Our Disney Vacation Pt 1

We woke up at 4 a.m, loaded up the car, and headed to my work, where we got a free ride to the airport.

YaYa was already feeling a little nervous, and going through airline security didn't help (they took away their juice boxes, yet somehow missed the 2nd set of the boxes in a different carry-on).

It was a pretty easy wait until the flight, as the gate was right across from a play area. One problem when we boarded tho': we were scattered around the plane in rows 13, 15, and 17.

Not a good idea to put a 3 year old by herself next to a stranger. Thankfully the stewardess got a woman to switch seats, and I wound up next to LuLu with YaYa and Lisa behind us.

LuLu was perfectly calm and 'la de da', but YaYa was a bit nervous. As she would say later "I was kinda worried we would crash, but part of me knew we wouldn't"

Let me tell ya, it went MUCH smoother than I had expected. The girls were in good spirits and experienced no physical discomfort during the flight (their Mom has problems with her ears in flight; YaYa had a little of that, LuLu - like her Dad - none at all)

They both liked the bathroom, and the soda and snacks (tho' YaYa spilled her soda!) Much of the flight was spent coloring

And LuLu quizzed me about what this and that was in the pictorial flight saftey instructions. After each answer she'd say in a sooo cute voice: "Good job Daddy!"

Lu did freak out when the plane began descent. Thankfully it was a mild episode, and timed well;  a minute into it the plane touched ground and she was all good!

Once we were in the airport we tried to retrieve our baggage, but it never came down the carousel. As is the case in such moments, I began to inwardly spaz. A skycap saved the day by telling us it was probably scooped up by Disney and waiting for us at the Disney Welcome Center.

I imagined it would be a small, cozy desk, but it rivaled or surpassed many of the airline desks.

We caught a Disney Express bus to our hotel, the French Quarter on WDW property.

(Oh, btw - the whole bus broke out into a cheer when we first crossed onto Disney soil!)

The girls were fascinated by the palm trees. [note: I had a great pic here, but it was sized wrong. I'll try reloading it here later]

and settled right in front of the TV in the hotel lobby while we checked in.

The room itself is nothing all that grand, but quite serviceable

Since we'd all been up since 4 am, we tried to get everyone down for a nap. LuLu fell asleep in my arms, but the ever stubborn YaYa never went to dreamland. We were not pleased, as that (in our minds) guaranteed an eventual meltdown.

We got dressed in our summer gear (oh, the pleasure of throwing on sandals in November!), ate a quick bite in the grill on the hotel grounds, and got on a bus to Magic Kingdom, where our adventure really began . .  .

 

[note: for the sake of brevity (!) and so in fear of losing a connection, these things will posted in small bites. Look for more later!]