WDW: September 26, 2012

For the first time, I actually slept until my alarm went off on the day of a Disney trip! In fact, I turned it off instead of hitting snooze, fell back to sleep, and overslept almost 15 minutes! Strange.

There was no traffic though, of course, at 4am, so we got to the Columbus airport at about 5:40am despite a closed exit ramp and unexpected detour. I had never been so thankful for skycap and curbside check in, since we now travel with 2 suitcases, carryons, 3 carseats, a stroller + baby, and two preschoolers. Thank goodness we pack light!

 

The kids and I went potty and started on breakfast while Zach parked, and we were through security and at the gate at just the perfect time to settle in and get ready for our flight without having to wait too long to board. We were all seated together at the front of the plane, and Ryder was asleep within 5 minutes of takeoff. Could this "baby's first trip" really be the polar opposite of the girls' first, in which everyone just cried the whole time (as I remember it)? ;)

 

We landed at MCO, where everything was as smooth as always. We got a minivan from Enterprise (yep - we are still firmly, and forevermore an SUV family. Minivans suck, no matter how many weeks we have access to one, and how many kids we have) and were on our way to our favorite place in no time at all!

Somehow, despite arriving well before lunch (even earlier than our preferred flight gets us there), our room was ready - and included each and every one of our location requests. What in the world was happening?! Literally dozens of trips, and we have never had a room ready with a morning checkin or gotten all of our requests. The girls enjoyed balloon swords and oodles of stickers, and Zach and I enjoyed finding out that the 2012 dining plan (perhaps just for DVC members?) now included a refillable mug for each person in the family. Instead of sharing one that perpetually smelled like coffee, all four of us got our own drinks. The girls and I were all thrilled! Old Key West, as we knew, is still relatively old and dingy. Relatively, that is, to the other DVC properties to which we are accustomed. It's still a perfectly nice hotel, and it's still in Disney World. All was ok in our little world.

The girls "helped" me unpack a bit, Ryder was in the best mood. Apparently he knew he was at the Happiest Place on Earth. He got a phone call from Goofy welcoming him for his First Trip (which his big sisters might have appreciated a bit more than he did), and the girls each got new Duffy bears. We had time before dinner so I got to unpack and get us relatively settled in, and the girls explored the resort some with Zach and then they even took a little nap!

Hartley woke up on the wrong side of the bed (an understatement), so Emmersyn and I headed to the Magic Kingdom without the rest. I was a bit upset, but as long as we were altogether when Ryder had his big "firsts", it was going to be alright.

The two of us got a picture or two, took in our beloved Main Street USA, rode the train to check out the new Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland, and rode the teacups and the TTA.

 

Eventually, when Hartley was calm, she, Ryder and Zach met us at the park. We got to say a quick hello to Mickey, Minnie and the princesses before dinner, which was fun.  Ryder was quite cute with them.... when he noticed them. :)

 

It was time to take the monorail to the Contemporary for our traditional dinner at Chef Mickey's. The kids were well-behaved during dinner, which was yummy as always. Aside from a minor panic-worthy moment when I thought the parmesan mashed potatoes had disappeared from the buffet, it was exactly as it always was, with great food, mediocre character interaction, and wonderful first-day memories.

 

 

Our dinner reservation was pretty late, so by the time we got back to the hotel it was already 9pm. We saw the Duffy bedtime story and everyone was asleep in a matter of minutes. Best travel day yet!

 

Next: September 27, 2012