#johnsonsdomickeyworld

I had been dreaming of bringing our family to Disney World for years. I really wanted to take the boys when they were young enough to still be awed by the magic of it all. But Mark was pretty hesitant. It took much convincing to finally get him to agree that now would be the perfect time for this vacation. First, I had to wait until Brooks was old enough to handle the long days, busyness, and was also tall enough to go on most of the rides. Then, I had to find a less crowded week. It also had to be during one of Florida's less humid months. And finally, I had to recruit help! (That one was easy! I knew that it would be super fun for the whole Johnson family to take this trip together. And I knew that they'd all be up for experiencing Walt Disney World with the boys during their first visit.) 

Once I had all my ducks in a row…there was no turning back. Last April, we started searching for deals and weighing our options for resorts, meal plans, travel, etc. There are a lot of factors to consider when booking a Disney trip, but in the end we knew we wanted the convenience and amenities that staying on property would give us. We used the Disney World Website to plan our entire trip- they make it so easy! We had a large travel party- 11 in all. We looked for suites, rooms, houses, etc. that could hold us all, but in the end it just worked out best to find individual rooms at the same resort. We ended up finding an awesome resort- Disney's Port Orleans Riverside! 

We booked 5 nights, 4 park days, and a quick service meal plan. And once we were booked, we spent the next 6 months waiting and dreaming about how amazing this trip would be. And it did not disappoint! 

30 days before we left I made this "Days Until Disney" count down for the boys! (Thank you Pinterest!)

They LOVED it and took turns ripping off 1 chain link a day! 

Things got real the day that these arrived in our mailbox! The boys could not contain their excitement! The Magic Bands were pretty awesome and made the trip INCREDIBLE! Your Magic Band has your park tickets, your meal plan, your credit card, your room key, and your Fast Passes all linked to it. With just the scan of your Magic Band you deducted meals & snacks from your dining plan, entered the park, walked to the front of the line, bought a drink, and opened the door to your room. And the boys thought they were also just pretty cool to wear as well- they have your name printed on the inside too!

(And speaking of Fast Passes…if you are staying on property, you can book them 60 days before your trip. So, you have to have your vacation all planned out- which park, which day. Which ride, which time. Then we had to log in at Midnight Eastern Standard Time to try to get Fast Passes for the rides we wanted to for sure ride. The rides that are most popular have the longest wait times, so booking Fast Passes for them lessens your time spent waiting in line. We logged in at Midnight on the dot, and still had trouble getting Fast Passes for exactly what we wanted, when we wanted. It was stressful, just ask Mark & Bob…ha! We had to coordinate who wanted which ride and when. We were traveling with a a preggo and 3 year old, and my DAD! Ha! We all had different interests, but we ended up being able to get a Fast Pass for every ride we wanted, just some days we just had to be more flexible with what time. You can book 3 to start, but then once you use those, you can go to a Fast Pass keyosk to book another one. And once you use that one, you can go back and book another, etc. So if you can book your original 3 for earlier times in the day, you have more time while at the park to book a 4th or a 5th. And of course you don't have to use Fast Pass + at all, if you don't want to be on a schedule, but it does make it nice not having to wait as long for rides. Most of our Fast Passes seemed to be in the afternoon, so we would have a leisurely morning and ride what we wanted, when we wanted, then have a few scheduled rides, and then have more time to do our own thing…but more on that to come.)

November 11th! The day had finally arrived! I crammed all of my parent-teacher conferences in on Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday morning we would leave for Florida! Sadly, Tuesday night into Wednesday morning a huge snowstorm blew through. My sister and Bob's flight got cancelled, but ours got out on time. We were thankful that our plans stayed on track, especially when traveling with 3 little boys, but we were bummed that they would miss out on our first day in Disney together. 

Here is Heath, ripping off the last link on our Count Down! We were really, FINALLY, going to DISNEY WORLD!!!!

Oma & Opa gave each of the boys $20 to spend on a souvenir! The boys were so excited to have money to burn! 

At DIA ready to go! 

Once we were on the plane, we sat for awhile waiting for clearance in the snow and waiting to be de-iced. I read Brooks many, many books to keep him entertained. 

We were so happy when we were finally in the air and leaving the snow behind! 

Florida sunshine- HERE WE COME! 

As soon as we got to the Orlando Airport, we made our way down to Disney's Magical Express! 

The shuttle bus took us to our hotel. It was comfortable and welcoming and had Disney Trivia and Mickey Mouse cartoons playing. It was a fun way to start our adventure in Orlando. At this point the boys had already used their Magic Bands 2 times- once to enter the Disney's Magical Express Area, and once to get on the shuttle. They were thinking they were pretty cool already with their magical "banded" powers. Brooks kept calling it his "banded". So cute. 

