As you have probably guessed already, the Internet access here at the DW is not included in the terrific cost of your room, so we opted to go for hitting just a couple of days, and bulking our Internet activity up.
Today is the first entry to chronicle our fun time here, and it won't be the last. Expect another blog entry Thursday evening, and a final wrap-up sometime next week...
I'm going to be very heavy with the pictures, and try to tell a few stories too. This is not all of our picture es by any means, (we have about 200 so far, and I'm posting just under 50. That also doesn't include the pictures we'll get on our Photo Pass CD from the Disney photographers)
We got to the airport on Saturday with plenty of time, and were able to relax before the flight boarded (including grabbing a lunch).
The flight itself was pretty good - Sophie was a little harder to keep occupied this time, and she had to go potty every other minute. It's a good thing the guy sitting in the aisle seat was a good natured fellow, and it didn't bother him at all.
When we got to the airport, we realized I had screwed one thing up - I had failed to put the special "Disney Magical Express" tag on our stroller, so they wouldn't know to retrieve it from baggage claim and deliver it to us later. I went to the counter, and had them add all of our claim tickets to our vouchers, so that, in theory, they'd be able to find the stroller. It turns out I wasn't the first one to veer do that!
We got on the bus, and started our trip to Disney World, which took about a half hour.
Aunt aunt and Sophie in the Disney Magical Express bus - that took us from the airport to the All Star Music resort.
When we checked in., Sophie was focused on getting a balloon (as she often is) - so we asked the lady behind the counter for one. Later on Saturday evening, the cast member (employee) who delivered our dinner came back with a bundle of balloons for Sophie, which she loved, and was really cool for her to do.
A very cool thing, at least in the resorts, is that they have a kid-sized sink that doesn't require a stool - it was very cool to not have to hold her up as she washed her hands. As Sophie says, "It's my size!"
Sophie eating her breakfast - you may recognize the shape of the straw...
Sunday we started our week of fun at the Magic Kingdom.
Her Cuteness, as we entered the Magic Kingdom.
Alli decided to leave something of herself behind on a sidewalk, not long after we got into the park. She was trying to run up a curb with Sophie in her hands, and instead of falling on Sophie when she tripped, she put Sophie down successfully, and sacrificed herself...
Cinderella's Castle!
One of the first things we found was a little nook to the side that was labeled Storybook Garden - the show was set to start in a few minutes, so we sat down. It turns out that it was a small play where the story of Beauty and the Beast was told by Belle, with the help of kids from the audience. Sophie was very excited!
They gave Sophie a prop to be Lumiere from the movie...
She had a great time!
She wasn't scared of Beast at all, and she was very happy to see him.
Being newbies to the whole thing, we didn't know until Sophie and I were in line for pictures with Belle that there are autograph books that all of the characters will sign for you. Aunt aunt ran and got one from a close-by stand, and we were able to get her first signature from Belle!
The next stop was to meet the princesses in the own place. There was a room with three tents, each with a princess in them. This was half the reason for us coming here, so that Sophie could meet the princesses...
Princess Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty...
Cinderella...
Finally there was Belle, in her yellow outfit...
All of the princesses and characters were very kind, and genuinely loved the kids that came to see them (especially Sophie). I was very happy that not only was Sophie very comfortable with all of the characters, but also that they lived up to Sophie's expectations - it was very very wonderful... (I'll stop crying in a minute)
Here's Minnie's house. Inside were a bunch of places that you could sit down and get pictures taken...
This is the kitchen, where there was a tea set permanently attached to the table - although Sophie started to try and get the kettle off...
Next door was Mickey's house - unfortunately, all you could do was walk through it.
Behind Mickey's house was the judges tent, where Sophie got to meet both Minnie and Mickey!
Kissing Minnie on the nose...
Giving Minnie a big hug while Mickey signs...
And he gives her a big hug back!
Sophie was so happy to get to meet them both!
We went to a few things in Tomorrow Land, like the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, and the Buzz Lightyear ride, and then we left for the day around 3 in the afternoon (we got there around 10 AM).
On Monday, we went to Hollywood Studios, getting there around 10 AM again.
The attractions here centered on the movies, and we did a few things that Sophie loved...
First, we wen to the "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" show, which was a blend of live action, puppets, and movie in the background, which told the story of the move in about 10 minutes.
Ariel, with one of her Whatsits...
The Ursula was a huge puppet, with glowing eyes, and a head the moved pretty well.
The finale had Ariel being transformed back from a mermaid to a human form, it was a pretty neat effect, done right on the stage.
Sophie was so happy to get to see the "real" Ariel!
More characters were there for Sophie to meet, including Hand Manny...
June, from Young Einsteins...
and both Lightning McQueen and 'Mater from Cars!
As we were getting tired, we stopped in the animation building, and Sophie got to meet one of the new characters from the upcoming Toy Story 3 (opening June 18th - there were literally posters for it everywhere) - Snuggly-Bear!
I love this picture, because whe alomost entirely disappeared into his fur!
And here's the more traditional picture.
We left Hollywood Studios around 2, and then cam back, ate lunch, and then Stacy and I started to get ready for our special night out at Victoria and Alberts.
We had a 7 course formal meal, over about two and a half hours, and had a very nice time. A once or twice in a lifetime event.
Whle we were enjoying fine dining, Alli and Sophie had ice cream for dessert, and then went swimming for two hours, followed by watching a movie or two in the room.
Well, it's very late, so I'm going to get going. I'll provide info on the next few day's when I blog again, hopefully on Thursday.
By the way it is VERY HOT down here.
Talk to you later!
Larry
