Ever since we visited Disney World March 2015, we have wanted to go back, so since Brad got a break from school right during Tacy's birthday he decided we should do a family trip to Orlando for her birthday/family vacation. Brad's mom flew in and met us in Orlando to celebrate Tacy's birthday. We rented a condo in Kissimee which was perfect for our needs and spent Monday-Wednesday at Disney. Being 6 months pregnant I was a little apprehensive how this Disney trip would go as I could not do the big rides, it was super hot and humid, and the whole Zika virus. But we planned, researched, and went prepared.
Armed with camelbacks, various bug repellants, and lathered in sunscreen, we went to Magic Kingdom early Monday morning. Brad had the Disney app on his phone and let me tell you, that is the way to do Disney. The app tells you the wait times for each ride, you can pick your fast passes on the app, and of course have a map of the park. Between the app and our fast passes, we never waited longer than 15 minutes for a ride. Obviously the best time to ride everything was the first few hours in the morning, by 10ish the park would be packed. I'm not a big fan of crowds, but we managed. Tacy got a birthday button on Monday since it was her birthday and by 10 we had met 6 princesses and ridden 3-4 rides already.
We ate lunch in the park that day since it was Tacy's birthday, we watched the Festival of Fantasy and so many people said Happy birthday to Tacy during the parade. We were also able to walk right in to the Tiki Room and the Country Bear Jamboree. Tacy loved them both, it's been years since I last saw the jamboree. We did leave in the evening to go eat dinner at BJ's Brewery and Restaurant and enjoyed yummy pizza and pzookies. Then we headed back for more rides. After all day at the park, I was exhausted so we left before the fireworks. It did rain 2-3 times during the day, which was a nice relief from the humidity.
Tuesday we woke up early again to go to Animal Kingdom. Now let me just say, that not all Disney parks are created equal. Animal Kingdom was very humid, after all they are trying to make it like Asia and Africa where all these animals live. But I woke up that morning with a splitting headache and the humidity was only making it worse. I actually drank a diet coke to try to help it. Despite the pain, we did have fun. We started with the Safari ride and had fun seeing all the animals and learning interesting facts about them. Then we walked along the gorilla falls trail, where there were birds and gorillas. After that we watched a bird show that was really fun. Then Tacy and I went and watched Finding Nemo the Muscial while Brad and his mom went to ride Escape Everest. It was lunch time so we all scarfed down our sandwiches before going to our various places. For Tacy and I, this was fine. We loved the musical, plus it was nice and air-conditioned which really helped me headache. But Brad and his mom realized eating before Everest was a bad idea because half the ride goes backwards, not easy on the stomach. Meeting up with them after the show was when I discovered that the bathrooms at Animal Kingdom are really dismal compared to Magic Kingdom (not enough stalls or room). The next fast pass was for the water ride, which sounded really good considering how ridiculously hot and humid it was. Every ride at Animal Kingdom is not recommended for pregnant women, while I had read the Safari Jeep ride was fine, I never saw anything about the water ride. So I decided to play it safe and not go. We searched for an air conditioned place for me to wait (there are very few places with AC in Animal Kingdom) and Anne found a restaurant that served sherbet. So I got a table and ate some yummy mango, lemon and raspberry sherbet while everyone else got soaked. Of course, once the ride was over it had started raining. It was at this point that Tacy picked out a kitty cat animal for her birthday present and we decided to go back to the Condo for naps. Brad got us fast passes for Lion King at 10:30 that night...we never ended up going back. We were all pretty tired and decided staying up really late before another full day at Magic Kingdom was not best.
Wednesday we woke up early again, I still had a splitting headache, so Brad got me tylenol on the way to Magic Kingdom. After having spent one day at Magic Kingdom already, we were able to do our favorite things. We walked onto Pirates of the Carribean and had a boat to ourselves then everyone else went and rode Splash Mountain twice because the line was short. Tacy says her favorite ride is Splash Mountain and her second favorite is Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers (something like that). We also rode Peter Pan again, Ariel and It's a Small World (which I'm pretty sure that one cause my headache initially). Now Wednesday was another hot, humid day. So we went back to the condo at lunch for naps, ate a quick dinner, then went back to the park for more rides and to watch the Electrical Parade and Fireworks. We had been hoping all day it would rain and it started to drizzle at the end of the Electrical Parade. As soon as the parade finished, it POURED. We laughed and ran for cover. I had the wettest belly but we were all pretty wet, except for Tacy because she was in her umbrella stroller. The rain stopped in time for the fireworks and we enjoyed that show. It was a great end to a fun time in Disney.
Thursday we swam in the pool at the condo, played mini golf, ate ice cream, walked around Disney Springs, and then had dinner at Chuy's Mexican Restaurant, which was really delicious. It was nice relaxing day to end our trip.
Overall, we had a great time, Tacy was sad to leave and sad to say bye to Mema. My headache finally went away when we got home. Of course, after being gone all week, we had Tacy's birthday party with friends on Saturday morning at a park. Nice and low key for me. The kids all ran around and played, Brad made a great Rapunzel cake for Tacy which was a big hit, and then we returned to normal life with work and school.
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