The Most Magical Place on Earth has been calling our oldest daughter, Wynter's name since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. Her yelling "Mommy come and look" every time she saw their commercial on tv really nudged me to look into it. Her first trip to Disney was the summer of 2018, although we have pictures and videos, she doesn't remember much of it. With restrictions lightening up and places opening, Willie and I decided that it was a great idea to surprise our soon to be 5 year old with her trip request to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
In true Fitz Pack fashion, we invited our immediate family and a few friends to help us celebrate our oldest princess birthday weekend. We rented a van from Avis using my work discount code and we booked a 2-bedroom apartment style room at Homewood Suites by Hilton-Orlando Theme Parks. Our travel days were October 22-24, 2021. That was over seven months ago and so much has changed since then. But here's how our weekend went.
Wynter had no idea that we were going out of town until she saw her Minnie Mouse suitcase packed. Of course she was excited and asked where we were going. Careful not to share too many details, I told her we were going to Orlando. Honestly, she didn't care. As long as we're staying in a hotel, she's satisfied. The beauty of it all is that she was already filled with joy just being able to travel. Having to keep secrets from her for months ate me up. However, I'm so glad I kept it together because when the surprises started rolling out, her reactions were priceless!
Early Saturday morning, I laid out a similar purple Minnie Mouse dress that Wynter had been requesting for quite some time. As she was getting her last bit of snoozes, I prepped everything we needed to embrace the fun filled day. Waking her with gentle excitement, I asked her if she knew what today was? She replies," My Birthday"! No, try again... So she looked around and saw the Minnie Mouse costume. Boy, did her eyes light up!! She guessed "Disney World"!!! I was so relieved that part of the surprise was behind us. As she was getting dressed, one of her favorite cousins was on her way to surprise her and join us on our Magic Kingdom adventure. Their greeting was a cute tear jerker.
Once the girls greeted each other, they were ready to go. We packed the family in the mini van and headed to Magic Kingdom. When we arrived they had to so many covid protocols. Our plans were to arrive as soon as the park opened, but of course that would've been too easy. Arriving 2 hours after the park opened had its cons. First, we had to park a little distance from the entrance. Not aware that they no longer offered the shuttle ride from the parking lot to the entrance, we spent about 20 minutes walking to the ticket counter. There was a wait at every counter. My parents and bestfriends took the kids to relax in the shade while Willie and I waited for our tickets. After about 35 minutes of waiting, we ran into a slight issue. Our little cousin didn't purchase her ticket under our group reservation and the ticket clerk wasn't allowing us to pick up her ticket without her parent/guardian present. Well, that was an issue because she was dropped off with the belief that the process would be smooth since we had all of the supporting documents. After about 10 minutes, the Manager authorized the clerk to move forward. I get that they were following safety protocols, but there's no way we would randomly pickup a child and take them to Disney, unless we're crazy!...And we're NOT! Thankfully I had pre-registered everyone else in our party, I cant image how much longer it would have taken if I hadn't.
Now its time to have some long awaited fun! The kids energy was on 10! They were so excited, us adults were too. My bestfriend share the same birthday as Wynter. So this was a double celebration. The monorail ride to Magic Kingdom brought back so many memories from my adolescent years, when my parents took my sisters and I to Disney. In that moment, I was so grateful that hubby and I was able to make the sacrifice for our girls to have this experience, not only with us but with their grandparents.
Our first stop was the the souvenir store. Not to purchase anything but to get our FREE celebration buttons. The last time we went to Disney I was disappointed that we missed out on the cute buttons that advertise if its your birthday, anniversary, or first time visit. So if you planning on visiting one of the parks soon, be sure to get your free button.
Wynter spotted Minnie Mouse from the balcony and was determined to get to her. She wanted to hug her so badly but Covid stopped the character interactions that used to take place. All it took was for her to turn around to see Cinderella's Castle. Her disappointment faded away and the excitement quickly returned. It was time for Wynter's last surprise of the day. Willie's parents were eager to celebrate her and traveled from Virginia to be with her/us for one night only. When we got off of the Dumbo ride, they were waiting at the exit. She was caught completely off guard. It was funny and cute.
We were able to ride 5 or 6 rides throughout the park. Definitely not as much as we'd hope to, but the girls were over the rides and wanted to play in the splash pad area. They changed into their swimsuits and raced to the pad. It was a relaxing moment for us all. We had about 30 minutes before the fireworks show started, to sit around and watch them play.
When the fireworks started, we made our way to Cinderella's Castle for a better view. It was absolutely beautiful. The bright pink and purple fluorescent lights that bounced off of the castle was magical. We were all amazed! The show lasted for about 15 minutes. Being that is one of the last events before the park closes, we knew we had to make our way back to the front of Main Street to get to Plaza Ice Cream Parlor before the lines wrapped around the building. Willie and I are huge fans of the brownie and ice cream sundae. We would make jokes about spending $100+ on park entry just to get a sundae. Yeah, no, that would be absorb. So we save the ice cream sundaes for last, with hopes to saver the flavor for as long as possible.
After an eventful day, it was time to part ways with the Most Magical Place on Earth. Wynter had the greatest time of her soon to be 5 year old life. Although we had a slight hiccup at the start of our day, the money and time was well spent. As parents, making and seeing your kids happy is extremely rewarding.
Have you been to Disney or any theme parks lately? Are there any covid-19 protocols? We'd love to hear from you. Thank you for reading another Fitz Pack blog.
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