Disney with Twin Toddlers...wait...We are Big Kids Now...Take 3!

We will also be doing a MNSSHP during our upcoming trip! Glad we decided to skip ROL on this trip - we are already planning to stop by The Boneyard, but I'm going to carve out even more time for it after reading how much fun your kids had there! Were there lots of places they could get lost and not be seen? Did it feel dangerously crowded with bigger kids?

There is only one way in and out, which is nice. The digging area is a bit removed from the play area, but our two didn't care much for it anyway. It wasn't crowded. We kind of have a family playground rule/protocol for everywhere we go. I always find a spot to sit/stand near the entrance/exit (or in view of it). I then show the kids and we walk around demonstrating where they can find me from different areas. Then...I let them run and tell them to check in with me here and there. It works great as I'm planted, they can't escape, and they know where to always find me!
 
Friday came up pretty fast on this vacation! We were fortunate enough to snag a 8:45am reservation for the Bon Voyage Breakfast. Anna's favorite princess is Ariel, so she was super excited to see Ariel...again...for the 4th time! Andrew was excited because this breakfast included "boy" characters! I was excited because it was in our resort, so it was a super short walk! We arrived at 8:30am and waited about 20 minutes to be seated. It seemed a bit hectic in the waiting area, but I suppose that's expected.

On the way to the restaurant, we stopped for a few photos while waiting for Daddy to finish getting dressed...
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The kids really loved these outfits, so they were all too happy to pose!
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Walking down the walkway...
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Once seated, the characters began coming around rather quickly.
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All were amazingly in character, especially Rapunzel!

We ordered our breakfasts. The kids didn't eat much (seemed to be a trend the entire trip). Adam ordered the calzone and I ordered the steak and eggs. My steak wasn't that great and the eggs had peppers in them, which I don't like...so I made a meal of pastries and potatoes. Adam said his calzone was good, other than a bit too much bread. While eating, there was a character parade. Andrew isn't overly fond of these, but Anna loves them. She was picked by Ariel to walk around...and that just made her entire day!!! She grinned her greatest grins ever for those few minutes...just pure happiness!
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After breakfast, we went to the room to change into swimsuits as we were going to Blizzard Beach. Through many trips to Disney, we have learned that we love both water parks. The kids had seen several YouTube videos and were determined to ride the Alpine Racer Slides...so this year's pick was Blizzard Beach! We didn't really want to wait forever for the bus, so we decided to give the new Minnie Van service a try! That was the beginning of a HUGE addiction and expense...though it was worth every penny spent!
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We ended up in Van 44 at least 3 times...likely more! If you aren't aware, the deluxe resorts have partnered with Lyft to run this service. It's $20/trip and no tip is required (though we did tip a good bit). They have car seats and every driver is trained in proper installations! It's truly an amazing service!!! The only downside is that once you try it, you are hooked for the rest of the trip!

We arrived at Blizzard Beach quickly, and it was almost empty! The kids had to sit in the sleigh and pose with the snowmen!
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We then enjoyed lots of attractions with no waits! We played in the wave pool, rode the Alpine Racers (super fast for us chubby folks...I finished miles ahead of everyone else), rode Teamboat Springs a few times, and played in Tikes Peak. We also discovered the preteen area later in the day and wished we had spent more time there...since our kids are 4 and going on 14 in terms of thrills!
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After a nice few hours, a storm began to approach and we had to return to the hotel for our nighttime plans! Adam and I had reservations for Highway in the Sky and the kids were set for Lilo's Playhouse.

So...we used the busses to get back to Boardwalk and decided then and there that we were done with busses for the rest of our trip. Minnie Vans became our new mode of transport!

We took a Minnie Van to the Polynesian and checked the kids into Lilo's. I can't review much since we were not there, but they seemed to have an amazing time!!! They were super excited when we picked them up and already had on their pj's (we sent a bag with them in case they got too tired). We did learn that they don't allow PullUps, even if only worn at bedtime...so just keep that in mind. It wasn't an issue for ours, but is good to know!

