Day 1 at Disney

We successfully landed (whew!) in Orlando yesterday at noon and couldn't wait to begin our adventure in Florida. I felt so fancy hopping onto the train/tram to the luggage terminal where we skipped picking up our baggage and got right in line for the Disney bus. (With the tickets we got, baggage was taken for us and put in our rooms a few hours later. Splendid!) We sat on the bus and TJ gleamed with excitement. It took a bit for us to get going but then once we started driving, we saw a movie of Disney highlights and short films.

Jumping off the bus to the Polynesian was incredible. The plants and vegetation were beautiful and I got a flower necklace (what the heck is it called again?) when we checked in. Again, I felt fancy! Our room was nice and spacious and we had fun checking out the pool with a volcano and the beach details. We decided to head straight for some food because it was 2pm by that time and we hadn't really eaten much of anything all day.

We decided to get on a monorail and go for food. Well, it was a learning experience to say the least. For an hour, we went from monorail to monorail looking for a bus to take to these restaurants we'd heard about. Then the transportation we'd heard about truly didn't exist ... so we ended up going back to the hotel even hotter and more starving than the hour before. I get a little cranky when I'm hungry so my inner beast was about to jump out at any minute. We ventured in the hotel eatery and finally figured out the system of ordering and paying since there are Disney meal plans and rules we didn't know much about.

We got it though, we got it. And after a very long, long wait and much silence as we stared at the pager on the table willing it to buzz so that we could eat....we ate! Then hit the deck with our swim suits. The pool here is incredible and there are little lizards all over the place. We took a family walk on the beach, swung in the hammocks and built some scary sand creatures. By then it was time to shower and head to downtown Disney.

Already spent for the day, we waited for the bus and climbed aboard. Seeing TJ's eyes light up 80,000 times in one day has been reward enough, and our evening was magical in itself. Twinkling lights, bright colors, beautiful shops with huge pictures took our breath away. I can't wait to post pictures for you to see! I didn't even factor in the Halloween holiday, but there are Mickey pumpkins everywhere and Disney truly spared no expense in "doin' it up" right. (They can afford it since we are paying these crazy food prices!)

We went into the giant Disney stores and felt like we were on a different planet. This place is truly amazing and T's eyes were as big as saucers - and so were ours. He was so good and patient about the million pictures we took around every corner too. The Stitch statue on top of a store was a big hit for TJ because it spit water from a few stories above. He also loved the Pirates, Star Wars, Toy Story and Lego toys. The Lego store was laughable it was so big. And TJ picked out a Pirates Lego set with his money from Grandma and Grandpa.

One of my favorite places was the T Rex restaurant. This place was remarkable. Kind of along the same lines as Rainforest Cafe only with giant, lifelike dinosaurs and everything else to go with it. Dinner there would have been an event - not just a meal. We didn't eat there, but played in the pit where T discovered dino bones and then shopped in the store there. Again, amazing. They even had a Build-A-Bear workshop completely for dinosaurs. Another purchase made with TJ's prize money. In true TJ form, he named his dinosaur, Dino-y. God bless that hilarious kid.

We went back and played with more Lego cars before heading back home. T fell asleep on the bus back to the hotel - just in time to miss the fireworks overhead. It was fun to watch them out the window. Romantic too. Tim and I had been to Downtown Disney quite a few times in college on our Spring Break trips for track. It was pretty cool to be back there 10+ years later, married with our 4-year old. Really cool, actually. I think it made it that much more special.

Tomorrow, I'll write about the day at Magic Kingdom (Tuesday). For now, I need to put my swollen feet up and get some rest as we've just returned and I am beat!

Here's a look back on our vehicle rides: car to airport parking, shuttle from parking to terminal, plane to destination, tram to baggage, bus to hotel, monorail to 3rd stop where we got on another monorail then took it back to hotel, bus to downtown Disney, bus back to hotel...and that was enough wheels for one day.