Ever since Lily had her senior trip to Disney World back in 2021, we thought it would be an awesome idea for Derek as well.  This time, Kevin and Arthur did not want to be left behind, and who could blame them, and so the whole family got to go and celebrate Derek at Disney World for four days.

On Tuesday, as soon as school got out, we were headed to the San Antonio Airport to fly to Orlando.  Arthur loves being on an airplane, especially if he has the window seat to look outside the whole time.

The flight went fine, but finding our Turo rental car once we landed was not as successful.  We went back and forth across the airport multiple times to the different parking lots searching, but no luck.  It turns out that the owner of the car gave us the picture of the wrong lot.  By then, it was very late, and so it was almost midnight by the time we got to our hotel and checked in.  

The adventure of the night before did not stop us from starting our day early so we could get to the park before the gates opened.  The boys did not have a problem getting up, and it didn’t hurt that our hotel had breakfast, including Mickey waffles.

There is nothing quite the feeling when you drive under the Walt Disney World sign – magical!  Arthur was especially excited to ride on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

We got to the park and were so excited to start our day.  If you are Disney lovers, like we are, the magic of being there walking down Main Street toward Cinderella’s Castle is like no other.

When we got to the ropes where we waited until opening, Arthur pulled out his map and started planning our day.  It was the sweetest thing, especially with the castle in the background.

Our first stop of the day was a classic – The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  The line area is so cute, and we even had the boys pretend to be Eeyore, although Arthur didn’t quite get the grumpy face down – ha ha!

Next, we were off to a new ride we were all excited about, but that was very hard to ride, because you had to get a boarding group..  Luckily, with three of us trying, we were able to get a boarding group to ride the amazing new Tron roller coaster.  I think it was one of Derek’s favorite things, and not just because he love the Tron movies.  It really was a super awesome roller coaster.

From there, we were all over the place – back and forth across the park riding all of our favorites.  Including Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, which Kevin always destroys us at.

We seriously had the best day, and were lucky enough to not have to wait in long lines (mostly because we were willing to crisscross the park over and over – good times).  We rode Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and more.  We even rode on Small World for old times sake – even if I fell asleep during it and Arthur thought it was the weirdest ride ever – ha ha ha!).  At one point, we even ran into a parade.

We also got to go to Enchanted Tales with Belle.  The last time we were here as a family, Derek got to be the Beast, but Arthur got stagefright and refused to participate with the other kids.  Oh well.  It was still super fun.

Besides the rides, there were also some fun activities throughout the park, including this awesome Pirate challenge.  You went to a special building where they gave you a map , a key and a quest, and then it took you around Adventureland.  Each part of the quest would have different things happen, like shooting a cannon.  It was so much fun!!  The boys loved it!

While we were at the park, we of course had to eat all the yummy food, including Dole Whips.  I may have a note on my phone with all the best food ideas for each of the parks, and so we tried to try as many as we could.  The Nutella Waffle with fruit was so good, and the giant cinnamon roll from Gaston’s, and the cupcake with the “gray stuff” really was delicious.

Our final ride of Magic Kingdom was the Jungle Cruise, and man, did our boys love it.  All the corny jokes and puns were right up their alley.  Good times!

Because we had ridden every ride we wanted to at the Magic Kingdom by 4pm, we got on the monorail and headed to Epcot.  And at Epcot, although it has rides I love, is really all about the food.  Especially during either the Food and Wine Festival, or during the Flower and Garden Festival – like it was when we were visiting. I had a list of all the places I wanted to eat at, including all the food stalls I wanted to try.  And they did not disappoint, especially the poutine in Canada.  So good!!!  We also went to France and got to ride the brand new Ratatouille ride, and then got crepes to eat afterwards – yum!

We left Epcot after dark and Spaceship Earth was all lit up so very pretty!

The best part was that we got back to Magic Kingdom just in time for the fireworks.  Because the monorail station was at the ferry dock on the lake, it was the perfect place to sit and watch the fireworks without the crowds.  And you could not beat the reflection of the fireworks on the lake.  So pretty!  They even had the music for the fireworks playing from the ferry station.  It was the perfect way to finish our first day at Disney.