Day 2-Magic Kingdom

 We started our Tuesday by catching the bus that left from our resort at 8:15 am to head to Magic Kingdom. We arrived around 8:40 to take advantage of our early entry however headed towards Adventureland which doesn't open until 9 am. 

Once they let us through that rope we headed straight for Haunted Mansion. We all loved this ride! 

The rest of our morning went a little like this: 

Pirates of the Caribbean

Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Nutella, Fruit and Waffle Snack

Met the Stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine

After this we decided to head over to Fantasyland to check out Goofy's Barnstormer. We knew Lucy did not enjoy Slinky Dog the previous day but I was sure that Barnstormer was much tamer and that she would love it. Evan was more hesitant but Lucy was willing to try it. Lucy did not love it. She kept yelling, "This is just like Slinky Dog!" After this we decided that Evan and Lucy would bow out of any future roller coaster adventures. 

Dumbo the Flying Elephant was next up and was another one loved by all! This was also where it started sprinkling and raining down on us. After the ride we decided to head into The Carnival store to eat our PBJ lunches and wait out the rain for a bit. 

The rain continued so we got our ponchos out and decided to just keep going. We headed over to Tomorrowland next where we checked out Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which was very similar to the Toy Story Mania ride from the day prior but not as fun. We also decided to see what Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor was all about. This was more of a comedy show and Evan was picked out of the crowd to be "that" guy, who the Monsters kept making fun of. It was a great break from the rain. 

Afterwards we rode on Under the Sea-Little mermaid ride, we met Rapunzel and Tiana and checked out It's a Small World. At this point, due to a staff appreciation event, we had about 2 1/2 hours left in the park since they would be closing at 4:30 pm. It had also been steadily sprinkling/raining since 11:30 so the park was near empty. 

We decided to split up; Evan and Lucy went to Haunted Mansion two more times and Pirates of the Caribbean. Liam, Caroline and I wanted to do the roller coasters. We walked onto Big Thunder Mountain Railway (so much fun!Liam's favorite roller coaster), waited for 45 minutes to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train and then met back up with Evan and Lucy to check out Peter Pan (walked on) and had 20 minutes left before closing to get in line for Jungle Cruise. Jungle Cruise was a nice way to close out the day, our guide was very funny and it was nice and relaxing. 

As we were leaving the park the kids kept asking if we were going to go back to Hollywood Studios to use our pass for The Rise of the Resistance Ride that broke down on us the day prior. We decided to head back to our resort first since we would have needed to take the Skyliner anyway to HS but after getting to the room we decided we had probably seen most of the ride anyway and didn't really feel like going back in the cold rain. 

Our dinner that night was at the Wilderness Lodge. We would be dining with Snow White, the evil Queen, Dopey and Grumpy. The best time we could get for our reservation was 8:30 pm and Liam was really feeling tired. He slightly rallied but after dinner while waiting for our Uber to pick us up he fell asleep in one of the lobby chairs. Our dinner was very good and the characters were fantastic. The girls had a conversation with the Queen and Snow White and we saw many fun dances put on by Dopey and Grumpy.

 We had another wonderful day!

Day 1-Hollywood Studios

We started our Monday with the plan to spend the day at Hollywood Studios. I woke up at 6:50 am to buy Genie+ for the day; this is a "line skipping" feature that Disney now offers for a cost per person. ($15 plus tax) One can select a ride at 7 am and depending on how quickly you click the buttons or what your cell phone signal is you are given a reserved time to experience that ride. We were able to book Slinky Dog Dash for 12:30 pm. 

We left our hotel room around 7:45 or 8 am to get in line for the Skyliner which takes us from our resort directly to the park. Our hotel room was close to the Disney Riveria Hotel and so we got on the Skyliner from that spot and then transferred to the main hub where there was already quite a bit of a line but it moved quickly and we were walking into the park at 8:30 am for early entry. We were all pretty excited so I encouraged the kids to run to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway for our first ride; we then all found out there is no running at Disney World, as a couple cast members kindly called out to us. 

We all loved this ride! It was so fun and cute. 

We had reservations at Oga's Cantina at 9 am but didn't finish with our first ride until 9:15. I wasn't too worried about our time slot as I had heard as long as you show up they will still let you in. The only issue was in Star Wars land nothing is labeled so we had to keep stopping and asking cast members which way to go to get to Oga's. We finally got there at 9:30 and they sat us at 9:45. 

