Skipping Town

Saturday, April 8, 2017 I think Andrew wanted to kill me when I dragged us all into a taxi at 7:30 in the morning, but I’d made an early breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest, the restaurant in the Beast’s Castle. We got into the park before opening time. Thanks to my research on Disney blogs (there are a million), I knew to order our meals in advance, so we got to go right in without delay. We chose a table in the West Wing, the spookiest area. It was dark, with the sound of thunder, and filled with tattered curtains and a slashed portrait of the prince. Greta was utterly captivated by my retelling of how the prince was so angry at being turned into a beast that he slashed everything in his castle with his claws. She repeated the story many times throughout the day. When she saw a woman wearing (intentionally) ripped jeans, she told me the beast must have slashed them. Anyway, it was fun to eat there, and then we were off. It was another charmed morning. We barely waited in l...

Friday, April 7, 2017 Disney, round two! I never imagined we’d be annual Disney visitors, but it seems like that’s the path we’re on. Last week, we flew to Orlando and spent a magical (yes! magical!) weekend at the Waldorf Astoria, with two days in the Magic Kingdom. Lucia and Greta were excited, and so was I. As anyone who’s been to Disney World knows, a visit requires a vast amount of planning, but when the planning pays off it’s all worth it. I planned the heck out of our two days and we were well rewarded. Though we got to Orlando late Thursday night on April 6, we got up early the next morning to make our 8:25am breakfast reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table. We had a little time to spare, so we rode Prince Charming’s Carousel, an easy, no-line ride that’s probably Greta’s favorite thing to do at Disney World. (There’s a sad little story that goes along with this later. Stay tuned.) Next, since I was determined to maximize our Memory Maker Photo Pass package, I had the...

Our final Magic Kingdom day was all about princesses and pressed pennies. We’d gotten a few pressed pennies on Monday and Tuesday, and L&G’s collecting gene kicked in, so we found a pressed-penny-machine map online and set out to get all the pressed pennies we could. Our concierge very nicely counted out a ton of pennies for me in the morning, even swapping out the tarnished ones for shiny ones. Disney service, right there. The day started early, with breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table, which is fun for two reasons: first, because you meet five princesses and get to eat in Cinderella’s Castle; and second, because you get to go into the Magic Kingdom before it officially opens. We strolled down a deserted Main Street and had our picture taken with the castle--and no crowds--in the background. L&G wore pink princess dresses and carried their Minnies. (Seriously, these kids loved Disney. And to think part of me was in doubt.) First, Cinderella welcomed them to the castle, an...

We were all-in on Tuesday, heading to the Magic Kingdom early enough to see the characters perform a little welcome routine before opening time. L&G didn’t mind the wait because they were coloring in their magic-ink coloring books, which were easily the best Disney-prep purchase I made. When the park opened, we quickly headed right to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which L&G had said they wanted to do and which we didn’t have a Fast Pass for. It was a misstep. This was a real roller-coaster, tame by coaster standards but definitely an overwhelming choice for kids who’d never ridden one before. Greta was enraged by the tight lap bar, and Lucia was alternately screaming-happy and completely terrified. I hate roller coasters and was glad when it was over. We needed a break after that grand beginning, so we got cinnamon buns from Gaston’s Tavern and found a little table in the shade. This was eerily calm and quiet, right in the middle of the park--a perfect little rest. We went ...

We embarked on our Disney vacation with skepticism, which was mostly rooted in the inherent difficulty of planning a first Disney trip--so many weirdly specific logistics, so much required advance planning. There are resort reservations, Fast Pass reservations, meal reservations. We planned six weeks in advance and were told we were much, much too late. But we got our bookings, and off we went. Along with the skepticism, we went with openness and a willingness to be surprised by the fabled magic of Disney. And I’ll say this: magic was in abundance with our four- and six-year-old traveling companions. They were the perfect ages for Disney. Lucia, especially, was the kind of child for whom Disney was made. Greta had a wonderful time but was, in my opinion, still a bit too young; but I’m glad we went while Lucia was six, because six is the perfect Disney age. I’ll go wild here and say we’ll have to go back when Greta is six, just to give her that same experience. We kept our trip pri...