WDW virgins no more! The first day of our first trip :-)

debdebdebby13

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
463
My PTR can be found here if you want to know a little more about us :-)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2087324

We just returned home around 11:30 last night and we are pretty exhausted. It was a great trip, though a complete whirlwind of activity.

I've got my first folder of pics uploading to photobucket as we speak (well, as I write) so I'll be ready to get started here shortly.
 
Our first day started at a reasonable hour thankfully. The night before Cory and I (from here on to be referred to as "Cor" because that's what I always call him) had been packing last minute things and getting the house to a relatively clean state. We'd gotten to bed around 12:30 and set the alarm for 8:15.

We rolled out of bed with the alarm and began getting showered and dressed. Once I was dress and Cor was in the shower I got Molly up and dressed. She had been very excited the day before but being woken up earlier than she wanted was not her cup of tea. She wasn't too grouchy though when I reminded her what we were doing and where we were going.

007.jpg

009.jpg


By this time Cor was dressed and we started hauling stuff downstairs. We had one large suitcase to be checked, on smaller suitcase that barely fit as a carry on, two backpacks and one stroller. It was a lot for two people to manage, especially with a toddler in tow. Cor's mom, who was taking our car home from the airport called and said she thought she'd be there right around 9:15 so we were right on schedule.

She got there and we started loading up. We left the house about 9:45 to catch our 11:25 flight to Houston where we would connect and fly to Orlando. The 20 minute drive to the airport was uneventful and our bag weighted in at 49lbs, whew, just under the 50lb mark! We got that taken care of and headed back to the security check. Going through a security check with so much stuff and a two year old is an ordeal. We got all the shoes off and in baskets, then all the bags on the belt and then the stroller. Then of course we each walked through and the guy doing the scanning was really grumpy and got made because I didn't take my laptop out of my backpack. We don't vacation often and this is the first time I'd traveled with my laptop so I didn't know it had to go through separately. We got that taken care of and all our stuff collected and we were off to our terminal.

We only had about 45 minutes to wait before our flight. We stopped at the Sonic in the airport and got a drink and then sat at the terminal. Molly sat and colored in her Little Mermaid color with water book and then I took her to the window to show her our airplane since she's never flown before.

Molly and her coloring book
010.jpg



They called us to start boarding and we gate checked the stroller and had to gate check the big carry-on suitcase as well. The stewardess who checked us in was so sweet and gave Molly some wings since it was her first flight. This flight was only about an hour and we were in one of the flying coffin airplanes. The kind that only has one seat per row on one side and two seats on the other side. It was so small. Cor had to duck just to walk on the plane. I sat in the row behind Cor and Molly and she seemed just fine throughout the entire flight. Mostly she looked out the window and colored more in her Ariel book (this will become a theme throughout our down time).

012.jpg


We landed about 12:45 and had to book it across the Houston airport to get to our other terminal. They were boarding when we got there so we never got a chance to eat lunch. I'd packed a few things like pretzel mix and cereal bars so we were okay for the most part. We all got to sit on the same row this time. Molly was getting tired and quite fidgety from the lack of physical activity all day. We were grateful when they announced that electronic devices could be used and we whipped out the Kid Tough DVD player we'd gotten on clearance a couple of months ago. BEST.INVENTION.EVER.

Molly watched The Little Mermaid for the majority of the two hour flight, only stopping every now and then to tell us something about the movie or ask for a drink.

014.jpg


We arrived in Orlando hungry and tired but excited to finally be there! We immediately found a Burger King in the Airport to have something to eat and then set off to find the Magical Express! After much confusion (they really should have the dang place marked more!) we finally found it and were greeted by no line, yay! We were check in and shown to our line and then as soon as we got in our line the shuffled the 15 or so of us to our bus.

015.jpg


We got to ride a Disney Cruise Lines bus, but you can see the ME bus right next to ours. I'm sure it was exactly the same as the ME bus except for the outside paint. After no time at all they were whisking us away to WDW. About half way through the trip the kid couldn't take it anymore and she fell asleep.

017.jpg


More to come when we arrive in our room and we spend the evening in DTD with an exhausted toddler!
 

