Disney Magic : Day 1 : Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

Disney Vacations - Where dreams come true...  And oh boy do they!  Jason and I have had a long time dream to be able to surprise our kids with a Disney Vacation.  We knew we could only really do it once and we wanted to do it right.  We also knew we had to wait for the timing to be perfect.  Micah couldn't be too old that he wouldn't be excited, yet the girls couldn't be too young that they wouldn't remember it... Enter 2013!  The perfect mix of ages, likes/interests, and budget.  Everything fell into place for this to be the year to make the magical dreams come true.  We were SO SO excited to begin planning our surprise get away. 

Let the traveling begin!!  Minutes after the surprise was revealed we were heading out.  The kids couldn't wait for their first plane ride!! (Speaking of plane ride... Its no cheap affair to fly with a family of 6.  We had saved up a ton of credit cards points and thanks to Southwest coming to GR, were able to get THREE tickets for FREE!!!  A huge bonus for this super frugal momma.)

If you know anything at all about heading to Disney, you know you need a plan and an expert who has gone before you with great tips.  I love to plan vacations and this one stretched even me to my limits.  Knowing where I wanted to eat dinner 180 days (6 MONTHS folks!!) in advance?  Knowing what parks I wanted to visit on which days??  Knowing what rides I wanted to ride a month in advance (we piloted the new Magic Band system and while we could make changes to our fast passes the day we were using them, the best times/rides are available on a first come first serve basis 20 days prior to use.)?? Seriously?? Trying to keep all the ducks in a row, stressed me out.  I couldn't wait to simply board the plane, sit back and relax knowing that all my/our hard work had paid off.  I'm so thankful for my wonderful Disney travel agent and the 2-3 good friends who offered tons of tips/advice that helped me keep my sanity.

Check out those fantastic Magic Bands!  Seriously one of the best Disney inventions ever.  LOVED them!  And look at those super cute kids getting ready to ride the "Magic" bus to our hotel.  Love them more!!

Oh and did I mention this was a surprise??  That our kids had no idea what we were planning behind their backs?  It was fantastic!  5:00 am the morning we were leaving, we woke them up and sprung the news of what our real vacation plans where.  They had thought we were staying here in GR and that we'd be picking fun things to do out of our vacation jar each day.  Imagine (or watch the video on facebook) their delight (or speechlessness) when they found out we were headed to the airport to fly to Disney World.  I still tear up watching their priceless reactions.  Micah especially was so amazing he didn't talk for over an hour other than saying, "Really?  We are really going to Disney?  I just can't believe it!".  Melt my heart!  I also heard excited little screams of delight along with "This is the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"  I still smile when I remember just how surprised and thrilled they were.   It was one of the best mom moments I've had yet.

Because I don't want to forget any of what happened this week and because there are others actually interested in the nitty gritty details of our trip, I am going to do a series of blog posts/travelogs about what we did each day.  Starting with day 1 - our travel day.

Water Taxi to Downtown Disney where we ate at Planet Hollywood for dinner.  Good thing there was plenty to look at on all the walls because it took an HOUR for our dinner to come to our table...  Thankful for good company and well behaved (for the most part) children to make the wait bearable.

Like I mentioned above, we headed out to the airport bright and early.  Our flight (the first ever for my kiddos - double excitement) left at 7:40 and we were settled into our rooms at our hotel by 11:30am.  Throughout the course of the day, we traveled on every major form of transportation.  We took a car to the airport, a plane to Florida, the Magical Express bus to the hotel, the Monorails (trains) to show the kids what was to come during the week, and a water taxi (boat) to Downtown Disney for dinner with a dear friend of mine from high school (who now lives in Orlando).  We also tooled around the hotel on foot checking out all the cool things to see/do and spent time swimming in the pool to escape the crazy Florida heat.  By the time we hit the hay at 10pm, it had been a very long, very good day.  We all went to bed happy and I think everyone was asleep within minutes.  Vacation was off to a FANTASTIC start!

Thankful for friendships that last over time and distance.  Thankful for a (not so) little boy who still loves to imagine and create with LEGOs and for little girls who still love the magic of princesses.

Next up?  The Magic Kingdom!!