Adam and I then discovered that I forgot my ID! I wasn't sure if I would need it for Highway in the Sky and we had some time, so we took another Minnie Van back to Boardwalk! The driver was awesome! He drove us from Poly to Boardwalk for me to quickly grab my ID and then to Contemporary all for $20. Yes...he got a nice tip!

We relaxed in the lobby and checked into Highway in the Sky around 6:45pm. This is a special dining experience that is essentially a progressive monorail dinner with drinks! You can find details on the main thread, but we both agreed it was a wonderful night out! We met some nice folks from different areas, enjoyed adult conversations (something we had little of this trip), and the food was great overall (not a fan of the beef at dinner...but otherwise wonderful)! We finished up around 11:00pm and then went to pick up the kids. Of course, we took the Minnie Van back!

We all crashed almost immediately after returning to Boardwalk! We were excited for Saturday and a little sad that it would be our last full day of the trip.
 
We are really wanting to try the Minnie Vans! Could they comfortably fit a family of 5? I know you said there were carseats available - all three of my kids are still in a five-point harness and my twins are still rear-facing. Can they accomodate that?
 


We are really wanting to try the Minnie Vans! Could they comfortably fit a family of 5? I know you said there were carseats available - all three of my kids are still in a five-point harness and my twins are still rear-facing. Can they accomodate that?
They have two Graco Forever Seats and boosters, so I don't think they have the third seat that you need/prefer. The Graco Forevers can be installed either forward or rear facing. The boosters are just simple boosters. Depending on size of your oldest, you might consider purchasing a Safe Rider Travel Vest. We have 2 of them and they are amazing for travel, taxis, and situations where a car seat is not available or trustworthy. If you used it, you would be able to travel comfortably with a family of 5 in a Minnie Van.
 
Saturday came way too fast! Unfortunately, so did the crowds! We planned to go to Magic Kingdom, as it's just our favorite park! We also planned to attend Tiana's Riverboat Ice Cream Social.

We originally planned to eat at Crystal Palace at 9am, but then this was our situation at 8:15am...
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They were OUT! I quickly opened my phone and looked for a later reservation for breakfast. Thankfully, I switched our breakfast to brunch at Crystal Palace and let the kids sleep a bit more! The idea seemed brilliant, except for the fact that once we got to MK...the kids were a bit whiney about being hungry.

Crystal Palace is our favorite breakfast in the parks. It always has been and we will probably be eating breakfast there when we are old! I love the Pooh characters and their breakfast lasagna is divine! We took a Minnie Van to Magic Kingdom and went straight to the restaurant check in.

Mr. Jim greets guests are Boardwalk Inn every day (or it seemed like he was there every day)! Anna wanted a photo with him and he was thrilled to oblige! Andrew was a bit irritable...so he declined.
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As is always the case at Crystal Palace, we had to wait a few minutes outside...so we took pictures!
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Sums up his pre-dining mood!
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Family selfie!
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Once inside, we fed our tiny beast and his mood dramatically improved! The kids really enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh characters and we all enjoyed the brunch!
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A cast member was super kind to take a photo of our family!
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We finished up at Crystal Palace and headed straight to our Fastpasses for Enchanted Tales with Belle. It was our first time ever seeing it, and we thought it was cute! It's a great way to meet Belle in a small setting if you don't want to attend a breakfast! Anna was a pepper shaker and hated her role...so she decided just to watch. Andrew was Madame Wardrobe. Neither really "got" it, but enjoyed meeting Belle anyway!

Before Anna quit her role...
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Anna and I rode the carousel while the boys walked around.
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By this time, it was crazy HOT and crazy crowded...to the point of not being very enjoyable. Thankfully, we had Tiana's Ice Cream social booked for 1:15pm! More in next post about this amazing experience!!!
 
We killed time and cooled off at Country Bear Jamboree, then it was time for Anna's special event (Andrew's was the Star Wars Dessert Party). Anna LOVES Princess Tiana and the Princess and the Frog movie. She watches it all the time! The weather was perfect for an ice cream treat and a private event in a crowded park was a perfect way to escape!

