"I'm Going To Disney World!"

When Hubby accepted a new job in Western Kentucky, my first thought was that I was going to miss my Illinois family, friends, and community every single day for the rest of my life.  My second thought was, "I'm going to Disney World!"  We had never been able to take family vacations before Hubby accepted his new job.  His work was too vital at the Illinois coal mine to be gone for 5 consecutive days.  We tried to take vacations twice:  One had to be cancelled at the last minute because of a project at work, and the other was miserable because he was on the phone with work for most of our trip.  But this current job is an answered prayer.  Hubby loves the work he does.  He is respected by his coworkers and superiors.  And we finally have the time and resources to take family vacations!  In fact, this month we took our third annual family vacation, and we were finally able to visit the most magical place east of the Mississippi river:  Disney World!

This may come as a surprise to some (pretend to be surprised), but I am a little uptight.  Some might even say I'm a control freak.  I simply say that I like to have a schedule.  But, after searching google and asking advice from some friends with Disney experience, I decided to let a travel agent do our booking and go with the flow.  A very wise man said to me, "Don't overthink your time with the Mouse!"  Upon seeing a family thumbing through a binder full of Fast Pass + and dining schedules with scowls on all of their faces while waiting in line on our first day at Magic Kingdom, I decided that this advice was worth passing onto others.  Don't overthink your time with the Mouse, friends!  I didn't micromanage this trip and I really think that added to our joy. 

One thing I wanted to avoid was wasting most of our time standing in line to meet characters, so I let each kiddo choose one character that they absolutely could not leave Florida without meeting.  Smarty Pants chose Rapunzel (he flirted, but I talked him out of a proposal) and Sassy Pants chose Minnie Mouse.  We saw quite a few others, as it was a nice break from the heat, but we didn't obsess over character photo ops.

 While Disney World was our ultimate destination, we made two stops on the way.  Hubby's parents' dear friends live in Florida and we were able to visit them.  They were so hospitable - making us lunch and taking us to the ocean.  I am so thankful for the beautiful day we had together!

And, of course, each of our family vacations requires a geek stop.  This year:  Kennedy Space Center!  

I have met families who swear off going to Disney World and families who would (and some who do) go every year.  I am somewhere in the middle.  We had a great time.  I enjoyed watching my kids soak in the magic that is Disney World.  But, this tightly-wound mama will be glad to wait five or ten years before doing it again...  unless they start serving adult beverages in the lines before then!