The Dog Days of Disney: Day 1

Well, here it is folks... the moment you've all been waiting {34 days} for...

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I cannot even begin to tell you how excited the girls and I were to get up on the morning of September 20th. Never mind the fact that is was prior to four o'clock in the morning. The anticipation outweighed any glimpse of negative for the morning. We'd finished packing and loaded our bags in the car the night before. Our clothes were all laid out and ready to put on. Graycop arrived to take us to the airport. We were off...

Check-in was a breeze. The girls and I managed our way to the gate with 3 rolling suitcases, a stroller, a camera backpack, a purse, and two cinch sacs. Not bad.

Once we arrived at our gate, Sassy took to playing some games in my iPad while Tink chose to cuddle in and resume the usual position- fingers in mouth. Ah, well...

I grew very weary once the airline gentleman asked if it would be OK to check our rolling suitcases all the way through to Orlando. WHAT?!?! That was my back up plan- swimsuits and extra outfits and jammies were packed in there in case our luggage was displaced. I decided to take a deep breath, roll with the punches, and count it as an extra blessing {or three} that our load would be lightened. Vacation was upon us. It was time for stress to be gone.

Our flight was seamless. We flew into Atlanta, where Ty was waiting for us at the arrival gate. The girls flew into his arms and the passengers behind us were just going to have to wait a bit. We shared some hugs and kisses and headed to the bagel spot for a light breakfast. Our second flight into Orlando was seamless, as well. This made me so excited- air travel never goes well for our family. Ever.

We decided to grab a quick bite to eat at the Orlando airport while we waiting for the magical express to take us to our resort. The girls soaked in their time with Daddy. It had been 51 days, after all.



After lunch, it was time to board our bus to the resort. The girls were pretty much in awe. We all enjoyed the scenery and the adorable video, which notched our excitement even more!



We arrived at Caribbean Beach, and I requested a complimentary upgrade, which landed us in one of the more coveted locations, Martinique. We were pretty excited to go and check it out!



Once inside, the girls quickly made themselves at home. All I can say is that the excitement level was pretty escalated. Can't you tell?



We hung out for a bit, got settled, and decided to venture out, check out the bus system, and head over to Epcot for the evening.



It was quite a sight to see. Having been to Orlando before myself, but never to any of the Disney resorts, i think I was just as excited as the girls!



We spent some time checking out the "ball" aka Spaceship Earth from the exterior. Quite the geodesic sphere, if I do say so myself! I was, of course, in picture-taking heaven! We walked up and down the aisles of visitor pictures at the entrance etched in granite.



We walked up past the sphere and checked out some of the fountains Epcot is famous for. Here's a quick picture of Sassy. Truth be told, Tink was exhausted and a bit crabby and more than content to be in her stroller at this point.



Sassy, just like her Mama, had to bring her camera on the trip. I balked at her bringing it along to the park, but Tyler quickly reminded me that this was her vacation too. She enjoyed capturing some memories of her own.



After walking around a bit, we decided it was time to venture on our first ride, which we agreed upon Spaceship Earth. I cannot tell you how impressive it was. I know it's not considered a main attraction, but we enjoyed it so much. The one thing I really grew to appreciate about Disney world was that so, so many things are interactive and it truly seems as thought they think of everything. This ride was no exception. The girls LOVED it! You basically take a ride on a "time machine" through the ages, and wind up in a future world that you create. The animatronics were phenomenal. The girls just couldn't get enough. As if the ride wasn't cool enough, this was the scene that greeted us after we exited the ride... HA!



We did some more walking around, checked out Innovations West, and headed towards Club Cool.



Club Cool is a Coca-Cola store where you can try samples of cola from all around the world... for FREE! How fun!



The girls thought it was pretty awesome. So did Ty and I! The Vegita Beta from Japan was my favorite. It wasn't carbonated and it was very fruity and refreshing. The Beverly from Italy... well... not so much!



After Club Cool, we ventured on to The Seas with Nemo & Friends.



Tink was a tiny bit scared, but it was very visually impressive! And the little clam shells we sat in were too cute!



By this time, it was time for us to venture back to the front of Epcot, navigate the monorail, and head to The Polynesian Resort for dinner. We took part int he Disney Dining Plan, and our first sit down meal was scheduled at 'Ohana. We had to wait about 30 minutes or so for our table, but there was plenty to look at while we waited.

This shaped up to be my favorite sit down meal of our trip! The food was delicious, it was family style, all-you-can-eat, and there was plenty of variety! The girls got to participate in a hula dance and parade, and everyone received leis. Oh, and the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding... to.die.for. The end.



Needless to say, the girls fell asleep on the bus on the way back to our resort. We we ready for a solid night of sleep before our first full day in Disney World!