365: The Aman Project: Day 52

MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

I was so excited to take Tyler to Disney World. His first Disney experience ever and he gets to go to Disney World, what a lucky baby! This was Mama’s first time at the Magic Kingdom as well and I was so excited to experience it with him. It was definitely a different experience doing Disney with a baby.

What I Learned About Taking a Baby to Disney

- Go at the baby’s pace

- There will be naps. They may only last 20 minutes and there may be more than one. But there will be naps.

- Even though a ride says “all ages,” it doesn’t mean it’s “all age appropriate.” Tyler was pretty scared several times throughout his Disney vacation. My poor baby.

- Food is expensive at Disney. Pack a lunch.

- Bring plenty of snacks. We did and we managed to feed our baby, our baby nephew, our 6-year-old niece, and a 16-year-old boy. Thank goodness for diaper backpacks.

Our Magic Kingdom experience started with Prince Charming’s Carousel, which I knew would be the highlight of Tyler’s day. He has lately become obsessed with horses (“Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!”) and kept pointing towards the horses. We got to watch the grandmas go round and round with Cousin Mala and then it was our turn! Tyler sat with Daddy on a horse while Cousin Perry sat with his daddy.

Afterwards we went to Belle’s Enchanted Stories, which was not Tyler’s favorite experience. He enjoyed standing in line (playing with a rope, watching the little birdies hop around, hanging out with Daddy…) but once we got inside all squished in like a can of sardines he started losing interest. When we entered Belle’s castle and they were picking out volunteers for the “play,” the whole group was instructed to sing. The sudden burst of high notes frightened Tyler and he clung to me. He then passed out for the rest of the show missing out on Mala performance as an enchanted portrait and our meet and greet with Belle.

Still asleep, the other two kids got to go on the Dumbo ride. Tyler woke up in time for lunch at Ray’s Starlight Café and chowed down on some chicken strips. He had quite the appetite the entire trip! I think he gained at least 5 pounds! After lunch we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride, another one of Tyler’s favorites. He sat in between Mama and Daddy and was in charge of spinning the cart, which he did with fervor! Ryan and I were spinning around like crazy! I can’t use that as an excuse to why I did so poorly though. I think I managed 3300 points. Ryan got something like 22,000.

Afterwards the “big kids” took Mala on a ride called Stitch’s Great Escape. There was a lot of time spent in the dark and a lot of loud noises so Mala was pretty scared. I was disappointed in the ride. It was pretty much a waste of time, I wish we had done Space Mountain instead but the ride had been closed when Linh tried to ride it so that might have been a bust as well.

While we were hanging with Stitch, Tyler went on the People Mover with the Grandmas and Perry. We all reunited on the Jungle Cruise, which was different from the one they have in Disneyland so that was fun.

Tyler fell asleep again afterwards so he missed out on Pirates of the Caribbean (Mala was scared again, she thought the pirates were real. Once she realized they were made out of “wood” she was fine but she kept asking, “Are they going to do something to us? Are we going to die?”) and the Magic Carpet Ride.

He woke up again in time for the Electric Light Parade. I don’t think he really knew what was going on until the end of the parade with Pete’s magic dragon showed up. Then Tyler got really excited, pointing to it and signing, “More!” We ended the night with fireworks (Ryan got some really cute pictures of the show and of Tyler’s reaction), some shopping, and a ferry ride back to our parking lot.

We had completely forgot to do our daily photo but remembered in the nick of time, right in the middle of our ferry ride: