OK, friends. Here it is. All your questions asked about our recent trip to Disneyworld. Here we go!

After postponing it almost two years (Thanks Covid!), the surprise Disney trip finally happened this past January. With unknowns about Covid every day, we wanted to at least have the kids fully vaccinated and, go during a time when there are typically lower crowds. When we went, masks were still required for everywhere indoors and Omicron was at its all-time high so the trip was a huge gamble but it ended up working out just fine and by some incredible miracle (well, that and science being on our side), we went and came back with nary a virus to report. That still baffles me - I mean, we did the Haunted Mansion where they shove as many people into a ‘room with no windows and no doors’ - and still came out unscathed. But it all worked out!

We kept it a secret from the kids (which was a blessing with all the postponing). We didn’t tell them until we dismissed them early from school (they thought they had appointments for their yearly physicals) and they walked out to see not only me, but my husband (who would normally be working) AND…. A LIMO. "

“Dad why are you here? And… why is THAT here?”

Navy (my blog nickname for my husband), said playfully, “Why not?” And that was it. We all got into the limo and headed back to our house to drop off their backpacks and then continued onto the airport. It was then that we played that classic family game: “so we have a limo, what should we do with it”, and eventually my son (who’s blog nickname shall be Buzz), suggested Disney (because kids always eventually suggest Disney). Navy said, “hmm if we’re going to go to Disney you’ll need these’ and tossed them their Magic Bands. And they flipped. We were on our way.

Why did we choose a limo, you ask? We needed transportation to the airport and wanted to mitigate Covid risk at every possible turn so we could have the best chance at avoiding it. We would usually take public transportation but that wasn’t going to work this time. When I researched having a car pick us up, I got the idea for the limo and giggled to myself thinking it was totally silly. It turned out it wasn’t THAT much more than getting any other car and, it actually gave us and the driver the lowest risk because of the divider. So, we made the jump and took the limo. It was a big moment and I love that it happened but we have explained to the kids how they won’t be in a limo again any time soon. That this is NOT the norm so don’t get too comfortable hahaha.

Now, onto the trip itself!

While those were the things I’d skip, none of them were bad. And, there were SO MANY THINGS that were great. I wept happy tears often. My daughter has been obsessed with Tinkerbell since she could barely talk, and I wanted SO BADLY for her to meet her idol. But that character meet and greet wasn’t open due to Covid. Our best shot (after talking to MANY cast members over a long period of time) was the Calvalcade that Tink was in at Magic Kingdom. With little hope of anything happening, we sought a good place to stand. As we walked the route, she was suddenly in view. And so we stood where we were, and waited. Tink wasn’t only passing in a parade but she was up high on a treasure chest - likelihood of a Tink moment was low. It’s ok, I told myself; things always have a way of working out. And I was right. Tinkerbell noticed my Tink was wearing a Tinkerbell sweatshirt (and headband, necklace, earrings, magic band…. but who’s counting) and she made a whole MOMENT of it. We got the following unspoken dialog (all done with excellent hand signals): “Is that me on your sweatshirt?! Me? Oh my goodness everyone, it’s me! Well. Hm. ::uses her wand to whip up imaginary pixie dust and then blows it in Tink’s direction, gives a wave, a “hug” and a kiss:: Bye! I Love you!”

Friends, let me tell you, I was BAWLING and am, in fact, misty eyed again as I write it. I legitimately broke into tears at random times throughout the rest of the day. It was so lovely and epic and perfect and all the Disney magic one hopes for. The same thing happened with my son and Buzz during that Cavalcade in Hollywood Studios. So I guess the biggest tip I can give you is dress your kids in their favorite character’s “look” so they can be noticed from a parade. And hopefully character meet and greets will be back soon.

Two completely random highlights that aren’t often noted in everything you read:

#1: There is a playground in Animal Kingdom that is mostly shaded and has an attendant at the gate and if your kids are older like my kids, you (parents) can sit and gather your thoughts while they burn some energy climbing and playing. It was excellent and we highly recommend it. Every park should have something like that.

On a similar note, the Dumbo ride has a great indoor area to play while you wait. Totally a fun moment you don’t expect.

And #2: There is a really fun Pirate Quest over in Adventureland. There are 5(?) different treasure maps you can follow and you go on a scavenger hunt to find where Captain Jack hid all the treasures. My kids LOVED this. It’s free and something different to do. Just don’t finish after 7pm because it closes then and you don’t get whatever little prize they give you. Which I know really isn’t anything big but my kids were bummed when they completed all the maps and went to turn the last one in and it was closed.

And a few other random tips:

We stood on the bridge to Tomorrowland for the MK fireworks the first night so that Tinkerbell would fly directly over my daughter’s head (yes, I cried that night too). While there is a tree that partially obstructs the view of the projections on the castle, you get an incredible view of the fireworks itself and there are seats and very few people over there. Plus you get awesome access to Tink. So, it’s a great spot if you want to avoid the BANANAS crowds in front of the castle. That being said, to be able to see the projections the 2nd time, we stood right in front and people actually spaced out really decently so it wasn’t awful.

My kids fell in love with pin trading so that was where they invested their gift cards and such. My husband felt like it was a waste but I argue that they’re smaller than all the other crap they might have wanted to bring home and, they can trade them any time they come back forever and ever and, put them on backpacks, etc. I found it to be a really ideal thing to do to keep them excited and have great souvenirs. The pins aren’t the cheapest but they have fun blind bags that you can get which usually have one or two you like less than the rest and then those are the ones you use to trade. Now when we go to Disneyland we can bring the pins for some more fun. I think it’s a pretty cool.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary, there are 50 statues of characters around the parks. I assume heavily these will stay beyond this year. These create a delightful scavenger hunt of their own. Tinkerbell is one of the hardest to find and we found her! They’re all supposed to be true to size which is also really exciting to see as sometimes things are bigger (or smaller!) than you’d expect.

The hotels often have activities so check what they’re doing on hotel days and let the hotel occupy your kids for a bit while you take a breath. Everyone wins!

I hope this answered all of your questions. If you have more, just let me know! It was a fantastic trip and I really wouldn’t change very much at all.