WE DID DISNEY!

It feels like such an accomplishment ;).  Truth be told we only took one child, so I really should leave the "accomplishment" to those with multiple children while a-Disney-ing. {Erin Schwant}

We surprised Bennett the morning of the 12th when he woke up.

 Balloons in a big box, with a sheet printed out that had Mickey and a picture of the Walt Disney Pictures logo on it {he associated that white castle with a blue background as "Disney"}.  He was still waking up and pretty much in shock but he got it and as he woke up he became even more excited.

We didn't give him much time to think about it though because we jumped in the car and left the house within the hour, leaving the other two babies with my mom who would be trading off babysitting duties with Stephen's parents while we were gone.

The drive was surprisingly easy and fast.  Bennett had movies and a new small lego set {I know...brilliant mother letting him play with legos in his carseat.  Every five seconds it was "Momma I dropped a VERY important piece!" "Momma it fell AGAIN" "Momma" "Momma" "Momma!!!!"} and color wonder sheets and all sorts of activities.

Our first "magic moment" was actually pulling up to the Walt Disney sign and our resort under a double FULL rainbow {no kidding}.

{you can only see one but there was one underneath it too! and you could see the WHOLE thing!}

We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside and, after hearing much about it being like a glorified motel, I have to say it was WONDERFUL.  Super clean and comfortable and convenient and the grounds {as all Disney grounds} were perfect to a "T".

We even had a letter from Princess Tiana and a message from Mickey the Mouse himself on the answering machine wishing Bennett an awesome trip.  Bennett was overwhelmed.

That first night we drove {mistake} to Downtown Disney.  Just FYI...iPhones and other GPS's do NOT know how to navigate the Disney grounds.  Or they think they do, and might have the correct route highlighted at a very zoomed in status, but might tell you to "stay straight ahead" when you actually should have taken a hard left.

We finaly made it to the T-Rex restaurant and had about an hour to play around Downtown Disney.  Our first stop was the lego store and Bennett went cuh-ray-zay with lego-vision overload.

He wanted to buy EVERYTHING.  But actually was appeased with the lego race station outside where he built and raced his very own creation.

Dinner was Bennett's first experience with anything remotely Disney-ish {moving dinosaurs and noise and light shows every 20 minutes} and at first he was wary, but warmed up quickly.

The next three days were spent at the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.  We threw in some Epcot, the Magic Kingdom Christmas Party, and a little more Magic Kingdom on the last night.  {watch out...picture overload}

{Bennett posing with his mommy's fanny pack that wasn't a fanny pack but a purse.  Loved it}

Of course I have so many opinions on what worked, what didn't, what we would do differently, where we would go, how we would handle it with the other two kids, etc.  But overall the trip was perfect.  Perfect because I was with my two main men and we had no schedule, no stress, no tears {until we told Bennett we had to leave, and even then they were brief}, and no rush.  I could go back tomorrow {seriously}.

I came home feeling refreshed and rested and in an incredibly good mood!!! :)

I LOVE DISNEY!!!!

In case you were wondering, magic moments 2, 3, 4, and 5 were as follows:

2.  The first parade we saw that first afternoon, when every. single. princess. blew him a kiss and told him happy birthday {he had a birthday pin}.  Mickey and Minnie waved.  So did nearly every single individual in that parade.  He even got a hug from one of Cinderella's mice.  He was in shock and I was crying.

3.  The night of the 13th Stephen had to drive to Tampa for a work dinner {whole reason we decided to go down there when we did} so Bennett and I got tickets to the Disney Christmas Party "thing."  After a quick run to Epcot during the in between time,

we ran back to the Magic Kingdom just in time for the Christmas parade at 8:15.  And they made it SNOW on Main Street.  It was amazing.  The parade was insane {-ly good} and everything was lit with Christmas lights.  Sitting there, watching the parade, watching Bennett, and watching it snow was surreal.  And magic moment number 3.

4.  Same night, after the parade and being a little frustrated because the park was a great deal MORE crowded than it had been that day and we were seriously missing Daddy, we went to Splash Mountain because Bennett had been proudly exclaiming that all he wanted to do that night was Splash Mountain {after riding Thunder Mountain with Stephen and me earlier in the day and screaming the whole time and then swearing he would never ride another ride with the word "mountain" in it}.  I was super excited and there was actually NO wait for that ride.  I literally get in the log boat, turn around to help him in, and he freezes.  I have to jump out of the moving boat, over the closed gate to get to him.  So, we did not do Splash Mountain.  Upon leaving, we hear what sounds like bombs and I realize the fireworks have started {way to go MOM}. We watch them on the bridge in Frontierland with a couple other people and they are amazing.  We have a completely unobstructed, clear, uncrowded view.  We think they are over and turn to leave and all of a sudden the ENTIRE SKY lights up and there are enormous fireworks completely surrounding us 360 degrees.  It both shocked us and moved me {again} to tears.  Bennett thought it was so cool that Disney "turned the night back into the day for a minute".

5.  Last night, after wonderful character dinner at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, we walk outside just in time for the fireworks, which we watch on the front porch of the restaurant.  We watch Mickey's Philharmagic {super cute} for the second time and then head over to the Haunted Mansion one more time and all three of us were hyped up for some reason.

{legit}

{I'm apparently missing my front tooth}

Bennett was so happy, and Stephen and I were giddy.  It was very late.  We rode the Haunted Mansion like it was the most amazing, happy, cheerful, sparkly ride in the entire place.  The memory of us running across the park, parking the stroller, and galloping into the Haunted Mansion warms my heart.

THE MAGIC OVERCAME ME ;)


I cannot wait to go back.  Next trip: PRINCESSES and SUPERHEROES {oh boy!}

p.s. if you are wondering why there are SO many pictures of Bennett and me, it's because Daddy doesn't exactly "do" rides that go in a remotely circular fashion..Dumbo, rockets, tea cups, etc etc.  So most of the kid friendly rides were momma friendly, too.  Not so Daddy ;) {Stephen is way more in to the roller coasters...Bennett is NOT}