The Jarvii 
Our last day at Disney did not go as planned. My son woke up sick and vomiting. He generally has a weak constitution, so this wasn’t out of the ordinary. But with flu and Covid going around we knew we needed to get him to urgent care. The rest of our family was fine, so we went off to Magic Kingdom while my husband stayed behind to get my son seen.
Disney deserves a huge shout out, especially the people at our resort, Port Orleans Riverside. We called the front desk and they told us that they could send a doctor to our room to check on our son. Or they could put us in touch with urgent care (who provided transportation). We chose urgent care as we knew that would totally be covered by insurance. They told my husband a ride would be at the lobby of our resort in 20 minutes to take them to urgent care. Unfortunately, my son was so ill he couldn’t even walk to the lobby. My husband said he maybe made it to the next building before he threw up again and asked if I could call urgent care to see if they could pick them up by our hotel room instead. Before I even got through to urgent care, a cast member with a golf cart saw my struggling son and drove them to the lobby (which is a 15 minute walk from our room).
It took awhile for my son to be seen, but they ran Covid, flu, and a strep test, which all turned out negative. Because he still kept throwing up they filled an anti nausea medication for him so that he would be able to stay hydrated. This was all done before they left urgent care; no need to find a pharmacy to help fill the prescription. All in all, from door to door, they were away for 2 hours, which is amazing care when you’re on vacation and don’t know what to do.
My husband and son picked up some lunch at the resort cafeteria and stayed in the room, which was a blessing in disguise as they were able to watch World Cup while we were at the parks without TV.
First up, tea cups! My oldest daughter was bugging us to ride the tea cups, but my son absolutely hates spinning rides like tea cups. Since he wasn’t here, and it was a ride for all ages the whole family waited in line. Both girls absolutely loved it, and it was very heartwarming seeing them work together to spin the cup.
Genie works wonderfully at Magic Kingdom, in large part because there are just so many rides. We had a return time for Space Mountain, which my youngest and my parents were not interested in riding. So I used Genie for them to enjoy a parade. My parents said that she absolutely loved having a front row seat seeing the many characters. So when you use Genie for a parade, they have an area saved by the Walt and Mickey statue for you and your party to sit instead of trying to save a spot yourself along the parade route (which some people do an hour beforehand). It was actually a great use of Genie.
After lunch, my parents returned back to the resort with the toddler so she could nap while my brother and eldest daughter rode as many rides as we could. Magic Kingdom was super packed cause it was hot day and it was a non-Christmas Party day on Black Friday. So it was nice not to have any pressure to do as many things as possible because we already accomplished a lot our first day. We did a mix of rides we couldn’t get to our first day and did our favorite rides again. We also took our time having snacks and doing some shopping to spend the rest of our gift cards.
When the toddler was done napping, my husband came back with her to meet up with us at Magic Kingdom while my parents stayed behind to watch my son. Because we wanted to do roller coasters, any height restricted rides we utilized rider swap. That’s when a child in your party can’t ride the ride, but the parents want to ride with the child who is able to ride.
If you can, I highly recommend doing Magic Kingdom twice even if you plan on going from open to close and have Genie. There’s just so much to do and see there, that it’s impossible to really enjoy the park if you had to pack it in one day. I mean there are lots of people who do, but for us doing Magic Kingdom twice was perfect. There just wasn’t any pressure either days to do things, and we left feeling satisfied and happy compared to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
And if you are wondering about my son. He never made it back to the park as he stayed in our room to rest. I went to Town Hall on Main Street to talk to a cast member about his unused ticket. They told me they could give me a one day park ticket good to use within a year, and I said we probably would not be back to use the ticket. So the cast member said that the one day in our package was valued at $17, something that was not worth getting a refund or my time really. So then they offered me a one day park ticket that I could use within two years instead. I guess we need to try to use the ticket in the next two years.
Overall, Disney was absolutely magical. I was worried the toddler wouldn’t enjoy it or remember it, but she remembers meeting Mickey and riding the carousel. If I show her the picture of her on Pirates, she immediately says, “Pirates are scary.” So she does remember some things–core memories! All four parks had something that she could enjoy too. It is a ton of work to keep a toddler happy though, but thank goodness for family. My older two had the best times of their lives. I have to admit that I got a little teary eyed that first day going to the parks. I remember being a child and loving Disneyland and Disney World, and I was just overcome with emotion that my kids were probably going to experience that same joy I had when I was their age.
Also, for those with a partner who isn’t into Disney/doesn’t know much about Disney, like my husband–they’ll have fun. I mean they have to if their kids are having the time of their lives. It’s pretty hard not to enjoy yourself when you see your kids grin from ear to ear. I will say that if your partner doesn’t know anything about Disney, but happens to be a Potterhead, you should probably tell them that Disney and Harry Potter are two completely different things. My husband had fun, but also was disappointed we didn’t get to do Harry Potter.
Speaking of Harry Potter… that’s what my oldest kids (and husband) want to do next!
