It wasn’t as good as our last two trips. Not just because of our loss, though that was a big factor obviously, but also because our expectations were a little too high. The last two trips we didn’t have any plans at all really, we just did whatever Owen wanted. This time we had fastpasses and reservations and sometimes our plans and Owen’s opinions didn’t jive. We remained flexible and lost a few fastpasses to time at the pool, but I think the payoff with Owen’s mood was worth it. I think he would have liked more time at the “little beach,” but it was just too chilly most days for swimming.
j
He loved the characters. I think he was disappointed Mickey and Minnie don’t have houses on the East coast, but he accepted it. He loved the Barnstormer, he rode that 7 times and the Mine Train. And of course the Frozen ride. I think we officially exhausted our restaurant sitting time for the month with him. Bryan and I did go on Flight of Passage and it was amazing. Would not wait three hours for it, but definitely worth waking up at 7am to make the fast pass reservations.
We left at 5am on Saturday. I picked Owen up out of bed and said, “no Mama, I don’t want to use the potty.” He was happier when I explained we were going to go on a plane to Disney. Our driver sucked. He brought an infant car seat and he didn’t understand why we were upset. I don’t understand why this is always a problem. They were perfect about the car seat in CA. If your business offers car seats, you should educate your employees on them. So we used our seat and the rest of the morning went smoothly. We went to Disney Springs and had dinner at The Boathouse.
The first Sunday we were there was my dad’s birthday. We got up early, even though it was the first day of daylight savings and headed to the Magic Kingdom. It was empty for about the first hour. We went on Pooh, dumbo, the barnstormer, small world. By the time we met up with my parents for lunch, Owen was exhausted and was asking to go back to the hotel. We didn’t want to force him to stay in the park, but we did have fastpasses for the mine train right after lunch, so we told him we would do the roller coaster and then leave. He was totally onboard with that plan. He loooooved it.
Turns out he didn’t want to nap, I guess he was just over the heat and the crowds. So I made another winning suggestion and asked if he wanted to go swimming. He loved that even more. After the pool, we headed to dinner at the California Grill which is always one of our favorites. I love how Owen orders his own food and water. They brought out the pizza for him right away which made the dinner go much more smoothly.
On Monday, we woke up early again, but EPCOT wasn’t going to open until 9, so we headed to the Animal Kingdom for its extra magic hour. That was a mistake. It was the most crowded any Park was that entire week. Flight of passage had a 240 minute wait before the park even opened. Even the stupid bugs life show had a 30 minute wait. Owen was also crazy grumpy. We did triceratops spin a few times and then got the hell outta there.
EPCOT was pretty crazy too. I’ve never seen imagination with a wait, never mind a 45 minute wait. I guess it didn’t help spaceship earth was down for a few hours. We waited 40 for Nemo because the posted wait was a bit off. Owen didn’t seem to mind. He was really good on the queues. He had adventures with his toys. Lunch was character dining at the Garden Grill. Food was meh for the price, but Owen loved the rotating restaurant, the “jungle” and the characters. I think we shared pizza that night a Via Napoli.
Tuesday was shit. In the morning we met Buzz and Woody and BB-8 before I saw Lyn called. We were on line to meet Chewbacca and I was watching Bryan on the phone. By the time he got off the phone I was hysterical, he didn’t even need to tell me, I knew, he just nodded. Disney was great with us though. They entertained Owen so we could cry and call and just process what had happened. They gave us fastpasses and took us to get hugs from Pluto. We probably should have gone back to our hotel, but we ended up blowing up at the cast members at the star tours which we ended up not doing at all. After lunch we were a little better, but, I didn’t feel like I was there. Felt like I was walking around in a dream. I just wanted to make sure Owen had fun and he did. He loved Sci-fi and Toy Story Midway Mania.
We woke up Wednesday with renewed determination to have a good time. We headed to the animal kingdom and got pictures with some of Owen’s favorites: Russel from Up and Flik from A Bug’s Life. We made a last minute decision to use our Landry’s card to get into Yak and Yeti because it was crazy crowded anyway. Glad we did because it ended up being one of my favorite meals of the trip surprisingly. We had fastpasses for Navi River Journey which was actually pretty cool despite the meh reviews. The petting zoo was a disappointment. The animals weren’t social like last year. Maybe because it was later in the day and there were more people. Owen enjoyed the safari though. Dinner was at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We didn’t see any animals during dinner, but the food was really good. Well, the one dish anyway. I remembered why I hadn’t originally scheduled a big meal for lunch though. We were a little too full to enjoy everything, but nothing wrong with leftovers for breakfast. 
Thursday we went back to the magic kingdom. It was a bit more crowded than the first morning, but we managed to do the rest of the rides on our list plus the mine train again and the barnstormer another few times. I finally got to have my dole whip pineapple upside-down cake that was almost as good as I expected it to be. Dinner was at Be Our Guests. I think Owen liked the restaurant, but he was going a little nuts, I think because he was so tired. He liked meeting The Beast at the end though.
Friday we did EPCOT again. Not quite as crowded as the first day we went, but still a little nuts. We back back to the hotel after our Via Napoli lunch and went swimming. That kid would have lived in the pool if we let him. I was a little too cold though. After the pool we went back to EPCOT for our fastpasses and to eat dinner at The Land. Owen needed to do Nemo again so we spent a little while after at the Living Seas. He liked the manatees. One even made him jump as it swam buy :)
Saturday we went back to the Animal Kingdom. I think it was the least crowded day of the trip. We did the playground again and the Nemo show. Bryan and I did Flight of Passage which was just so cool. The seat vibrated and tickled my tummy though, ha ha. Dinner was at I’ll Mulino which is always one of our favorites of the trip. Owen was happy to play on the little playground by the Swan right before.
Sunday we had one last character meal before heading home. It was nice to actually do something Disney-like on the last day. I think it put Owen in a better mood too. I asked him if he was excited to go back home and he said, “not really.” Stuffing ourselves worked out well for that hour long delay we faced at the airport. Then there was drama because they switched Owen’s seat without informing us. Fortunately there was a lovely woman next to us who agreed to switch seats. Owen had a good time at the airport too playing with a little girl. He really needs to hang out with kids more often.
So it wasn’t the best trip, but it wasn’t completely ruined or anything. Owen had a blast which is the important part. We didn’t think we would be going back for a while, but I’m still not pregnant, so who knows.