Our Disney Trip

Well, we are back and living in the real world again. The trip was so much fun. I think everyone had a wonderful time - including Bailey. I will try to chronicle our day by day as best I can but I'm sure I will leave something out. Pictures are going to come separately as I am waiting to get everyone's pictures so I can send them out all at once. Please be patient as it may be two to three weeks before I get that together.

Saturday, March 17
Stacy meets Bailey and I at our house around 11:15 am and we head to the airport. At this point, we still don't know if Grandma will make it. Her morning flight was cancelled but she has a seat on a Continental flight at 2:50 pm. There have been cancellations all morning long but we are still hopeful. Our plane takes off at 1:30 pm and Bailey is so good. She gets a little cranky about 30 minutes before we are to land in Orlando but doesn't have a meltdown and quickly falls asleep. We get to Orlando at 5 pm and find out that Grandma did make the flight (and was upgraded to first class) and will be arriving around 9 pm. Good news!!! The bus ride to the Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa was uneventful. When we got there, Emily and Diane were there waiting for us in room #6435. We chatted a little while and decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at the Earl of Sandwich and got ice cream at Ghiradelli's. We quickly realized we were too tired to shop and headed back to get rested for tomorrow. Grandma arrived at the room around 10 pm and we all quickly fell asleep.

Sunday, March 18
Today is our grand adventure in the Magic Kingdom. Angie met us at the room around 9 am and we headed off. Our first ride - The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Bailey was a little hesitant about the rides but she quickly began to relax and enjoy them. We spent the entire day exploring my favorite park. We thought it would be smart to get wrist bands for the Extra Magic Hours (which allowed resort guests to explore the park until 2 am). Grandma and Bailey opted out of this adventure and went back to the room. We got to ride everything we wanted and had so much fun. I love the parks at night. This seemed like such a great idea. Until....

Monday, March 19
....the alarm went off at 6 am for our 8:10 am reservation for breakfast with Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. What were we thinking? We stumbled out of bed and went to have breakfast. Bailey loved the characters from afar (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet). Once they got close to us to take a picture, she cried and became clingy. The characters weren't nearly as friendly as we hoped. They rushed through the pictures spending very little time with the kids. Bailey probably thought this was a blessing but we were a little disappointed. After breakfast, we went off to meet Angie at Epcot and spend the day there. After exploring for a while, we had a late lunch in Italy (yummy!). Between the travel, the 2 am fun night, and the pasta, I realized I had hit my limit. Grandma, Bailey, and I went back to the room around 4 pm to relax and get some rest while the others plowed on until late in the evening. (Note, I think Bailey enjoyed running around the room more than she did any of the parks.) Just as I was putting Bailey in the bath around 6 pm, in walks Stacy, Diane, and Emily. They had hit their limit, too. Diane and Emily decided to head back to Downtown Disney for dinner but Stacy, Grandma, Bailey, and I just got something to go from the hotel food court and were in bed by 9 pm.

Tuesday, March 20
Today was the Animal Kingdom. Diane left us this morning for two days to go visit family in Georgia. She didn't know what she was missing. The Animal Kingdom is my 2nd favorite park. We had our first rain storm today and got our $7 Disney ponchos. Disney wouldn't be Disney without the purchase of a $7 poncho. The safari was awesome. I don't know if the cool weather (75 highs most of the week) or the rain contributed but the animals were right next to our Jeep while we were on the safari. Emily and Stacy sat on the ends so I am sure they got awesome pictures. The crowds were minimal so we were able to finish the park by 5 pm. Emily, Stacy, and I met Angie and her sister Mary at Pleasure Island for the evening. We ate at an Irish pub (Raglan Road) and then went to an improv comedy club. It was a lot of fun. We were again tired and called it an early evening (if you call 12 am early).

