Auntie Katie Disney Trip – Magic Kingdom and Trattoria al Forno.
We went to bed straight up exhausted from our epic Animal Kingdom day but had to have another early start for
Both park mornings the parks opened at 8 am which meant we left from our Disney House at 6:45!
We weren’t as rushed for MK because we didn’t have a super crazy schedule to fill.
It was nice not being rushed and being able to get our great castle pics. Can I say I’m SUPER bitter that Katie’s with the kids were SO AMAZING?!?!
I told Zach my next goal is to get family castle pics that are this good!
Zach went straight to 7 Dwarfs to get the DAS pass, Kye and Katie went to Space Mountain and Spear, Britt, Tess and I enjoyed the park opening show and then headed to Haunted!
Spear was being ADORABLE yall.
I love mornings when the park isn’t yet super crowded and I can allow him a bit of freedom.
He loved getting to stand up and, shocker, didn’t run away!
When Mickey came on the stage he pointed and ran straight for him and he was so cute when we left saying “bye bye Mickey” and waving to him!
Also sidenote but I randomly found super cheap Halloween Disney stuff at Target last year during like the second week of Nov! I grabbed all the things so we had a bit of a fun theme for our October visit 😉
After everyone finished up we all met up by Splash and Thunder for everyone but Spear and I to ride those two.
I debated taking Spear to the playground by Splash Mountain but then I remember that the reason Walt came up with the idea for the parks was for families to have experiences TOGETHER.
So I made the haul alllll the way to Fantasyland so Spear and I could ride his favorite – the carousel!
He was SO STINKING CUTE waving and saying “bye-bye” to me.
We rode it twice and that walk to get back on was rough. He’s HEAVY and I’m really, really wanting to get a bit of a leash thing for him at the parks.
Zach isn’t keen on the idea but I feel like it’d make the experience so much more enjoyable for us BOTH.
After the second round he wanted to walk but refused to hold my hand and he’s totally doing that toddler thing of just laying down on the ground and kinda collapsing.
So I had a teachable moment in MK. He didn’t want to hold my hand. He collapsed. I stood there and said “you can walk and hold my hand or I can carry you.” He’d walk. I’d hold his hand. Process would repeat.
I ended up carrying him and he was flipping out and crying (one of my very few #disneymeltdown experiences) so I just buckled him in the stroller and kept rolling.
Everyone who we passed who stared at us I said “magical day huh?” haha
The extra funny part about pushing around a crying toddler in a stroller is that I was also pushing a double stroller with about a billion backpacks and coolers and such.
Totally a DISNEY MOM MOMENT right here:
We met up in Fantasyland and they had a great time riding Thunder Mountain but were bummed that Splash Mountain was having issues.
Their FastPass was valid for later in the day so we decided to keep checking the wait times and go ahead and keep moving along with our schedule.
Tessie convinced Aunt Katie to carry her and her little grin cracks me up!
We hopped on It’s A Small World and found a fun hidden mickey someone made!
Splash was back open so the adventurous crew headed to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and then Splash while Spear and I headed to Phillarmagic.
I thought Phillar would be a good option for he and I to do together but nope, it wasn’t. Ha!
He was a wild man while waiting to get in the doors for the show and it was totally a moment where I could see and hear people judging me. Someone literally said “worst age to bring kids”
Cool. Thanks.
He loved the actual show but I’m not trying that again unless I have a leash 😉
Which I legit think I’m going to order before our next trip. Spear is THE youngest kid we’ve taken to the parks and I think it could really help him learn to stay close to me! Anyone have one?
Zach text me that they were stuck on Splash Mountain so I went to the bathroom and just happened to walk up to meet the Fairy Godmother!
I met her for the first time at Disneyland but haven’t ever met her at Disney World so it was a special treat!
It was so funny because Spear LOVES Stitch and Goofy and Mickey and Minnie but oh my word he was NOT willing to go to the Fairy Godmother. I think it’s the gloves!
I felt so bad for Zach and the gang. To walk ALL the way over to Splash and then get STUCK on it. Ugh.
They were on the ride for 45 minutes. Yikes.
Then they had to walk all the way back to Fantasyland for our FastPass for Enchanted Tales with Belle.
