Heidi Goes to Disney World!
Let's go way back to January, when Heidi and I had the funnest adventure -- an impromptu trip to Disney World!
The Christmas season was crazy and we planned to have a quiet January doing nothing. But then Schwen texted to say she was going to a conference in Orlando and got a suite at a Disney Springs hotel and did we want to tag along? My first response was, no, that's crazy. I cannot plan a Disney trip in two weeks and leave all the other kids behind. But then Karl and I discussed it and actually, maybe it's perfect. Heidi's crazy for princesses. She does best one-on-one with her grownup. And we can do this sort of thing now! The kids are big(ger) and Karl's schedule is flexible and we have grandparents down the street! Let's do it!
There's a whole industry built around Disney planning. People book a year in advance and wake up at dawn on the appointed day to reserve certain experiences. Getting exactly the right FastPasses and restaurant reservations and a perfect itinerary to hit every feature can happen, and I loved doing that for the big kids last year (I also loved the games portion of the LSAT; I'm weird).
But two weeks' notice? I'm going to humblebrag: I put together a kick-ass plan on short notice. Let's proceed with the magic!
Heidi and I packed our new-from-Christmas duffel bags and marched through the airport like a couple of pros. The check-in lady was extremely impressed that we were traveling for four days with only personal items -- not even full carry-ons! Heidi gamely picked her airport breakfast and snacks and settled in with her new iPad. She sat calmly through the flight, watching movies and playing TocaBoca games while I read a book. It was fantastic.
In Orlando, we hopped in our Uber and Heidi said, "Take me to the Magic!" exactly as coached, which the driver totally ignored. It's a long haul from the airport to the magic, but we figured it out: walk from the parking lot to the gate, get our passes, wait for the ferry, ride the ferry, go through ticketing, rent a locker, and FINALLY the fun could begin! We got inside around 2:00. Heidi loved seeing the castle in the distance and walking up Main Street.
We kicked off by getting an overpriced hot dog because it was the first food we saw and Heidi was starving after missing lunch. Then we rode the Carousel twice because there was no line and she thought it was amazing. After that, FastPasses for Pooh's Adventure, which Heidi absolutely LOVED and would have ridden again except the non-FastPass line was 45 minutes. That was a hard lesson for Heidi. But we rallied with two five-minute-wait rides on Mad Hatter's Teacups.
And then the real magic began: princesses! I booked FastPasses to meet Cinderella even before we booked the plane tickets. We went in the "secret door" of the castle and there she was in her royal glory. Heidi was so overwhelmed she could not speak or really even make eye contact with her beloved. There was some anxious rending of garments and sucking of thumb. Heidi had already planned her Cinderella birthday party, so we brought Cinderella an invitation. Heidi touched the royal dress and posed for some photos. We also visited Elena, which was less nerve-racking because we'd never heard of her. And then we left the castle and Heidi blossomed into exuberant chatter about how SHE HAD JUST MET CINDERELLA AND SHE SAID SHE WOULD COME TO MY PARTY. Heidi was quite certain she and Cinderella were best friends even though she had been too overwhelmed to speak.
Heidi wanted to visit her BFF again, but alas, the line is really long without passes. But I could promise another visit two days later! When we emerged, we saw the wicked stepsisters leaving the castle and followed them for a meet-and-greet. Heidi absolutely loved them and totally bought their BS story about how they're actually just misunderstood.
We visited a few more attractions and then meandered up to Belle's castle for an early dinner. I was so excited to have grabbed a reservation in the dining room. It's very fancy and looks exactly like the movie. And the food was surprisingly good -- not just hot dogs and chicken nuggets served with entertaining flatware.
By the time we finished dinner, we were pooped and wanted to get back and see Kristen, so we got the Monorail back to the entrance, retrieved our travel bags from the locker, and headed out. I could not figure out where the hotel shuttle would be and we were tired so we got an Uber back. Good thing Kristen also goes to bed early; I think we were all asleep by 8:30. It felt like we had already had a LOT of magic.
For Day 2, we awoke bright and early and zipped to Animal Kingdom on the hotel shuttle. We had breakfast at Rainforest Cafe, which was super impressive. Obviously Heidi has no idea there's another one seven minutes from our house. There was much exclaiming about how much Fritz would love all the animals.
We started off in DinoLand. There was no one there first thing in the morning, so we rode the flying dinosaurs three times in a row without getting off.
