The Journey of Parenthood…

Magic Kingdom Evening

I really expected for Britt to be OUT for nap and for us to have to possibly even wake her up in order to get back that evening…but nope! She woke up before Kye!!! Thankfully she was in a wonderful mood so we went ahead and got her up and dressed and gave her the little surprise for that day while we waited on Kye to wake up 🙂 We actually ended up having to wake him from nap…which can typically cause some grouchiness with him. Luckily I was super sweet and gently woke him talking about Disney so he was good to go 😉

I got Britt this little Snow White from Hallmark when I bought some cards over Christmas and they had them on sale. It’s been the favorite toy from the trip and I LOVE the size. She can carry it with her places and it’s not so big that it causes any issue and I can just toss it in my purse. I haven’t washed Snow White yet but I feel like she will clean up easily too 🙂 

Kye got his prize on the way out the door 🙂

The monorail was still closed which we knew to plan for since we saw signs prior to leaving. Since we knew that we’d have to ride the ferry and that it would be more crowded we tried to get back earlier than we originally had planned on. It worked out well and we enjoyed the views!

We had some time until our Peter Pan fast pass could be used so we went ahead and went straight for Fantasyland to ride the carrousel. I know most of the guide books I’ve read say to skip the carrousel. But how in the WORLD could you when it’s like in the center of Fantasyland? Your kid will walk by it at some point and will want to ride it. I personally love it. It’s a must-ride for me with the kids. It’s a beautiful carrousel and the Disney music playing makes it even better as well as seeing the park as we go around and around 🙂 It’s usually not the shortest wait time in the world but there are so many things to see around the area that it doesn’t feel like a long wait. 

If you are keeping track by chance…this was Britt’s THIRD pair of shoes for the day! I need to invest in Crocs for her for the parks next time 😉 So much easier!

Kye may be a “big kid” now but he still loves him some carrousel 🙂 I sat next to him and let Zach spend some time with Britt. Kye was cracking me up b/c our horses were on different levels so every time we passed each other he’d kiss me 🙂 So sweet! 

I love this b/c I can hear her saying “AW MAN!” She was so sad to leave those horses!

Disney Must Do: Try to get the sword out of the stone!

After the carrousel we went to Peter Pan and were about 15 min early for our Fast Pass. With the old Fast Pass system they would usually let you on rides about 15 min early or even 15 min late…the new system though they told us the cards won’t work until 5 min before your start time. Good to know! Since I’m mentioning the new Fast Pass system…be sure to keep your ticket out with you in the line (I know on property people will have a wrist band) b/c you will need to scan your ticket TWICE. Once when you first get in line and then again closer to the actual ride. 

Since we had a little bit of time we went ahead and did Phiharmagic again! It was PERFECT b/c we walked right in and the cast member told us that it is about a 15 min show so we’d get out and jump right on Peter Pan 🙂 It was SO sweet to me b/c Zach said he wanted Britt to sit with him this time for Philharmagic. He held her little glasses on her the whole time and I think he really wanted to get to see her experience it. She was so stinking adorable during the whole thing. Yes, she still freaked out about Donald Duck too! And kept talking about how Donald Duck crashed and how he splashed her with the water 🙂 

Trippy pics thanks to Mrs. Charlotte 😉

When we went to Peter Pan it made my heart happy that Kye insisted on riding with me 🙂 I LOVE that he was having so much fun with G-Mama but it was nice to be the one he wanted to ride with 🙂 That way too it worked out for G-Mama and Zach to ride with Britt for her first time. Peter Pan ended up being another one of THE most talked about rides since we’ve been home. Britt says “tick tock tick tock” all the time and talks about Captain Hook and the crocodile 🙂 

I am alllll about saving money when we got to Disney. I know many people look at vacations differently than we do, and that’s fine! To some people getting to eat out is important when traveling…for us it’s not. Having SPACE where we stay is critical for us. Sleep is always a top priority with our children and we like to make sure we have a solid sleep arrangement for everyone to get the best rest possible. Well rested children (and adults!) make for happy children (and happy adults!). So we always stay off property. It’s more economical and allows us to have the space we need. We also always stay somewhere with a kitchen. It’s a way for us to cut down on spending because we eat majority of our meals in the rooms. Every trip we go on Zach and I sit down and work out exactly what we’ll eat each meal time. I pack as much food from home from the trip as possible. Why go buy it at the store if you already have it at home?!?! On this day I planned for us to eat dinner in the park! Eating in the park is a special treat to us since we don’t do it often and we were all looking forward to it! We planned to eat at a quick service place and decided to go over to tomorrowland to eat since it was close to where we wanted to sit for the parade and fireworks. On this trip the Electric Parade was at 7 and the fireworks show was at 9. Big advantage of coming when it gets dark earlier! 

Being silly and waiting on Daddy and G-Mama with the food 🙂

And yes…even though we were eating on property for our dinner I still packed several things for the kids. Milk especially as I didn’t want to have to buy them! Btw…the chicken alfredo there is FABULOUS!

