Visit to Santa 2018

Merry Christmas! Our annual visit to Santa was earlier this month, with mixed results. This is about as close as Atticus would get to the man in red.

A Magical Three Days at WDW's Magic Kingdom

I'd feel lucky to have one day at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, and a two-day visit there is nearly ideal. But to spend three days at Magic Kingdom? That was luxurious.

We arrived at our Disney hotel late on Thanksgiving Day, and some 12 hours later we were walking down Main Street toward Cinderella's Castle. We knew the park would be crowded on a holiday weekend, so our expectations were low. In fact, we rode hardly any of the "big" rides, concentrating on the high-occupancy attractions like the Tiki Room and Carousel of Progress. Nevertheless, we fit in about 20 or 21 rides and attractions, starting with the carousel right outside of the castle (where we got a surprise visit from Cinderella's stepsisters!). I also got to fulfill a lifelong Disney dream of eating in the restaurant right next to Small World, sitting at a table overlooking the boat launch. (Lucky break, as a group was leaving just as we arrived.) Atticus loved waving to the people below.

Dream fulfilled! Lunch overlooking It's a Small World.

On our second day at Magic Kingdom, Atticus rode his first roller coaster (Barnstormer) followed by his second (Seven Dwarfs Mine Train) a bit later. He wasn't a huge fan of roller coasters, but by the end of the trip he agreed that rides with hills can be "scary fun." He's not too enthusiastic to repeat the experience though. Edith felt similarly on our Disney trip two years ago, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that she liked them during this trip. But not so much that she's asking to ride them!

I've long thought that two days at Magic Kingdom was enough, but adding the third day made each day there leisurely. By the end of the second day, we hadn't even been on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or repeated very many of our favorite rides. Plus we often arrived after rope drop and left before closing without feeling guilty (solely my guilt, since the vast majority of our days were 12+ hours, with some closer to 14 hours).

I love closing out a Disney trip with one last full day at Magic Kingdom, and this was no exception. We repeated all of our favorites -- the carousel, Peter Pan, Small World, Splash Mountain and Enchanted Tales with Belle. Paul and Atticus headed back to the hotel around 10 p.m.-- Atticus was exhausted, and Paul was happy to catch the end of the Big Ten championship football game that night. (Ohio State won.) Edith and I stayed til 11 p.m., riding Small World and Peter Pan one last time and catching the day's last ride on the carousel. (Edith managed to ride the exact same horse three times that day and named her Julia.) Then we took our time walking down Main Street back to the hotel buses. We got back at midnight, and Edith fell asleep standing up on the bus ride home. No regrets!

Edith and "Julia"

Paul Turns 40

What you get when you ask for a cake with a gaming theme, incorporating lots of colors and Nerds. Perfect!

Paul wasn't exactly looking forward to turning 40 last Friday, but why not make the best out of a bad thing? We celebrated with about four dozen of our closest friends the following day.

We reserved a table at an arcade a couple of miles from our house, filled with old games and consoles. Paul had been there several times, but I never had. It turned out to be the perfect family-friendly venue for our friends and their kids. (Children are welcome during the day, but it's 21+ at night.) Atticus especially was enthralled by the games, and Edith, too, had fun. I already have plans for Paul to return with the kids while mom spends a few relaxing hours at home!

Our favorite pizza place is a couple of blocks away from the arcade, so a good dozen or so followed (or met) us there. After eating, I took the kids home and put them to bed, good and ready for the babysitter we had for the evening. Paul, a friend and I followed up the pizza place with a nearby bar.

Few people look forward to getting older, but you might as well do it in style, right? And thus the nine-hour birthday extravaganza was born.

Atticus showing off lots of "straws."

10 Days at Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World may be the most magical place on Earth, but being back home for 36 hours after a 10 day trip there is not. The weather was humid and in the 80s when we left Florida on Sunday. In Ohio, there's snow in the forecast this week.

But of course I would never give up a great vacation because of the sadness I feel upon returning. And it was a great vacation. We spent seven days in the parks, and Edith and I spent half of an eighth day while the boys watched the Ohio State-Michigan football game. (I'm a Buckeye fan, but I'm more of an Epcot fan.) That translated into three full days at Magic Kingdom, 2 1/2 at Epcot and one each at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.

The number of days there meant we could take things nice and easy ... at least for us. We still got there the hour each park opened and stayed til closing or nearly so. That meant 12-hour days (or more). But the pace was easier since we weren't so worried about getting all of the big rides, with corresponding big lines, done in one day. We could leisurely wait til the lines went down or a FastPass was available. We rode our favorites multiple times.

It also helped that Atticus's height has shot past the 40-inch mark. Unlike our Disney World trip two years ago, this time we could ride nearly everything as a family. That doesn't mean the kids were always enthusiastic about it. But in the end, Edith ended up enjoying roller coasters (although she skipped Space Mountain and Expedition Everest), and even Atticus admitted they were "scary fun." We'll make coaster riders of them yet!

I'll be describing more of the trip in future posts. Today, a few photos.