“A magical trip that will be remembered forever” – Momma Braga
If you ask any of my friends and family to tell you something about me, the most common answer would be my love for Disney. Even before becoming a mother, I was always a fan and made sure to buy the latest Disney movie that would come out. I had quit a collection before my daughter was born and the collection keeps growing with the new additions that are released. So it was no surprise that I always dreamt of visiting Disney World.
Back in 2012, my husband wanted to take a trip for our five year wedding anniversary and my request was to visit Disney World. My husband always wanted to go and see what it was all about so he happily agreed and I was the happiest person in the world. Since it appeared at the time that children were not in our very recent future, we decided this would be the best time to experience this as a couple.
The Planning
I am a planner so it is no surprise that I had to plan our vacation and do all my research beforehand. Once our trip was booked, I took it a step further and checked out what was happening at the different parks while we were there. This way I knew which park to go to on what day. We also booked tickets to see Cirque du Soleil in advance to make sure we enjoyed everything we possibly could while we were there. I even booked our dinners at some of the restaurants to ensure that we meet some of the characters that we wanted to meet. On our list of must see was Donald Duck for my husband and Winnie-The-Pooh for me (I just love him!).
Our Arrival & Accommodations
The day finally arrived to make my childhood dream come true. It honestly felt so surreal to be going and I was so excited that I couldn’t eat. When we arrived in Orlando Florida, I was like a kid in a candy store. My eyes wide open and full of excitement of what I was going to experience. The Disney bus came to pick us up at the airport to take us to our Disney resort hotel (this is booked when you book your tickets) which added to the magic for me. Since I picked most of the trip, my husband was responsible to pick the hotel and the room we stayed in. He picked the Disney Caribbean Resort and we had the Pirates of the Caribbean Room. We had to go all out Disney!
We truly enjoyed our accommodations as the staff were friendly, the rooms were clean and the food was great.
The Magic of Disney World
The Disney movies that I watched was so full of magic and it is one of the reasons that I love them dearly. They provided me with the aspiration that anything and everything is possible if you just believe. By being at Disney World it allowed me to feel this magic in person. Maybe it was the experience of meeting the characters who are played beautifully by the right person who stays in complete character in front of you. Maybe it was experiencing the thrill of the attractions. Maybe it was seeing the parades and hearing the classic songs from every Disney classic movie. Maybe it was seeing the nightly fireworks. Or maybe it was the opportunity to live out my childhood dream that made it magical for me.
I remember how excited I got when Princess Belle waved at me from the parade float and I turned to my husband and said, “Oh my god! Belle just waved at me!” My husband couldn’t help but giggle as he said he saw my childlike self-explode with happiness. But it didn’t prepare him on how excited I would be to meet Winnie-The-Pooh at Hollywood Studios. I waited in line with all the other children who were accompanied by their parents as Winnie was on a short break. As soon as he arrived, my heart started to beat really fast and I couldn’t believe I was going to hug an adult sized Pooh Bear! I approached Winnie and since they are not able to speak to stay in character, he used hand motions to communicate with me. A staff member assisted in translating as I was so excited that I couldn’t comprehend any of the hand motions. So Winnie-The-Pooh pointed out that I had a Winnie bear keychain on my bag and hand motioned that I had a baby Pooh Bear. Excitedly I said, “Oh yes! I love Pooh Bear!” I got a “Love You too!” motion and a great big hug. Yup! This moment made my life!
So why did these particular little moments make me feel special? It was because I was able to feel like a child again without a worry in the world. Children have such a positive imagination, aspirations and dreams without ever doubting themselves. This is what I loved feeling again as it seems that sometimes we lose these feelings as we grow up and sometimes we need to feel like a child again to remember them again.
The whole trip was just an amazing experience for the both of us as my husband secretly (not anymore a secret) enjoyed it as much as I did. However, I think the best part was to share this first experience with my husband as we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary.
Of course my daughter Nikki is loving Disney as much as I do and we will be saving to hopefully be able to take her one day to experience what her momma experienced a bit later in life. However, I always say it is better late than never! 😉
If you have gone to Disney World with your family, what have you enjoyed the most? Leave your comment below as I would love to read it!
Until next time…Happy Parenting!
– Momma Braga
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