Now the conference is officially over (so sad) and we were on our own. Saturday we checked out of the Polynesian because it is a Saturday night and we could not afford a room (I can’t even remember what was available) and I wanted to try out another hotel. Since we were going to the Nickelodeon hotel, which is off the Disney property, we stayed at Disney all day to take advantage of it before we headed to our final hotel.
We first headed to Animal Kingdom for half the day since that was the only park we hadn’t been to yet. We only needed about half the day there because I figured we have a zoo membership at home so I wanted to hit as many rides as possible. The safari was cool, would have been nice to see more animals but still fun. The Everest roller coaster was definitely worth it, total different experience, loved it! We ate lunch in the Africa part at the buffet (can’t remember the name) and it was awesome and very reasonably priced! Dinoland was fun and I highly recommend checking out the Bug’s Life show in the Tree of Life.
Next we hopped the bus over to Magic Kingdom and did a few more rides and then watched the fireworks. I wanted to stay for the parade but it was dark, we were cold and Aidan was already sleeping! Now we had to head over to the Nickelodeon Hotel to check in because I was able to get a room there for only $120, which is awesome for a Saturday night, especially since I booked it last minute with not much available anywhere. The hotel was less than ten minutes down the road and right off the highway. We got there at about 9:30 PM and I ran in to check in. Now since I knew we would be basically only sleeping in the room and then checking out, I took advantage of their web special which was a one king size bed suite.
Well when I checked in, I don’t know if it was because it was so late or what, but she said we had been automatically been upgraded to a king size bed with bunk-beds suite! I was so excited, even more when she said the kids room had a Dora the Explorer theme. Next to Disney, Dora is Aidan’s favorite! We got up to the room, unloaded our luggage and went exploring around the hotel. It was actually really nice, there were two giant waterparks, and in the middle was a mall area with shops, restaurants, a theater, and a 4D ride experience. We got something to eat and then went back and crashed. I really wish we could have taken advantage of all it has to offer, but we were so exhausted.
The room was great and we got well rested before we had to check out and start our 20 hour drive home. We had a great breakfast buffet at the hotel and hit the road. Our drive was pretty un-eventful until we hit a snow-storm in Indiana and actually had to pull over into a gas station after I lost a windshield wiper blade! We got home and sleep for a few more hours before my parents brought over Gavin. I thought Gavin would be so excited to see us, but he was actually more excited to see Aidan! They held hands throughout the house and played together all day – it was adorable!
So I asked my husband, what he thought of Disney and he said it was more and better than he expected. He definitely enjoyed it, probably more than me since it was his first time and he can’t wait to bring both kids back. Next time I want to stay longer and be able to relax by the pool a little bit, but this trip was definitely still one of the best vacations I ever had, even though I had ‘work’ to do and conference sessions to attend. I think we will hold off and go in about two years when both kids are tall enough (most rides at 36-40 inches tall as a minimum) to go on most of the rides and they will remember more. Then I think we will be in trouble and get hooked on going every year like I have heard from other families!
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