Day 1 Pictures
Starting off the day before, I left work a little early in order to get home in time to meet me parents and Ryan when they got to the house. Of course, traffic was horrible and both Amanda and I were late getting home so we all just met up at Jennings. After dinner, we got Ryan set up at the house and he was going to be house/dog sitting for the week. We had used points to get a couple of rooms at the Aloft near BWI in order to get things started early and because we had an early flight so the closer to the airport the better. Not that we live very far away, but it was still nice to get out of the house and Ari had a good time swimming in the really cold indoor pool.
We were up at 4:30 the next morning and heading over to the long term lot by 5:30. We had a 7:55 am flight and with all the stuff we had, plus the kids, we wanted to get an early start. Between the six of us we had 5 suitcases, 2 strollers, 1 car seat, plus our carry-ons. We used Skycap for check-in and made our way through security without any issues. We were worried about Ari with all the metal implants, but she made it through the metal detectors without setting anything off, just like her doctor said.
We made our way over to the Silver Diner and had our breakfast right at the airport. I've eaten at this place way too many times, mostly from when I was traveling a lot for work, but it's still a nice place to have a sit down breakfast right in the terminal. Our plane took off right on time and we were able to get seats all near each other. At this point Lily fell asleep and Ari was wired but we were able to keep her generally occupied. We landed with no issues and got our bags. We got a Southwest employee to help us get our bags to the car and we got a nice big minivan which just about fit all of our luggage. We got Ari's booster seat out of her suitcase and hooked up Lily's car seat and headed to Target.
After getting supplies for the week we headed over to our hotel. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villages. A beautiful two bedroom condo with a beautiful view of one of the lakes on property. We didn't get to explore much, but it was a nice place to relax between trips to the parks.
Once we were set up and the kids got a nap, we headed out for our first trip to the Magic Kingdom. My only real goals were to see New Fantasyland, ride the Little Mermaid ride and see the Main Street Electrical Parade. We were able to do all of that and even caught the afternoon parade on our way in. We took the ferry over to the park (which ended up being Ari's favorite way of getting there. We only took the Monorail twice the whole trip).
Let me make a quick note here and put in a big thanks to Disney. After seeing the afternoon parade we headed over to Guest Relations. We did a lot of research before heading out on our trip, especially concerning what would be best for Ari. With her back problems and muscle condition (metal rods in her back due to scoliosis and low muscle tone) we knew she would have trouble getting around and be uncomfortable in many of the seating areas. We read that we could talk to the cast members over at guest relations and get a Guest Assistance Card. This was basically a card explaining Ari's limitations. This was nice by itself, but since she would tire out too quickly standing in all the lines, they also gave us a sticker for her stroller that stated that it was to be treated as a wheelchair. This way she would be allowed to stay in her stroller while in line. This made her much more comfortable and made it so she could rest when needed. It also saved our backs from having to hold her for long periods while in line. Of course, we still had to hold Lily, but she's half Ari's weight. Overall, it allowed us to use the stroller when needed to let Ari relax and keep her strength. It never was much of a time saver as many people would think (and sometimes it actually took longer to get to the ride) but in the end probable about evened out for the total waiting time. Again, thanks go out to Disney for being so accommodating to Ari's needs.
After getting Ari set up and getting my PhotoPass+ card, we took the train straight back to Storybook Circus, part of New Fantasyland. We wandered through and I took a few pictures on our way over to the Little Mermaid ride. It was about a 40 minute wait, which was our longest wait of the week. The queue was beautiful and the ride even more so. I love these old style dark rides and this one was taken to a new level.
After the ride, I headed over to Gaston's tavern and grabbed a Lefou's Brew (an iced apple drink) which was great. I ended up having several of them over the week. We then went to find a place to sit for the Electrical Parade.
The parade was as good as I remember. This has always been my favorite parade and I was glad to get a chance to see it again. I got a lot of pictures and tried to get a video as well. I haven't taken a look at it yet but hopefully it turned out. I'll find out soon enough. After that it was on to the Monorail for our trip back to the car and on to the Tram (which Ari decided to call the Travel, which stuck for the rest of the trip).
We got back to the hotel and got the kids to sleep (which wasn't hard) and got ready for the Animal Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on the next day. Then we passed out as we had been up since 4:30 that morning.
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