Welcome to Disney World, Stinson Family! Our twelve hour car ride to Orlando was totally uneventful, which was a huge blessing. We left at 2:30 in the morning and arrived at our friend's house at about 2:30 that afternoon. I teach with a precious couple named Joel and Lacey. Lacey's parents, who live here in Glasgow, conveniently purchased a house in Clermont, FL, just a few years ago so that their grandkids could go to Disney World whenever they wanted. Pretty sweet, huh? Joel and Lacey have invited us several times so I finally got brave enough to take them up on their offer. Disney World has always seemed very intimidating to me, so having our own personal tour guides was extremely appealing to me. Joel and Lacey, and their girls, actually have season passes to WDW, so they go very often. Lacey planned our entire trip, all the way down to the fast passes. This might bother some people, but not this girl. I asked her if she would and she ran with it. She just told me what fast passes we had and when we had to be where and we just followed their family around like little lost puppies.
Our first evening in Florida, we grabbed a tasty bite to eat at a restaurant in the Polynesian Resort. Later, we watched Pocohontas on the beach at the resort. The kids played in the sand while we watched the gorgeous fireworks. We also took in the Electrical Water Pageant where great sea creatures and twinkling American flags crossed the lagoon to electronic tunes. We rode the monorail and ferry that night, as well. Joel and Lacey tried to get us super excited about hitting the park the next day. They succeeded, that's for sure! The glimpses of Cinderella's Castle and other park attractions were such a tease!
When we got to Magic Kingdom, our first stop was at City Hall, to pick up our "1st Visit" pins. We proudly wore those during our trip. Our first experience was to visit Mickey Mouse at Town Hall Square. It was nothing short of magical to see him bee-bop up to us and talk....actually talk! I think all of our mouths just hit the floor and I just kept staring at his mouth. Wow....I get goose bumps just thinking of it again. Needless to say, we were all grinning from ear to ear when we left there.
We made a quick stop in Castle Couture for the girls to get free pixie dust sprinkled in their hair. We still saw that glitter for days on Hadley's blonde, fair skinned scalp. We oohed and aahed over Flora and Meriweather repeatedly changing Sleeping Beauty's dress from pink to blue.
I think kids all across the world love carousels; especially Prince Charming's Carousel which is obviously inspired by Cinderella. Hadley led us to her favorite horse and Canaan felt like such a big boy getting to ride all by himself.
Gotta love those looks of pure happiness; moments we will never forget.
WDW's newest attraction, Snow White's Mine Train, just opened last week and we were able to snag fast passes for it. Just like everything else at Disney, it is unbelievably planned and no stone is left unturned. Hadley posed in front of the dwarfs' cottage on our walk to the ride. We couldn't believe how much she loved the roller coasters. She kept asking to ride roller coasters over and over. The Snow White ride certainly lived up to the all the hype. It was amazing.
Before riding one of the classic, most popular rides at Diney World, we cooled off for a bit under the big top...in Dumbo's circus tent. This is a circus-themed play area for kiddos that is so nice, especially since it's air-conditioned. A welcome relief in the middle of a hot day. Hadley hit up the climbing nets and slides, while Canaan stayed close by in the toddler area. After some time, our pager let us know that it was our turn to ride. I let Canaan direct Dumbo by moving the handle to let us soar skyward or fly low. Hadley kept looking back at us to see if we were up or down.
One of my favorite attractions from our first day was Enchanted Tales with Belle. We waited in Maurice's cottage until the door opened for us to enter into his workshop; a small room in which I wondered how we were all going to fit in there. Soon enough, the room got dark and a mirror on the wall began to sparkle and turn into a full-size doorway. I'm pretty sure my mouth hit the floor when all that was going on. We then walked through that magic door into a wardrobe room. So cool! There was an interactive story about Belle in this next room, and Hadley got to be Phillipe, the horse. She galloped and played her part quite well. We then walked into the castle's library and took seats while Phillipe and the rest of the gang took part in their play.
Belle gave each of her friends a bookmark, to remember her by. She was gorgeous and played her part magnificently. It was soooo magical. Sigh.
Although I didn't capture everything from our first day at Disney, I did hit some highlights. We ended our night with the electrical parade, which is just so neat. It amazes me how characters at Disney stay "in character" all the time. We actually camped out at the very end of the parade...the very last spot before the floats and characters are finished with the show. It amazed me to watch them still play their parts and stay in character long after no one was around. I can totally see why this place is coined "the happiest place on Earth." We can't wait to come back tomorrow!
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