The Magic Kingdom {Disney World: Day One}
One of our vendors for Sunstate, SiteOne Landscape Supply, has annual trips every February for their business partners. You can use points that you earn from buying materials every year to pay for these trips, and my mom and Rick have been going on them for years. We had a big bundle of points that were going to expire by the end of 2017, so we needed to find a way to use them. My mom found out that aside from the tropical trips, SiteOne also hosted a Disney trip every spring. She suggested that Isaac and I take the girls to Disney World and use the points to pay for it. The trip wasn't until March, but we only had about three days to decide before the deadline to book it. It didn't take us long at all. A free trip to Disney World? We were definitely on board.
We contacted SiteOne and had them book us for a few extra days (because why not?) and started counting down the days until we left for Orlando. We wanted to wait until we were headed to the airport to tell the girls, but we ended up spilling the beans three days before we left. We flew out on a Wednesday and got in to Orlando around 3pm local time. We took a Disney's Magical Express to our hotel, Grand Floridian, and our jaws dropped when we walked in. It was gorgeous, and we later found out that it's one of the finest hotels in all of Orlando. Our room was on the second floor, and directly outside of our building's entrance was a courtyard with a twenty-four hour cafe and store. There was a patio in the courtyard that overlooked the castle in the Magic Kingdom, so we had the best view of the fireworks. Our hotel also played the music from the firework show, so we were able to watch it every night without fighting the crowds on Main Street. It was awesome!
Our first morning, we ate breakfast and headed straight for the Magic Kingdom. The second floor of the main building at our hotel had a monorail right there, so we hardly had to do any walking to get to the park. We were definitely super spoiled.
As we entered the park, we had to stop for a picture in front of the train station. We always take this picture in Disneyland, so we wanted one from Disney World, too.
As we were walking to go on a ride, we saw that a line had just started forming with only a couple of people in it. We asked what it was for and found out that Merida was right inside. We hopped in line, and the girls were so excited to meet her.
Right next door, we heard the teacup music going and had to jump on the ride since there was no wait at all. The girls had so much fun, and Perry didn't know what to think.
After the teacups, we headed over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. One of the best things about Disney World was that as you waited in line for each ride, they had areas for the kids to play or things for them to do. While we stood in line, the girls explored Pooh's house and played in Rabbit's garden.
As we got closer to the front of the line, there were bees that you could push that traveled with you as you walked.
The girls loved the ride, and it was pretty similar to the one in Disneyland.
Next up was Peter Pan's Flight. We hardly ever go on this one in Disneyland, so we jumped at the short wait time while we had the chance. While we waited, Peter's shadow joined us and the girls were able to use their shadows to ring bells. Tinkerbell also kept fluttering around and lighting up random lights with pixie dust.
On our way over to Small World, we passed by Rapunzel's Tower. It was so neat, and the girls had fun looking for her and Flynn Rider.
We made it to Small World, and everybody loved this ride. Perry wasn't too sure of the boat, but that was kind of her thing on this trip - unsure of every character and every ride.
I think her favorite part was walking around the park in her stroller. She colored all kinds of pictures in our "autograph" book that only ended up with Perry autographs all throughout it.
We stopped for a quick snack, and everyone was happy. (Also, why does Grace look like a teenager here?!)
We ran into Gaston's Tavern, and Daddy had to stop for a picture. Gaston is one of his favorite Disney characters.
We went towards the Dumbo ride and discovered my favorite line yet. For this ride, you got a colored card, and the kids got to play in this awesome play area while we waited. They would call a color, and that meant it was your turn to go on the ride. How cool is that?
This is another long wait at Disneyland that we usually pass up, and I don't think Grace has ever even been on it. Charley loved going all the way up, while Grace was content to ride Dumbo near the bottom.
We went to Under the Sea to go on Ariel's ride. The line for this one was really pretty with waterfalls and seashells built into every turn.
We walked by The Sword in the Stone, and Daddy and the girls had to give it their best shot.
Perry snacked on a root beer float as we walked through Liberty Square and saw The Hall of Presidents.
We had to stop in for the Country Bear Jamboree, because my dad always took me to see this one when I was a kid. It brought back a lot of memories, even if the kids thought it was weird. Charley kept asking me if the bears were real, and I thought it was hilarious that she would think that. You could literally hear their eyes blinking, they were so pretend.
We went on Pirates of the Caribbean next, and made our fast pass time by the skin of our teeth.
Perry and I hung out, while Daddy took the girls on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We did a lot of rider switch passes (This is where one parent goes on the ride and brings back a pass for the other parent plus two additional riders to go. It was perfect because Isaac could take Grace and Char, and then I could go with them right after. They basically got to do all the big rides twice, one right after the other. Lucky ducks.), so Daddy came off the ride and hung with Perry, while I went with the girls.
Our last and final stop was The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. It was similar to Dumbo, but you could control the front and back of the carpet when you were in the air, and we all got to go on one together.
After the ride, we stopped for Dole whip, and we were surprised to find out that at Disney World, they serve it alone or ON TOP OF PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE! It was amazing to say the least.
We headed back to the hotel where the girls were so excited to see our towel swan. They looked forward to seeing what animal was left on our beds at the end of each day. Easily amused - party of three. After a quick clean-up, we grabbed dinner and went back to the courtyard to watch the firework show. It was the perfect way to end our first day.
Stay tuned to for more from our trip...
