DiSnEy WoRlD 2013

Post date: Apr 7, 2013 6:52:12 PM

I don't even know where to begin. We had the most amazing week in Disney World and had a hard time leaving. A lot of people warned me that Ryan would be too young and it could be a waste of money if he hated it. A few weeks before we left I started to get a little worried about that but the moment we entered the park I knew it was going to be a very special trip. Ryan loved everything about Disney, the rides, the characters, the music, the people, and of course, the magic of it all. I'm well aware that he won't remember this trip but the whole family will have the memories to cherish and Ryan will have pictures and videos to look back upon. He's already so excited when he sees each picture and video and keeps asking to go on the rides. He doesn't understand that we can't just go back to the park now that we're home.

I wanted to recap the trip here for all of you and also for myself. I love to come back to this website to read about his firsts and my favorite memories with Ryan so I want to be able to remember everything about this trip...

Day One:

We arrived to our rental house around dinner time on Saturday so we decided to go eat at Downtown Disney and walk around. We didn't do too much that evening because we wanted to get rested for the week to come.

Sunday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Magic Kingdom. I was unbelievably excited because I have always loved Disney and couldn't wait to share the experience with my baby boy. Our very first ride was Peter Pan. I was worried that Ryan might be a little freaked out because it was so dark but he liked it and we couldn't wait to ride more with him. We made the rounds for all the rides and even rode a few of them a second or even third time. We learned quickly that Ryan loved the teacups and Dumbo. He kept asking to ride these 2 again which made us so happy!

Later in the day, we stumbled upon Goofy and Pluto dancing in the park. You guys know how much Ryan LOVES to dance so mix that with 2 of his favorite characters and you have one very happy boy. He ran as fast as he could up to them and started breaking it down. Goofy and Pluto just loved him and kept coming closer and even grabbed him by the hands to dance more with him. The crowd was laughing because Ryan was so into it and couldn't stop giggling. This was something Ryan talked about the rest of the trip. It melted my heart to see him so excited.

Throughout the day we couldn't believe that the park wasn't that busy. The longest wait we had was 30 minutes and that wait didn't even feel that long. We had imagined it being ridiculously busy because of it being Easter.

Ryan kept going all day without a nap but sure was exhausted by bedtime. We put him to bed at a decent hour to make sure he was well rested for day 2.

Ryan's favorite things at Magic Kingdom:

Dancing with Goofy and Pluto

Dumbo

Teacups

Day 2:

Monday we had our character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. I wasn't sure how Ryan would feel about the characters especially since he was sleepy from the day before. However as soon as he heard an announcement about Mickey his jaw literally dropped. We started laughing hysterically because I had never seen him drop his jaw before. Then, when he saw Mickey and the other characters he tried to break free from me to run to them. We were in the buffet line at the time so it wasn't his turn to meet and greet with them. When the characters did come by the table, Ryan hugged each one of them, high fived some, and even had kisses for a special few. He told Pluto that he danced with him yesterday so Pluto started dancing with him at the table too. Ryan was so excited. They also gave him a Birthday card that was signed by each of them and a then came out dancing and waving towels while delivering a cupcake. It was such a neat experience and was a wonderful start to our day.

After breakfast, we went to Animal Kingdom and started with the animal safari ride. Ryan was giggling and cracking everyone up while on the ride. He actually didn't care much about the animals but loved riding along in the safari truck. We spent the day riding and playing games. Ryan was exhausted and took a good nap while we rode Expedition Everest and a few other adult rides.

We had originally planned on doing Animal Kingdom a second time on our trip but we were able to fit in all the things we wanted so we knew Ryan would much prefer doing Magic Kingdom as many days as possible.

We left the park to get dinner and rest up for day 3.

Ryan's favorite things at Animal Kingdom:

Safari truck ride

Triceratops Spin

Petting Zoo

Day 3:

Tuesday was my parents last day at Disney and we decided to go to Hollywood Studios. This is the home of my 2 favorite Disney World rides (Tower of Terror and Rocking Roller Coaster). The park was pretty busy but with fast passes we were able to plan it out and once again didn't have to wait long for anything. We were able to ride all of our favorites several times and made time for the stunt show as well. Ryan was a little cranky during the stunt show because he did not want to sit there. He was ready for more fun. We took him to the Disney Junior Live show and he LOVED it. He was so excited to see his favorite characters and interact with the show. He was dancing and jumping up and down. We had wished we had done the show sooner so we could've done it more times that day. However, with a limited show schedule we weren't able to see it again.

