Disney debrief

So, we've been home for a week now, and we've all finally readjusted to being back home. I was skeptical going into the trip that the kids would all be entirely too young to appreciate Disney World. I was completely wrong. Yes, Brandon was too young to appreciate it, but Kyle and Natalie had a blast. Kyle loved the roller coasters and the handful of shows we saw. Natalie loved the race cars and looking out for princesses at every turn. I was surprised by how much fun they had and how much they enjoyed themselves.

The last week of February must be ideal for crowd avoidance because we hardly spent any time waiting in lines the whole time we were there.

We also enjoyed a beautiful week weather-wise. It was cool in the mornings--if you think 50- and 60-degree weather is cool. Here in St. John's we'd call that summer. In the afternoons the temperatures were in the mid-70's to mid-80's the entire week. We even made it into the pool at the resort a couple of times.

We spent three of the five days we went to Disney World at the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom definitely had the most to offer small kids. Natalie's pretty small, but even she met the height requirement for the bulk of the rides there. Kyle could ride everything but Space Mountain. The kids also enjoyed the day we spent at Hollywood Studios. There's a really cool Toy Story Mania ride, a cute Playhouse Disney Live! show, and a fun Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground there. We'd go to the parks early in the morning and head back to our resort around 2 in the afternoon. The crowds were definitely thinnest first thing in the morning and would start building up in the early afternoon.

Disney World was exactly as I remembered it from over 20 years ago when I went as a kid, and it's really just as nice and clean as it was then. It's also just as cheesy. I think it's really best enjoyed by young kids now that I've seen it again. I would imagine we'll go again in a few years, but by the time the kids are 10 or so I think they'd be over the whole thing. Shaun and I had a really great time watching the kids enjoy themselves, but there really wasn't a whole lot there for adults.

The very best part of the week was getting to spend time with Shaun's mom, my mom and dad, Shaun's grandparents, and my brother and sister-in-law. I know the kids loved seeing and playing with everyone, and Shaun and I did, too. It had been way too long since we'd seen family--that's what we get for moving away to Canada!

The worst part of the week was, once again, Liberty International Airport. Granted, traveling was so smooth on our way down to Florida that I almost had to pinch myself, but when we flew home last Sunday night we spent the entire time we were in Newark wondering if our flight was going to take off at all. First it was on time, then it was delayed an hour and a half, then it was on time again but at a different gate. Then we got on board and were told two people were going to have to get off the plane to accommodate for the extra fuel we needed to take on since the weather was bad in St. John's and we might get all the way there and not be able to land and have to be diverted. Great. We sat on the runway for an hour and half before we finally took off, and the kids were tired and grumpy.

I didn't care what the weather was like in St. John's--I needed to get out of Newark! Even if it meant landing in the sleet in St. John's. And then having to break through an inch of ice covering the Trailblazer before we could get in it and drive home. Then getting home at midnight and having a battle with Kyle over why he was going to bed and not playing his Wii in the middle of the night. I was so happy to get out of Newark, and I was even happier about getting out of Newark when a huge snowstorm hit New Jersey on Monday morning and I imagined how bad things could've gotten if we'd been stranded there!

It was a great vacation, we all had a ton of fun, and now that the laundry is done, the suitcases are put away, and we've all adjusted to all the time changes, it was totally worth the planning and effort! I might just have enough energy to attempt another vacation in about six months.