There’s nothing like visiting Disney World with a three year old child. Being a rapidly graying baby boomer that had become quite comfortable as an empty nester we were recently given the pleasure of having our three year old grandson live with us.

Well Grandma thought it would be a fabulous idea to take him to Disney World for a few days since he is a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean although you have to understand his unique pronunciation to know what in the world he’s so excited about.

The first mistake we made was telling him the afternoon before that we were going to Disney World as he spent all of the time in between sounding like a Super Bowl commercial “I’m going to Disney World” over and over. Sometimes I crave those empty nester days more than others.

Well, after enduring a very long ride to Disney World with a constant chant of “I want to go to Disney World” we arrived at the Saratoga springs Resort and got settled into our room all the while enduring a chant of “you said we were going to Disney World” not comprehending we were not staying in Cinderella’s castle as some lucky visitors get to.

After getting settled in as quickly as we could we headed to the Magic Kingdom to find Mickey Mouse and his pals and as we were gazing at the castle in open mouthed awe which I find is very common for him to do at this age a beautiful girl in costume walked up and asked if we would like to be part of the parade that was to begin shortly and so that was our first ever parade, down Main street Disney World waving flags and smiling at the crowd lined up along the route watching.

After the parade ended Wyatt did a dance routine with Goofy on the town square. who would ever believe the kid was bashful. After the parade everything is a blur of activities as we moved from one attraction to another without a break for an elderly couple but the three year old never slowed down so the Grandparents had to keep up. Maybe this is the key to not getting old; keep up with a three year old.

Seeing the Magic kingdom through the eyes of a three year old gives you a completely different perspective, I honestly didn’t think there was that much to do until we’re being pulled through with his youthful enthusiasm and Dumbo the flying elephant becomes a great ride, so does the spinning teacups which he thought were great and we left dizzy.

And don’t forget it’s a small world. Great fun for all ages. After enjoying many attractions and rides Pirates of the Caribbean was spotted and this turned out to be his favorite, in fact when the ride ended he didn’t want to get off “c’mon Granpa let’s do it some more”.

Have you ever noticed when you exit a ride in Disney World the exit is always through a retail facility where you are given the opportunity to purchase much needed merchandise that the little guys can’t possibly live without. Well we couldn’t possibly live without a sword and a pistol and a tee shirt or two; this is what I saw I don’t know what else Grandma bought that will turn up later.

We caught the monorail to cap off his wish list of ways to travel today. We asked if it would be possible to sit in front with the driver who graciously complied with our wishes and we were able to enjoy the ride with an unobstructed view while being entertained by the pilot and we were even given cards that said we were co pilots.

The Fireworks display was the finale for the day
We decided to head to Epcot to watch the great fireworks show Disney has for the guest’s enjoyment, this show is great each time it is presented and Disney’s Tuesday night show is better than most cities have on the Fourth of July. Hopefully we all made some lifelong memories that will be cherished forever.

When we decided to take this trip I thought we would be a rarity, grandparents taking their grandchildren to Disney World but after noticing all of the seniors with small kids I believe it is very common for the grandparents to be enjoying this time with their grandchildren.

If you haven’t taken a child to Disney World yet you really have missed a great deal of enjoyment and just think about all of their memories you will be a fond part of. With a young child you will definitely see Disney world in a different way.