When they got to me Britt was really upset. And honestly? That speed bump in the day set the tone for her the rest of the day.
It’s funny when we visit the parks how differently the kids may act on one visit vs another.
Often Britt is my most fun Disney partner. She just LOVES it! But our big day the day prior had her really tired and she just struggled to snap back after the Splash Mountain let down.
Kye had been a rougher mood the day prior but was in a super awesome mood for our MK day.
I guess Zach had bet him to high five random strangers and say “Yay Disney!” And he kept doing it which was hilarious.
Kye is typically so reserved so when he branches out it’s always such a fun side of him!
Katie’s favorite princess is Belle so we were all excited for that experience with her.
It cracked me up because when we walked in Zach said “here take Spear” and I KNEW it was because he wanted to get selected to be part of the show (even if he won’t admit it) and he was…a guard, duh.
Britt and Tess were also chosen and then Kye said he wanted to be part of it too (I was so surprised and just loving seeing this silly side of him). He chose a plate and kept putting it over his face the whole time. SO FUNNY.
When they announced each part of the show to meet Belle Kye said his name was “Esquisitine” and the cast member introduced him as that and Belle greeted him with that name! So. So funny!
Spear even went up at the end to meet Belle and didn’t like her either…again GLOVES!
I’m really sad that the PhotoPass photos aren’t coming through from this experience and am hopeful Disney will get back to me on getting them linked!
UPDATE: Disney FOUND the photo pass photos for me!!! Yay!
After
This time there was no debate on going or staying – everyone wanted to stay!
We were at Magic Kingdom. On Fall Break. On a Saturday.
It was SLAMMED packed.
I’m so thankful for our Disney knowledge and experience as the massive crowds didn’t take anything away at ALL from Katie’s day!
We still did almost everything we wanted to do!
I was able to book fast passes after using our initial three AND since Splash broke down and they were evacuated from it they were given 2 fast passes to use. That helped us BIG TIME.
We headed over to Adventureland and had planned to use one of the freebie fast passes to ride Jungle Cruise and yall…the FASTPASS wait was over 30 min. Are you serious? We skipped it and hit up a classic favorite that never lets us down…Tiki Room 😉
We then used one of the freebie fast passes for Pirates and hung out a bit at Tortuga Tavern to do some Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom card trading and learning 😉
Katie loves the classics like I do so Country Bear’s was a must!
We kept lucking out too with timing as every show we watched we entered RIGHT as the show was letting people in!
When we made plans for the trip I really wanted to surprise Katie with such at Be Our Guest and was super pumped when I was able to snag a reservation.
Lunch is quick service and you can order ahead. It is still a pretty slow experience though so I’d be sure to allow at least 2 hours for the meal.
The kids and Katie picked our seats (in the West Room duh) while I got the food all handled from our preorder.
I love the food (although I have to say the grey stuff is not all that delicious) and the atmosphere and it was such a perfectly timed BREAK.
It had gotten hot. The crowds were insane. We ended up hanging out from 1ish till after 3 at BOG and we all agreed we are so glad we did!
When I checked on the crowds and saw that it was still insane, we slow rolled it even more and walked room to room and saw everything and took our time taking fun pics!
This family was in front of us taking photos at the mosaic wall and yall some of these moms just kill me.
SO MANY PICTURES OF THEMSELVES.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve lived for the gram before there was a gram 😉 But to take a million poses and photos of Mom while the kids sit there and just wait? So. Odd. To Me.
And hilarious to watch. The moms were “doing the most” in their outfits and doing all these princess poses and such.
Once they left our crew was eager to test out some of the poses we’d seen haha!
We had SO much fun and it was the PERFECT break in our day to give us that boost for the remainder of our time at the park!
The longest wait we had all day was to watch Phillarmagic. Which is kinda hilarious but the wait is an easy one (and in AC) so we just went for it.
The sign said 20 min but it was over 30 min for our turn to see the show.
It was hilarious because in the scene with the “Be Our Guest” Song when the plates danced Tess said “Look Kye it’s YOU a PLATE!” haha!
After Phillarmagic I asked the gift shop about some bandaids for the girls. They were getting blisters and I lucked out that they sell a pack for under $3 at that gift shop!
