Flying by the Seats of Our Pants: Disney

I have covered our adventures of getting to Disney this trip, where our money went and I have covered our hotel room. Now, I want to get into the meat and potatoes of this trip.

The weather was near perfect. It was still on the hot side but not the unbearable August heat we try to avoid. We had rain showers for two of our days. Actually, we had one day of drizzle and one day of monsoon but this averaged out to two showers if you do the math.

But the most important thing was the crowds. They were very light. I figure that most parents don't yank their kids out of school this early in the semester so we reaped the benefit of their being good parents. Most of the rides had a 15 minute wait or less. Even Soarin - an ever popular ride had only about a 40 minute wait... not that my kids would wait 40 minutes for a ride but it was nice for the other folks. On our EPCOT day, we arrived late in the afternoon and even at that late hour (after 3:00), there were still Soarin fast passes being distributed for somewhere around 7:00 PM.

Even though we only had two days in the parks, we didn't feel the need to rush around and we still managed to ride enough rides to make the trip worth it. We skipped Animal Kingdom because the only really big draw for my kids there is Everest and we thought our short time would be better spent in the other parks. Lil' Bit absolutely loves the Everest ride and was disappointed but being so easy going, she adapted to the decision.

Halloween decorations are up. I enjoy them but still felt, like it was a bit early for them. The Micky's Not So Scary Halloween Parties had already started and in fact, there was one on our first day. For those not in the know, Disney has two awesome special events. The Halloween Party and the Christmas Party. On these nights, the park closes early and guests who purchase specific tickets to the events are allowed in. The Halloween party features trick or treat stations thoroughout the park. Upon arrival for the evening, everyone is given a plastic trick or treat bag and then whenever the guest comes across a trick or treat station, they can stand in line for a handful of free candy. One year, I measured out take on our luggage scale and found that we had received non less than four pounds of candy.

They also have dance parties throughout the park where a DJ (or animated DJ in the case of Cosmic Ray's) plays dance music and the guests can dance with Disney Characters.'

Most of the rides are open for the event and there are almost no lines (ad even less when the good parents take their kids back to the hotel).

I digress because we didn't do the Halloween party this year. We have done it twice and didn't feel that the extra money was in our budget this time.

Judge me, don't judge me, I am OK either way but one thing I like about going to Disney without my husband is how much freedom I can give my kids in the park. My husband is a bit more of a helicopter parent and I am raising them as free range kids. Big Boy has a cell phone and we always have rules and a plan but the kids are old enough to go on rides without me. I don't care for certain rides such as Tower of Terror so I let them go on without me. The kids love the independence and they are awesome together. Big Boy is very protective of his little sister and takes very good care of her. He has only lost her once (that is a story for another day).

I do ride a lot of rides but leave the bigger coasters to the kids. I enjoy watching the crowds and soaking up the Disney ambiance while they are on ride.

Here are some pictures from our trip.