Sarah always knew it was going to happen at some point and just had to get John on board. Nothing is more convincing than celebrating your daughter's 12th birthday with a special trip. What made this trip a bit more special was the fact that it was a birthday surprise. Callie wanted it this way. She knew we were going on a trip for her birthday, but didn't know where. So when we walked into the Cincinnati airport very early on the morning of her big day, she still didn't know. The excitement certainly was growing.
It wasn't until our layover in Chicago that we confirmed our final destination to Orlando. Sarah pulled out four personalized bracelets that would end up being the most magical accessories ever. These were our fast passes, our credit cards, and our hotel keys all in one. Sarah had packed an incredible amount of research into a short period of time in preparation for this three-day whirlwind of activity, and now she could finally share it with the birthday girl herself.
We also quickly found out just how well the Disney machine coordinates all aspects of your trip. We landed in Orlando and got on the Magical Express that dropped us right off at our hotel. The hotel was ready for us and showed us to our room. And before we knew it we were off exploring and preparing for a special birthday dinner at the Whoop-De-Doo Revue. And yes, I typed that correctly.
A combination of research and recommendation brought us to this dinner show, and it did not disappoint. The food was good and plentiful, and the show was certainly entertaining. Although there were several opportunities us to recognize our birthday girl, that was definitely not her birthday wish. After some fast and heated negotiations, the final terms were that we wouldn't announce it was her birthday and she could not refuse pictures for the remainder of the trip. Not a bad deal actually.
After a relatively brief sleep we were up bright and early on Friday morning to spend our first full day at Animal Kingdom. Sarah had coordinated a couple of fast passes, but our early arrival meant that some of the rides had very short lines so we could get in a few experiences before our reserved ones. First up, Expedition Everest, a roller coaster that had Callie excited and Reese nervous. Fortunately, Reese can be bribed relatively easily, and before we knew it we were on the coaster. It was a fun one, but it got the blood racing. Amazingly enough, we went on it two times back to back because everyone enjoyed it so much. (Well, maybe not Reese, but she'll come around)
The reserved fast pass was for the Safari experience. Sarah wanted an early morning time when the animals would be most active. She was right on the money and we saw just about every animal there was to see. Although it was a far cry from an actual safari, Disney does a good job providing a quality jeep journey that educated us on many of the animals. We went on this ride twice too.
One of the incredible aspects of Disney is the built environments that set the tone of each park. The attention to detail is something to see. This was the center point of Animal Kingdom, and it was known as the Tree of Life. We also saw a couple of Disney musical productions, one based on the Lion King and one based on Nemo. We had a blast and it was a full day of adventure. Much to Sarah's chagrin, John persuaded her to leave the park before the river light parade so that we could get some sleep that night. And we were in bed by 9:00pm. Sounds relatively early for a vacation night, but we had to prepare for an even bigger day ahead.
This picture was taken around 6:50am at the gates of Magic Kingdom. Since we were staying in the resort we were able to take advantage of the magic hour. From 7:00am to 8:00am, it would just be us and countless others getting to enjoy the park before it opened for the general public. Building on our first day's experience, we made a beeline for the Seven Dwarves' Mining Coaster. This was highly recommended and Sarah was unable to get it on the fast pass. But just a short wait later we were on the coaster, and it turns out Reese was a big fan. And yes, we went on this one twice as well before we headed for our next ride.
In between the rides we made sure to see the parades and get iconic photos like this one. The girls were drinking in the whole experience and there was not a whine to be heard. Indeed, taking your kids to Disney when they are 8 and 12 is the sweet spot. No melt downs, not even by John, and all smiles.
Sarah planned for everything, including purchasing Minnie Mouse ears on Amazon for her, Callie, and Reese. She also brought a backpack full of snacks to enjoy in the lines and to prevent any hangry episodes. The snacks definitely kept us going all day long. Don't worry, we didn't neglect the opportunity to get any of the more sinful treats the park offered. But when you are in the park for 15 hours you have to balance these things out.
We may have gone on a lot of roller coasters, but we couldn't say no to some of the classics. Who doesn't like Dumbo?
We even took the time to get a picture or two with some of your favorite characters. Due to the age of our children this was certainly not a must do, but when you happen to encounter a short line to get a picture with Goofy and Donald Duck, you don't pass it up.
That night we had reservations for dinner at the Beast's castle. The timing could not have been better. After a day full of walking around, sitting for an hour with a nice cold beverage with some really good food was just what the doctor ordered. And yes, we are Disney, but the food options on the kid's menu were fantastic. The desserts were even better, including the delicious grey stuff served in edible cups with edible paint you could use to decorate your cups. Just a great dinner all around.
There is a great fireworks show every night, and we missed the main one because the girls wanted to ride Thunder Mountain, you guessed it, back to back. Even with that, however, we still caught the end of the evening showcase, that included great visual effects, music, and more fireworks. And just like that, we went from the drop of the ropes at the beginning of the day to the close of the park. Certainly a day to remember. And because our flight didn't leave until the afternoon, on our last day we still had time to walk around Disney Springs. The girls each had a $25 gift card to spend, and to the surprise of nobody they managed to spend every penny in a candy store. When our plane left Orlando we felt like we had done Disney right.
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