They Don't Call it 'Disney Magic' for Nothing

We have six children.  SIX.  And they range from <1 to 14, which makes planning anything incredibly challenging since they all have different interests.  It's hard enough planning your average Saturday, but planning a family vacation is even more challenging.  Some kids are too young to do the older kid things and the older kid usually gets totally moody and bored when he has to tag-along for the little kid things.  Add on the need to pack (what feels like) an infinite number of things, and it is exhausting just to think about...  

...but we know how important it is for us to get away as a family.  Between the various activities, school events, our jobs, etc., we absolutely need time dedicated to bonding as a singular family unit.  As we started planning for our first vacation as a family of six, there were lists.  so. many. lists.  Lists of potential locations, lists of pros and cons, lists of various costs, and yes, lists of what we would need to pack for each of them.  Ultimately (as you might imagine from the title of this article), we selected Disney - to play, to eat, and to sleep.  While by no means was it the cheapest option, it was by far the easiest.  It promised that we wouldn't have to pack three car/booster seats or a pack n' play.  It promised we wouldn't have to worry about transportation of any kind or figuring out the grocery/food sitch.  Most importantly, it promised that there would be activities everyone would enjoy.  

Disney did not disappoint.  From the first click of my mouse to book, every experience was easy and enjoyable.  The kids were excited through the entire journey and because of all the fun touchpoints: from the flight to the Magical Express, they were so well-behaved.

(Bennett enjoying the flight with his wing pin)

One of the many reasons we stayed on-site (Port Orleans - Riverside) was because it would be easy for us to come and go to the various parks with their bus system.  We woke up early on our first full day to make it to the Magic Kingdom just as it was opening.  Throughout the day, we all needed a brief break, so took the bus back to the hotel, and then returned to the Magic Kingdom for dinner, evening activities and fireworks.  Everyone had a blast, we all got to see plenty of characters, ride all the rides we wanted, and during the fireworks, Bennett turned to me and said in the sweetest voice, "This is the best day ever".  That right there made whole freaking year and even more-so since I think the whole family felt the same way.

(Jae and Kai rocking their Mickey hats)

(Waiting for Magic Kingdom Fireworks)

(Kai taking a quick snooze on me as we enjoyed brunch at Be Our Guest)

The week before we had left, Mila had a really bad stomach bug... and lo and behold, this night I got the same bug.  It totally knocked me on my butt, so the next day, we spent the bulk of it at the pool and around the resort to give me an extra day to recover.  No one was remotely sad about this - the kids loved the various pools and they loved just exploring the themed resort with all it's family-fun activities.  These resorts are massive, and have perfectly kept up common areas.

After a day of relative relaxing, we were able to be on the go again, and explored Animal Kingdom.  While this park was collectively our least favorite (which isn't really saying anything as we still LOVED it), it had the boys' favorite ride: the Avatar Fight of Passage.  Jae, Kaeden, and Bennett went on this one while I went on the Avatar River Ride with Kai and Mila.  I must say that my ride was awesome, but I was definitely jealous when we all came back together and they were absolutely raving about their time.  

(Kaeden and Bennett in the Avatar world, which made you feel like you were in the movie)

Our final full day at Disney was spent at Epcot.  While there aren't a ton of amazing rides here, walking through the various cities is super fun, and to top it off, they have the Frozen characters.  If you know anything about Mila, she is a Frozen fanatic.  She knows all the most of the words to the various songs and is not afraid to sing them at the top of her lungs at the drop of a hat.  Her highlight for the entire vacation was meeting her favorite Princesses, Anna and Elsa, and I must admit that they did an incredible job.  Around mid-day, it started down pouring, so we all took the bus back to the hotel for a mid-day rest, and returned that evening to complete our rounds around the cities and watch the Epcot evening fireworks.

(Mila meeting her favorite Princess, Elsa)

(Mila showing Anna her shoes)

While we were definitely ready to come home after all the excitement, every single one in our family had the best time at Disney and we cannot wait to go back.