Jen Melanson: March 2015

We just got back from 2 weeks in Orlando which included several days at Disney. Our trip didn't start off as planned when we missed our direct flight after waiting in customs too long. I thought 2 hours was sufficient to get everything done but apparently not. We missed our cut off time by 10 minutes. So we were escorted back to the West Jet counter and we could fly to Ottawa in an hour and then fly to Orlando or come back the next morning and do it all over again and try for the direct flight. My husband does not like to fly so the idea of 2 planes in 1 day almost sent him over the edge. We had already unloaded the van, it was at park and fly, I was not loading up and coming back to do this all over again. So we got on a plane to Ottawa for a 45 min flight and then flew from Ottawa to Orlando. We arrived much later than we had planned which meant our rental car company had given our car away, even though we did call and tell them we would be late...thanks Dollar Car Rental. So we started over again with EZ Car Rental and they matched Dollar's price for our 2 weeks and we were finally on our way to the Disney Resort.

I've been to Disney several times and I'm always in awe of what a well oiled machine it is and how it changes each time.

We stayed at a Disney Resort called the Art of Animation. There were different themed buildings, Finding Nemo, Cars or Lion King. We stayed in the Cars themed complex and their attention to decoration details was so fun. Right down to the construction cone lamps and dresser that was made to look like a tool box and the couch like the backseat of the car. The had replicas of all the cars made famous by the movie around the complex which kept my kids very busy everytime we left the building.

When you check in you are given the Disney Magic Bands for everyone in your family. This is their new technology and all your info is stored in the chip in your band. Your park tickets, your meal plan if you have one, it's how you got in your room etc. So anywhere you go in Disney you just touch your band to the receiver. You can buy anything in any park with it and just pay the bill at the end when you check out of your room. We didn't take advantage of that because it would be pretty easy to just tap away and then get a nice surprise at the end when you see the bill.

Once at the parks they have another new-ish feature called Fast Pass. You can use the Disney app and choose 3 attractions per park per day that you want to Fast Pass. So you are given a window of time to arrive at the attraction and instead of waiting in the general line you are fast passed up to the front. Once you use all 3 you can go to a Fast Pass kiosk in the park and get more. I found that bit inconvenient, would have been nice to use my app to continue getting more. I had the app and the Fast Pass down to a science so every park we went to we only waited maybe 10 minutes for each thing we did. The more popular attractions are usually not available unless you planned quite a bit in advance. I tried to get the "Meet Elsa &Anna" on Fast Pass but it was never available. Another mom gave me a tip on the bus ride to the park from the hotel. If we were planning to be at Magic Kingdom in the evening she said to go then, it's not as busy late at night. We had planned to spend an evening there for the fireworks etc. so I took her advice and we only waited 5 minutes. Those wait times are very important with 2 little kids who don't have the gift of patience.

Everything is always so clean at the parks and the hotel. The bathrooms are always stocked and clean which is impressive. It also seems that everyone employed their knows the area very well. If you ask anyone where a ride is or how to get somewhere everyone knew which is helpful.

The magnitude of Disney and the amount of people they employ is amazing. It's not just the parks anymore, the resorts are such a big part of Disney and the Disney experience now. We spent some of our down time just visiting the other resorts, taking walks or having dinner there. We did a week at the Disney resort and then moved to a Residence Inn just a few minutes from Disney.

With all that said it's also a pretty exhausting experience. We spread out our time at the parks through the 2 weeks because we had family in Orlando that we spent time with in between and resting up for another park day. A lot of people are only there a short time and do parks everyday and you come home exhausted. It's not a vacation it's an adventure.

I loved watching my girls get excited and have fun. Mia loved the roller coasters that she could go on and my husband loved going with her seeing as I don't do roller coasters at all. If Melody ends up loving them as much as Mia i'm probably going to be forced on at some point.

I'm just starting to feel rested up since we got home, but I can't wait to do it again.....in a few years!