We headed over to Barnstormer with the FastPass I’d booked and they all got to ride while I hung out and waited and then the girls wanted to do a Disney First and play in the splash area by the ride.
And I said SURE.
My rule is…get wet but don’t complain 😉 They had a blast! But be warned – that water sprays FAR and you can easily get SOAKED.
Our next move was to head to Tomorrowland and we decided to pass on People Mover because the line was crazy long and instead went for another classic fav – Carousel of Progress!
After that nice rest we had another FastPass I was able to secure for teacups.
I don’t do teacups but it’s one that Katie has happy memories of doing with her grandparents so I was super pumped that we could grab a FastPass and that she and the kids were able to experience it together!
Random about Tess…girl loves snatching some flowers and hiding them in the book bag.
We had to clean out her book bag b/c it got wet and it had several flowers in it haha
We decided to hang out for Monsters Inc Laugh Factory which wasn’t a bad wait at ALL and then used our last freebie FastPass for Buzz!
Happily Ever After started at 9 and at that point in the evening it was 7 ish so we just went ahead and got a spot.
And people were already claiming them!
It wasn’t a bad wait AT ALL.
We got a good spot that I thought was just a decent spot but what ended up being a GREAT one.
I def plan to use this spot again in the future. It’s in front of Plaza along the walkway towards Adventureland.
We traded off. Katie ran to Casey’s for dinner and then we ate and I ran to get treats. It flowed great and didn’t feel like a long wait at ALL for the show and we could see SO well even with the massive crowds.
The kids could even see without me lifting them and we were right at the exit when they ended!
We rode the ferry back and Tess fell asleep with a sucker in her mouth. I took it out and she said “I am not sleeping” then put it back in and went to sleep again!
I also had a panic moment when we got off the ferry because I couldn’t find my phone.
They held the ferry for me and I went and hunted and Katie, Kye and Britt couldn’t find it in the stroller either.
Thankfully I ended up finding it in a random flap in the stroller. WHEW.
Then we walked to the car and a car behind us had a dead battery so on the way out we found security for them.
We had SUCH a fun day from start to finish and didn’t let the crowds cause us to lose any of our fun!
The next day was a CHILLLLLL DAY.
I slept in and so did Katie and we could barely MOVE haha!
We hung out all morning. The kids swam. I helped Spear practice swim. We watched Coco (Katie’s first time!). Just a lot of downtime to RELAX.
That evening Katie was so sweet to have some special Auntie Katie time with the kids while Zach and I had a date night!
We went to see Joker at the dine-in Amc theater at Disney Springs. We had awesome food and the movie was super great too!
FUN FACT: Ben Warheit is one of the guys on the subway (the one who sits next to Joaquin) and he also happens to be the guy who chatted us up prior to our meeting of Seth Meyers in NYC!
Katie and the kids had a blast at the house and Katie said she legit didn’t want to put them to bed 🙂
The kids had off from school both Friday and Monday for fall break so when all the trip plans were made we decided to bring both of our cars down on Thursday afternoon and then Zach and the kids take my van back on Monday while Katie and I kept the truck.
Katie has become a fan of a good character meal (we had a blast at 1900 Park Fare last year!) so we wanted to take her to Trattoria al Forno!
We had a 7:55 reservation which meant we didn’t have to rush as much as we did on the park days.
Trattoria al Forno is located on the Boardwalk and it’s SO GORGEOUS there.
I’ve never stayed at Boardwalk resort but I’d love to based on the area!
We were seated at our table and then almost instantly greeted by characters!
This meal includes Rapunzel, Flynn Ryder, Ariel and Prince Eric.
I love it from the character perspective because it’s a blend of my childhood and my children’s!
I love it from a dining perspective because the King Triton’s Shipwreck Al Forno is PHENOMENAL.
Legit my FAV meal at any Disney restaurant!
We practiced our smolders with Flynn and he said we set the record for the most people doing a smolder at once 😉
The downside of this restaurant? It’s DARK so pictures are rough!
I love all the food details. The pastries are all fun and yummy but I do advise the kids to get waffles over pancakes.
Ours did not like the pancakes! They are very thick and Britt said they were like “cornbread”
Prince Eric tried talking to Tess and she didn’t remember his story very well which was funny but the best moment of the morning was Ariel.
