Disney Vacation - Day 1

Thursday, October 9th – Stacey and David dropped us at the airport for our 6:25 am flight to Orlando. We were on the same flight as another family from Decatur {which would be the only time we saw anyone we knew the entire trip}. We got checked in and through security in perfect timing to board the plane. Once we were in the air, both the kids colored the entire time. Neither one of them seemed nervous about flying! We arrived in Orlando a few minutes early, grabbed our luggage and rental car then headed to The Boardwalk Inn {our home away from home for the next 6 days}. Mary Reese kept looking for Mickey Mouse at the airport…I think she thought we would literally be in Walt Disney World with Mickey Mouse there to greet us as soon as we got off the plane!

Don't we all look tired?

We had to make a pit stop by the Port Orleans Riverside to pick up our swapped stroller. No one could find it and I couldn’t get the girl before us on the phone for the baggage claim number, so we moved onto our hotel and opted to just rent on for the day until we could locate the other one.

They told us when we pulled up at the valet that our room probably wouldn’t be ready this early. I still had to check in with them because our room keys were also our tickets into the park. Surprisingly our room was ready when I got to the desk and we received a “Magical Moment” as a part of the “Year of a Million Dreams” that upgraded us to a concierge level room {Room #4254}! This proved to be a fabulous added bonus! The rooms at the Boardwalk have just been completely renovated and were equipped with wonderful beds/bedding, a flat screen TV and a small balcony. The bellhop brought our luggage up and we quickly settled in before heading out to our first park!

We took the Friendship boat over to Hollywood Studios. I was feeding the tickets through the machines and was not paying attention to which ticket I fed through. Now when you put your ticket through for the first time, you place one of your pointer fingers on a scanner and it scans your fingerprint. I put Jody’s ticket through and placed my left pointer finger on the scanner. Before I had realized what I had done, it was too late and the lady working the machine said it couldn’t be changed and it would have to remain that way the entire trip…so Jody’s ticket was my left pointer and my ticket was my right pointer!

One of the big things now at Disney is pin trading. I had bought the kids lanyards before we left for our trip. Jody and Banks immediately got into pin trading with the cast members for their pins which have “Hidden Mickeys” on them. Banks learned to spot them quickly!

We were all famished by this point because none of us had eaten anything all day. We found the Toy Store Pizza Place Arcade and inhaled some pizza! After lunch we headed over to the Muppets 3D movie. We then tried to get Fast Passes for the new Toy Story Mania ride but they had all been given out for the day and the regular line was estimated at 1 ½ hours {tip: learn how to use the Fast Pass System…it is the only way to survive}. We opted to move onto Playhouse Disney. The kids both enjoyed watching the characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny and the Little Einstein’s. We even got to meet Handy Manny himself after the show! We had just enough time to ride The Great Movie Ride before securing a spot for the Block Party Bash Parade with all the Pixar characters. After the parade, we headed back to the Boardwalk for a little rest and a snack from the concierge lounge.

I had also gotten the baggage claim number from the stroller swappers in front of us and the concierge helped me locate the missing stroller. When we got to the valet to get our car so we could pick up the stroller, we discovered they couldn’t find our car keys! We told them we really didn’t need the car…we just needed to pick up a stroller from a different resort. We told the concierge what was going on and he sent his assistant over to pick up the stroller for us!

We headed over to Epcot around 7:00 that night for our 8:50 dinner reservations at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada {the lady working that ticket scanner cleared out Jody’s ticket so his fingerprint could be associated with his ticket}. As soon as we got into the park we checked in at the restaurant and luckily they could take us early {we were very grateful because it was threatening rain}! It was one of the best meals of our entire trip. We highly recommend trying to get reservations there…they do book up fast so you have to make them as soon as you can. The cheese soup was just like the one they serve at the Brick and the pretzel bread was delicious and delightful! Jody said his New York Strip was one of the best he had ever had and my prime rib was wonderful! We finished with dinner just in time for the IllumiNations show {in the rain}! Jody and I were both soaked by the time we made it back to the hotel {the kids had ponchos but we didn’t}. We all crashed for the night! The agenda for the next day: Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party...