Surprisingly, Ryan enjoyed the Walt Disney museum. He kept running up to some cool items going "Oh, Wow!" "Look, Awesome". Haha. I personally thought it was a bit boring but he had me cracking up!

There really wasn't that much for Ryan to do at this park so he went home early with Nana to get much needed extra rest and the rest of us stayed in the park until closing.

Ryan's favorite things at Hollywood Studios:

Disney Junior Live

The rocket and robot in the museum

Day 4:

My parents were leaving this day :-( so we were down to us and Jamie's family for the remainder of the trip. Katie and Terry decided to go to Universal Studios so Jamie, his mom, Ryan, and I went to Magic Kingdom again. We got a lot done in the morning which was a good thing. It got very hot that day and extremely busy! Ryan was able to ride his very first roller coaster! He was 1/2 an inch off from the height requirement so we stuffed some things in his shoes and told him to stand on his tiptoes at the measuring stick. They let him on and we were so excited!!

After the midday parade the crowd was hard to deal with and the heat made it even more difficult. We decided to leave around 2:00 and went back to the house to swim and relax. We couldn't believe the difference in the crowd between Sunday and this day. However, it was nice to have an afternoon to take things slow and relax. We still had 2 more days of fun!

Ryan's favorite things at Magic Kingdom on Day 4:

Race cars

Magic Carpets

Teacups

Day 5:

We all went to Epcot on Thursday. We made sure to get the outside rides in quick because they were calling for rain. We were smart to do that because when the rain arrived, it was relentless. We bought ponchos and continued to enjoy our day. Ryan loved the Nemo ride and the aquarium inside. He pointed to all the colorful fish shouting "Nemo" "More Nemo". Then, we went to watch Turtle Talk with Crush. It was an interactive show where Crush asks you questions and you ask him some. Ryan thought it was pretty exciting and began shouting out his answers (a little louder than everyone else). He got really into it and continued to shout his answers to Crush even when Crush wasn't asking anything. I had to remove Ryan from the theater because I was afraid he was bothering others. It was hilarious, though.

We were able to ride everything we wanted at Epcot and even had a delicious lunch in Mexico. However, by evening time we were tired of the rain and dealing with ponchos and decided to throw in the towel and go out to dinner.

Ryan's favorite things at Epcot:

Nemo ride

Turtle Talk with Crush

Day 6:

Our final day in Disney was spent in Magic Kingdom. We wanted to end our journey with Ryan's favorite park and we also wanted to end it all with the electric parade and fireworks show. We were able to walk on almost everything this day which was refreshing after dealing with the crowds in this park on Wednesday. Ryan was able to ride all of his favorites as many times as he pleased. He was also able to watch the midday parade again. He had even more fun with it this time because he had a better spot and all the characters came over to high five him.

We left the park for a few hours to get Ryan a good nap before keeping him out late at night. When we got back to the park we were able to ride a few more things before getting dinner and a spot for the electric parade and fireworks. Ryan was pretty tired so I was worried about his mood for these things. I was also very worried about the fireworks because I thought he may be scared. However, once the festivities began he was so excited. He thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks display and kept saying "More fireworks" "Fireworks Boom". It was so cute. He clapped and cheered for the fireworks and was a little disappointed when they were over. He kept saying "Boom" and talking about them on our way back to the house.

Leaving Magic Kingdom after fireworks is not an easy task. We had to fight through a crowd and then wait forever for a tram. We finally made it back to the house around midnight and quickly got Ryan ready for bed. We all went to bed pretty quickly too because we had to get up early the next day to go home. :-(

Ryan's favorite things on his final day:

Race cars

Dumbo

Fireworks

This was honestly one of the most cherished trips of my life!! I couldn't believe just how happy Ryan was the whole time. Each morning he ran to the front door yelling "Ready! Fun Fun!". We couldn't get him to the car quick enough each day. Each time it melted my heart and made me even more excited about our day.

We made many new memories and were lucky enough to share these moments with our families. We are already talking about our next trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!!