And then the characters arrived! It quickly became clear that characters were much higher priority than rides. So we visited Donald, Daisy, and Scrooge several times each. She was not at all shy of the animal characters. Somehow the giant plastic heads made them far less intimidating than a human princess. Heidi hugged and high-fived and chatted with great energy. She basically spent the whole day beaming.
We did a lot of criss-crossing the park that day. There were only one or two rides in each part of the park that she could and/or wanted to do, so we would walk to a section, ride that ride, and then I'd ask what she wanted to do. Always: go see Donald/Daisy/Mickey again. So back to DinoLand we would go. I think we visited all of them three times.
We also rode Expedition Everest. This may have been a mistake, but I had grabbed FastPasses for it after Ingrid spent a YEAR telling Heidi it was the best thing ever. Heidi was probably the smallest person ever to ride it. She was maybe a quarter of an inch shy of the minimum height but the gate dude was not really paying attention. All was well and she squealed with glee through the first half of the ride, which happens in daylight and going forward like a normal ride. And then the bastard started going backwards in pitch darkness. There was terrified wailing, mostly by Heidi, but also by the adults. We all needed a minute to recover from that.
Somewhere in there, we saw the Nemo and Lion King shows. We both loved these, especially Nemo, which was a perfect CliffsNotes of the movie in 20 minutes. The safari adventure was also great, though perhaps less exciting to a kid who has grown up with regular visits to awesome zoos.
For our final day, we went back to Magic Kingdom. We were there for rope-drop and ready to get in a line early. I wanted to get in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but Heidi wanted to meet Tinkerbell (and I think she was traumatized for rollercoasters). So we got Starbucks breakfast and ate in line until Tink was ready to see people. It was totally cool! She sees people in this lovely garden habitat and looks authentically pixie-ish.
We happened to glimpse Mary Poppins on the way out, then rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets twice and waited a loooooong time to meet Aladdin and Jasmine. There was much hand-wringing about whether we would buy a Jasmine costume or Tinkerbell shoes (we eventually opted to walk back for Tink shoes).
We wandered a little more before it was time for the Disney piece de resistance: lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table. I basically planned the entire itinerary around being in MK on this day because a very helpful Disney specialist managed to find me a reservation. These reservations are the kind of experience people book a year in advance; it was pure luck that a spot opened up just when I called. I was not prepared for how intensely awesome it would be for our princess-obsessed child. We met Cinderella and went to the very authentic dining room. And then ALL THE PRINCESSES came. Snow White and Aurora, who don't appear anywhere else in the park, plus Rapunzel and Jasmine. At first, Snow White and Aurora made their way around the room and Heidi burst into big, wet, loud tears because she thought they had left without visiting her. But then all the royalty came to our table and chatted individually with Heidi and she was in pure heaven.
I thought maybe she would be done with princesses after that, but no. We had FastPasses to meet Rapunzel (because I hadn't realized she would be at lunch). I asked Heidi if she would rather see her again or swap passes for a ride and she looked at me like I was daft. So we met Rapunzel again, plus Tiana, who was super cool and did some twirling with Heidi.
After that, all she wanted to do was meet Goofy, so we saw Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Goofy (again). We were just about to leave when we realized -- gasp! -- we hadn't met Ariel! So we ducked into the grotto, which had a mercifully short line, and checked off our final princess. We even had one FastPass left, which we could have used for any number of attractions due to our original selection being unexpectedly closed, but Heidi said she was just ready to go home. She was utterly satisfied with life.
For fellow last-minuters, here's what I learned:
The Christmas season was crazy and we planned to have a quiet January doing nothing. But then Schwen texted to say she was going to a conference in Orlando and got a suite at a Disney Springs hotel and did we want to tag along? My first response was, no, that's crazy. I cannot plan a Disney trip in two weeks and leave all the other kids behind. But then Karl and I discussed it and actually, maybe it's perfect. Heidi's crazy for princesses. She does best one-on-one with her grownup. And we can do this sort of thing now! The kids are big(ger) and Karl's schedule is flexible and we have grandparents down the street! Let's do it!
There's a whole industry built around Disney planning. People book a year in advance and wake up at dawn on the appointed day to reserve certain experiences. Getting exactly the right FastPasses and restaurant reservations and a perfect itinerary to hit every feature can happen, and I loved doing that for the big kids last year (I also loved the games portion of the LSAT; I'm weird).