Love the bedhead pic of Molly! We have that same Ariel water book-Cayley loves it. She also watched Little Mermaid on the plane on our last trip. Glad it all went smoothly and a nap is always good!
 
Great report so far, cant wait for more. Molly is very cute, cant wait to hear about her first trip to WDW:)
 
I'm here from your PTR. Can't wait to hear how it all went.

Our first trip was 2 years ago and we had a hard time finding ME, so I guess there hasn't been any improvement on the signage. Glad you found it!
 
Hi and welcome home! Cute airport and waking up pics! I am looking forward to hearing how Molly enjoyed her trip! :goodvibes
 
I just found your TR and went back and read your pre-trip report. Wish I had seen it sooner. I just love the planning part. We take our family as often as we can but it is never more than once a year, usually every two years. Each time it is a delightful mixture of comfortable familiarity and excitement at discovering new or refurbished attractions. Also as the children age, it gives us new perspectives on old attractions.

I thought that your plan was very complete. I am curious to see how it worked out for your family.

I hope that Molly enjoyed the magic and you and your DH made many special memories!

Can't wait for the pictures.:thumbsup2
 
I can't wait to read about your trip!

I have started to go back read to PTR - you are such a good planner (I hope to be able to copy your skills).

DB and I are heading to WDW and we are practically WDW virgins too (I went when I was 9 - don't remember too much) so I am stoked to hear your impressions! :thumbsup2

Looking forward to the next installment :surfweb:
 
Hi Debby! Can't wait to hear more :goodvibes

I'm going to try to do something like 3-4 reports a week, to stretch it out but not so long that everyone loses interest. Expect another one possibly tomorrow but by Friday at the latest (hopefully)

Can't wait to read more! I will read your pre-trip while I wait!!!

:thanks: I can't wait to write more :rotfl:

Love the bedhead pic of Molly! We have that same Ariel water book-Cayley loves it. She also watched Little Mermaid on the plane on our last trip. Glad it all went smoothly and a nap is always good!

She's usually pretty good about being woken up in the morning, now being woken up from a nap is a whole different story! She LOVED that Ariel book, but on Sunday she lost the pen :headache: so we'll have to head back to the disney store and get a new book for the new pen.

Great report so far, cant wait for more. Molly is very cute, cant wait to hear about her first trip to WDW:)

:thanks: It was quite a trip, both for her and for us!

Great start - love the morning picture!

:thanks: Her hair is finally long enough to be a mess in the morning :cool1:

I'm here from your PTR. Can't wait to hear how it all went.

Our first trip was 2 years ago and we had a hard time finding ME, so I guess there hasn't been any improvement on the signage. Glad you found it!

:thanks: I'm glad you stuck with me!

Hi and welcome home! Cute airport and waking up pics! I am looking forward to hearing how Molly enjoyed her trip! :goodvibes

I can tell you now that she loved it, despite being utterly exhausted, and having meltdowns more often than usual.

I just found your TR and went back and read your pre-trip report. Wish I had seen it sooner. I just love the planning part. We take our family as often as we can but it is never more than once a year, usually every two years. Each time it is a delightful mixture of comfortable familiarity and excitement at discovering new or refurbished attractions. Also as the children age, it gives us new perspectives on old attractions.

I thought that your plan was very complete. I am curious to see how it worked out for your family.

I hope that Molly enjoyed the magic and you and your DH made many special memories!

Can't wait for the pictures.:thumbsup2

The planning worked okay, we didn't get to do everything we wanted, there just weren't enough hours in the day, and the show schedules didn't always mesh with our schedule. Plus that 3-4 hours we lost every afternoon in transit and nap took away a good deal of time too.

But oh well, that just leaves more fun for next time!

I can't wait to read about your trip!

I have started to go back read to PTR - you are such a good planner (I hope to be able to copy your skills).

DB and I are heading to WDW and we are practically WDW virgins too (I went when I was 9 - don't remember too much) so I am stoked to hear your impressions! :thumbsup2

Looking forward to the next installment :surfweb:

I planned a lot but the trip didn't always go according to my plan, haha. In fact, more often than not, it didn't go according to my plan! But that's alright I'm flexible, or at least I try to be :banana:
 
Just letting everyone know that another chapter of my TR will be coming tonight or tomorrow afternoon. We are expecting a snow storm (in Oklahoma...in almost April....)
 
