Jack's Place

So, we're down to Day 3 of our Disney World trip - my favorite day!! You can read about our first day at Disney's Epcot here and our first day at Magic Kingdom here. This was the day when we did Disney til we dropped - literally.


Tip: I think I've already talked a little about Magic Hours, but if you stay in a Disney resort (and you should), you are eligible for magic hours. Each park stays open one night for three extra hours for Disney resort guests. You should plan your trip accordingly. For instance, we went to Epcot on their magic hours day - that's how we decided which park to go to on which day. And the crowds are SOOOO much smaller during magic hours b/c only Disney resort people can stay.


This was Magic Kingdom magic hours day. It normally closes at midnight so it was going to be open until 3:00 a.m. We never dreamed we would be there until then, but that was before we realized that Magic Kingdom was "Jack's place!" Yes, my child THRIVED there. The longer we were there, the better he did. I realize that this probably has a lot to do with Jack's sensory issues (for those new to my blog, Jack has Sensory Integration Disorder with autism characteristics - and very likely Asperger's). With SID children, the more good sensory stimulation they get, normally, the better able they are to cope with things that are normally difficult for them. For instance, for some SID kids, jumping on a trampoline or doing pushups on a wall or spinning in a chair can have a very calming effect on them and actually improve their behaviors and coping skills throughout the day. Well, apparantly the really fast rides had this effect on Jack and his behaviors. My child was nearly PERFECT on this trip. We just had so few issues - it was wonderful! So yes, I let him ride rides until Ben and I could barely hold ourselves up!!


Tip: If you have the $$$ (we didn't:) to stay at one of the upscale Disney resorts (Disney's Contemporary Resort; The Grand Floridian; Disney's Polynesian Resort; and there's one more name that is escaping me right now), you have the benefit of the monorail service which is much quicker and nicer than the buses that come to the moderate resorts. The buses are great too but this is just more convenient and faster. If you have the funds, it would be worth it to splurge - they are just extremely nice. We won't ever do this (especially since I want to go about 4 times a year now:), but there's the tip if you are in the position to take advantage of it.


We started the day off with breakfast at Disney's Grand Floridian. We were meeting up with Tigger and Pooh (who we had already eaten with the day before) and Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, and Mary Poppins. The Grand Floridian is one of the resorts that has the monorail service so we decided to drive to breakfast and then take the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We could have taken the bus to Magic Kingdom and then the monorail to and from the resort for breakfast, but we thought it might be hard to make our reservation having to catch the bus and the monorail, but there is a way to do it with no driving. Of course, another advantage to staying at these upscale resorts is that you can do character meals right in your own resort.


Jack LOVED the monorail and so did his parents. It was the first time Ben didn't have to fold our (oversized, too big for Disney) jogging stroller so it was a nice reprieve.

Tip: I recommend taking the larger umbrella strollers (with the bottom storage compartment and a cup holder). The straight up umbrella stroller is too small but the one just up from it would be a perfect size, especially for a toddler. For an infant, you might need a larger stroller, but another tip would be: Don't take an infant to Disney World - I can't imagine how that would be fun under any circumstance unless you have a grandparent with you to do nothing but stroll the baby around all day. If you don't want to pack a stroller, they have these perfect size ones for sale in every store there for $50.00. It would be cheaper to take your own, but if you don't, it would be totally worth the money once you get there.

Jack riding the monorail:


The characters (as always) were a big hit with the kids!



Jack just hugged Alice like this on his own. I'm still not sure why he reacted to her this way, but I gotta tell you, I think she was pretty blown away by how adorable it was too:)


Jack and The Mad Hatter:

I was glad Pooh ate with us again since the day before, I had gone to the buffet while he came to our table and it was just another lesson to never leave the husband in charge of capturing memories. Pooh's head was completely cut off in the picture he took the previous day.

Jack had no clue who Mary Poppins was, but he decided to get a picture with her anyway. We have the movie on our to do list now though!

After breakfast, we headed on to Magic Kingdom. We knew we had all day and night to explore and our plan was to see Tommorrow Land and Fantasy Land (having checked out Frontier Land and Adventure Land the day before). Since we had until 3:00 a.m. though, we made a quick trip to Frontier Land to ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad because we already knew they were Jack's favorites.

Tip: It is a good idea to figure out your favorite rides the first day and then on your second day in Magic Kingdom (and you SHOULD spend at LEAST two days there), hit your favorites first thing in the morning and then end with them during magic hours at night. Chances are, your favorites are most everyone's faves and the lines are not as long early and late.

So, after a quick detour in Frontier Land, we made it to Tomorrow Land. We loved Buzz Lightyear (though the ride at Magic Kingdom pales in comparison to the Buzz ride at Hollywood Studios) and Jack got a picture in jail with Evil Emperor Zurg (his favorite villian)!

In case you are wondering, the change of clothes came from getting SOAKED on Splash Mountain first thing in the morning!! Remember, you don't get to pick your seat and if you are in the front, you are going to get more than a little bit wet! This was the only day I took him a change of clothes too - I'm telling you, things just worked out for us at Disney!! :)

Tip: Take a change of clothes for your kids. You can probably tough out the wet and cold but they aren't going to want to. Also, if you go in the Fall or Winter, take a sweater. We had a blanket that we just left in our stroller. Later, we left our sweaters on there too. I never worried that they would get stolen, but you could always tie them around your waist if you were concerned about that. Also, all of your "stuff" should be able to fit in one bag - something that you can hang on your stroller when you're walking around and then just grab and put on your shoulder when you get in line at the rides. I saw a lot of people with backpacks and these would work well, but I'm more of a fan of an open bag you can just stick your hand right in to grab something with smaller zipper compartments for money, tickets, etc.

Jack on the Buzz Lightyear ride:

After we rode the Stitch ride, watchrf the interactive Monsters, Inc. show and checked out a few other things, we felt we had done Tomorrow Land. It didn't take long. Honestly, the best thing about it is Space Mountain and Jack wasn't quite tall enough for it yet (bummer!). We then headed over to Fantasy Land and we ended the day there (with the exception of heading back to Frontier Land for the Lights Parade - remember, they have the best parade seating!)

Tip: Because we had until 3:00 a.m., we did head back to the room for a couple of hours and nap during the day. If you don't have this long, I do not recommend napping in the room. On all the other days, Jack would go to sleep in his stroller and we would just find a cool place to sit and people watch or we would see a show where I could hold him and watch and he just napped in the parks. We actually didn't even head back to the room on this day until he fell asleep on his own. I have heard horror stories of trying to get your kids down for naps at Disney and it being a disaster. We just let Jack dictate this and when he fell asleep, he slept and if he didn't, he didn't. This worked well for us.

Tara and Piper riding Dumbo:

Jack playing in the Hundred Acre Wood while waiting to ride Winnie the Pooh:

Winnie the Pooh was by far the coolest kid ride in my opinion and even enjoyable for adults. Also, they have all kids of cool stuff for the kids to play with while you're waiting in line.

Piper and Jack playing on Dumbo:

Timmy, Tara and Piper called it a night about midnight, but Jack wasn't even close to being ready to go. About 12:30 a.m., we headed BACK to Frontier Land and rode Thunder Mountain some more. There wasn't a long line at all and he did SO love that roller coaster. As we were leaving the park at 2:15 a.m., Jack said, "Mom, can we ride the Storm Train just one more time??"

I'm telling you, Magic Kingdom is just Jack's Place and we cannot WAIT until we go back again!!

Tomorrow, it's Hollywood Studios...