As a child I remember waiting for what felt like hours for the parades and fireworks. We saw many people waiting for them before we even went to dinner! Zach would NEVER do well with that kind of situation. Honestly, I wish we found a spot earlier…but Zach is a last minute spot finder and I just have to roll with it. It always works out. We always find a spot. So I try not to stress it. I just always feel bad making people make room for us at the last minute when they have probably been there for a LONG time! It’s part of the reason I always bring a package of glow sticks with me. My kids get some and then we always give them out to the kids around us. I try to be EXTRA nice to all the people around us and their children in hopes that they won’t hate us for barging in at the last minute. So far, it’s always worked 🙂 

Ready for her first parade!

We had a few minutes before it was supposed to start so Kye and I got some pics in front of the castle!

It was SO sweet when Kye told the cast member “let me kiss my mom on her cheek!” PRECIOUS! 

Thanks to the older gentlemen who totally blocked the castle…

I know there are a LOT of different recommendations for spots to see the parades. We stick with Main Street b/c it’s the closest thing to the exit. It works for us just fine and I tend to recommend that area to others with small children too. When that junk ends (if you’re leaving) you wanna be able to BOLT for the exit before the crowds set in! 

If it were up to Zach we’d never watch any parades. He can’t stand them. But the Electrical Parade is SO special to me. It’s a classic! I told Zach that I didn’t want to see him unhappy b/c it caused me to stress and to not be able to enjoy myself or enjoy the kids b/c I was worried about him so he did NOT have to stay with us for the parade if he wanted to do something else instead or go get a snack or something. I think he tried to get a snack but the Starbucks was the only thing nearby? The kids LOVED the parade and I loved watching them experience it 🙂

Kye was hilarious hanging with these girls 🙂 

We decided to just keep our spot on Main Street for the fireworks show at 9. It was a bit of a wait but I had to go to the bathroom anyway so we traded off taking kids to the bathroom while the others stayed back and waited and the time passed pretty quickly. There was no point in trying to navigate the crowds to ride one ride then deal with the hassle of finding another spot! We had a good one and we stuck with it 🙂


I bring a LOT of entertainment along for the kids at the parks. The BEST thing to have are little notepads with pens for them to draw while we wait in lines. I also bring some Disney small figurine toys and some Cars guys along with whatever their surprise was that day. Honestly? The only thing I’ve EVER used with the kids are the notepads and pens. They are both very content to stand in line and we rarely have much of a wait anyway. If we do then the notepad is plenty enough fun for them! This was my first time having the City Mini Double Stroller with us on our trip and I have to say, it was great!!! I especially love how the shades close completely. IF we did have rain…it would have really helped to keep them dry! The kids also loved the sun shades because they were able to have their own little special caves in there and kept wanting to “hide” Good entertainment!!! 

Where are Kye and Britt???

There they are!!!

When Kye and I were coming back from the bathroom we saw a show starting at the castle. I think it was Wishes? I didn’t know it would start earlier than the fireworks so it worked out great that we were there to see it. I’ve never seen it before and we really did like it. There was NO crowd so we could see very well and it was neat seeing the images projected on the castle and hear so many of our favorite Disney songs. One moment that was very special to me was when they played “Let It Go” from Frozen. Hearing Britt’s sweet little voice sing along to that awesome song while at Disney was just a magical heartwarming moment I will never forget! It was a moment where I truly took it all in and thanked the Lord for my many, many blessings. 

Poor Kye is SO HEAVY haha Zach can’t do piggy backs for much longer!

G-Mama insisted on holding Britt on her shoulders. I tried y’all but she was hardcore about it!

Haha Zach is pumped for the fireworks 🙂

This was Britt’s first time ever seeing fireworks and I wasn’t sure if she would like them or not. But she LOVED them. Now at home every time we watch a Disney movie and it shows the castle at the beginning with the fireworks behind it she freaks out yelling “FIREWORKS! FIREWORKS!” They were so beautiful and it was such a great way to end our first day at DISNEY! When the fireworks ended Britt said “Thanks Genie!” haha I guess she thought the Genie made them happen? 😉 

I thought the kids might fall asleep on the way home but instead they were SO tired and silly acting. Britt gets hyped when tired and Kye gets super talkative about random things. We said all of our prayers and our favorite things on the way home. The adults agreed that Britt’s love for Donald Duck was pretty high up on the list of favorites 😉 Kye was being SUPER funny and told us that God made him special and a way that God made him special was that he does not sleep. Not ever. Like when he goes to bed he just lays there awake all night haha. Britt was funny too as whenever we brought up anything we rode she listed everyone in our group. And she always mentioned that Big Papa wasn’t there. It was super sweet that she was so concerned about including everyone and it really reminded me of Zach as he likes to make sure everyone is having fun all the time! We have some precious babies and I’m so thankful for a truly incredible first day at Magic Kingdom!!!

Emily Parker
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