DAY ONE: The Murphy Family Adventure Begins!! 04/29/05

[TigrLvsPooh]

Welcome to the Murphy Family Trip Report!! We just returned from 10 days in the World and have so much to share with you guys about the Happiest Celebration on Earth!! Please bare with me as I try and get this report completed as fast as I can. There is just so much to tell I keep thinking of more things to add.

Well, no better place to begin than the beginning, right???


Day 1 – Friday, April 29th

Our flight arrived in Orlando around Noon, we got our rental car (a PT cruiser), and headed off to begin our Disney World Adventure!!! We arrived at the Swan for a one-night stay before checking in at the Polynesian the next day. This was our second stay at the Swan and we enjoyed it once again. The location was great, and we love the boat to MGM and Epcot. I wish all four parks could be accessed by these "Friendly" little boats. They aren't very fast, but strollers fit easily and the ride is relaxing.

The room we were given (#1079) was nice, I noticed the hallways had new carpet and wallpaper since our last stay, and the heavenly beds were as heavenly as always. My only complaint is that the room seemed very cramped. The space between the foot of the bed and the long dresser/desk is pretty narrow, not even enough room for our double stroller. But it is nice having two sinks ... just make sure you bring a makeup mirror if you plan to get ready in the outer part of the bathroom area. It's very dark right there. Our room was on the 10th floor overlooking the pool and in the distance Animal Kingdom and the new Expedition Everest. We noticed right away the new gates down at the self-park, the $7 charge was added to our room and our room key swiped us in and out as much as we wanted. Sort of a bummer, it was always a nice free parking area, but I'm not surprised they had to change things. We also paid the $10 resort fee, which to me is totally worth it to have the high speed internet access in our room... I wish the WDW resorts would start doing this as well. Or at least make it an option. I feel so out of touch with my DIS buddies.

After unpacking a little we decided to head right to Epcot by boat and do Test Track. Our youngest son, age 3, was dying to ride now that he’s tall enough. On our last trip is was about an inch or two shy of the 40 inch mark, which kept him from riding quite a few things, so this was a big trip for him. He was a little nervous at first but loved it!!

After that we did Mexico, a few other things in the World Showcase, then headed back to the Swan to get ready for dinner. We had planned to eat at Buca di Beppo that night, off property, so we had to drive quite a ways… but dinner was great and we got back in time to go to Epcot for Illuminations. Normally we wouldn't eat so far away, but since our dining plan package was starting the next day we figured we'd venture out a little bit that night. The traffic was TERRIBLE and I really don't know how you offsite people can stand it. I guess we are just spoiled to the Disney transportation.

Well, not much to report this day. We went to bed early to get plenty of sleep for our first full day of Disney!

(Day 2 coming soon!!!)

 

[becobscot]

Thanks for posting! We are planning on staying at the Dolphin for SWW so nice to hear about that! I look forward to reading the rest of your report!

 

[nwdisgal]

Great report! I am looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[Shelby5514]

Great start! I'm ready for day 2.

 

[goldilocks_63]

Cool. I think it's you!

More wonderful stories, please.

Goldi

 

[gopack]

Hi! Great report. I am wondering which rental car company you used. My DS would love it if we got a PT Cruiser when we are there. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

National.... we got it from the Emerald aisle.

 

[scanne]

Erika,

Your little guy is so cute! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your report, as we will be at the Polynesian in July! Can't wait.

Anne

 

[Stitch Inside]

Bumping to keep them together.

 

[WDWLinda]

Thanks for posting - I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

I hope you don't mind, but...could you tell me what kind of double stroller you use? I'll have a 4 yr old (over 40 in.) and an 8 mo. old for our trip in Oct., and I've started my search for the perfect stroller...not an easy task.

I'm looking for something comfortable for both of them so that the big guy doesn't hit his head on the canopy and the little guy doesn't roll out the front, easy to fold up/carry, and doesn't cost lots of $$. Would appreciate your opinion.

Thanks,
Linda

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We have lots of strollers. I would recommend the Graco DuoGlider front/back double stroller. We got ours at Target for $110 and have taken it to WDW at least 10 times. The front/back seating is so much easier to steer through the park, get onto boats and monorails, etc. Our big side by side double is nice too, but a pain to steer, too wide, and too expensive. Also another nice thing about front/back is that the baby can sit in the back and be completely blocked from the sun. In a side by side the lower half of their body is exposed. We used ours until our youngest was so tall (he's almost 4) that he couldn't fit in the back seat anymore. But you are a long way off from that point. Definitely go with the DuoGlider and you'll be all set.