Wednesday, March 21
Today is our day of rest. Stacy went to have fun with her brother Marcus and his girlfriend Megan and Diane was still in Georgia. Emily and I had 80 minute massages scheduled at the spa. We knew we were tired when we walked in and the lady told us we were late. Late??? Our appointments are at 10:30 am - we are sure of it (but didn't bother to check). No, it was at 10 am. Luckily, we arrived around 10:15 am and were still able to get 60 minutes (at an 80 minute price of course). But as Emily said, "Some massage is better than no massage, right?" Afterwards, we met Grandma and Bailey and headed to eat and do some shopping at Downtown Disney. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Cafe and then spent 3 (yes, I said 3) hours shopping at all the stores. Did we spend lots of money? Of course, we did but we needed all of it. We even got ice cream again at Ghiradelli's. Wednesday night Emily, Stacy, and I went to eat at The Turf Club Bar & Grill in our hotel while Grandma and Bailey spent quality time together watching DVDs. We then met Angie and Mary in Downtown Disney to see the 9 pm La Nouba show (Cirque du Soleil). We had 4th row center. It was awesome!

Thursday, March 22
Today we went to MGM Studios. Our first ride - my favorite, The Tower of Terror. Diane had an incident with her rental car bumper and finally was able to meet us around noon - at which time we again rode The Tower of Terror. We had lunch at the Prime Time Diner. This was one of my favorite dining experiences. It's a 50s kitchen where "Aunt Elaine" was our waitress. She made sure she got on us for things such as putting our elbows on the table or ordering too many cokes. It was so fun - not to mention had great food! I couldn't believe I'd never eaten there before. It's definitely on my future Disney vacation to dos. We spent the entire day at MGM and watched Fantasmic, the fabulous night show, before calling it a day.

Friday, March 23
Today is our last day to explore the parks. We decided to split up until the evening. Emily, Stacy, and Diane decided they would explore all 4 parks on their final day. Grandma, Bailey, and I enjoyed a lazy morning (I got another massage) and then went to have lunch with the Playhouse Disney characters (JoJo and Goliath from JoJo's Circus and Leo and June from the Little Einsteins). Again, Bailey was terrified. But this time the characters were fabulous. They spent a lot of time with the kids and really made it fun. I definitely would recommend this lunch to anyone whose kids watch Playhouse Disney. After lunch, we watched the Muppet Show (I love the Muppets) and decided to say goodbye to MGM. We headed over to the Magic Kingdom and did some shopping. Then we went to Mickey's Toon Town Fair to meet one last character - Mickey Mouse. Again, Bailey was less than pleased about taking a picture but she did blow him a kiss as we said goodbye. After riding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh again, we decided to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. We went over to Epcot to once again ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends and see Turtle Talk with Crush. (Have I mentioned that Nemo has become Bailey's favorite character on this trip? I'm not sure what the attraction is because she's never watched the movie but she loves him.) Then we had dinner at the Cantina in Mexico and waited for the night show. We met up with Diane, Emily, and Stacy around 8 pm. We thought we'd try the Extra Magic Hours again since we didn't get to ride Mission: Space or Soarin'. The lines were still too long so we only rode Mission: Space and decided to head out much, much earlier than 2 am. As we boarded the bus, I think all of us were a little sad knowing our trip was coming to an end.

Saturday, March 24
Diane's flight was at 7:30 am so the bus picked her up at 4 am. I said my goodbyes the night before. I liked her but not enough to get up at 4 am. Emily had to leave at noon. Stacy, Grandma, Bailey, and I were leaving at 2:30 pm. Stacy got up early and went to see Marcus and Megan before leaving. We checked out at 11 am and waited on the bus with Emily. Once Emily left, Grandma, Bailey, and I debated going to Downtown Disney for a couple hours but opted instead to spend some time at the resort. We went to Bailey's favorite place in the resort, the Arcade (Daddy would be proud) and then had lunch in the food court. Stacy met us around 1 pm and ate and then we waited for the bus. We got to the airport and everyone got off alright. Angie was on our flight so we visited with her at the gate. We took off around 5:50 pm. Once again, Bailey did very well. I was leary and expecting a meltdown this trip because she was so tired but she did fine. Daddy was waiting for us at the baggage claim when we got there at 7:20 pm. We were so glad to be home. We had such a great time but sleeping in your own bed is very exciting. Before we got home, we ran through Taco Bell. The perfect ending to a perfect trip - Taco Bell & Diet Dr Pepper. Home, Sweet Home!