I think she must have been a stepsister from Cinderella in a different life because she was not Ariel-like at ALL.
She wasn’t straight rude but she was kinda rude, just enough where it was funny but still off-putting.
When we got a picture Zach told Britt to smile b/c she was making a strange face and Britt said “it’s my fish face we did last time with Ariel!”
So cute that she remembered from our visit last year!
We all smiled and then I said “okay fish face time!”
And Ariel literally said NO and then DID NOT DO IT.
I was so shocked and Britt was so disappointed! And it was also so hilarious that she said no haha
Even with the Ariel shade we all still had a super fun time and no one was disappointed with the King Triton meal (and yes we all three got it!).
Truly this is one of our favorite meals and we had a great time!
I love that Spear is old enough now to be more enjoyable for these experiences too.
Tess was so sweet wanting to dance with her daddy and Kye was so precious asking to cut in and dance with her.
Originally when I’d mapped out the plans for the trip I had assumed we’d head home right after the breakfast so I made it for pretty early…but since the plans changed Zach wanted to leave right at nap time in hopes that Spear would sleep most of the way back!
We had plenty of time to take our time and just enjoy the GORGEOUS morning at Boardwalk!
It was so nice to just let the kids run and play (and for the girls to practice their Ariel skills)
Spear was hilarious b/c we just sorta let him GO to watch and see what he would do.
Yall. He ran STRAIGHT for this row of bushes and when he hit the bushes he just JUMPED into them. It was hilarious!
We also just watched to see how far he’d get away from us without realizing we weren’t following him…and yup he’s our toddler that will just GO and be GONE…
Such a great moment to end a quality family and friend time weekend 🙂
We got back to the house and got everything loaded up for the kids and Zach and cleaned up everything for the next phase of the EPIC week!
I left my house on Thursday October 10th and didn’t go home until Monday October 21! It was a LONG time away with very, very little down time.
Katie and I had some just us time that afternoon and both napped and took our time getting ready.
We decided to try Carrabba’s for dinner and it was SO good!
YEARS ago (pre-kids and pre-blogging) Katie, Zach and myself went on a trip with a group of friends and shared in a “friendship bread toast” cementing our friendships.
Years have passed. MANY friends have come and gone…but Zach, Katie and myself? We’re friendship bread for LIFE 🙂
We both gave each other a TJMaxx gift card for our birthdays and went to do some browsing and shopping.
It was truly a BLAST. I don’t EVER get to just browse and shop and getting to do that with my BFF made it extra fun.
It was also a great way to get to know more about each other. Every aisle we’d ask each other questions about things we saw and we both shared tips we’ve learned and such!
I also found some great finds…it’s probably good that I don’t have time to browse like that too often haha!
We laughed a lot and shopped it up! Such a fun night and a great time together!
We got back to the house just a few minutes before our next group arrived for PHASE 2 of the epic week!
I got a bit emotional with Katie twice that day. Once when the kids left with Zach…it was hard to see them go and know that I’d be away from them for a FULL WEEK.
Tess cried when I said bye and said “I will cry every day” Yall know her big tears just break my heart!
I knew Zach would have a blast with the kids and that everything would be FINE but it was hard for me to think about all of them doing the normal routine without me there.
Katie was so sweet and hugged me a bit to help my mama heart.
Then I got emotional again in the car with her talking about our friendship and just how much she means to me.
Katie has always been part of our kids lives but it’s always in small spurts. A short hang out before they got to bed. An event for a couple of hours.
This weekend was a TON of hardcore time with our kids. Which can be a lot for anyone (hey, including me and Zach haha) but Katie truly, genuinely loved it.
And seeing her with them and seeing that true love she has for them. Whew. It just got me deep!
Y’all know I struggle with not having a lot of my family close to my kids and this weekend really cemented to me that Katie is MY family and it means so, so much. Like a friend said on IG – God fills the gaps 🙂
Hearing the little things she loved about the kids and the moments she’ll cherish and the way she just had such FUN with them made the weekend even better!
I’m so glad Zach had the idea to invite Katie with us and it was SUCH a great time together and I just couldn’t be more thankful for the forever friendship we share!
A video of our weekend should auto play in this post 🙂
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