Disney this Go Round, and Ages to bring Kiddos.

Another trip to Disney in the books and what a fun time it was.  Food & Wine, Mommy ran (separate post coming soon), we went with friends for the first time, James was 44 inches and got to go on many of the rides (against his will); Joel Andrew was 48 inches and loved Rockin' Roller Coaster; they still hate Tower of Terror, we ate a ton, we DID NOT have any strollers, and we packed better this go round.  All in all, a memorable trip.

 Some things we did from lessons learned in previous trips- we packed light, we bought the necessary items from gardengrocer, and we had less reservations for eating and more time for snacking/eating in the room.  (that being said, we still ate a lot).  Can you imagine, we actually missed one of our reservations!

Bringing the boys at ages 4 and 6 though, and having friends who had an 8 year old with us - truly made me realize how grateful I am that I brought the kids at younger ages.  I can't forget how awesome it was when Joelly saw Pluto for the first time, for him and me.  Now, it is still awesome for him to see the guy - but the magic is going to fade and is even starting to fade a bit already.  When they were 2 and 4 and 3 and 5 it was pure excitement and joy.  Now that Joel is in 1st grade, I am seeing a bit of the crankiness seep in - complaining about does he have to meet Santa Goofy - the line is too long.  Really?  Really buddy?  Two years ago you would have peed your pants.  Now the line is too long?

There are some advantages to having older children in the parks though. I had a small bag which I lugged around - and that was it.  No stroller.  I shudder to say it, but the next trip I do not think I will bring anything.  Disney is getting really good with the photopass thing, I don't think I will even need my camera!

The no stroller was awesome.  Like really awesome.  We weaved in and out of crowds, and I think I only carried a sleepy Jamesy once or twice.  I could have made him walk too...  But, the boys walked and walked - and so this meant that as soon as we got back to the hotel room, they slept and slept and slept.  Passed out right away.  They slept in too.  There was some complaining, but I quickly shut them down with reminders of how much I will be running on the trip too.

Other advantages of older kids - is now they can ride almost all of the rides.  We bumped into friends of Joel Husband's and they had 7 and 9 year olds - and they said to their kids the last Disney trip, when they were tall enough to go on the rides, but complained about them - that they would not go back to Disney unless the kids promised they would go on all the rides and not complain. So - here they are 2 years later and the kids promised to go with the flow the entire trip. Brilliant, and I hope we will get there maybe this time next year or two.  It was sad when James would not join us on Splash Mountain, even though he could - he missed a good photo op!

They start to recognize traditions too - the picture with the sword and the stone, the Mickey ice cream (maybe that was more for the ice cream).  They can get everything ready for meeting the characters, and they can even read their signatures.  They can carry their food back to the tables at buffets, and they entertain themselves at dinner and on lines (sometimes it ends in fighting, but...).

So, it was a fun new stage we entered.  But, I still had my Jamesy to enjoy a bit of the old.  He loved the Disney Jr. thing, and was excited to go on the Carosuel. He was thrilled to meet each and every character he could, and he was happy to be with us on an awesome vacation.  My little boy is going quick though, our next trip he will be days away from turning 5.  Maybe we can get him on Splash Mountain then?