Disney - Day 1

(I'm behind in getting these pictures posted. I took over 500 photos on the trip, so it has taken me a while to sort through them all! I'm going to break the trip into several posts, and then do one album of all the pictures...I'll post a link to the album when I get it finished.)

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The kids had no idea we were going to Disney World until we got to the airport! Lane and I were so excited to tell them after months of planning and being very careful not to let them find out! The actual revealing of the news was a little less exciting than we'd hoped for because the guy at the airport check-in desk said, "Oh, Orlando--you must be going to Disney World!" Of course Rhett heard him, so the surprise was pretty much done at that point, and I didn't even have the video camera ready. Looking back, we should have told them when we got up that morning or something, but we woke them up and left the house before 6 a.m., so they were sleepy and confused. I never once thought about someone at the airport commenting on our destination. We had an envelope to hand to them when we got to our gate. Our plan was to have Rhett open it and read it to Alexee and then we'd video their reactions. Oh well.

Lane's parents were SO KIND to come to our house and keep Crosby while we took the older kids on this trip. We can't thank them enough! While we really missed Crosby, I think we made the right decision to let him have one-on-one Grandparent time instead of going this time. Hopefully we will all get to go back when Crosby is Alexee's age and can ride the rides and better endure the long, busy days. It was very very crowded (I guess Disney always is), and I would have honestly been afraid to take C to the parks because he would have wanted out of the stroller at all times. I was even nervous about having Rhett and Alexee walking around in those crowds. It was hard to keep an eye on them every second. I wrote my cell # on their arms because I was afraid we might get separated! I told them over and over that if that happened to find a nice park employee and ask them to call or text the # on their arm immediately! If we get to go back, I'll have bracelets or tags made for them to wear! It probably sounds silly, but it gave me a little bit of peace knowing there was a way we could be quickly contacted if needed. Every night there I had scary dreams about searching for the kids in the sea of people. I'd wake up and remind myself that they were sleeping in the bed right beside us, then I'd go back to sleep and dream the same thing again.

Anyway...so Crosby stayed home with Bob & Rose Mary and had a great time being the complete center of their attention (post on that later!). We made the very most of our time in Orlando--we started our days early and stayed at the parks as late as we possibly could. It was the most exhausting "vacation" I've ever been on. I'm curious how many miles we walked. My sister laughed when I told her that we came back to the room each night and took Aleve for our aching legs and backs before collapsing into bed! ha! We both carried Alexee a LOT, even with the stroller. The kids had NO trouble falling asleep either, that's for sure!

This was the first time for the kids to fly--they both thought it was super fun! I knew Rhett would think it was cool, but I worried that Alexee would be scared. She wasn't at all! She did great coloring the whole time, and Rhett had his Nintendo DSi to keep him entertained.



After we checked into the hotel, we went to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the evening. We split up for a while. Alexee and I went to the Little Mermaid show while Lane and Rhett rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Lane loves all amusement park rides. I get dizzy on merry-go-rounds, so I'm not much fun! Luckily, I think Rhett is going to have the stomach for most things. The Tower of Terror scared him, and he said he wouldn't do it again, but he loved the roller coaster and most other rides. Alexee seemed to only like things that she could see from the entrace--like the carousel, Aladdin's flying carpets, teacups, etc. Excluding It's a Small World (she loved the dolls), things that involved going in the dark upset her, even if they weren't scary (Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean). We might have scarred her for life taking her on the dinosaur tour!?

After the mermaid show we got cookies & cream ice cream while we waited on Lane and Rhett to finish the roller coaster.
After dinner we waited a looooong time to ride the Toy Story ride. It was neat, but not quite 80 minutes "neat" to me! To be honest, I was ready to go back to the hotel and go to sleep at this point. The idea of a good night's rest and a fresh start the next day was very appealing to me, but we stayed.

We all enjoyed Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios that night.

My picture taking improved after day 1. I think I was just too tired and overwhelmed to take pictures after the trip getting there. I took very few pictures at Hollywood Studios.

We used Disney's Magical Express service that allowed us to tag our bags with special Mickey tags at our airport, and then we didn't have to see them again until we got to the hotel that night. The suitcases were delivered right to our room, which was great!

Next post: day at Animal Kingdom!