We began at the boat landing. We had baked desserts and bowls of ice cream with toppings, all while having a long opportunity to meet Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen.
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After round 1 of desserts and sodas, we loaded the boat to see the parade. While the parade viewing is from a distance, we LOVED having space to really savor the moment and were able to see perfectly well!
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After enjoying the parade, a Photopass photographer took some photos for us!
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We backed up to pick Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from the dock once the parade was over. From there, the 10-15 kids on the riverboat had over an hour to eat ice cream bars and popcorn and more importantly, play with the guests of honor. Princess Tiana literally played hide n seek with the kids for over 40 minutes, the kids had parades, and it was simply a magical experience! While ice cream for 4 at around $200 isn't a bargain, the experience of playing all over a 3 story riverboat with your favorite Disney characters is priceless...simply priceless! Watching Anna's smiles and her little hands flapping (something she does when she's super excited and happy) while running around the boat...and Andrew trailing behind her...was just the icing on the cake to an amazing trip!!!

Once we finished the party, we docked again and went for our SDMT final ride...bittersweet!
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From there, we decided that the heat and crowds were just too much, so we left Magic Kingdom. Andrew was obscessed with playing mini golf, so we headed over to Fantasia Gardens for a game. Of course, a storm came close and we had to wait 90 LONG minutes to be allowed to play! We finally began our game and the kids played as expected...essentially rushing through the course.
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We finished our game and all decided that some time at the pool sounded great! We also decided that pizza sounded like a good dinner, so we had Boardwalk Pizza as well!

As it got later, we realized we kind of needed to begin packing for our morning departure. We had acquired 4-5 swords, 4-5 wands, pirate hats, toys, pillow pets, a billion snacks from unused credits, and other items...and somehow we had to get them home (or at least some things)! Adam wanted to watch a football game, so he offered to pack. I really wanted to see HEA, so the kids and I took a Minnie Van over to MK. We got snacks, drinks, and watched the fireworks together. At one point, Andrew was on my shoulders (41lbs) and I was holding Anna (30lbs). Somehow, I managed and the moment was the perfect ending to a great trip!

We took our last Minnie Van back to Boardwalk Inn and went to bed. It was almost, outside of the lightening delay at mini golf, a perfect Disney day!!!
 


I miss the Crystal Palace! It’s such an adorable character meal. The Princess Tiana ice cream social on the riverboat looked like it was such a magical experience! I know my three year old daughter would love to do this. It seems a lot more intimate and relaxed than a princess character meal. I may have to look into this for our next trip :goodvibes.
 
Crystal Palace is our favorite breakfast in the parks. It always has been and we will probably be eating breakfast there when we are old! I love the Pooh characters and their breakfast lasagna is divine! We took a Minnie Van to Magic Kingdom and went straight to the restaurant check in.

We didn't plan it originally but the night before my sister asked for it. Thankfully we were able to get a last-minute reservation, and it was so much fun! Unfortunatley Piglet was under the weather so we just had Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. Food was also delicious!

We backed up to pick Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from the dock once the parade was over. From there, the 10-15 kids on the riverboat had over an hour to eat ice cream bars and popcorn and more importantly, play with the guests of honor. Princess Tiana literally played hide n seek with the kids for over 40 minutes, the kids had parades, and it was simply a magical experience! While ice cream for 4 at around $200 isn't a bargain, the experience of playing all over a 3 story riverboat with your favorite Disney characters is priceless...simply priceless! Watching Anna's smiles and her little hands flapping (something she does when she's super excited and happy) while running around the boat...and Andrew trailing behind her...was just the icing on the cake to an amazing trip!!!

Sounds awesome!

I really wanted to see HEA, so the kids and I took a Minnie Van over to MK. We got snacks, drinks, and watched the fireworks together. At one point, Andrew was on my shoulders (41lbs) and I was holding Anna (30lbs). Somehow, I managed and the moment was the perfect ending to a great trip!

Rock star mom!
 