Oga's Cantina is a bar designed after one of the Star Wars movie. We weren't necessarily feeling like having a drink that early in the morning and told our waitress we really just wanted to look around. Everyone really enjoyed the detail and of course DJ R3X in the corner. 

After Oga's we spent time just walking around enjoying the design and detail that made you feel like you were really in a Star Wars movie. We saw Storm Troopers, Chewbacca and Rei and loved how they all interacted with the audience. Liam had a huge smile on his face the entire time. 

We decided to catch The Muppets 3D Show next. That was a lot of fun and a nice break from the walking we had already done. 

While waiting in line to meet Minnie Mouse the kids ate their PBJ sandwiches and I was able to book our next Genie+ ride, Toy Story Mania for 3 pm. 

We then decided to walk down Sunset Boulevard and see Tower of Terror. 

We headed over to Toy Story Land to get onto Slinky Dog Dash next. Lucy and I rode up front, Caroline and Evan were next and Liam and another kid were in the 3rd car. Slinky Dog is a roller coaster and has a bit more bark to it then other Disney roller coasters. Liam, Caroline and I loved it and Lucy spent most of the time telling me that she didn't like it and wanted it to stop right now. Evan's face in our ride picture doesn't look too thrilled either. It took Lucy some time to recover from Slinky Dog and she still likes to tell us that "its the worse ride ever!" Caroline said it was her favorite ride of the day. 

We then headed to the Frozen Sing Along Show which was a lot of fun. 

We met Olaf, headed back to Star Wars land to walk around. Got on Toy Story Mania ride, had some pop tarts for a snack, saw a Calvacade with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, checked out Lightning McQueens Racing Academy, built Light sabers for the kids, checked out Indiana Jones Stunt show, went on Alien Swirling Saucers Ride and saw Goofy as we were walking to dinner. 

We ate dinner at Prime Time Cafe where we had yummy milkshakes, pot roast, meatloaf and fried chicken. 

We then decided to ride Toy Story Mania again (although Lucy and I had to leave while waiting in line because she needed to use the bathroom). This was deemed another favorite ride of the day by many of us. 

At 8:30 pm we had to make a decision, either get in line for Tower of Terror, Rise of the Resistance or Smuggler's Run. We decided since most people say Rise of the Resistance is the best ride that Disney World has right now we had better do that one. Wait time wasn't too bad but unfortunately the ride broke down while we were in line and we probably waited an hour in total before it got up and running again. They let us on the ride and we probably got through half of it before it broke down again and this time since it was already 10 pm and the park closed at 9 they kicked us off the ride with a lightning lane added to our magic bands to use on Tuesday only. We got back to our hotel around 10:30 that night and everyone was exhausted. We all slept well that night!

*Most of the rides at Hollywood Studios this day had a 60-240 minute wait time. We were only able to book 3 rides with our Genie+ which did not make me very happy. It was very busy. However, I do think we picked the right ride to go on at the end of the night even with it breaking down. Smuggler's Run most likely would have made half our party motion sick, we thought that Liam, maybe Caroline and I would do Tower of Terror but Evan and Lucy were going to take the exit after exploring the lobby. (we had heard that most likely one of the elevators was not working hence the long wait) 

The part of Rise of the Resistance that we did see was pretty amazing. 

Surprises and travel

 One of the kids Christmas presents from us was a trip to Disney World in February. The kids all worked together to open that present on Christmas morning; inside the box was a letter from Mickey Mouse inviting them to come meet all of his friends, a Disney calendar countdown, some fidgets for line waiting, some Mouse ears and some Disney T-shirts. 

We spent the month of January watching Disney movies that we had not seen yet, such as Winnie the Pooh and refreshed ourselves on other movies like Alice in Wonderland and Star Wars, we also watched a few YouTube videos of some of the rides that Disney offers so everyone would have an idea of what lied ahead. We watched some documentaries of how Walt Disney came to be such a success and read a few books about who he was as well. 

Mom poured over all of the Disney blogs and Facebook groups to find out all of the tips of how to make our Disney trip a success. Aunt Ellen and Uncle Blair were also very helpful with any questions that we had since they both have been multiple times. 

Finally our travel day arrived. We packed the suitcases, loaded the car and drove to Chicago-Midway airport for our direct fly to Orlando. 

