Disney Trip Recap: Arriving at Disney World

We've been back from our oh-so-special family vacation for a week now. It was just a dream come true for us, and I will never forget our special week together. I literally cried to see our little boy embrace Mickey Mouse (his very first little interest and love since he was about 6 months old). Enjoying this trip through the eyes of the boys was unbelievably special. The Disney cast members went above and beyond to make James' birthday special; it was like a week long celebration. James declared it his "best birthday ever" and it will certainly be one that's hard to top (not that we'd even try!), but I think we'll just continue to save and hopefully we can make another visit or two to Disney in the future.

In between snow day cancellations we've been trying to catch up on a mountain of laundry, recover from pink eye (both boys), and get back in the swing of things but I wanted to document the trip before anymore time passes for us (and anyone else interested). I might also include some helpful travel tips for anyone reading that may also be contemplating a trip to Disney with little ones.

We definitely got off to a bumpy start... 

(I'm so glad we decided to get an early start and left about 5 a.m.)

"We're here!"

Watching Disney Jr., of course :)

We got checked into our hotel and headed to Downtown Disney the first night for dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express.

A Disney Tip: We had the counter-service meal plan (2 meals including dessert, 1 "snack", and a refillable drink mug at the hotel for every person per day), and it is so worth it. We would have paid so much more to buy the meals separately. You simply scan your magic band and pick any item on the menu at the counter-service restaurants. This was a great option for our family versus a sit-down meal plan because it was quick, no reservations necessary (which means we didn't have to be scheduled), and the food is surprisingly very good and  healthy as well (not just typical fast-food.)

Stephen and I chose a rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes. James chose pizza. We couldn't believe how much food that we got and that it was considered "counter-service."