Saturday July 27
After spending the night in Jacksonville, we awoke early to finish our journey to the World. Plan was to be on the road by 7am but DW and DD were great and we were on our way by 6:40am. It was pretty much an uneventful drive down I-95 and then I-4. As we got closer, the excitement was building. Finally at around 9am, we turned off I-4 and entered the Disney "World". We could barely contain ourselves. We were back in the World after an 8 year wait. It was 8 years ago this same week that DW and I enjoyed our Honeymoon here and now we were returning with our DD for her first time. We were all looking forward to our stay at CBR, or at least DW and DD were, I had something else in mind. It was at this time that I asked DW to look under her seat and pull out the envelope. She pulled the envelope out and on it said "Happy Anniversary" (printed in MICKEY font of course). She opened it and inside was a reservation to the WL, where we had spent said Honeymoon.
We arrived at the lodge at 9:30am. I went in to check in while DW and DD waited in the car. I had requested a standard room overlooking the lobby with bunkbeds and to my surprise, when I checked in, they had upgraded our room to a courtyard view with bunkbeds. However the room was not ready. But that wasn't much of an issue for us, we had plenty to do. We parked the car in the lot, grabbed the camera and put on our Guest Of Honor badges with lime green ribbon and we were off. We had an 11:15 PS at Chef Mickey's and it was now 10am. We just strolled around the lodge for a little bit, checked out the Mercantile and then headed for the boat dock to catch a boat over to the Contemporary. The wait for the boat was short and this would be the norm for the entire trip. We did have time however to let DD feed the fish while we waited. The boat ride to the Contemporary was short but relaxing nonetheless. We unloaded at the CR and at the end of the dock were two picture opportunities, one with the topiary of Sorcerer Mickey and one where we could sit in I believe a 100 years sign. They even went as far as placing a camera stand there so you could do a "self portrait". From there, we went on into Chef Mickey's to check in at our PS. We had about 30 minutes to wait but figured we could just relax and enjoy the atmosphere. We checked in and they sent us over to have our picture taken in front a giant sized place setting. Afterwards, we returned to the waiting area. While we were waiting, Goofy came out front for autographs and photos. I grabbed DD and off we went to stand in line. Once we got in line to the point we were next, DW joined us to see our DD first character interaction. She loved the characters. We had made her autograph book and each page had the characters picture on it so she would know which character needed to sign that page. The characters also loved this and really made a big deal out of her book. After getting Goofy's signature, we went back to sit and wait, but they seated us almost as soon as we sat down. The breakfast was wonderful and we got Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale to sign the book. That makes four of the Fab 5. DD noticed that Donald's page was not signed and said "We just got to find that Duck!!" This was to become our quest for the whole trip.
After leaving Chef Mickey's, we then went to the monorail station to try for the front car. To our surprise, there was no one waiting, so we had the front car at the first opportunity. It took two trains passing before we were able to get the front car but the station attendent had fun joking around with DD. Her trip was already becoming very magical. Finally the Gold train arrived and we were boarded in the front car. And for anyone that has never ridden in the front car, make this a must do on your next trip. It is entirely different than riding in any other car. It spoked me at first. It appeared that there was no way the train could remain on track at that speed, but it was a blast. We were able to make an entire loop in the front and even got all drivers on the loop to sign DD's book. They made some cool drawings.
After returning from the loop, we toured the shops in the Contemporary and I called to check on the room. Still not ready. No bother, we decided to just head for Downtown Disney while we wait. We were just glad to be at the World. We boarded a boat to the lodge and then a bus to DTD. The buses too ran fairly quick with very little wait. Once at DTD we headed straight for Once Upon A Toy. We knew we were coming back to DTD later in the week and check in was quaranteed after three and it was almost two now. So we just wanted to waste a little time and then head back to get our room. Once upon A Toy is a dream. If you go here, just leave your wallet at the checkout. DD had fun designing her own Mr Potato Head and then you can fill a box of pieces for $12. As long as the box will close, you can shove as many pieces as you can into it for that price. We also, picked up the Castle and Epcot for the monorail. They didn't have a yellow one so I waited until later to get that. Well, with over $100 of new Disney toys in hand, we headed back to the lodge.
Once we arrived, I checked the room and it was ready. I head out, get the car and have the luggage delivered. We relax for a bit and unpack. Then it is off to FW for the campfire and marshmallow roast. This turned out to be fun, but we discovered DD does not like raosted marshmallows. She likes to roast them but someone else needs to eat them. As the movie time drew near, so did the bugs. And given the fact that we are NOT campers, (our idea of roughing it is Holiday Inn with basic cable) we headed for the boat back to the lodge and much needed rest before tomorrow, MAGIC KINGDOM at opening time. All in all, a great first Disney Day!!