018.jpg

Cory's picture of our grand entrance! We don't have too many pictures from tonight but that's okay, we'll make up for it later!

So when I stopped before Molly had just fallen asleep on the bus. It was probably 6pm at this point and she was one exhausted girl. We got t0 ASMo around 6:15 and there in the lobby was this family we'd been with ever since Oklahoma City. They were having a family reunion and their whole group was staying at ASMo too. It was so strange but kind of nice to see some slightly familiar faces.

I walked in carrying a 35lb dead weight and immediately looked around for some place to sit down. That nice family we'd traveled with was taking up all the benches but one of the older men immediately jumped up and gave me his seat. All of the older people in that family had oohed and aahed at Molly the entire trip so they already had a soft spot for her. I plopped down and Cor went to get our room keys and all the other stuff. We'd already checked in online so it was a quick process. Cor came over and had our folder O' stuff in hand.

I told him I didn't think I could carry Molly all the way to the room, she was just too heavy, and even heavier when she's passed out asleep. We traded handfuls and I dragged the backpacks, small suitcase and stroller to the room. We were in room 4956, just to the right of the main pool in one of the Dalmatian buildings. It was a fairly short walk. At this point we realized our room was on the third floor and having not been there before we didn't know there was an elevator. Cor carried Molly all the way up the fire hydrant stairs to the third floor and I huffed and puffed and dragged all our belongings up the stairs behind him. When I got up there Molly was awake. Cor said he accidentally banged the door when he got in there and it woke her up.

Molly immediately climbed in bed and got comfy.

019.jpg

021.jpg


She started looking around the room and she loved the theme. 101 Dalmatians is one of her favorites. As we were walking to our room I turned my cell phone on and saw that I'd missed a call from Marge who was delivering our groceries from WeGoShop.com. I saw that it was 6:35 and we'd talked about her coming around 7. I quickly called her back and she said she'd be there in about 5 minutes. I guess she was already on property.

She came just a few minutes later and delivered the goods. We didn't get a ton, just some easy things to get us through the week without having to spend as much in the parks.

Here are our spoils
024.jpg

025.jpg


After I got all the groceries situated I stuck my head out and caught a few pictures of our view. It was a preferred room so I suppose this is a good view?? It was fine we didn't spend too much time staring out the window anyway :lmao:

The building directly across from us
022.jpg


From our doorway looking toward the main pool and main building
023.jpg


Big Pongo with a tiny Molly in front
026.jpg


a few snapshots as we took a walk to the bus stop to head to DTD for dinner
027.jpg


028.jpg


029.jpg


I don't have any pictures of our evening at DTD but I'll sure tell ya about it :goodvibes

It was the longest bus ride of the entire week I think. The bus was jam packed and a nice man had his son sit on his lap so I'd have a place for Molly to sit in my lap. The ride was rather uneventful, Molly was wiggly but there's nothing new about that :-P

We got to DTD and it was starting to get dark. We hadn't the foggiest idea where to go so we just started walking with everyone else. We walked by Rainforest Cafe and wanted to get a pic of Molly with the animals out front but it was just too busy. We were awfully hungry so we decided that was our number one priority. We walked past the carousel and saw Wolfgang Puck Express and decided it was a winner. The line was out the door so Cor left me with our keys to the world and went to find a table with Molly.

The woman in front of me struck up a conversation. She was probably in her late 50s had been at Disney for 10 days already and was leaving that Friday, a full two weeks in Disney. She was there with just her and her husband, they didn't have any children. I bet they had a fun and very full trip. The line moved quickly and after 10 minutes or so I was at the front ordering. I ordered a Turkey Hero Sandwich and chocolate cake for Cor and I got Rigatoni chicken bolognse and creme brulee. The total was $42, the most we paid all week for CS. We were on the standard DDP so I kept track of how much we spend on each meal so I could see if we saved any money and how much. I'll let you know how much each meal cost as well. I got our number and our drinks and headed to find Cor and Molly. They were sitting out on the patio.

