Day 1

There are no pictures to accompany Day 1, so here goes…

Day 1 – Time for a Road Trip!

We planned to leave between 2 and 3 p.m., after church…arrive in Orlando around 8 – 9 p.m., and get to bed early. “The best laid plans…”. I ended up having to go to a meeting after church that lasted an hour and 45 minutes! (So much for it being a “short” meeting.) I didn’t even get home until after 2:00. I ran around quickly packing my suitcase and making sure everything else was packed, then we loaded up the van and headed out. Things were looking good until we hit traffic between here and there and it took over an hour to go 10 miles! UGH! Fortunately the DVD player was working and the entertainment helped keep everyone entertained and relatively happy. We never did figure out what caused the slowdown, but by the time we got through the slowdown it was time for something to eat….dining establishment mistake #1 of our trip!

We stopped at Burger King. That was a big mistake (but as you will see in a later installment, we apparently don’t learn from our mistakes). They were out of catsup. What? How is that possible? How is B supposed to eat chicken fries and onion rings without catsup? And how can it take 20 minutes to order and get your food in a fast food establishment? Doesn’t 20 minutes make it “slow food” instead of “fast food”? It was freezing cold in that place so after spending 20 minutes just to get our food, we decided to resume our journey and just eat in the car.

I expected to see a big sign welcoming us to Florida…after all, most state borders I’ve been through are quite visibly marked. We saw one small sign announcing that we were in Florida…so small that we almost missed it! We stopped to get gas and for some reason the DVD player decided to quit working. Not good for our sanity! So no more movies…with about two hours to go. This made for two very unhappy kiddos. The rest of the drive was quite uneventful, other than the girls asking us every 5 minutes if the DVD player was working yet. We saw the spire of the Orlando Temple from the road we were on. It would have been nice to see it up close but it was late and dark and we were all getting pretty antsy and were ready to be done driving. We could also see some of the Disney World fireworks which added to the building sense of anticipation and excitement. We expected to be able to see Disney World from the freeway but I have to say that I was pleased we couldn’t see it – it made it seem like it was more secluded and not right in the middle of everything. We followed the signs and before too long we were pulling up in front of our hotel, Disney’s Pop Century Resort (at 10:30 p.m.). Had I not know that all of the parks were nearby I would have thought we were staying off-site…one thing I really loved about everywhere we went at WDW was that you can’t see the parks until you’re right there…things seem hidden and secluded and the trees and flowers are beautiful. It really gave you the feeling that you were on vacation in a secluded place, and not in the middle of a huge, busy city.

The hotel looked like it would be a fun place to stay – there was a lot to see but we were tired and ready to get settled in. We got checked in quickly (I think the cast member who helped us at check-in was either a bit loopy or very hyperactive!). As the girls and I were waiting for DH to unload our luggage, a cast member came up to us with two gift baskets (one for each of the girls) with signed notes from Mickey Mouse himself. The girls were very excited. They each got some Disney goodies (LOVE the Mickie rice crispie treats), a trading pin lanyard and pin set (and so the obsession begins), a hat, a water bottle carrying strap, and a Disney plushie (Crush for B and Minnie Mouse for A). It was such a magical touch and a wonderful way to start our vacation.

We got settled in our room and I pulled out my trusty touring plans and my planning notebook and got everything ready for the next day’s adventure…alarm set for bright and early so we could be at EPCOT when it opened…the girls and DH fell asleep quickly but I didn’t sleep much at all…not from excitement, but because I just can’t sleep in hotels. All too early, the alarm went off and it was time to get our Disney adventure started!

Coming next…EPCOT, Day 2!