After spending the night in Jacksonville, we awoke early to finish our journey to the World. Plan was to be on the road by 7am but DW and DD were great and we were on our way by 6:40am. It was pretty much an uneventful drive down I-95 and then I-4. As we got closer, the excitement was building. Finally at around 9am, we turned off I-4 and entered the Disney "World". We could barely contain ourselves. We were back in the World after an 8 year wait. It was 8 years ago this same week that DW and I enjoyed our Honeymoon here and now we were returning with our DD for her first time. We were all looking forward to our stay at CBR, or at least DW and DD were, I had something else in mind. It was at this time that I asked DW to look under her seat and pull out the envelope. She pulled the envelope out and on it said "Happy Anniversary" (printed in MICKEY font of course). She opened it and inside was a reservation to the WL, where we had spent said Honeymoon.
We arrived at the lodge at 9:30am. I went in to check in while DW and DD waited in the car. I had requested a standard room overlooking the lobby with bunkbeds and to my surprise, when I checked in, they had upgraded our room to a courtyard view with bunkbeds. However the room was not ready. But that wasn't much of an issue for us, we had plenty to do. We parked the car in the lot, grabbed the camera and put on our Guest Of Honor badges with lime green ribbon and we were off. We had an 11:15 PS at Chef Mickey's and it was now 10am. We just strolled around the lodge for a little bit, checked out the Mercantile and then headed for the boat dock to catch a boat over to the Contemporary. The wait for the boat was short and this would be the norm for the entire trip. We did have time however to let DD feed the fish while we waited. The boat ride to the Contemporary was short but relaxing nonetheless. We unloaded at the CR and at the end of the dock were two picture opportunities, one with the topiary of Sorcerer Mickey and one where we could sit in I believe a 100 years sign. They even went as far as placing a camera stand there so you could do a "self portrait". From there, we went on into Chef Mickey's to check in at our PS. We had about 30 minutes to wait but figured we could just relax and enjoy the atmosphere. We checked in and they sent us over to have our picture taken in front a giant sized place setting. Afterwards, we returned to the waiting area. While we were waiting, Goofy came out front for autographs and photos. I grabbed DD and off we went to stand in line. Once we got in line to the point we were next, DW joined us to see our DD first character interaction. She loved the characters. We had made her autograph book and each page had the characters picture on it so she would know which character needed to sign that page. The characters also loved this and really made a big deal out of her book. After getting Goofy's signature, we went back to sit and wait, but they seated us almost as soon as we sat down. The breakfast was wonderful and we got Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale to sign the book. That makes four of the Fab 5. DD noticed that Donald's page was not signed and said "We just got to find that Duck!!" This was to become our quest for the whole trip.
After leaving Chef Mickey's, we then went to the monorail station to try for the front car. To our surprise, there was no one waiting, so we had the front car at the first opportunity. It took two trains passing before we were able to get the front car but the station attendent had fun joking around with DD. Her trip was already becoming very magical. Finally the Gold train arrived and we were boarded in the front car. And for anyone that has never ridden in the front car, make this a must do on your next trip. It is entirely different than riding in any other car. It spoked me at first. It appeared that there was no way the train could remain on track at that speed, but it was a blast. We were able to make an entire loop in the front and even got all drivers on the loop to sign DD's book. They made some cool drawings.
After returning from the loop, we toured the shops in the Contemporary and I called to check on the room. Still not ready. No bother, we decided to just head for Downtown Disney while we wait. We were just glad to be at the World. We boarded a boat to the lodge and then a bus to DTD. The buses too ran fairly quick with very little wait. Once at DTD we headed straight for Once Upon A Toy. We knew we were coming back to DTD later in the week and check in was quaranteed after three and it was almost two now. So we just wanted to waste a little time and then head back to get our room. Once upon A Toy is a dream. If you go here, just leave your wallet at the checkout. DD had fun designing her own Mr Potato Head and then you can fill a box of pieces for $12. As long as the box will close, you can shove as many pieces as you can into it for that price. We also, picked up the Castle and Epcot for the monorail. They didn't have a yellow one so I waited until later to get that. Well, with over $100 of new Disney toys in hand, we headed back to the lodge.
Once we arrived, I checked the room and it was ready. I head out, get the car and have the luggage delivered. We relax for a bit and unpack. Then it is off to FW for the campfire and marshmallow roast. This turned out to be fun, but we discovered DD does not like raosted marshmallows. She likes to roast them but someone else needs to eat them. As the movie time drew near, so did the bugs. And given the fact that we are NOT campers, (our idea of roughing it is Holiday Inn with basic cable) we headed for the boat back to the lodge and much needed rest before tomorrow, MAGIC KINGDOM at opening time. All in all, a great first Disney Day!!
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