Birthday Trip To See Mickey...Or Maybe Just Darth Vadar

Last year we decided that we wanted to go to Disney in 2011, but we weren't quite sure when. With the way that Easter fell this year, very late in April, it worked out perfectly to go during the week of Ryan's birthday. What a birthday, right?

Of course, being 18 weeks pregnant and having been very sick since week 6, I was a little worried. I had been feeling a little better since the all day nausea only kicked in the afternoon hours starting the week before. I refilled my Zofran prescription and off we went. Although my hips were killing me a couple of days in, that was my only problem. No sickness. No problems!

Friday night we drive to Valdosta, Ga., a little over half way to Disney. On Saturday morning, Ryan said, "let's go home." He was so cute thinkking we drove five hours just to stay in "Bowel-dosta" (as he pronounced it) and go back home. I do have to admit that the hotel was very nice, but not worth a five-hour drive just for a nice slumber. So, we eat breakfast and eagerly head to the car ready to tell Ryan where we are going since it was a total surprise. We had the video camera running and my phone going as well ready to capture the most excited, surprised little boy on camera. It went a little something like this:

Me: Ryan, who is on your shirt?

Ryan: Mickey Mouse
Me: Where do you want to go today?
Ryan: Disney World

O.K., that's not at all how I thought it would go. He has been asking to go back for weeks now whenever he would see the Disney castle at the beginning of his movies. But, that exchange almost made it seem like someone had told him where we were going. When I look back at the video, and knowing that he passed out about 15 minutes after it was filmed, I can see that he was tired and also in a little denial.

We finally arrived in Disney early Saturday afternoon, checked in our hotel and headed to the Magic Kingdom, of course. We only had a short amount of time because they were closing the park early to host a graduation night. So we did a few things then got on the monorail to head elsewhere. Little did we know that we would end up being stuck at The Polenesian...look kids, big ben! That's a story in itself, so we'll stick to Ryan's excitement.

Sunday, we chose to do The Magic Kingdom all day. Poor Ryan was hesitant about getting on the bus because of the tour of Disney we took Saturday night just trying to get back to our hotel. I did say that was a story in itself ;) We get on the bus and start our long day in the 95 degree heat. First stop, The Haunted Mansion. It's one of my favorites and it freaked Ryan out :( So, it was one and done on that one. After that we conquered the rest of the rides and watched Ryan's face light up. It was precious watching him react to everything. His favorite ride at The Magic Kingdom was Buzz Lightyear (by the end of the week, I bet we rode it close to 10 times).

For Ryan's birthday that Monday, we already decided that we would go to Hollywood Studios and let him fight Darth Vadar. Little did we know that we would be in for a huge treat right after signing him up for Jedi Training. Tim walked over to the Sci-Fi Cafe to see if they had any reservation openings and I hear him yell for me. Ryan and I round the corner and see about 10 Stormtroopers just hanging out. Little did we know that we, and only a handful of other people, would get to watch them film something with pyro! It was really awesome and a great start to Ryan's birthday. After that we enjoyed Muppet's 3D, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and more till it was time for the showdown with Darth Vadar. That was totally the highlight of the day watching that little face, painted like Darth Maul I might add, get up on stage and use the "forest" (aka: force) and beat Darth Vadar. Yay Ryan!

Tuesday we headed to Epcot, which is my least favorite especially for kids Ryan's age. We did the boat rides and played at Mission Space. I was actually able to do Soarin', much to my surprise. I wish I could say what Ryan's favorite part of Epcot was, but I'm not sure. He did like Nemo and the interactive show with Crush which was totally awesome, dude. But, when it comes to rides there really isn't much entertainment there. His souvenier from Epcot? A face splat to the tile floor in Japan's restaurant which caused a bloody nose. Poor buddy :(

Wednesday, it was Animal Kingdom day. Ryan got to be a guest skipper on the Jungle Cruise, see some awesome birds, clap and sing along to some great shows, and of course see the amazing animals on the safari ride.

On Wednesday we had done everything so Thursday and Friday we returned to The Magic Kingdom to redo some things that Ryan really enjoyed, as well as spend a little time at the pool. Although we were done with everything Wednesday, and were physcially worn out, it was kind of nice to have a couple of extra days as cushion to return and just redo some favs. There were some moments when I was asking myself why we spent all of this money to listen to him whine, which seems to be a common thing with all children at Disney. Is it just being totally worn out? It was 95 and sunny all week too so maybe it's a combination. But, overall it was a great trip and Ryan has some great memories!