Disney - Day 1

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We spent the night in Indy because our flight left at 8 a.m. -- GOOD decision.  We were able to leave the hotel by 6 and get right to the airport and get to the plane without rushing, but not with too much excess time.

 

We knew that we would have to take off our shoes to go through security, so Zeb and I wore flip-flops, for easy access.  What I didn't think about was the fact that then, we'd be walking around the airport barefoot.  Gross.  It was only a few steps, but still.  We put Logan in tennis shoes and he had a fit because he had to take them off because he didn't understand.  You don't think of little things like that (how a little one might react to certain situations) before flying.  Logan loved take-off and said he saw his school :)  

 

Another thing we didn't anticipate was the fact that our (nearly 4 year old) had a few horrible breakdowns on the plane...I mean SCREAMING.  We aren't sure why.  I think that it was because of the pressure in his ears and he didn't know how to identify the issue, but it happened a few times and he was inconsolable.

 

At one point, we met 2 little girls who were also headed to Disney.  Logan said, "So, what room are you guys staying in?"  He's such a ladies' man.

 

Once we arrived at the airport, it was fairly easy to navigate the system whereby we find our shuttle to get to Disney.  It took about 30 minutes to get from the airport to our hotel, but there was Disney information and then Disney movies playing on the bus -- points for Disney.

 

Once we checked into our hotel (we're staying at Caribbean Beach), we then had to take another shuttle to our actual room.  I had read that Disney is big, but I had NO IDEA.  It's unbelievable.  I had no way of imagining just how big.

 

Logan loves our room.  It's a pirate theme.  Last night, he was going behind the curtain and saying that he was going to do a "show."  He would get as far as ladies and gentlemen and that was the end of it.  He also set up a little room behind the curtain (see picture below; it separates the sink area from the bedroom area) and he would yell out, "Hey guys!  How's it going in the big room out there?"

 

Our room



Our room

We got the meal plan for FREE because of the time of year we booked the trip.  What a deal!  We each get 1 snack, 1 quick meal and 1 full-service meal a day.  To me, everything here is overwhelming, but we did pretty good getting around for the first day.  Our resort has a food court, so as soon as we checked into our room, we headed to get something to eat (at this point, it was about noon and we hadn't eaten anything but the small cookie from the plane all morning).  Zeb and I split a meal and Logan got his kid's meal.  The resort also gives each guest a refillable mug that we can use for free drinks from the resort (not in any of the parks) -- major perk!  So, we ate lunch and then Logan picked out a Phineas doll.  I do not like the show Phineas and Ferb (I've never watched it, but I just think the characters are NOT Disney's finest!), but he insisted that he wanted "Phinny."  So, Phinny became our pal the rest of the day.  Logan SO needs a sibling.  He talked to Phinny like he was part of the family; even took his nap with him!



Phineas on his first bus ride
 

After we ate lunch and took a nap, we headed to Epcot.  Now, keep in mind, our hotel is ON Epcot property, but we had to take a 20 minute bus ride to get to Epcot.  Again, I had NO idea how huge this place is.  

 

 

 

A MUST DO for kids:  The character meetings.  Logan was flipping out. He was so excited to see all the characters.  He doesn't really know how to play it "cool," so he was gushing and jumping up and down and doing some weird dance and hugging them and kissing them and squeezing their body parts and everything.  So adorable.

 

 

 

 

The park has a photo pass that you give to the nearby photographer each time your child gets his picture taken with a character, but they also let you take your own pictures.  You can view the pictures later online and purchase them.  We looked at some of ours last night and I think the ones we took were just as good as most of the ones that they took, but it's a nice service.  You don't have to pay for the photo pass, but you pay later if you decide to purchase.

 

I had read that one of the first things we needed to purchase was an autograph book, and that is SO true.  We did that and each character signed Logan's book.

 

 

I thought he was going to collapse when he saw Donald.  He was putting his hands on his cheeks and just generally freaking out.  We just laughed and laughed!

 

Do you see his hands on his face?  Oh yeah, he was SUPER excited to meet Donald.

 

After we left the character area, Logan immediately said, "We should do that again sometime!"

It's the international food and wine festival at Epcot, so that brought extra traffic and some special events.


The Ocean Spray guys in a pool of cranberries.

As I mentioned, with the (free) meal plan, we get 1 full-service meal a day.  If we didn't have the meal-plan, I'm sure that we would have just eaten at quick places all the time, which is fine and a lot cheaper.  You have to make reservations MONTHS ahead of time for sit-down meals.   Zeb took care of all of that.  We ate at an Italian place where the bill totaled over $100!!!!  We would not have done that if we didn't have the meal plan, but we agreed that having the meal plan and the reservations gave us the opportunity to eat at places we probably wouldn't have otherwise and also, gave us some direction (with a destination at a certain time) in what would have otherwise been a venue too large and overwhelming for people like us.  So, we left a tip, but the meal was free.  (I use the word "free" loosely because, hello, we all know there's no such thing as a "free lunch" or dinner for that matter.)

He just kept saying, "That was amazing.  I didn't know Aladdin was going to be at Disney."



 

So, we knew that we wanted to do the Nemo ride at Epcot, and we eventually ended up making our way around the entire park.  I would say that most of Epcot is more for adults than kids.  But we made it to the Nemo ride and it's cute.  And pretty calm...except when a fish "jumped" out and scared us (it's from the movie, it's the fish with the light on it) and scared Logan out of his mind.  We were SO not expecting it and he screamed bloody murder and started clawing us.  And I laughed so hard.  I couldn't stop laughing.  We just did NOT expect that!!!

Logan adores Bruce from the movie, but he would NOT get into his mouth to get his pictures taken.  He's not typically scared of things like this, but apparently, Disney knows how to scare a kid.

Also, at this area of Disney, they had a chance to talk to Crush (also from the movie!).  It was an interactive cartoon (COOL -- another MUST DO for kids).  All of the kids sat at the front on the floor while the parents/adults sat on benches.  So, Zeb and I sat back and beamed as Logan sat so still and yelled out all of the answers and interacted.  When it came time for questions (yes, the cartoon Crush talked to the kids...so cool)...Logan raised his hand and said, "Pick me!  Pick me!"  Again, Zeb and I just sat back and loved how adorable he is :)   Anyways, so he tells them his name and then his question is, "I like sea turtles," which made everyone laugh.  And Crush was a sport and said, "Yes, to answer your question, you like sea turtles."  It was SO adorable.  Logan was in heaven.

Logan is pretty much having the time of his life which makes it worth it.  And I'm sure when this is all said and done, we will be so happy that we came.  But I am telling you, it is A LOT of work.  It's just so overwhelming.

One observation from the day is that it is terribly sad how parents treat their children.  And I'm not talking about discipline -- I fully support discipline.  But we saw parents cursing/yelling/just generally talking down to each other and their kids at the turn of every corner.  I feel sorry for the kids whose parents drag them do Disney only to make them feel like crap in the process.  We saw one parent say "Shut up and sit down and eat," to his about 8 year old son.  Really?  Yes, a Disney vacation is hard, but if you have kids and you're doing it for them, why be that way?  I was just sad about that.

Also, we could not believe how rude the general population is...we saw a man and woman get into a yelling/cursing match right in the middle of Epcot.  I feel sad for people who have lives so miserable that they must yell at complete strangers.  Take a nap people.  Chill out for a few hours and be refreshed.  Disney isn't worth throwing all morals and values out the window.

All in all, it was an amazing day.  We are all tired, but ready for more fun tomorrow!!!