Sunday was our final day. We were packed to the brim and made a last minute stop to redeem our 42 extra snack credits....yep...42! Once we bought a small suitcase full of packaged snacks (crispie treats, bags of candy, etc), we went back to the room to pack them and contact bell services. We took our bags down for Magic Express. 2 bags were over 50lbs, so we did a ton of reorganizing right in front of the hotel! After we got settled with the minor luggage crisis, we waited on the bus. The kids were amazingly happy, which was a change from our cruise last year when both kids broke down in tears while leaving a cruise ship! I think we were all tired and ready to get home...
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We loaded up on the bus and went to the airport. Thankfully, we arrived in tons of time and enjoyed a familiar lunch at the airport McDonalds. Anna was ecstatic to be able to have her favorite chicken nuggets again! We boarded the plane and arrived home on time. After a minor issue at the airport (Daddy went to get car without keys so had to make two trips...oops...), we stopped by Cheesecake Factory for dinner to end our amazing vacation!
 
My next few posts will include some opinions on strollers, packing, and random final thoughts!
 
Strollers!!!

This was our third Disney trip with the twins and several week-long vacations with them. At this phase, 4 closer to 5yo, we find we only need strollers for theme park type activities. Our two do really well with walking around the beach and on cruise ships/excursions, so we don't bother with strollers on those vacations.

Our first trip, we took our best and favorite stroller...a Bumbleride Indie Twin. It's a 38lb beast of a stroller, but it's just amazing in terms of comfort, steering, and storage! We loved it, but sold it earlier in the year as we figured we didn't need that level of stroller anymore. It was great for our first trip when the kids were 20 months old. The only drawback was holding it on busses...but we managed just fine.
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Our second trip, we didn't have the space to place the Bumbleride into our vehicle, so we planned to rent a stroller. We rented a Citi Mini Double GT from Kingdom Magic Strollers. They are a fabulous company and our rental experience was perfect! But the stroller just wasn't our Bumbleride Indie Twin... People rave about these strollers, but we hated it! The storage was so tiny that our small Vera Bradley diaper bag backpack wouldn't fit into it. While it is about 11 pounds lighter, it really didn't seem that different in terms of navigating the busses.
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We also rented a stroller at Magic Kingdom on our last day since we needed to return the stroller....it was a pricey, uncomfortable deal that I'd never recommend! But the picture proves kids can sleep in anything!
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This year, we felt a stroller was needed but we didn't like the rental options and no longer had our Bumbleride. I shopped around and chose to purchase a Zoe Double. It's an umbrella stroller that steers more like an expensive stroller, but only weighs 17lbs! It served us well, though certainly had two major drawbacks...one was thinner canvas canopy material that tore in one area and the other was that the basket wouldn't stay snapped and sagged...creating a hole (we didn't see it sagging until it wore a hole into our tiny lunchbox cooler holding 3 normal sized bottles of water). I can say though that Zoe has an amazing warranty and replaced both pieces quickly once we arrived home and I reported them! The stroller folds more like the City Mini Double GT but is thinner and lighter. It even has a shoulder strap you can purchase!
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So...for Moms deciding what to do about strollers...my recommendation is the Zoe Double as long as you don't need a ton of items in the basket! It's so much lighter and easier to manage, the kids swear it's comfortable, and we LOVED the middle snack cup and cup holder design!
 
Things we didn't need!

1. A billion shoes! Looking back, we needed 1 pair of water shoes, 1 pair of tennis shoes, and 1 pair of sandals per person.
2. 4-5 swimsuits each...3 would have been plenty!
3. Pool blow up rings...just didn't need them.
4. A ton of Amazon Now snacks. Truth is, we should have used far more of our dining plan snacks! We needed the Goldfish and Teddy Graham crackers for snacking, but that's really all that were necessary. We didn't end up wanting breakfast in the room, so we wasted a good bit.
5. Small cooler...these just aren't meant to be for us! Our Vera Bradley on our first trip leaked. This time, it was torn secondary to a weak stroller basket snap. Best to just buy drinks or bring aluminum cups (more on that soon). And rooms don't have freezers for ice packs.
6. Rain ponchos and coats. We were blessed with great weather and when it did rain, we didn't bother with our gear...we just found shelter.

