Disney World Here We Come!!! Day 1

Are you ready?  We took over 400 pictures!!!  Since this blog is for me to print later, there are going to be a lot of pictures.  I probably won't put them all on, but there might be more than you want to see.  Too bad. It just might make you want to visit the happiest place on earth yourself.  

We had a wonderful time.  The kids all obeyed and were very cooperative and kind to each other.  

The hotel we stayed at was huge.  They had 20 buildings with  probably 20 rooms in each one.  It wasn't very busy so we didn't see any other people the whole time we were there, only their cars.  It had a kitchen.  We made breakfast in the morning, packed a lunch to take, and had a crock pot dinner!  It also had enough beds for everyone.  Imagine that!  Two doubles in a bedroom (Brent and I actually got to share. Usually it is me in one and Brent in the other with as many little ones that can fit.), a Murphy bed in the living room and a pull out sofa.  It was really convenient to get to Disney too.  They offered a shuttle, but they only left once and came back once.  We wanted to be more flexible than that.  We wanted to be there from opening to closing! So we drove and paid the $14 parking fee.
We arrived in Orlando on Sunday night.  Our friends from the program were also staying at that same hotel.  We had arranged to have dinner that night together.  It was nice to show up and have the hamburgers ready to eat.  We just provided the buns and toppings.  We only ran into them one other time at the park.  (It is a big place!)

The girls enjoying their breakfast of Mickey waffles, eggs and bacon.

 Wes is banished to the living room to eat!

 For Brent's birthday, I got him the Mickey waffle maker.  I brought it for an early birthday surprise our first morning.  The kids and Brent loved them!

We were so excited to be at Disney World.  We drove to the parking lot, rode the tram to the ticket entrance, rode the monorail to the park entrance.  That took a while. We finally made it!
Brent, Janiel, Ashleigh, Kara, Erin, Nicole, and Wes in front of Mickey Mouse!

We were hoping the park wouldn't be too busy.  It was a little busy on Monday, as it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  But we made the most of our time there.  We rode on all the rides and met many characters.  I made the kids some autograph books.  They are such a big thing at Disney World.  We thought if we saw any characters, we would get their autograph and picture only if the line was short.  We didn't want to spend our days in line for pictures.  As soon as we walked in, we saw the line for three princesses and the wait was only 10 minutes.  So that was our very first stop.  The girls aren't quite sure what to think or do.  They warmed up to the characters as the days went on. We also got smarter, handing the books over in a stack and taking one picture of the group of kids.
Princess Aurora 

Erin

Ashleigh 

Kara was too shy to go alone.  Good thing she has Janiel.

Ariel 

Erin

Erin was super excited.

This is the one that Ashleigh wanted to meet. 

Janiel and Kara

Cinderella

Cinderella was pretty sweet with the girls.

 When we took Janiel when she was 4, she wanted to meet Cinderella more than anything.  But when we got to see her, she was so shy and hid in my shoulder.  This time she wasn't going to do that!  She made up for that lost time!

Kara and Janiel

All the girls with Cinderella

 

Ashleigh loves horses and was excited to see a real one.  What a fun place to be!

 Our first view of Cinderella's Castle.

Rapunzel
 The longest we waited in line for a picture was with Rapunzel.  I think we waited 30 minutes.  The girls really wanted to see her and they weren't disappointed.  Erin said, "I think her hair is fake because it feels twiggy!"

 We (except Kara and Brent) went on Space Mountain and the girls loved it! Brent had some extra fast passes so he took Janiel and Ashleigh to ride again. Erin said, "Let's go find some more freaky rides!"  The girls love the roller coasters!  Wesley not so much.  He can handle up and down, but not around and around.  He was a good sport and went on everything at least once...except for the Tea Cups.  While we were waiting, Stitch came out right by us.  We were second in line for him!
Stitch

 Buzz Lightyear was another favorite ride.

 We rode the carousel a couple of times!

 Kara getting ready for it's a small world.  It is such a happy ride!  I took a lot of pictures on that ride, but I will spare you of those.

 We watched the afternoon parade.  It was fun, but the girls couldn't see very well.  Kara really got into it and waved to everyone.  So cute.  So magical!

 There were several rides and shows with 3D glasses.  Pretty cute.

 The tea cups with Brent, Erin, and Kara

 Ashleigh and Janiel ready for a ride.  I didn't let them spin too much.

 Erin was so excited to "drive".  She was very serious and talked the whole ride.

 Janiel and Kara taking the curve.

Wes and Ashleigh speeding by.

 Poor Brent had to ride alone.

 Enjoying Pooh's house

 Flying in Peter Pan's Boats.  It is amazing that this is the ride with the longest wait times.  Crazy.  Not sure why.  We did the Fast Pass with this one too.

 The little girls thought they would be princesses and sign their own books.

 Rosetta
 We were excited to meet some Fairies!  Rosetta had quite the flourishing autograph!

 Tinkerbell came to tease.  She played the part well!

  Tinkerbell

She even got Wes to get in the picture.

 Minnie and Mickey Mouse

We were glad to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  Since it was the end of the day, the line wasn't long.

Wow!  That was a lot of pictures.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed taking them!  What a fun start to our week.  We were exhausted, but the kids did really well.  We didn't even bring the stroller!!! I think we did all but one of the rides in the park.  The kids favorite ride:  Space Mountain.