F4 - Disney (Day 1) aka Travel Days Suck!

On Tuesday the 14th we got to the airport in plenty of time. We actually got ALL our packing done the night before (and we only had to stay up until 3am). Now on previous vacations we have always taken very early morning flights because 1 - they're the cheapest and 2 - we get another day of actual vacation. However, it normally just sets the whole week up for being overtired. So, with 2 kids in tow this time we figured it would probably NOT be best to grab that 7:30am flight and we settled on a leisurely 1:30pm flight. We would get in around 4pm. I figured we'd check in to the hotel, have dinner in the food court and be at the Magic Kingdom for a few rides by 7pm...so, back to being on time at the airport...it was so stress free - we loved it. There was absolutely no line at security and we waltzed through. We checked the departures and were thrilled to see that our plane was actually on-time.

"Yay, we're on our way to Disneyworld!!!"

We grabbed a bite to eat at Chickie and Pete's and did all our last bathroom breaks. As I was walking back from the bathroom I noticed the departures had been updated and we were now about 30 min delayed...so we waited....and waited. I think we took off some time around 3pm.

"Um, mom...I think something is happening in my mouth here"

"It's time? It's time? We're actually getting on the plane...why is Philly ALWAYS delayed?!?!?"

"Daaaaaad, I TOLD you I'd chip in some money from my piggy bank if you'd get some of the hard stuff. Ice water is NOT making my teeth feel any better...I could be passed out already!!"

Katie coloring angelically...lol...I think I snapped this picture because it was a miracle (and shortlived.)

I think it's quite possible that Stewie Griffin took over the body of my sweet-natured Timothy on this plane ride. Thank goodness we had a smooth ride and I was able to walk him up and down the aisles. Don't you know that as soon as I put him down in my seat (while I was still standing) to rest my arms a bit that he perked right up?

Torturing your sister is always good for a laugh, too. Don't feel too bad for her though - she was moving her head TO him so that he COULD pull her hair...way to take one for the team Katie!

We finally made it into Orlando at about 5pm, I think..we actually made good time once in the air. Then we headed over to the "Magical Express" to be transported over to our hotel - the "Pop Century." And by the way "Magical" does not mean it will get you there quickly. So we waited for a while for it to be our turn to get on one. Of course as soon as it WAS our turn, Katie had to go to the bathrooom...badly. I'm not really sure why I was concerned though, since after we did board we still waited another 20-30 minutes for more passengers.

"Oh daddy, I feel SO much better now that my tooth is here and I'm SO glad to finally be on our way to the hotel....tell mommy to stop spazzing that we'll only get 2 days in the Magic Kingdom now instead of 2 1/2."

After we checked into our room, we walked around a bit on our way over to the very awesome food court. We got to see this gorgeous sunset - not Cinderella's castle..but still very pretty.

We actually loved our hotel. On previous vacations to Disney (as an adult), I had stayed at Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans riverside), the Caribbean Beach Resort, and used my mom's timeshare at the Sheraton Vistana Villages. I had loved our other 2 Disney hotels and thought I ALWAYS wanted to stay in the park until I had the opportunity to stay in a beautiful, spacious time-share. This time though, we utilized Disney's buy 4 nights, get 3 free promotion and actually got 2 adjoining rooms since my mom would be staying with us for 4 nights of our vacation. I was really pleasantly suprised by the "value" class of the Disney resorts. The rooms were exactly the same size, as far as I could tell. The food court was great! Really the only difference I could tell from the "moderates" was lack of a sit-down restaurant (who cares!) and no pool slide. However, there were still 3 pools - cutely themed, a child fountain play area, and a playground. AND we lucked out and got a really great location (even though we didn't pay extra for a preferred room). We were really close to the playground and a really good location in terms of where the food court and bus stops were. While it was still a little light out I caught some shots of some of the pop-icons around the hotel grounds.

We finally made it to get some dinner. Chris took Timmy back to our room and I let Katie play at the playground for a bit. And then, the best part of Katie's day....

Max & Ruby!!!

Day 1 - over and done. Stay tuned for Day 2....family photo shoot and Epcot.

These definately aren't the greatest pics from our vacation...but it is PHRIDAY...so this will just have to do for our Friday Foto Finish Fiesta sponsored by Candid Carrie. Check out her site to play along or see who else is playing along.