We all woke up and got dressed. I was taking everyone to the airport in the van, dropping them and the luggage off and coming back in the hotel shuttle which is not handicap accessible. It actually worked out pretty well for us. I took the hotel shuttle and they were all waiting for me. We then grabbed the carryons and 9 bags we were going to check and got in line. We must have looked crazy with all that stuff.
While I was getting the wheelchair checked and getting the boarding passes, Josh was putting the luggage on the scale one by one, then another SouthWest employee came out and told Christian to help her take the bags, Hannah wanted to help too:
We actually made it through security quickly and Josh couldnt believe how much extra time they take searching Bill. I told them wait until we get to Orlando, his chair always tests positive for a foreign substance after we have been in the parks. Josh just shook his head and the kids got their first glance at the airplanes. Sorry the picture is so dark.
On the way to our gate Christian was walking with me and saw a sign with the businesses in the airport. He saw Starbucks and said oh they have a Starbucks, it is such a lucrative business. I had to giggle because how many 11 years old say things like that? We made our way to the gate and everyone took potty breaks then Josh decided he was hungry, so they went off in search of food. Then they wanted to smoke. Smoking became an issue on this trip, but not nearly as bad as it was with Amy last year. The smoking wouldnt have bothered me but Josh was helping me put Bill on the plane. They have us preboard because of the wheelchair. They went off to smoke and I took this picture of the kids.
Sweet little Hannah was tired, we all were. Boarding the plane went smoothly and I took this picture of Christian:
Getting a candid shot of him was very hard since he would give me that smile if the camera was anywhere near him. We got seat belted and Christian said very loudly Im scared. I took his hand and told him it would be ok and to trust me, he said ok. We had a smooth take off and Hannah was grinning from ear to ear, she loved the plane ride, even more when we had turbulence. She proclaimed it the best ride ever. We landed and were the last off the plane. Christian and Hannah both had spending money from various grandparents and the money was already burning a hole in Christians pocket. We quickly informed him that he was not blowing any money at the airport stores.
They both liked the airport monorail:
Hannah was so excited to see Snow White outside the Disney Earport:
Abbey and Josh were in desperate need of a smoking section so we went down by the food court. We got food from Chik-fil-A and Sbarros Pizza. Bill commented how good I was being about not freaking out that we werent on a Magical Express bus yet
. I just wanted everyone to eat and not grumpy before we went on our Disney World adventure.
After we were sufficiently fed, we made our way down to the Magical Express counter where we saw this:
It was empty, no line, woo hoo Magical Express Mojo!! This made me very happy. I informed them we would need a bus with a lift and they escorted us to the benches in front of the regular lines. Hannah was so excited when she saw the busses:
They asked Bill and me to go out to the bus where I took the annual loading Bill on the ME bus pictures:
Then they asked all of us to board. We got settled in:
The kids loved the video, we were stopping at Caribbean Beach Resort first and by the time we turned in there we saw this:
Hannah took a short nap, it was too cute.
From the moment they caught sight of the sign Josh and Abbey perked up and loved the huge icons:
We got off the bus and while I waited for Bill to get unloaded Josh and Abbey were taking pictures:
I got in line for online check in and the kids went to watch cartoons:
Check in went smoothly, our room was ready, theirs was not, but we decided to drop off all the stuff in our room. They loved the theming, we were right by the big wheel on the ground floor.
We got in the room and I put up the window clings:
We werent in the room very long when we got the message the room next door was theirs. They went in and Abbey started putting things up, the luggage started showing up, and then there was a knock on the door:
Heck I didnt even get a picture from the pretty side where there were more roses and a lily. Bill did it again. The night before he had told me he wanted to use the laptop to move some people around on his fantasy football team, when the real reason he wanted it was to order the flowers. He is just too sweet, I loved the flowers so much.
We relaxed for a bit then headed to the bus stop, but we had to take a couple of pictures first:
Christian cracks me up!
Next installment
DTD and a screaming match