We are a family of late sleepers; it is not unusual for the four of us to be pajama-clad and bedheaded at 11:00 a.m. on a weekend morning.
Last week was spring break, which meant ten mornings of waking up after sunrise, at our own pace. No blasted alarm that rudely interrupts those dreams that I know are good but can’t quite hold onto once I awaken.
Except. There are very few occasions for which my teenagers would give up sleeping in, and this spring break was one of those occasions. Because the right way to do Disney World is to get there when the park opens, and to do that we need the blasted alarm.
This is what Space Mountain looks like at 7:55 a.m.
There was no moaning and groaning about getting up so early, because it’s Disney. We keep going back, forgoing lazy vacation mornings for the ear worm that is It’s a Small World.
The kids have fun together.
Being of different genders and three years apart, Gwen and James haven’t really played together since he was young enough to be willing to do whatever she told him to do. But Disney is their shared love, and they bond over it. When we were in the Swiss Alps last summer, the two of them chatted as they hiked, discussing their favorite parks and rides. They trade pins together, and often sit next to one another as they careen down the roller coaster track, hands high in the air.
Front row!
The kids have fun with us.
Matt and I behave like kids in Disney, and the four of us have a blast. We aren’t Mom and Dad who make them do their homework and clean up their rooms; we are Mom and Dad who scream on Space Mountain and shoot laser beams with Buzz Lightyear. We are far less embarrassing in Disney World than we are in real life.
I did embarrass the kids a little as I attempted to take a selfie with the Epcot ball.
The parks are so much easier with potty-trained, adult-sized people.
No ride is height-restricted, and no strollers must be maneuvered through the crowds. We walked more than sixty-one miles over the course of seven days at Disney World, and the kids covered it all on their own feet, with no complaints. I carried the family backpack for all of fifteen minutes; James shouldered it most of the time.
There is no time for screen time.
Sure, the kids can Snapchat their friends while we are waiting to board a ride, but most of the time they are too busy interacting with other human beings to stare at their phones.
The adolescent angst magically disappears.
There are no tantrums or mood swings, and grumpiness dissipates quickly when surrounded by Disney magic. While younger kids are prone to meltdowns even in the happiest place on Earth, teenagers understand how fortunate they are to be there.
This photo is not relevant to this post, but it makes me laugh – who knew Snow White wore bloomers?
We are creating memories for all of us.
I am keenly aware of the fact that this was our last spring break family vacation. Next year Gwen will be in college, and the kids will have different weeks off. It will become increasingly difficult to take family vacations, and knowing this makes the ones we take now more meaningful than the ones we took when we had years of childhood ahead of us. The kids don’t remember our first few Disney trips, but they will remember this one. The inside jokes and the amusing anecdotes are now a part of their childhood memories, and they will recall our days in the parks with nostalgia when they get older.
(When I asked Gwen if she would want us to come with her to Disney if she brought her own kids, she replied, “If you pay for the trip…” So much for nostalgia.)
They can be little kids again.
It can be stressful to be a teenager; the demands of high school and impending college are higher than ever before. Adolescents have one foot in childhood and one in adulthood, and Disney allows them to firmly plant all ten piggies back in the days of carefree youth. On rides, they laugh and squeal with abandon. They pose with characters willingly, because you are never too old to love Mickey and his friends.
It’s good to leave your bubble.
While I’m sure the majority of Americans have not been to Disney World, there is certainly a diverse cross section of the population in the parks. People watching is superb, with families from all over this country and the world. A visit to Morocco in Epcot is not the same as venturing to Africa, but any opportunity for my kids to interact with people who aren’t just like them is a learning experience.
No one does it like Disney.
Yes, it’s costly. But the attention to detail, friendliness of cast members, and quality of the attractions cannot be outdone. Disney does everything at 110%, and each time we go we find something new to amaze us.
Such attention to detail: this is the men’s room sign near Gaston’s Tavern. If you’ve seen Beauty and the Beast you will get the reference.
They keep asking to go back.
We have visited every other year since Gwen was in kindergarten, and she is now a high school senior. Matt and I always suggest other options, but they both vehemently request Disney again. As we set off on this seventh trip, I assumed it would be our last. I seemed to be the only one making that assumption; neither kid is ready to let go of this staple of their childhoods. And if they aren’t ready to let go, I’ll grab my mouse ears and hold on tight along with them.
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