doing disney without doing disney

while we were in orlando, we thought we'd let the kids experience a little disney without actually "going" to disney world. call it cheap, call it "stickin' it to the mouse", call it whatever you want. we had a great time. so how do you do this? you get excellent tips from a friend with preschoolers who lives in the orlando area (thanks, hannah!)! we parked (for free) at the beautiful wilderness lodge, where we found a front row parking space! (it IS the year of a million dreams!) :) as soon as we got out of the car, ethan got so excited about the sparkly pavement and the huge rocks at the entrance. oh the little things that amaze a 3 year old! forget cinderella's castle, people! disney has sparkling parking lots!

from the wilderness lodge, we took a boat to the contemporary resort, where we planned to board the monorail. well, we tried to take a boat to the contemporary! the boat first stopped at fort wilderness, where everyone got off except us. the boat driver invited ethan to honk the horn three times to signal that we were off and away. after ethan honked the horn FIVE times, we left the dock only to hear a loud THUD. the driver responded, "what was that?!" i thought this was all part of disney, ya know, pretending there's something in the water on what is thought to be a routine boat ride! but nope, the boat's rudder was broken. then i started joking that they'd found out that we weren't paying customers!! haha. after a little wait, a "rescue boat" came to push the boat back to the dock. (after we were sitting in the middle of the lake for a good 10 minutes, i jokingly asked the rescue guy if he'd ever delivered a baby!) a couple of disney PR-type men also rode around in a boat watching the whole time... we assumed they were making sure that we were happy! after a half hour or so, we made it back to the dock, and we were greeted by one of the PR men who gave us fast passes for the next day. i didn't have the heart to tell the man that we weren't planning on visiting any of the parks! :)

here's the boat we should have boarded!

the kids and i enjoyed what was supposed to be a very short ride

ethan honking the horn...we teased that he broke the boat
since he pushed the button too many times!
so we finally boarded a boat that successfully arrived at the magic kingdom. ethan was more than excited to ride the monorail! brian showed the kids videos of the monorail a few days before we left, and ethan could not stop talking about the modorail. we rode around for a little while and ethan couldn't have been happier! after ethan witnessed several stops of people getting on and off of his beloved ride, the modorail, he figured out that it was actually a means to an end and not the entertainment itself. he asked us, "where are we going!?" i did my best to enthusiastically tell him that this WAS where we were going... to ride the monorail! i think i convinced him for now, but he still took note of all the kids getting off with smiles on their faces and all the parents climbing aboard looking absolutely exhausted.


we made a stop at the contemporary resort, where the kids ran around while we shopped a little. ethan took home his very own die-cast monorail (which has already broken, by the way), and caroline was thrilled at the sight of mickey mouse! at disney! imagine that!


we took the monorail back to the magic kingdom and boarded the epcot monorail. the cool thing about riding this monorail is that it actually takes you all around epcot, not just to the entrance. brian couldn't wait to show ethan the big epcot ball (my terminology, not brian's!). and boy, did ethan LOVE seeing ep-a-cot! one day, he'll realize you can actually get out and walk around there. :) after our little tour of epcot, we took a disney bus back to the wilderness lodge. i guess i could have titled this post "milking disney transportation for all it's worth"! when we got back to the wilderness lodge, the kids (who had taken a catnap on the bus) got their second wind and ran all over that rustic lobby. caroline was quite fascinated with the disney totem pole (you'll never guess WHO was at the top!)


i tried to get a picture with the kids in front of the totem pole, but it was not happening. so here's a shot of ethan loving on caroline. for at least a second. :)


and here is why we chose to do disney the low-key way this time around... it was easy to just call it a night when we hadn't paid a dime.


as we walked out of the wilderness lodge after our fun evening, ethan stopped and looked behind him. he sighed, looked at me with a big smile at his face and said, "that was disney world!" oh boy. i felt guilty and successful all at the same time!


the next night, we visited disney's boardwalk. this is another beautiful resort themed after a 1900's atlantic village. it was a nice cool evening to stroll around the lake, and the kids loved running all over the place (notice a theme here!?).



there were jugglers, magicians, and other entertainers setting up little shows all over the boardwalk. they were all drawing quite a crowd! and ethan was excited to play a midway game ! he tried to throw baseballs at the targets, and though my boy has quite an arm, he didn't hit a single target. :( but look at that smile nonetheless... i mean, c'mon! he's at disney world!


we planned on introducing ethan and caroline to the joy of funnel cakes this night, but neither of them wanted to try it. yes, you read that right. my children refused something fried and covered in powered sugar! but we didn't press the issue... it meant more for us! i really wanted a picture of us eating funnel cake, but brian knew if he put down the plate to get the camera that there wouldn't be any left for him! haha!

this was such a relaxing way to spend our evening, and i can't wait to go back when the kids are older and rent the surries (with the fringe on top!). i bet they'll ask for a funnel cake next time!


so this ends our orlando vacation. it was a blessing to spend a few days together as a family, and we made many memories that will make us smile for years to come. when ethan and caroline are older, i'm sure they will tease us about the time we took them to disney without really taking them to disney!