But two weeks' notice? I'm going to humblebrag: I put together a kick-ass plan on short notice. Let's proceed with the magic!
Heidi and I packed our new-from-Christmas duffel bags and marched through the airport like a couple of pros. The check-in lady was extremely impressed that we were traveling for four days with only personal items -- not even full carry-ons! Heidi gamely picked her airport breakfast and snacks and settled in with her new iPad. She sat calmly through the flight, watching movies and playing TocaBoca games while I read a book. It was fantastic.
In Orlando, we hopped in our Uber and Heidi said, "Take me to the Magic!" exactly as coached, which the driver totally ignored. It's a long haul from the airport to the magic, but we figured it out: walk from the parking lot to the gate, get our passes, wait for the ferry, ride the ferry, go through ticketing, rent a locker, and FINALLY the fun could begin! We got inside around 2:00. Heidi loved seeing the castle in the distance and walking up Main Street.
We kicked off by getting an overpriced hot dog because it was the first food we saw and Heidi was starving after missing lunch. Then we rode the Carousel twice because there was no line and she thought it was amazing. After that, FastPasses for Pooh's Adventure, which Heidi absolutely LOVED and would have ridden again except the non-FastPass line was 45 minutes. That was a hard lesson for Heidi. But we rallied with two five-minute-wait rides on Mad Hatter's Teacups.
And then the real magic began: princesses! I booked FastPasses to meet Cinderella even before we booked the plane tickets. We went in the "secret door" of the castle and there she was in her royal glory. Heidi was so overwhelmed she could not speak or really even make eye contact with her beloved. There was some anxious rending of garments and sucking of thumb. Heidi had already planned her Cinderella birthday party, so we brought Cinderella an invitation. Heidi touched the royal dress and posed for some photos. We also visited Elena, which was less nerve-racking because we'd never heard of her. And then we left the castle and Heidi blossomed into exuberant chatter about how SHE HAD JUST MET CINDERELLA AND SHE SAID SHE WOULD COME TO MY PARTY. Heidi was quite certain she and Cinderella were best friends even though she had been too overwhelmed to speak.
Heidi wanted to visit her BFF again, but alas, the line is really long without passes. But I could promise another visit two days later! When we emerged, we saw the wicked stepsisters leaving the castle and followed them for a meet-and-greet. Heidi absolutely loved them and totally bought their BS story about how they're actually just misunderstood.
We visited a few more attractions and then meandered up to Belle's castle for an early dinner. I was so excited to have grabbed a reservation in the dining room. It's very fancy and looks exactly like the movie. And the food was surprisingly good -- not just hot dogs and chicken nuggets served with entertaining flatware.
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| Try the gray stuff. |
For Day 2, we awoke bright and early and zipped to Animal Kingdom on the hotel shuttle. We had breakfast at Rainforest Cafe, which was super impressive. Obviously Heidi has no idea there's another one seven minutes from our house. There was much exclaiming about how much Fritz would love all the animals.
We started off in DinoLand. There was no one there first thing in the morning, so we rode the flying dinosaurs three times in a row without getting off.
We did a lot of criss-crossing the park that day. There were only one or two rides in each part of the park that she could and/or wanted to do, so we would walk to a section, ride that ride, and then I'd ask what she wanted to do. Always: go see Donald/Daisy/Mickey again. So back to DinoLand we would go. I think we visited all of them three times.
We also rode Expedition Everest. This may have been a mistake, but I had grabbed FastPasses for it after Ingrid spent a YEAR telling Heidi it was the best thing ever. Heidi was probably the smallest person ever to ride it. She was maybe a quarter of an inch shy of the minimum height but the gate dude was not really paying attention. All was well and she squealed with glee through the first half of the ride, which happens in daylight and going forward like a normal ride. And then the bastard started going backwards in pitch darkness. There was terrified wailing, mostly by Heidi, but also by the adults. We all needed a minute to recover from that.
Somewhere in there, we saw the Nemo and Lion King shows. We both loved these, especially Nemo, which was a perfect CliffsNotes of the movie in 20 minutes. The safari adventure was also great, though perhaps less exciting to a kid who has grown up with regular visits to awesome zoos.
