keeps pretending that his train set is a monorail.

We got to the Polynesian a little early so we walked around a bit.

Our first visitor was Mickey which of course Scarlett slept  through.

Miller only recently learned who Lilo was but he still liked her.

Same for Stitch. That is his new best friend and he got a stuffed one as one of his souvenirs.

Both of the kids really liked Pluto.

She gets so excited and this face happens. I love it!

Mickey came back around and I was able to get him with Scarlett awake. She kept giggling at him and trying to give him kisses.

We walked around the grounds of the Polynesian and decided to take the boat back to the Magic Kingdom to get to the bus stop.

We kept telling Miller to hold hands and he would say, "I hold my own hand".

That night we went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We did it last year and it was so much fun. For our next trip it will be later in the year so we can go to the Christmas party.

We were at the point where we had ridden most of the rides that we wanted to so we repeated some and then went on some extra ones. I had never been on the Astro Orbitor in all of my trips but we were right there and the wait time was short. I took Miller while Ben ran the stroller to my mom who was staking out a spot for the parade. I do not know why but this was one of my favorite times from the whole trip. Just my baby boy and I snuggling and laughing getting to experience this ride for the first  time together.

As soon as we got off the ride, Ben was already in line again and took Miller with him. I waited down below and the Monsters dance party started. Last year he did not know the movies but we have done the rotation of them being his favorite this year. As soon as he got off the Astro Orbitor, he just joined the crowd and started dancing. I am so happy we took videos of that.

Sitting with Ninny waiting on the parade to start. I believe I underestimated how entertaining those would be for the kids because they loved them.

As soon as the parade was over, we ran to the Princess Fairytale Hall to see Anna and Elsa (like literally, we raced there). We had continually seen wait times of 75 minutes of more so we got there when it was down to 40 and even then only waited 30 minutes or so. This was more for Ruby and Isla but Miller was super excited too. I did notice that he was the only boy in line who was not there with a sister who was there to see them (Scarlett does not count).

We came out to the fireworks which last year we missed because Miller was too scared. This year he loved them (thank goodness)! We did some trick or treating but then decided that we wanted to spend what time we had left riding rides. Mom watched the kids for us again and we got to go on the brand new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which was awesome. Then the older kids wanted to ride Dumbo (for the 4th time) but Scarlett and I went to Under the Sea again. I got out when it was 11:57 and literally ran across Fantasyland to Peter Pan's Magic Flight. They were closing the ride but let me on. I was the last one on the ride and I admit, I was a bit afraid that they would turn it off and it would just be Scarlett and I stuck on there but it was fun. Scarlett sat next to me and just looked around and squealed. Again, one of my favorite moments of the trip. 

We stayed until midnight that night and those kids were troopers. Miller again loved the buses and got some as a souvenir this year.

We were able to ride 24 out of 34 rides and see all the characters we had on our list plus some (17 where last year we saw 7). It was an awesome trip! I am definitely glad that we did not go for as many days and will be doing that again in the future.

I have received so many comments from people asking how we can afford this two years in a row but just know, we do Disney cheaply. We stayed at the cheapest resort and went when they were having a sale. We only did two days at the park plus the Halloween party with no park hopper. We did not do a lot of sit down meals and brought our own snacks with us. We also budgeted for vacations all year and we used our anniversary budget for this.

I also get comments about why would we want to take kids when they will not remember it. Well, because we will. We do some many things for our kids that they will never remember, Christmas, birthday parties, the zoo, etc, but we do them to make family memories. I will never forget riding the Astro Orbitor with Miller giggling in my lap as we saw the sun setting behind the castle. Or Scarlett trying to give Mickey Mouse a big slobbery kiss when we saw him. Or her sitting next to me squealing on Peter Pan's flight at midnight at the Halloween Party. Miller got to meet all of these characters that he knows and loves. He was even excited to go potty at Rapunzel's tower and in the Beasts castle. There is only a short time where they see the magic of Disney and I definitely do not want to miss out on that.

I will admit, I have drank the Disney Kool aid and I am okay with that. I look forward to taking my kids traveling but I also look forward to coming back to Disney World. There is just no experience like it and we have the advantage of being somewhat close to it.  We are already planning our next trip, just not for next year.