A Trip to Disney World with the Family

After being overseas for a year and a half, and since Erin’s younger sister is now pregnant with their first child, Erin’s parents decided this would be an opportune time for a mini family reunion. So, on May 5 we joined Erin’s parents and her sister and brother-in-law for a magical week at Disney World. We both decided after the trip that this vacation in Disney World was the best Disney World trip we’ve ever taken. Maybe because this is the first time we’ve gotten to have the experience together as a couple. Or maybe because we’re older and more used to travel so we did not get absolutely exhausted or tired of walking. Plus, we have no young children and judging by the fights, screaming, crying, and even cursing we decided Disney World is not “the happiest place on earth” for those with small members of the family.

The week we were at Disney World was really the perfect week to be there. Crowds were unbelievably small! We made a point to get to the parks in the morning when they opened, and this enabled us to ride all the major attractions with practically no waits all morning long! The weather was perfect (well, except for a 20-minute storm one afternoon complete with hurricane force winds and a drenching downpour) and the place we stayed was really very pretty. (For those of you who care or know about Disney World, we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside.)

We’ll spare everyone the details, but we thoroughly enjoyed almost all the attractions and shows (minus those only truly appreciated by preschoolers) in four of the Disney World parks. We did not go to either of the water parks, but apparently we have the best water park in the country right here in the state of Texas: Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels.

With Disney World park hopper passes, one day we managed to actually visit three parks. That was a tiring day and not recommended unless you are down to your final day on a week-long trip and realize you are still in need of that very specific postcard and some music from Disney World to take the magic back home with you. We didn’t find the postcard, but we have been listening to our Disney World CD at home all week. Having the music is both good and bad. It brings back fond memories of a fun family vacation, but of course it is making us both wish we were still on that fun family vacation.

The week was a great combination of being with family and getting time to ourselves. Erin’s parents are crazy about Walt Disney World and have visited more times than anyone else we know. It was perfect to just follow them around the first few days – no map needed! John got to see a Cirque du Soleil show for the first time in his life and was duly impressed. We had some great meals all together that provided plenty of opportunity for laughter and fun. We enjoyed a bus ride one night with a comedian bus driver who entertained the entire weary busload with jokes, interesting information, and trivia questions. One of the highlights of our week with just the two of us was a dinner at California Grill. Erin had called trying to get reservations a couple weeks ahead of time and there was no availability unless we wanted to eat at 10 p.m. This is fine for life in Spain, but it does not bode well at Disney World when we are waking up at 6:30 in the morning to start our magical day of fun. John called to try once again for a reservation after we had already arrived at Disney World. He scored a table for two at this place during the time when Magic Kingdom fireworks were going to be displayed and could be seen right from the restaurant balcony with piped-in music! Erin should not be so surprised when John can pull things off like this since it seems to be a regular occurrence, but she still is really impressed by her highly skilled husband!

Disney World really proved to be “the happiest place on earth” last week (except for the families with young children in tow). Family, food, fun…what more could you ask for?