Sunday, March 25, 2012

Magical Moments- Day 1 and Day 2

Dear Jacob, Luke and Sarah:

What another amazing trip we had to Disney World!! Seeing your smiles, hearing your laughter and watching the excitement on your faces was enough to make it all worth it! From the moment you crossed off the last day on our countdown chart and did your "happy" dance...
 to the ride on the Parking Spot shuttle bus...
 to meeting up with your cousins at the airport...
 to watching the airplanes from the window...
 to Mommy and Daddy waiting...
 and waiting...
 to riding the tram at the Orlando airport...
 to riding the Magical Express bus from the airport to our hotel...
 to your excitement to see what our hotel room looked like and checking out the beds...

I'd say there was enough fun packed in to just the first day of our vacation. :-)

However, let's not forget the four hour waiting game we got to play at the airport. Let's recall the chaos, shall we...
*Flight was scheduled to leave Thursday morning at 10:15 am and arrive 1:15pm.
*Board the plane for an on-time departure.
*Push back from the gate and don't go any further.
*Pilot makes an announcement that there is a mechanical problem with the "dings" that the pilots and flight attendants use to communicate to each other.
*Pull back up to gate where airline mechanic boards the plane to try to fix the problem.
*After about thirty minutes of trying, pilot comes back on to tell us they had no luck and we need to deplane. (level of disappointment and frustration at this point=extremely high)
*Waiting game begins.
*Gate agent informs us they are looking for a new aircraft for our flight. We are told to check back in an hour.
*Perfect timing for a lunch break. Luckily you guys were happy and seemed a bit un-phased as you were just happy being with each other.
*After lunch we scout out a little play area where you guys got to play for a good thirty minutes. You all ran around and played freeze tag until you all had red cheeks!
*Check back at gate to learn that our plane had arrived. Make one last stop at the restroom and finally get to board. On plane at 2:00 and the waiting continues.
*Flight attendant comes on to say that we are now waiting on our pilots to arrive from another flight. Really?? We were trying to remain positive for your sake but you know we were really thinking we'd much rather be waiting in the gate area rather than a completely full airplane. Especially with an overtired 19 month old who doesn't like to be contained.
*Pilots board and we push back from the gate at 2:30pm. Finally we are on our way! Despite the waiting, we were very thankful for a safe flight and we know it could have been a lot worse!

Despite this little hiccup in our first day we weren't going to let this get us down. By the time we got to our hotel it was dinner time and we ended up eating at a little quick service cafe at our hotel. Then we were off to our rooms for bath and bed. We wanted to make sure we got you guys to bed on time to ensure we had six rested kiddos for the next day!  Oh but wait...once we got up to our rooms we realized our bags hadn't been delivered from the service Disney provides. They transport your luggage from the airport to your hotel as part of staying at a Disney property. We only wait a few minutes and thankfully they arrive. Whew! Oh but wait...we open the bags up and find some of the clothes are wet. My first thought was what leaked? But then we realized the bags were wet from the rain. I guess they sat in the rain at some point during the process. After we got you guys down for the night, Daddy and I went through every piece of clothes and laid out all the wet ones to dry out. We had clothes laying all over that hotel room. Whew! First day down...with lots of excitement. :-)

We stayed at the Beach and Yacht Club, on the Yacht Club side. It was fabulous and we would definitely stay there again! We were within walking distance to Epcot (a short 10 minute walk), a boat ride to Hollywood Studios and a bus ride to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. They apparently have one of the best pool/water parks on property of all the Disney hotels. We obviously weren't going to go swimming in early March (burr) but good to know for the future.




This ship is also a water slide.

Day 2

Friday morning we headed to Magic Kingdom for our first day of fun. Aunt Kristina and I ordered Mickey and Minnie Mouse shirts for you all with your name on it. We thought it was a fun and cute way to celebrate our Disney trip and not to mention a fun keepsake it is going to be for you all. And honestly it was much easier keeping up with all six of you by having you dressed alike. :-)

Magic Kingdom opened at 9:00am Friday morning and you better believe we were there at 8:45 standing in front of the gates waiting for the countdown to begin. They even have a little show just before the gates open. Everything is just so well done at Disney. They really go above and beyond. 
Gotta love the picture in front of the castle- 2012
Castle picture- 2011

First ride of the day- The Tea Cup ride. Sarah and I waited this one out. A little too much spinning for her!


 Next ride- The Speedway. One of your favorites.

 The Paniaguas waiting on the opposite side.


Some of your other favorite rides of the day...
Snow White ride

Snow White ride

3D Mickey show

Pooh Bear ride
 We had the opportunity to meet up with some friends that were also at Disney. We actually meet Troy and Kristine on an Edward Jones trip in Cabo back in 2006. They live in Minneapolis but we have maintained our long distance friendship over the years. We actually went on an Edward Jones trip to Yellowstone with them back in 2009. They have two boys, Max who is Jacob's age and Charlie who is Luke's age.

Me and Kristine- such a fun treat to see them. 

Waiting for the It's a Small World ride. One of our favorites. 

You guys got to ride in a row by yourselves. You all are so big!


Say cheese with Pirate Goofy. Waiting in line for the Pirates of the Carribean ride. 

Cheese!

Miss Hollywood


Waiting for the Aladdin ride.

Aladdin ride.


Sweet girl- you LOVED all the rides and took it ALL in! 





 We wrapped up the first day with dinner and then headed back to the hotel for an on-time bedtime. As hard as it was leaving the park so early (6:30ish) we wanted to make sure you all could get enough rest for the next day!


Next up...Day 3 at Hollywood Studios and Day 4 at Epcot...

2 comments:

  1. Very fun recap - sounds so fun!! I can't believe all the mess with the plane right out there - I bet that was such a bummer! Great pics by the way!

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  2. Great pictures, Katherine! Ohhhh how I LOVED the matching personalized Mickey Mouse shirts!!! Ya'll did soooo much on your trip!!! What wonderful memories you've all made!!!

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