Brooks was so exhausted from our early morning travels that he fell asleep on the way to the resort. 

We were all just so happy to be in the 80 degree weather and to be taking in all of the sights out of our windows on the ride over. 

When we got to Port Orleans, this is the lobby that welcomed us. Mark and I have never been to New Orleans, but we got a little taste of it's charm on this trip. 

We didn't need to check in because our reservation and room access was linked to our Magic Bands, so we just headed straight to our room. Heath stopped for a little rest in this hammock along the way. 

We stayed in the Alligator Bayou. 

And this was our room. 

Brooks got to sleep on this adorable little alligator bed. The alligator is from the movie "The Princess and the Frog". Don't worry, he only fell out once. Ha! 

After we got settled in, we headed off to explore our hotel. This is the restaurant that we ate at all week. With our meal plan, we got 2 quick service meals and one snack a day. So I packed a bunch of quick breakfasty foods and snacks. And we planned on eating the other 2 meals either at our resort or the parks each day. This plan was MORE THAN ENOUGH food. A quick service meal is not what it sounds like. We had so many options- hamburger, salad, sandwiches, pulled pork, spaghetti, pizza, omelets, and so much more. Each meal came with the main course, a side, a large drink, and a dessert. Often times the meals were so large that we had extra food to take home. We even ended up usually only getting 2 meals for the kids and splitting them because it was so much food. So we stock piled quite a few meals that way. And we could also cash in 1 quick service meal for 3 snacks. So we were really able to make the meal plan go a long way. And the snacks were great too- Mickey Bars, frozen  chocolate covered bananas, rice krispie treats, Dole Whips, drinks, cinnamon buns, candy, popcorn, etc. And most of all, we liked the convenience of not having to do a sit down meal with a waiter/tip/keeping our kids quiet. The food wasn't fancy, which I know that Disney has a lot of fine dining options, but it was perfect for our young family! 

With our Dining Plan, we also got refillable mugs to use when on resort property. The caffeine was much needed and much appreciated for this Mama! And the boys thought it was cool to have endless amounts of lemonade and an occasional POP! When on vacation…you gotta let 'em live! 

We were starving when we got there, so we headed straight for a late lunch and waited for Grandma & Grandpa to arrive. Auntie, Flobby, Uncle T, and Auntie Laura wouldn't arrive until after bedtime that night. 

We were so happy to see my Mom & Dad arrive! We showed them the ropes of the Dining Plan, they joined us for a meal, and then they headed back to check out their room. We headed to the POOL! We loved knowing that our friends at home were cooped up in the snow and we were SWIMMING! 

The charm of the resort was just so special! 

And the pool was so nice! 

Splashin' with their Daddy! 

Nolan hit up the slide! 

And then Grandma & Grandpa joined us for drinks poolside! CHEERS to the start of a wonderful vacation! My mom & I drank Zipz! Neat, little, single serve glasses of wine. (That I have now seen on Shark Tank! Mr. Wonderful…thanks for the fun!)

The boys LOVED the Hot Tub too and could often be found hanging with the ladies here! Heath couldn't reach in the middle of the Hot Tub, so he put on a life vest. Ha! 

He's such a good swimmer, but after a few months out of the pool, I guess he felt more comfortable to wear it. And he was SO happy to be able to go down the water slide here since he isn't tall enough at our pool at home. 

After the pool, we made Grandma's Disney World dreams come true. The one thing that she kept saying that she couldn't wait to do was to have a Mickey Bar! And we were happy to have her first with her. 

After dessert, we took a boat ride from our resort to Downtown Disney, now known as Disney Springs. 

We walked around and checked out the shops and souvenirs and Brooks made me take his picture BY HIMSELF by every single statue he saw. He's such a GOOFY boy! (get that?)

We were all just so happy to be together and couldn't wait for the rest of the crew to arrive! 

The boys all fell asleep on the boat ride home, one even drooled all down Grandma's back. Nolan woke up, but we had to carry Heath and Brooks' dead weight all the way back to our rooms. Our rooms were right next to a bus stop, which was nice and convenient for getting to and from parks, but they were about a 15 minute walk from the main resort areas. The walk was pretty, with bridges, and water ways, and mossy trees, but when carrying a sleeping, almost 6 year old- it seemed to take forever. We were all happy to rest our heads that night and really didn't stay out too late. We were asleep by 10 and ready to have a fun filled day at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.