We raced back to the hotel to change into our fancy clothes for a birthday dinner date with Kristen. But then Kristen got sick and went home so Heidi and I had a date by ourselves.
We happened to glimpse Mary Poppins on the way out, then rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets twice and waited a loooooong time to meet Aladdin and Jasmine. There was much hand-wringing about whether we would buy a Jasmine costume or Tinkerbell shoes (we eventually opted to walk back for Tink shoes).
We wandered a little more before it was time for the Disney piece de resistance: lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table. I basically planned the entire itinerary around being in MK on this day because a very helpful Disney specialist managed to find me a reservation. These reservations are the kind of experience people book a year in advance; it was pure luck that a spot opened up just when I called. I was not prepared for how intensely awesome it would be for our princess-obsessed child. We met Cinderella and went to the very authentic dining room. And then ALL THE PRINCESSES came. Snow White and Aurora, who don't appear anywhere else in the park, plus Rapunzel and Jasmine. At first, Snow White and Aurora made their way around the room and Heidi burst into big, wet, loud tears because she thought they had left without visiting her. But then all the royalty came to our table and chatted individually with Heidi and she was in pure heaven.
I thought maybe she would be done with princesses after that, but no. We had FastPasses to meet Rapunzel (because I hadn't realized she would be at lunch). I asked Heidi if she would rather see her again or swap passes for a ride and she looked at me like I was daft. So we met Rapunzel again, plus Tiana, who was super cool and did some twirling with Heidi.
After that, all she wanted to do was meet Goofy, so we saw Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Goofy (again). We were just about to leave when we realized -- gasp! -- we hadn't met Ariel! So we ducked into the grotto, which had a mercifully short line, and checked off our final princess. We even had one FastPass left, which we could have used for any number of attractions due to our original selection being unexpectedly closed, but Heidi said she was just ready to go home. She was utterly satisfied with life.
Taking one child to Disney World was the best decision ever. We got to do exactly what was fun for her and only what was fun for her, which meant it was fun for me too. She wanted to meet all the characters. Twice. Maybe three times. So we did it. If any of the other children had been with us, there would have been incessant whining about standing in line for Mickey for the third time. We saw two Jasmines and two Rapunzels in very short succession and Heidi did not seem to notice that they were not the same people. This was the Disney magic -- if you can craft the experience for a particular child at just the right age, it is absolutely real to them.
Heidi was an absolute delight to travel with. She did not whine a single time for the first two days. Have you met Heidi? This is extraordinary. She walked and explored and changed plans on the fly without missing a beat. By the third day, she was getting a little tired, but because I could focus on her alone, we kept everything on the rails and had a great day. When our return flight was delayed two hours, she sprawled out on the airport floor and watched her iPad and was totally chill about it. It was probably the best four days I've had with Heidi in her entire life. The opportunity came at the exact right time, when the magic was so real for her, and we dove headlong into the experience. I'm so, so glad we went for it.
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Heidi was an absolute delight to travel with. She did not whine a single time for the first two days. Have you met Heidi? This is extraordinary. She walked and explored and changed plans on the fly without missing a beat. By the third day, she was getting a little tired, but because I could focus on her alone, we kept everything on the rails and had a great day. When our return flight was delayed two hours, she sprawled out on the airport floor and watched her iPad and was totally chill about it. It was probably the best four days I've had with Heidi in her entire life. The opportunity came at the exact right time, when the magic was so real for her, and we dove headlong into the experience. I'm so, so glad we went for it.
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For fellow last-minuters, here's what I learned:
- Call the reservations help line. They see available reservations just a little sooner than they appear online. They can also "hold" one reservation while looking up what other options might be available. The very nice lady I spoke with found us a reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table (!!!!) and held it while checking other days.
- On that note, be flexible. I would have planned Magic Kingdom on the first full day. But Royal Table was available on our last day, and the phone specialist could tell there were still decent things available at Animal Kingdom on Day 2. So we flipped the itinerary to maximize the magic.
- Check online every day. Multiple times per day. New FastPasses opened up all the time and allowed us to streamline our plan so we weren't criscrossing the park too much. Restaurant reservations changed frequently too.
- Accept there are some things just won't happen. Some of the roller coasters never had available FastPasses, and we weren't going to wait two hours in line. It was not the end of the world that we did not ride the Mine Train.
Magic, made.
How fantastic!! So fun to read about!! (Linda)
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