Disney 2013, Day 1: We’re in our Happy Place!

It’s that time of year again and Hannah and I are super excited!  Months of planning and now…we’re here!
We were quickly checked into our resort thanks to using the on-line check-in option before leaving home.  For anyone headed Disney way I’d recommend doing this as our line as much shorter than those who had not done this.  There was only one tiny glitch in that our pink bands did not arrive yet so we have gray ones for a couple of days but we’ve been reassured that pink is on the way. 
I’ll just say that we’re super excited to be part of this test group and it’s going well.  We know we’re part of a test so there will indeed be hiccups but that’s okay.  The small glitches are far outweighed by the good things.  I like that my room key is always with me.  When we ran down for ice and then for a swim we didn’t have to think about brining a room key nor concern ourselves at the pool with where to store it as our MagicBands are waterproof and can go for a swim with us.
Our first park was Hollywood Studios and we easily entered using our bands.  tWe made our way to Hannah’s favourite ride the ‘Pop Pop Ride’ which is otherwise known as ‘Toy Story Mania’ to the rest of the world.  This was the first huge perk of the bands.  I’d booked FastPasses for us a couple of weeks ago anticipating what time we would get to the park.  We walked in and even though we’d only been in the park mere minutes we walked past the 95 minute waiting line and were on the ride literally within 7 mins!!  Oh yah!  Lurvin’ MagicBands and the FP+ option!
We had also missed one of our reservation times as we’d taken longer to get to the park than anticipated but even so, I could still adjust the time even though it was after the time of the FP!  Not sure this will always be an option but using it right now.
When we left the Pop Pop Ride we went to visit Disney’s newest Princess…Sofia!  She has only been greeting visitors for 6 days so Hannah was one of the first to meet her!  (okay….first thousands but still…near the beginning.  )

We popped in to ‘Disney Junior Live on Stage’ and Hannah had a blast!!  This show is perfect for the preschool and kindergarten school age!
She loved participating in all the interactive portions of the show!
Bubble Popping

I love Hannah’s outgoing personality!  It normally takes a few minutes for her to feel comfortable in a new situation but once she does she’s ready to go!

This is the 3rd August we’ve been to Disney and you’d think by now I’d have learned about the afternoon ‘showers’ but ummm…no!  This is what we saw when they opened the doors after the Disney Junior show.  OYE!!
Our stroller was outside with the rain cover….still stowed underneath it.  Ugh!!  It was  SOAKED and had puddles in the seat and cover!  A stint with the blow dryer took care of it once back in our room but for the remainder of the day Hannah either walked or got a wet seat.  I had to giggle when I noticed the only thing in a plastic bag in our stroller was a bag of wipes!  Thankfully somehow with the angle of the rain her autograph album stayed dry which I was thankful for as it was still new.
A visit with Mickey was next followed by Buzz and Woody.  The interactive queues some locations have make the wait for rides and characters go by quickly.

An opportunity to run around at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  These places make me laugh as parents sit around thankful for the break and the kids run around like they could go for hours!
We visited Mater and said ‘hi’ for Hannah’s good friend Ben.  We even got his ‘autograph’ with Auntie K’s tip of rubbing the book on his tire tread! 
Goodbye Hollywood Studios!  See you again Sunday for our ‘Crazy Day!’
It had already been a long day since we’d been up since 5am except for short naps on the plane so we headed back to our resort early.  The ‘Art of Animation’ bus arrived first so we hopped on that one.  When we arrived they were doing some activities with the kids so Hannah hopped in on the fun.

Off to the Magic Kingdom to try out the new ‘Be Our Guest’ restaurant!