I spent a lot of time before our trip, planning and planning again. My family prob. thought I was a bit obsessed, but I was trying to accomplish the best trip without spending a fortune. And I wanted to have some great experiences. Overall I was happy with our planning, although if we were to do it again there is probably a few minor things I would do differently.
We drove down and back stopping each way in GA. to spend the night. It was a long drive- and if you know me well you know I hate long drives. However, I have to say the drive itself was some of the best family time. I loved listening to my kids interact with each. It can be quite hysterical.
We stayed at the Art of Animation Resort, and we had a dining plan and we had the waterparks and more package. We didn't have the park hopper option. We started with the park hopper package but then changed to the waterparks and more option- they cost the same price so were interchangeable. The waterparks and more package worked out well for us-we used a lot of the options: we all went to Disney Quest once, and the girls went a 2nd time; Richard and I went mini golfing twice, and we went to one water park once and another water park twice. It was really a nice way to add some things in instead of just the regular Disney parks.
Dining: We had the option of several sit down meals and here is where we ate for them:
The House of Blues: by far the best food- it was so good ( at least for adults)! Jayna wasn't thrilled with the menu though and ended up ordering from the kids menu which was fine.
Sci-Fi-Diner- cool theming- sitting in the cars in a "drive in" theater, food was ok
50's Diner- not bad
Via Napoli-in Epcot in Italy, the waiter recommends we take Italian lessons! Food was pretty good and it was nice to try something different.
Then we did 2 character meals- prob. one would be enough, we did a dinner buffet at The Crystal Palace and a breakfast at Cape May Cafe.
One of the biggest things for me was "Getting my brave on"- I am not a thrill rider, but did get brave and ride rides that were scary to me! And I did the snorkeling adventure at Typhoon Lagoon- the first time I did it without snorkel gear, because it freaks me out, the 2nd time I used the gear and it was very cool.
We spent time at all of the parks: Hollywood Studios (the favorite for all the kids!), Animal Kingdom-Richard liked seeing the bats, Magic Kingdom- the Monsters laugh floor was hysterical and I liked one of the shows, Jayna still liked "the small world" ride- she rode that tons when she was 3 and still enjoys it, and Epcot- the Epcot day I was beat, so we didn't see all of the "world" that I would have liked to, but I did really enjoy visiting the different countries and Jayna enjoyed a Perry the platypus adventure- really quite cool. Epcot was Richard's favorite.
We had a great time, some things we did together and sometimes we separated. The kids were a great age to go. It will be a long time before we take another "big vacation" but I'm already to start planning!
And so it goes...