This was the kids first experience on an airplane (Liam has flown once before but as an infant). Our Southwest flight was fantastic. We had no turbulence, takeoff and landing were very smooth and the kids were thrilled to either watch Aladdin on our travel DVD or play on Liam's Nintendo Switch. 

We arrived in Orlando and used a car service to pick us up and take us to our resort. We stayed the week at Caribbean Beach Resort. We loved the island theming, the kids loved the pool and we used the Disney Skyliner to get to two of the parks. Our room was adequate; we had two queen beds and a 5th sleeper that pulled down and the kids took turns sleeping on that throughout the week. 

We ordered groceries through InstaCart and had them delivered to our resort. We put in our order when we landed in Orlando and by the time we got to the resort they had already been delivered to bell services. This allowed us to pack snacks, water and PBJs in our backpack for each day at the park. 

Everyone was excited to finally be at Disney World; now we just had to get a good nights sleep for the next fun filled day!

Liam at 11 years

 Liam at 11 years old is 4 feet 7 1/2 inches tall and weighs 65 pounds. He is in the fifth grade in Mrs. Pacey's class and really enjoys her teaching style. Liam plays the euphonium in band, taking a bus after school to the junior high and then a bus back home 4 days a week. He also takes piano lessons weekly and it is fun to hear him continue to improve with his music. 

Liam still loves sports with baseball continuing to be the number one thing that he wants to do, watch and talk about. I have tried to encourage him to look into golf or wrestling but he tells me that learning a golf swing will be detrimental to his baseball swing. One would think wrestling would be a natural ability due to the fact that he tries to wrestle his sisters on a daily basis, but again he disagrees. 

Liam goes to bed between 8-8:30 pm and is the first riser, usually waking between 6-6:30 am. He has no trouble going to sleep at night and is usually asleep before his sisters and nothing can wake him. He has had a few sleep overs in the past and really struggles staying awake when his friends are being goofy and talking before bed. 

Liam still enjoys all of his screen time. He plays Fortnite with friends and cousins, Zelda, Minecraft and MarioKart. When he watches TV he will watch Big City Greens, Teen Titans Go and has started to watch some Twilight Zone episodes, Mystery Science Theater or The Mandalorian with Dad and Marvel movies with Mom. 

He still enjoys reading with historical fiction being his favorite. He tends to read before bedtime. Liam does a great job in school. He gets very good grades on his tests and assignments. He has good story formation with his short stories and his teacher has asked him to teach his peers how to divide fractions. 

Liam also still loves puzzles. We all have been working on and off since January on a 2000 piece puzzle which we just completed. In the end, only 13 pieces were missing, considering we have a dog who loves to eat fallen puzzle pieces these are pretty good odds. 

Liam also enjoys playing board games with the family. Throw, throw burrito, Exploding kittens, Clue, Monopoly, Stratego and Chutes and Ladders are some favorites. 

Liam does a pretty good job eating. He has a select few foods that he does not eat like fish or green beans but overall dinner for him is without complaint. 

We have been giving him more responsibilities around the house such as unloading the dishwasher, vacumming, taking the dog out and feeding him in the mornings, walking the dog (only if we are with him), packing his own lunch for school, putting away his own laundry and cleaning the bathroom. He does these things with much complaining but does eventually do them. 

Liam continues to be a rule follower and likes to please the adults in his life by being prepared whether that is with sports, music, school or his parents. He does not like to disappoint others. He also is a very social kid. He has many friends in the neighborhood, at school, at church and his cousins continue to be some of his favorite people. 

He has started to have some mild anxiety. Usually he is over thinking things but it tends to get his stomach in knots. We wanted to make sure it was just anxiety and so we had some blood and lab work done a few months ago. Neither Liam or I were worried about the blood draw as Liam has no issues with getting his vaccines when it is time to do that. However, as we were leaving the lab area and walking out to the waiting area Liam started having cold sweats and felt like he couldn't walk and was going to get sick. After sitting in the waiting area for a good 15-20 minutes he was able to go to the car and now we know that Liam has the same issues as Evan where he can feel light headed after a needle punctures his body. 

We have starting having many conversations about what the next school year will be like and how nervous he is to go to a new school with new people, what if he goes to a place and his stomach feels funny, what techniques to use when you need to calm down and center yourself to help him. This usually does work and he can get out of his head and think clearly. 

Liam continues to amaze us with his sense of humor, his smart thinking and creative strategies to help him with school work and his sports. He is a hard worker with his music as well even if piano is not his favorite hobby.