Up at 4:30 a.m. to catch our nonstop to Orlando and I gave my kids the first of their Tinkerbell gifts. The highlight of the first day gifts were probably the Mickey Mouse Pez dispensers and the Star Wars Mad Libs. At the Austin airport I learned that my kids have this game where they will read the word “poop” into every Mad Lib blank.
Even I had to admit that it was pretty hilarious.
Once in Orlando, the only delay in terms of Magic Express was my own fault because I got confused finding the correct check in location at MCO. Once we got there and had our first experiences with the Magic Bands (and the first of MANY Cast Members over the next few days complimented me on my MB) it was smooth sailing. The Magic Band worked like….well….. “magic” to get us on the bus, and we went straight to Coronado Springs Resort. I’d done online check-in and there was no wait for a front desk CM. Our room was ready (I was NOT expecting that, as it was before noon), the CM gave us our Happy Anniversary buttons and also gave us a letter for two free glasses of champagne at the Laguna Bar. Niiiiiiiice.
I’ll take this opportunity to insert a few of our Coronado Springs Resort wildlife photos. The video of the bunny is even cuter and in the evening the ducks were all curled up on the grass about 8 inches away from the walkway. Rather domesticated, really.
Originally I figured we’d need to leave our carry-on bags with the bell station but since our room was ready, we went up to the room and called for our groceries (which came in 10 minutes). We were in Ranchos, which don't get a lot of love I suppose but we really enjoyed them. Here's the view from our room:
After dropping stuff off and slathering on the sunscreen, we went to Animal Kingdom. As indicated above, I really wish we’d had more time at AK. But this was our “free” ticket (buy 4 days, get 1 free) and it was great while we were there. Hot….but great. Added bonus - I ended up with one of my favorite pictures of me and my husband together…
By the way, I was DisneyBounding as Pocahontas on arrival day. Because, you know….Animal Kingdom.
First ride was Expedition Everest (with a pre-planned FP+). I’d decided to get FP+s for all 4 of us, even for “scary” rides, although my son had no intention of doing roller coasters. To our surprise, on the bus ride over he decided to do EE (none of us was pressuring him to do that). Check out the picture - my son looks the most calm, right? You’ll see this theme continuing with other ride pictures. He’s like Mr. Spock in them - no emotion.
In this particular ride, however, he wasn’t happy - he did NOT like EE. None of us had been on it and I have to admit - it was pretty intense. I told him he’d started with the monster ride and if he decided to do other coasters that week - they’d seem like nothing. I was worried it might scare him off of other rides but thankfully, as you’ll see...it wasn’t a problem.
We all enjoyed the safari and the walk through Maharajah trail but it was HOT and my family was TIRED. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed the pool for a bit as a family. I gave my son the “free 100 points of arcade” card that came with our package (and was not worth much, of course) and my husband and daughter played the free foozball for a while. Good family time all around. I wish I’d gone down the pool slide more than once - it was fun.
After that, I sent my kids to bed somewhat early and begged my husband to walk over and enjoy our free glass of champagne on our first night. To be fair, he didn’t fuss about it and was happy to join me - he knew I had some other busy nights planned and I was eager to celebrate. We love having kids who get along and are old enough to be left alone while we go out for a drink. It was gorgeous and a great way to celebrate our first night in the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment