Day 1
Leaving for the World
Friday, January 25th
Just some brief background info on how this quick trip came to pass….
Faith mentioned that she wanted to go back to Atlanta to the
American Girl Store for her birthday. So, we decided to do the AG package at the Marriott…..pink beds, robes, lunch at AG Bistro. Something the boys were oh so excited about! Oh….and forgive me. You haven’t been properly introduced to Sophia….she’s kind of the reason this trip came to be.
One night Bill was checking his email….low and behold there was a Pin Code just for us….or should I say him. Believe it or not, he says… “
If we’re going to spend that kind of money for the AG package, we might as well go to Disney so we can ALL enjoy it.” Stunned as I was

- and believe you me, I was stunned – I figured I better get the trip booked before he changed his mind! Both of us looked at many resorts until we finally agreed upon….
….with the
Royal Room – Princess Tianna.
So, this is how our very spur of the moment trip came to be. At first, we didn’t tell Faith what we were doing for her birthday, only that it was a surprise. I love surprises….but Faith, being the very observant and nosey child that she is, started putting 2 n 2 together – she overheard conversations, saw us fervently perched in front of the computer, etc.
Eventually we did tell the kids we were going to Disney for a very short trip, but didn’t tell them which resort. Of course they eagerly tried to guess.
“The Poly??!!” ….no.
“The Contemporary??!!”…..no. “
The Grand Flo with the pretty red roof??!!”….no. Bill had to give them the whole ‘
we’re not going to be in the room that much’ speech so we don’t need a deluxe resort room.
Ok…enough background! Let’s get to the day of departure!
We left school early on Friday and went straight to Bill’s office to quickly grab him. You can only imagine how overly excited the kids were.
Faith was driving the boys crazy!!!...nothing new.
Our departure was not as rapid as I wanted it to be….but oh well. We hit I-95…..full speed ahead!

(
fyi...for all the past TR followers...no more Ferrari Van) Our ETA was 8:14pm. On the way down, I told the kids they had to watch
Princess and the Frog - they still weren’t aware of our Royal Room. Ignore the 81 on the GPS....it lies
When we arrived it was dark, and the parking lot looked rather full….what in the world??? This is like not supposed to be a busy time. So after what seemed to be an eternity, Bill finally got our room assignment in
Oak Manor – the Magnolia Bend area. We had no idea how spread out this place was!! Holy cow!! Huge!
We were a bit confused while looking for our building (
darkness didn’t help the situation, either). And confused on where to park. But, eventually we found our way and made it to the room! There were smiles all around!
True to form, I was quickly snapping shots of the room before the kids destroyed it (
room review coming later). Faith was completely awestruck by the bed which really was quite cute! She absolutely loved the room. Even the boys thought it was pretty cool.
Since we had been stuck in a vehicle for 4 ½ hours, all of us were ready to roam around and take in the resort. Jesse and Faith were on the verge of craziness….acting like they’ve never been to a hotel in their life!
We headed to the main building to check out the
River Roost Lounge.
A little bird named
SueM told us to check out
“Ye Haa” Bob Jackson that performs at the lounge.
He plays on Wednesday through Saturday evenings from 8:30pm until a little before midnight. Bob performs a very popular piano sing-along comedy show with lots of audience participation. Get there early if you want a seat!! By the time we arrived, all seats were occupied. The kids enjoyed watching from the sidelines….so wish we had taken Sue’s advice and tried harder to get seats.
After scoping out the lay of the land, we needed a snack. But first…what trip would be complete without losing Jesse at least once??!! Some of you remember from my last TR that Jesse tends to wander off

…we call him
The Wander for very good reason. So guess what….while in line at the food court he disappeared. Shocker, right!? And true to form….we found him here….
And his typical response…. “
Mommmmmm, I was right here!” Life is always an adventure with our Jesse.
The red velvet cake that sits in front of Faith was absolutely delicious!!!! No kidding! Sometimes Disney’s cakes are a bit dry…but not this one. We should have grabbed TWO!
Back to the room we went….but not without a few night shots by the pool (this is the one right by our room.)
Since we were doing MK on Saturday -Park Commando Style, we had to hit the bed….gonna be a long day!
Up next….a Royal Room Review