Disney Fun...Day 1!

Friday afternoon we loaded up the van and headed south of the border. Can you believe how much stuff we took for only 4 days? How does this happen every time? We were only too happy to leave the winter coats and boots in the van once we reached the airport!

After a short night at a hotel filled with much excitement and little sleep, we were up at 4am and headed for the airport. This was Victoria's first time flying and she did great! By the time we hit our 4th plane on Tuesday, neither she nor Rebecca even acknowledged the takeoffs or landings...they were too busy talking and giggling as little girls do!

Disney's Magical Express quickly carried us from the airport to the 'Pop Century' resort and just a little more than 2 hours after our feet landed in Orlando we were checked into our hotel and were on our way to the first park, 'Disney's Hollywood Studios.' In the past we've stayed in the 'Tramp' building which Rebecca loves. Even though we didn't stay in Tramp this time we passed him each time we went to and from our room and the girls enjoyed saying Good Morning and Good Night to him!

As we entered the gates of the Studios we were able to catch the tail end of the parade
and then make our way up Hollywood Boulevard to the base of the hat in time to see 'High School Musical 2' Even though the girls were getting a little tired by this time (getting up at 4am will do that to ya!) they had fun watching the kids sing and dance around them and were right back into the fun once it all started!

Next we took in a couple of stage shows: Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast. Both were wonderful!! So much of what Disney does is a treat for the senses as you're sprayed with water, bubbles drift down or scents magically appear that enhance what the eyes are seeing! If you've never been to Disney and have any interest in it at all, please give it a try! You won't be disappointed!

On our way to see Beauty and the Beast we saw our first Characters. I can't remember who they were (a lion from Playhouse Disney who I'm sure I'll know very well in a couple of years!) and others. The neatest thing though is that we saw...BOB! Last year when Rebecca and I were at Disney she made friends with a wonderful gentleman who helps to care for the characters. All year the girls would tease about seeing the characters...and Bob! We saw him a few different days last year, chatted while we waited our turn to visit with the characters and by the end Rebecca was almost as excited to see Bob as she was to see the characters! You can imagine my surprise and delight when the very first day who do I spot but Bob! After a quick reminder he remembered us too, where we're from and even signed the girls autograph albums when we asked him to. Disney staff are second to none! Want to hear something neat? When I went up to him and we started chatting we were both amazed and excited as he shared that this was only the 2nd time he'd been scheduled to work at the Studios in the past 14 months!!! Not only was he working the day we were there but we bumped into him. Love it when stuff like that happens.
The final event of the day was to see one of Disney's not-to-be-missed attractions, 'Fantasmic!' It's a wonderful live show featuring the characters, movies shown on sprays of water and fireworks!

Back in the room it was fun to chat about all we'd done. Had it all happened all in one day? Wow! The fun had just begun. There was some time to wind down and check out our pins from pin trading and then it was time to call it a night. Much more fun was in store for us the next day!