Orlando 2012 - Day 1 (The Drive)

On our way for a fun Disney Vacation!  Never has a 10 hour drive been so much fun than when you know you will be in Disney by then end of the day.  I think everyone was happy this morning, and we made it to our normal stop at Burger King near Auburn for Breakfast.  A short nap and a few DVDs later, we arrived.  This time we came on the toll roads to the west of Disney giving us a whole new picture of the land.  

And we finally made it, there is no other place that can be so exciting to drive under a sign.  And to hear that little girl in the background squealing at each character she saw.  We then arrived at our hotel, a first for the kids to stay on resort...The new Art of Animation resort.  The guard shack is where I found the difference in courtesy and efficiency.  Disney takes a lot of time to be extra courteous to each guest, which in one sense makes you feel special and enhances the magic, yet the guard shack guy makes this much less efficient when he holds you at the gate with stories of Pirates of the Carribean.  :)  Oh well...that wasn't too bad, until he waved us on into the resort with a final "Sketch You Later".

We then toured our "Little Mermaid" hotel room with cringes from the boys and more squeals from little Belle.  She was SOOOO excited, then she saw Ursula...She came over to me and Magan and told us the "mean ole lady" was right out there.  So we laughed with her for the rest of the trip about that "mean old lady".  And that "mean ole lady" really terrified her when she got close to the Ursula statue one time.

Here is where Magan and I slip into the Disney Magic and forget we are supposed to make good decisions for our children.  We walked from our hotel area, through the Lion King hotel area and to the big Finding Nemo area.  The temperature was about 60 degrees with some wind, but the pools were heated, so kids went in...the pool that was about a half mile from our room.  Did I mention we had a pool about 50 yards from our room, and it would have been much smarter to just let them get in there.  AHHHHH, SO Cold, and a long walk back.  Magan took Belle early and got her back, Sam, Davis and I came later and jumped in the Mermaid pool also.  Then we all decided we were crazy and went to get in the hot bathtub in our room.