Final thoughts on Disney

The day after Magic Kingdom, we all slept in.  A little after 9, we started moving, ate breakfast, and headed once more to the pool.  While there, we discussed our trip and Dom started planning on our next trip.

Some things that definitely worked in our favor on this trip:
1. Low Expectations, or perhaps Realistic Expectations is more accurate.  Commercials only show all of the good parts of the trip.  The actual rides, the fun food, the excited looks while watching fireworks.  What they don't show are the long waits in lines (something we were able to avoid due to a series of fortunate events, but couldn't count on to happen in the future), the massive amount of crowds (it was a sea of humanity in the streets and we went in 'off season'), the prices for food or the waits to get it, or the meltdowns that occur right around the time of the fireworks (chocolate bar to the rescue!)

2. Bringing our own food and having a stroller to carry it.  Yes, we brought the stroller for John and Molly for the most part.  Even Will took a ride at one point.  There is a lot of walking involved at these parks.  Poor Molly had some blisters on her feet after the rainy day at Epcot.  But, it also allowed us to bring in a small cooler with food.  That we could break out at a moments notice.  I suggested this with an eye towards cost savings.  Eric pointed out that when the kids (and I) get hungry, we need food in that moment, not in 20 or 30 minutes.  By bringing our own supplies, we could pack food we knew everyone would like and eat it along the way.  The chocolate bars really came in handy to give everyone a little boost to finish out the day.

3. As much as I may complain about a couple of them, we have great kids.  Their attitudes are pretty amazing.  We spent a total of 37 hours in the parks over three days.  Starting about 8:30 and ending as late as 11.  Molly and I discussed her behavior well ahead of time and she did a really good job of not getting upset and I tried to meet her halfway when I could.  John only had a couple of meltdowns, but they were on the last day, well past 8, and in all fairness, how could he trust the Winnie the Pooh ride would be as fun as the honey bee toy he was playing with (it was a toss-up).  And Eric and I take for granted that Will and Dom will behave and give us no attitude.  Were they disappointed from time to time?  Of course, but they never complained.  This helped my mood immeasurably.

4.  We drank lots of water.  Both Dom and I have had bad experiences where we get headaches and are pretty miserable for the remainder of our time in park.  We both made a concerted effort to avoid this.  Dom still ended the day at Epcot not feeling well (granted he was soaked on a couple of occasions) and I got a headache at Magic Kingdom, but modern medicine helped nip that in the bud.  I don't know why I always put off taking tylenol when I get a headache.  It is a miracle worker.

As for the next trip, we have ideas for the perfect visit for our family.  Not for everyone, though.  If someone were to ask whether or not they should visit, it is entirely up to you.   No child will have a less 'magical' childhood by missing out on Disney World.  Because childhood is already magical if you let it be.  Disney World is not worth going into debt.  Our kids would have been thrilled to just go to a hotel with a pool and hang out.  I even met a lady before we went who had purchased passes for her grandchildren, but they opted to just go to Disney Springs on their last day.  I think they had aged out of the magical innocence that Disney World caters to.  Some people never age out of that, but for those that do, it will hopefully come around again when you can see it through your children's eyes.  There were many rides that I just wanted to see Molly and John's reactions. 

One final bonus was that the entire time we were at the parks I had not wish to check facebook or the news.  So for a blessed 4 days, I did not read a single story about the state of our country's politics.  It was magical...maybe that experience is worth going into debt for.