The Best Things Come in 3: A Vacation to the Happiest Place on Earth

The holidays were busy and extra fun this year. We did go to Michigan over Thanksgiving and had a splendid time with my family. My sister and her family also stayed with my parents, so their house was full and the kids loved spending time with their cousins. I, too, very much enjoyed my time with my parents and sister.

Santa brought the kids just what they wanted for Christmas. That man is good. Gavin's big gift was the Imaginext Batcave, Rachel got all things La La Loopsy, and Aryne struck the motherload of chipmunk items. They also got several great gifts from family, including Nintendo 3DS's, which they just can't seem to put down. Thank you everyone for being so generous! After Christmas, we just sat back and relaxed for a week, until we made our way to Florida on vacation. That's right. You heard it. Our family actually went on our very first vacation EVER to Disney World on Jan. 1.

The kids travel so well, we really are quite proud of them for that. We spent 5 nights and 4 days there, which included 2 days at the Magic Kingdom, a day at Epcot, and a day at Hollywood Studios. Rachel had a rough time with all of her sensory issues and the business of it all on our first day at the Magic Kingdom. We had promised her she wouldn't have to do anything she didn't want to do. As soon as we got in, we rode 2 rides she was really looking forward to (which took much too long as the park was way overcrowded that day), and that apparently was enough for Rachel. She thought that she was going to ride 2 rides the entire stay at Disney and that was IT. No more rides, no shows....NOTHING. Of course, she really wanted to ride the other rides, she was just too scared. We had to take her out of a few rides with her screaming bloody murder just as they were about to start. Needless to say, the first day was rough. But the next day was Epcot, which is more relaxed, and the crowds died down, so it went much better for her. By the last day, she was much more confident in the rides and couldn't get enough of Disney World.

Aryne had the time of her life there. I've never seen a kid have such a contagious laugh. She got up and boogied to the music during shows, and belted out laughing at all the jokes. People were smiling and pointing at her and just having fun watching her. I'm fairly confident Disney was made for kids like her. The only time she got scared was on the Haunted Mansion ride, where she screamed and clung to me throughout. That was fun trying to hold onto her AND Gavin in complete darkness while navigating the crowd. We made it out though, safe and sound. Gavin rather enjoyed most everything, too. We did have to drag him onto Pirates of the Caribbean. He was really scared through about half of the ride until I pried his face out of my ribs and hands off of his eyes. When he finally looked around, he thought the ride was fantastic! If you ask him what his favorite ride was in all of Disney, he will tell you, with enthusiasm, "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN!".

In addition to the rides, we had made reservations at 5 restaurants for sit-down meals, noting Gavin's food allergies and foods that we are avoiding (the list included peanut, tree nut, sunflower seed/oil, uncooked egg, and shellfish). We also ate 5 quick-service meals at the parks as well. I have to say that one of the reasons we chose Disney for our first vacation is that they have a fantastic reputation for knowing how to handle food allergies. They certainly did not disappoint us! Each of the head chefs at the restaurants came out to talk to us and several of them made special desserts for us that were safe for Gavin. Even the managers at the quick-service restaurants all came out to talk to us and go over all of the ingredients in their foods. All of the kitchens we encountered were nut-free, except for some baked goods made elsewhere and brought in. The only PB&J sandwiches they had were the prepackaged kind, so there was no risk of cross-contamination in the kitchen. Wonderful! The sunflower allergy was our trickiest, but we were able to work around it quite easily. Thank you Disney for allowing us to sit down and eat at restaurants like a typical family. I hope they all know how much it meant to us.

The kids met many characters and went to three character meals. They met the Pooh characters at the Crystal Palace. The next day they met all of the princesses at Epcot's Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and on the last day, we all went to Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare. While those were all fun and lovely, 4 out of 5 of us liked Tony's Town Square the best, and the last one of us liked 50's Prime Time Cafe the best. I don't know how the non-character meals ended up being our favorites, but perhaps it had to do with the extra yummy food. We also met Mickey and Minnie, Donald Duck, Buzz Lightyear, Tinkerbell and Vidia, Prince Charming and Cinderella's family, and the Green Army Man from Toy Story. We saw the parades, firework shows, and rode all the big rides. We thought for sure we would all be dragging and dog tired by the end of the week. As it turns out, that didn't quite happen at all. Instead, we wanted more! None of us can wait to go back!

Take a look at the holiday/vacation pictures and enjoy!