Cor was showing Molly the pics we'd taken so far to keep her entertained. She had only napped for about 35 minutes and it showed. She is nearly three but she still needs a good 2 hour nap each day and even more when we are doing exhausting things. As we were sitting and waiting she was getting more and more wild and while she was happy she kept letting out these blood curdling screams every few minutes and this one particular woman sitting at a table behind us was shooting us nasty glares every time it happened. Well the inevitable happened. Molly was being wild and Cor got on to her for something and her being the drama queen she is, flopped around and knocked over my glass of Sprite. It was still full and it went EVERYWHERE.

Cor picked her up and hauled her out of there for a stern talking to and I tried to avoid the icy stares the woman was sending my way. I had no napkins so I just sat. After just a couple of minutes the server brought out our food and then brought up some extra napkins and together we got the mess sopped up the best we could. The food looked great and I started in. Cor came back with Molly and she was on her best behavior. We really enjoyed the food, it was good. We aren't terribly picky and we were quite hungry so it was even better than it probably was :thumbsup2

Molly was behaving pretty well at this point so after we ate we headed to Once Upon a Toy. Wow it was packed in there. That store just goes on and on. Cor stayed with Molly playing at the My Little Pony table while I went and explored, then we switched. We didn't end up getting anything though. We were so tired we just couldn't make up our minds on anything. About 9 we decided we should head back. We found our way back to the bus stop and a bus was already loading. As it got to us it was standing room only and we just weren't up for that so we let the people behind us go. We waited about ten more minutes and another bus came. We got on and got seats.

We finally got back to our room at around 10. Molly was starting to lose her mind again she was so tired. We got her pajama-ed and her teeth brushed and put her in bed. Of course we still needed to get ready for bed and try to get stuff packed up for the next day. Molly is not the type of kid to just go to sleep in there is anything going on so she sat up for the next half our talking to us and making up reasons to get out of bed. Finally around 10:45 Cory and I climbed into bed and as soon as we got settled Molly said she had to go to the bathroom...of course she does :rotfl: I climb back out of bed and take her back to the bathroom and then we get back in bed. She then spent the next 20 minutes talking and singing until she passed out.

If you are getting a picture of Molly's personality now you are probably pretty accurate. She's sweet and precocious and a complete handful. She doesn't have tantrums often, but she's very independent and wants to do what she wants to do. She talks like a 4 year old but she thinks like a 2 year old. Well, actually when I look at other kids she's not really that much of a handful. She just really wants to do her own thing and can't understand why she can't always. This is about the only thing that cause us big headaches.

Next up...our first full day in Disney World at the Magic Kingdom!
 
Hey! Just found your PTR, then I came over to your TR! Love it! Your little girl is very cute! I saw you're from Oklahoma! I'm from Oklahoma City! Haven't seen any snow...yet...and hopefully won't! :wizard: Anyway, we're planning our first trip in May so I'm really excited to read your trip report!
 
She is so cute.

I am very interested in the water books you have for her. Can you send some more information out on them. Where did you get them . Who makes them etc.

Thanks

I am looking forward to your next post...:wizard:
 
Hey! Just found your PTR, then I came over to your TR! Love it! Your little girl is very cute! I saw you're from Oklahoma! I'm from Oklahoma City! Haven't seen any snow...yet...and hopefully won't! :wizard: Anyway, we're planning our first trip in May so I'm really excited to read your trip report!

It is STILL snowing. I thought it was supposed to be over by noon. What part of OKC are you in? We are in Warr Acres.

She is so cute.

I am very interested in the water books you have for her. Can you send some more information out on them. Where did you get them . Who makes them etc.

Thanks

I am looking forward to your next post...:wizard:

We found the Ariel book at the Disney store along with a couple of others. I'm not sure who makes them I'll have to look. We were just at Walmart and I found an identical one except it was with Dora (and it was $1 less than the Disney Store). They are really neat though. The water just evaporates and you can color it again. It kept Molly and the other kids waiting around us entertained for our entire trip!
 
Molly is just beautiful.

"Sweet, precocious, independent, wants to do what she wants to do & only a few tantrums now and then." Sounds like a Genuine Princess to me!

We took our Princess To WDW when she was Molly's age in 1974 and have been back 14 times over the years.

Enjoy Molly while you can. They grow up way too fast.
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE


New Posts





DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom