Day 1
Her first reaction was definitely shock. She was generally stunned as she rechecked her suitcase, drove to the airport and even on the airplane. It wasn't until we landed in Orlando (fortunately, a direct flight!) that it started to sink in and she started to move from stunned to thrilled. As we landed, we were just in time to see the Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch from our airplane window. Very cool. I'd see these so many times on TV, it was neat to see one of the last flights "in person".
Shuttle Atlantis' Last Takeoff. Taken from our airplane on arrival to MCO.
After stopping at one of our favorite Starbucks (why isn't there Starbucks in WDW?), we caught the Magic Express to the Grand Floridian. The CM along the way couldn't have been nicer. I kept telling people that we were there for a surprise trip- our 2nd honeymoon. Although we never took a first. We moved from Washington, DC to Chicago the day after our wedding, and I started residency 2 days after our wedding. Honeymoons give you a falsely optimistic view of what married life is going to be like, we like to say. That may be rationalizing a bit.
When we arrived at the Grand Floridian, two roses, a bottle of champagne, a white chocolate Mickey and chocolate covered strawberries were waiting in our room.
I really should have taken a "Before" picture...
We dropped off our stuff and headed over to the Magic Kingdom to walk around before dinner. The Magic Kingdom is very different when you are there without kids. Quietier and slower in ways that are difficult to describe. It wasn't crowded (since it was around 3-4 in the afternooon) and this accentuated the fact that we were on our own.
We did some shopping (of course) and caught the end of the parade:
Knowing that we'd be back in a month with the kids, we didn't feel the need to go on lots of rides. But, my favorite ride (and my DD's) is Buzz Lightyear, so DW suggested we go there next. We rode this twice, the first time DW got 999,999. Not wanting to be shown up, we rode it again and both got 999,999. A CM gave us two Galactic Hero buttons for our valor, but I gave one of them to a little boy on the way out of the giftshop.
My DW's favorite ride is Space Mountain, so we hit that next. I'm not a roller coaster guy (stipulate the wimp jokes). I do Test Track, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Mission Space, but often when we got to Space Mountain or Tower of Terror, I stay on the ground with my DD. But since it was a special occasion, I braved it and survived to tell the tale.
On the way out we took the obligate picture:
That night, we had reservations at Victoria and Albert's, but more on that with the next update.
Next time:
Victoria and Albert's (with lots of food pictures!)
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Honestly, I'm lucky if I get over 500 points on that ride (I'm fairly miserable at it, I know!), I bet that would be a big surprise to DBF if I actually beat him on that ride! (Nah, he would just suspect some Dis researching
).
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I find TRs randomly and it caught my eye!
