Disney Day 1

    I can't express how much fun we had at Disney World!  We had so much fun and made some amazing memories that everyone will cherish for years and years to come.  We had such a good time, we are already thinking about our next trip out there. It truly is the happiest place on earth.  I went to Disney World several times as a child and it is a very nostalgic place for me.  I love the fact that I can now take my children and hope one day they go back and experience the same nostalgia.  Our one and only complaint was that our trip went by way too fast and that we wish we would have had a few more days to play.

    Joey is the family photographer and did an amazing job of taking pictures the whole time.  I think he took around 4,600 pictures in one week!  He went through and picked his favorite and put them into blog posts.  We decided that I would write an entry for each day because there is way too much for one post.  So, the next few posts are going to be devoted entirely to Disney World.  I am excited to write the posts, because when we publish our yearly blog book, they will be a great reminder of all that we did. 

   So, let's get started with the first day!  We were wise this time, and booked a flight that didn't leave until the afternoon.  I loved it because I was able to get up super early and go run 10 miles at the gym, then come home and get ready to leave.  We had packed everything the night before so we were set to go!  We were all so excited to finally leave on a vacation that we had been anticipating for so long!

  

The countdown was finally complete!

The kids taking their pre-Disney bath.

    My parents rode to the airport with us where we met Katy and her family.  We were so happy when we booked our flights to discover that there was a direct flight from Colorado Springs to Orlando with no stops!  Such a perfect thing when traveling with 4 small children.  The flight was full of families going to Disney World.  The kids did really well on the flight out there.  It was about a 3 1/2 hour flight, and we brought lots to keep them entertained.

     We didn't arrive in Orlando until around 7:30. The funniest part was when we got off the plane, Ashlyn said, "There's Mason!" I thought she was confused and thought she saw someone she knew.  Nope, she indeed saw her friend from school.  He and his family were on the same flight and were also going to be spending a week in Disney World.  What a funny coincidence!

     

Spotting the plane

There is the plane we flew on

All of us waiting to board. 

Dawson and his Dad

Funny Uncle Bryan. 

Ella entertaining herself

Auntie and Jameson

We love flying

Dawson took the captain's advice to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight!

      When you stay on property, you don't even have to worry about transportation.  They have special buses that take you from the airport to your hotel.  We got on our bus and we were on our way.  We were so excited to see this picture.  I love that it says, "Where Dreams Come True".  So well put Disney.
      We stayed at a different resort than last time.  This time we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside.  We were instantly blown away with how beautiful it was.  Disney does a phenomenal job with their hotels.  It was dark when we arrived, so we couldn't enjoy all the beauty yet, but we still liked what we saw.  My parents decided to upgrade us to the special royal guest suites.  They are specially designed rooms that they just added a year ago.  We had seen pictures, but we were blown away by neat these rooms were.  They were decorated so neatly and the attention to detail was amazing! truly felt like I was staying in a princess's castle.

The Mickey towel waiting on our bed.

The beds awesome beds.  We couldn't get a picture, but there is a button on the side of the headboard.  When you push it, an led firework show goes off on the headboard.  It was the coolest thing ever!

The rest of the room. 

The bathroom. 

The other view of the room

I loved the princess pictures that they had up.

Ashlyn loved every bit of it!

Even the soap was special.

Here is one of the fountains at the hotel that Ashlyn just loved.  Ashlyn getting a good look before bed.

   We were very hungry when we got to the hotel.  It was late and we hadn't eaten dinner.  We went over to the hotel food court and got dinner.  After dinner, we went straight to bed.  I know everyone was more than ready for some sleep.  We had big plans for our first day in Disney World.