We went to Disney and Sea World with Andrew's family the week before Christmas. I think I can safely say, we ALL had a great time. Going into the trip, some were sick with a cold/flu and some were exhausted, but we all managed to have a great time! I think the adults might have had as much fun as Lila! As a parent, it's truly a joy to watch your child get excited about things - especially things like Mickey and Minnie! Does it get any better than that?? I looked like a crazy person as I walked through both parks with my smile from ear to ear! I couldn't help myself - I was just so excited to watch Lila's emotions as we walked through the parks.
We started out with Disney World. We started prepping Lila about four months ago watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and watching Disney sing along videos (especially the Disneyland sing along video - that prepped her quite a bit!) She definitely knew all the characters ahead of time - Mickey, Minnie, Donald(aka Donna), Pluto (Poo-toe), Goofy (Goosie), and some of the Princesses (Snow White "So White", Ariel).
We stayed at Downtown Disney which proved to be an amazing location. It was filled with shops, restaurants, and Santa!! With just a short, five minute walk, we headed there every night! What a great spot!
"Meeting" Shamu was amazing! Because she was "handicapped" due to her leg, we were able to get prime seats to every show. Strollers aren't allowed at the shows and exhibits unless 1) your child is disabled or 2) your child is asleep - I thought that was impressive!! Lila fit into both categories. Most of the time, she was "disabled" due to her leg and the rest of the time she was asleep. I would venture to say that she enjoyed Sea World so much more than Disney World. That was really nice because I got in free (educator's Study Pass) and she got in free (less than two years old). Check out
http://www.mousesavers.com/ It has all the secret coupons, FAQs, etc. It was so helpful for us, being that it was our first time visiting with a child.
She is still talking about Shamu!
For those of you wondering about "the schedule", Lila was amazing! Each day, we were prepared to head out early, be home shortly after lunch, take a nap, then do whatever we decided for the evening. We quickly changed our plans when we saw how long Lila could "hang." We stayed at both parks until about 3:00 p.m.! We couldn't believe it! Our poor little girl took a nap both days from about 3:45-6:00 p.m.! Boy, was her internal clock way off! She'd get up and we'd head out to dinner. The second morning, she slept until 7:45 a.m. which is much later than our 6:30-6:45 wake up!! We couldn't believe it! It's amazing what that extra hour will do for a parent's body! We woke up feeling as if we'd slept for days!