Things we did need and use!
1. Bottled water. We went through 24 bottles in 8 nights.
2. PowerAde Zero. The kids even drank a lot of this. We used 18 bottles through the week.
3. Our Ozark Trail cups! I "made" these for our trip and they were amazing for keeping our drinks cool all day! They were a bit of a pain when using the busses, but worth it! There's a huge learning curve and these were far from perfect, but they worked wonderfully for us!
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4. Tablets for the kids. They only used them a few minutes before bed, but they really seemed to help them relax. We also brought their Lovies and their favorite blankets.
5. Stroller! At almost 5, our children were nowhere near able to walk Disney distances without the stroller. It's the one place it's still needed for our family.
6. Small cinch-sack backpack! This was small, light, and so easy! I had one made with a Mickey logo and it made stroller and bag checks super efficient. It held rain gear, sometimes a change of clothes for the kids, change for penny machines and an occasional bottle of PowerAde/Water.
 
Final Thoughts:

This trip was a dream! It was hot, just as we expected...sometimes hotter than we were prepared for! The kids had an amazing time and us old folks enjoyed it as well! Staying near the parks was well worth the added expense, and I still hope to stay at a monorail resort at some point. Being able to come back to Boardwalk Inn and swim was a great break from the parks that allowed us to cool off and regroup!

In hindsight, I did learn that it's easy to over plan at Disney. While the kids enjoyed the Pirate Cruise and it was a great deal in terms of price, I'm not sure it was super important and could have been skipped. Pirates League was another luxury they enjoyed, but could also have been skipped. I regret cancelling our HEA Dessert Party on the last night, but I just didn't know if we would have the energy to attend it (in the end we did...but didn't feel that way earlier in the trip).

We plan to take the kids to Disney again when they are 46-48" tall and can ride everything...until then, we will do more cruises and land trips. We love Disney, but love a lot of other experiences as well!

Thanks for reading!
 
First of all-- your "babies" are precious! Secondly, I think you & I might be twinkies ourselves, at least in terms of like -thinking! I've bought some of the exact outfits for my twin grandchildren & adore the matchy matchy look. Twins are the best! They did the Pirates cruise at about the same age & it's still one of their fondest memories. I can relate on so many different levels to your trip! Sadly, "my" babies ( I feel like they're mine sometimes, as I kept them until they were almost 2 & a very deep bond was formed) are past the age of dressing alike, but they still love going to Disneyworld!! As do I!!
 
First of all-- your "babies" are precious! Secondly, I think you & I might be twinkies ourselves, at least in terms of like -thinking! I've bought some of the exact outfits for my twin grandchildren & adore the matchy matchy look. Twins are the best! They did the Pirates cruise at about the same age & it's still one of their fondest memories. I can relate on so many different levels to your trip! Sadly, "my" babies ( I feel like they're mine sometimes, as I kept them until they were almost 2 & a very deep bond was formed) are past the age of dressing alike, but they still love going to Disneyworld!! As do I!!

Our children don't dress alike most days, but it's kind of a standing rule that they have to dress similarly when we travel. I like matching for one, and it also allows us to find them easily in a crowd! They seem to like the compliments they get when wearing matching outfits, though I know one day they will stop completely...and I'll be sad!

Ours haven't talked about the Pirate cruise lately, but then again...they are blessed kids who get to enjoy a lot of things.

4 years at the same Pumpkin Patch! This year their outfits were "older," but they still loved them!
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And camping this past weekend! This was our cabin wall decoration!
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I hope one day they realize how blessed and loved they are!
 
Oh, yes! It's a must to match on special occasions ! I do love the reactions they received! Now that they're older, no one knows they're twins! Their coloring is different & the girl is much taller than the boy. I appreciate your taste in clothing & love seeing your cute children & their outfits!
I forgot to mention the girl's name is also "Anna"!
 
Loved your trip report!! Especially all the helpful tips like about the strollers, the special events (most of which I'd never even heard of but now want to try!) and the car seat vest! We're taking our 3 yo and 1 yo in a few weeks and I haven't been since they introduced magic bands, so I really appreciate your sharing your experience!! Thank you!
 

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