Disney

From Bradenton we drove to Orlando early in the morning to visit Disney World. Rach had a conference there, and since we going to be right there we couldn't resist taking Jackson to the park.

He didn't really know what he was in for since he's too young to know about about Disney World, so we were much more excited than he was, but he was just happy to be along for the ride.



We rode the monorail into the park (Jackson would have been thrilled to just do that all day) and we paused for the obligatory shot of our family in front of the Mickey Mouse bushes.

Jackson loved to watch all the people walking along Main street as we headed to Cinderella's Castle. He still had no idea what this place was, but he was a smiley boy and put up with us stopping every few feet to snap pictures of him.

We went right to Dumbo and had to wait in line for only about 10 minutes. By this point the heat was really getting to us, but Jackson was very patient and enjoyed watching the ride go around and around. We worried that he'd be afraid when his turn came, but he was only mildly nervous. We told him flying was fun, and after that little reassurance he agreed.

He saw the carousel as soon as he got off Dumbo and raced right over. There was no line, and he got to pick his horse, saying "neigh, neigh" the whole time. He'd been on carousels before, so he knew the drill. He petted the horse and waved to all the people as he went past, a real prince charming.

From there it was off to It's a Small World, which also had no line. We walked right up to the platform and Jackson start cheering "boat, boat, boat." Once we took off, though, he fell silent with his mouth hanging open through the whole ride. We couldn't get him to look at the camera. He was totally engrossed in the amazing world around him, and we were totally absorbed in watching him.

After that we ran into our first big line at the Flight of Peter Pan. We waited twenty minutes for this one, and Jackson started to get a little antsy wanting to run around and make friends with all the other kids. Rach had to put him on her shoulders to get him to stay close, and he thought that was pretty funny. Even after standing in line for 20 minutes in the 98 degree weather, our little man was a happy camper.

He enjoyed Peter Pan, but it didn't get the same reaction as the other ride. It's probably one he'll have to grow into after he's old enough to see the movie and read the stories.

After Peter Pan, it was time for lunch, and the heat was really getting to us, so we caught the big river boat back to our bus. Jackson didn't mind leaving because he thought the boat ride home was just one more of the cool rides.

The boy took a three-hour nap and ran around the hotel for a while with Susie while Rach went to some conference sessions, but the whole family headed to Epcot for dinner. We headed right for France. Rach got a baguette with cheese and a creme brule.

Jackson shared the meal to the best of his ability but he had a hard time figuring out how to tackle the bread.

Finally he decided that the most direct approach was the best one and tackled the sandwich head on.Susie had a crescent with chevrie, and a cream puff. She was much more graceful when eating hers.

We all left France very full and very happy. If we'd had more time we would have eaten more food, so it's probably just as well that we had to get back to the hotel to keep Jackson on his bedtime schedule. We did, however, take time to get out picture taken in front of the famous "golf ball."

The next morning was spent at the hotel since Rach had to be at the conference, but after Jackson's nap we went back to the Magic Kingdom. We went right to Toon Town and visited Minnie Mouse's house. Jackson made himself at home in her chair.

After Minnie's it was off to Mickey's. Jackson has been watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so he kept singing Mickey's theme song "Hot Dog" and doing his little Mickey Mouse dance, which involves him waving around his elbows a lot.

He kept singing "Hot Dog" and doing his little dance right on through the line to see Mickey and Minnie, which was pretty long. However, when we actually got in the room with those most famous of mice, Jackson clammed right up. His eyes got wide and his mouth dropped open, but he was too starstruck to sing or dance.

It wasn't until we left the room and the door closed behind us that he looked up as us and said, "MOUSE!" It was well worth the wait.

After the mouse house we headed over to Tomorrowland to go to Infinity and Beyond with Buzz Lightyear.

Jackson got a little nervous on this ride, but once he figured out that he could control the laser on the front of our car, he was good to go. Mind you he has no idea what a laser is; he just knew he wanted to be the one to control it.

From space to race, we headed over to the race cars. Jackson loved watching the cars go by and shouting "vroom vroom." He would have been happy watching all day. He didn't understand that was just the line to the real ride.

We was too small to drive, but he did help hold the wheel a little bit. He mostly just enjoyed the view of the track and the other cars as we went around.

It was getting close to bedtime, but we had time for one more ride, and we chose the Jungle Cruise, more for its location than anything else. Turns out we made a great choice because it turned out to be Jackson's favorite ride of the whole trip. Every one of the animals that looked cheesy to us was a monumental sight to Jackson. He spend the whole ride making this face at everything he saw.

So, while he's really too young to understand the full scope of Disney World, or remember everything he saw there, we will, and we'll be telling him these stories for the rest of his life. If all else fails, pictures like the one above will remind us that our trip was, well, magical :)