We’ve been thinking about this trip for some time. As childhood memories kept popping into my head, I wanted to return and show my children. I was lucky as a child – while we lived in Switzerland, my grandparents lived in Florida, so most years we visited the US we also stopped by Disney World. Magic Kingdom had branded itself into my brain. I visited once during university, while attending summer school in Miami – it was a fun-filled trip with Suzy and I still have that Tigger T-shirt I got on that trip.

At Magic Kingdom

Hubby has been holding me back over the past few years – arguing successfully that we should only go once the kids understood and could remember. A trip would be more pleasant if they no longer napped and weren’t in diapers or on a bottle. Well, that year finally arrived and we headed to sunny Florida during a cold Canadian winter. And yes, Disney is commercial and tacky and expensive and crowded – but it truly is one of the happiest places in the world! The sun is shining, the streets are clean, the people are happy, the colours are amazing, and naturally there are castles, princesses, pirates and even a little pixie dust.

Now, believe me, I’m really not that shallow; but Florida makes me happy and going to Disney brings back so many happy memories and we as a family really had a blast – it really was a success. I’d go back in a heartbeat, but truth be told, we also want to visit a million other places in this world and while hubby enjoyed it as well, I’m not so sure he drunk the Disney Kool-Aid.

The Beach and Yacht Club

We stayed a full week and visited the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and a Water Park. We stayed in the Disney Resort and opted for the Park Hopper option which gave us the most flexibility. While food choices have gotten slightly better over the past years, that is one area that Disney doesn’t set a gourmet standard. They can’t make a good cup of coffee and beer is horrendously expensive – but with all that sun beaming on me I was happy to ignore.

We gathered a lot of tips from different people before leaving and had been planning for almost a year – we learned a few more things on this trip, so if you have any questions, just ask. I’m sure we’ll go back, but we’ll wait a couple more years so the kids can enjoy the next level of activities – roller-coasters and haunted mansion!!!

I couldn’t narrow down the images, so see below for more happy impressions. Have you been to Disney?

At Animal Kingdom Buzz and Desmond Epcot Epcot Epcot The Beach and Yacht Club Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Water-park and Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom and Epcot

We are away this week, enjoying some sun, magic and a dose of pixie dust! While this is not the most exquisite food adventure – there are many things that make up for that. I’ll be back with regular programming next week – just in time for a Valentine treat.