Dress: ASOS l Boys Tee: H&M l Girls Top: H&M

Sunglasses: Le Specs

The last thing I ever thought I would call myself is a ‘Disney Mom’. Of course I visited Walt Disney World Resort as a child myself, but after leaving home the idea of a Disney vacation just wasn’t at the top of my priority list. Fast forward 15 years, throw in a couple children, and voila! this becomes our third year in a row visiting Magic Kingdom :)

Don’t get me wrong – I’m certainly not complaining. As much as I love to travel to new and exciting places, having children gives you a whole new perspective (and set of travel goals) than you might have initially thought. Walt Disney World has become the place where making family memories comes naturally and you find yourself wanting to do it over and over again. Last year I was able to document our visit on the blog here, and looking back at it now (seeing how much younger my babies were) nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Our day of memory making in 2016 was last month in December when we visited Orlando for a week. For the first time ever we stayed on Disney property and now I never want to stay anywhere else. It was extremely convenient hopping on our resort’s complementary shuttle to the parks, and not worrying (or paying) for parking was a bonus. We arrived just in time for the opening ceremony and happily got to enjoy a few perfect photo opps in front of Cinderella’s castle without the crowds.

Grabbing our Starbucks and a few breakfast treats at Main Street Bakery has become a bit of a tradition, and despite the super long lines first thing in the morning (everyone else has the same idea) it’s the perfect start to a perfect day. After the caffeine fix, we headed straight to the “big kid” rides so the biggest kid in our family “aka papa” could get onto the rides he wanted without too long of lineups. Isn’t this suppose to be a day for the kids? Well, apparently when you’re at Disney everyone is a kid!

After getting “Seven Dwarfs Mine Train” out of the way, we loaded up our Fast Passes with toddler rides and away we went. “It’s a Small World”, “Mad Tea Party”, “The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh”, and “Tomorrowland Speedway” were just a few favorites that have us coming back every year. Just seeing the joy all over the kids faces as they enter the magical worlds of each ride is priceless in itself.

A day at Disney World isn’t complete without picking up a few special treats that sweeten up the day. While I didn’t make lunch reservations in advance (a must for next time), we grabbed an easy lunch at “Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe” and chowed down on pulled pork sandwiches and lemonade. A cup of Dole Whip from “Aloha Isle” is a must, and the best cool treat on a hot day. I regret we all shared just one (could have eaten one all by myself)! Then later in the afternoon before taking in the parade down Main Street, we snacked on Mickey shaped rice crispy treats dipped in chocolate and candies. To say we were on a sugar high the whole day would be an understatement.

One highlight of every visit to Disney is meeting Mickey at Town Square Theatre. We’ve never seen tears from our son at any of our visits (even when he was just 2yrs old), and certainly didn’t expect it from our outgoing and rambunctious daughter – but boy were we in or a surprise. She is only 18mths, but she didn’t strike us as someone who would be afraid. As we neared the doors to get in though she was curious but clingy, and when it was our turn to approach Mickey and give him a hug – she burst our crying and wouldn’t let go. Sadly we didn’t get a happy picture of her with him, so that will be our mission for the next visit.

The park was closing early (7pm) the day we were there so we stayed right to the end, unfortunately missing our shuttle back to the hotel. But instead of taking a cab right back to the hotel, we decided to walk over to the Contemporary resort to hopefully grab some dinner. Again, we didn’t have reservations that night (apparently I was totally unorganized this trip), but we took our chances by just heading over. By the time we got to the resort, the kids were completely passed out, so we grabbed seats at The Wave Lounge for a pre-dinner drink but then decided to stay right there to eat too. It was the perfect spot to have a relaxed dinner, while the kids were comfortably situated in their stroller fast asleep. The food was fantastic and we were finally able to enjoy the only dinner of our whole trip that didn’t include screaming, throwing things, and complete meltdowns (and not just from the kids).

So am I a Disney mom?  I did buy our Minnie ears well in advance and planned all of our outfits so we coordinated for photos – so ya, I’d say so! And how cute is this dress I’m wearing from ASOS? I even had someone tell me it looked like a Disney costume. Mission accomplished! Another magical visit to the happiest place on earth has left us with great memories to cherish and we can’t wait to do it all over again!