Disney World - Day 1

(written by J)

We arrived inside the Disney World complex around 3PM and checked in to our hotel, Disney’s Pop Century. The hotel is a salute to U.S. Pop Culture from the 1950s through the 1990s. It was a huge hotel and it was very popular considering that it appeared that 30 million people were staying there while we were there. We will post pictures of the hotel in a later blog entry. After unloading the car, we headed off to the Magic Kingdom. The kids were extremely excited as we rode the bus from the hotel to the Magic Kingdom. Once we arrived at the park, we didn’t even make it inside before B wanted to see Pluto who was standing outside of the entrance. B and Z hugged Pluto while H took pictures and then we were inside. We found coin books for smashed pennies inside the Emporium for the kids and then we were off to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the ride Z had wanted to go on for months. It seemed pretty crowded so we were delighted that the wait time for the ride said only 10 minutes. J and Z rode it (Z loved it!) and then J took B (H can’t ride roller coasters because she is pregnant) hoping that she would be tall enough to ride it. The ride minimum height was 40 inches and B was 41 inches (yea!!!! – there would have been quite a meltdown if she was not tall enough). Then J and B rode it and B loved it as well! Incidentally after J and B got off of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the wait time for the ride said 80 minutes. We got really lucky with that ride. We all rode the Haunted Mansion next which B did not like at all. She said that “it was a little bit scary.” Next was a much more kid-friendly ride, It’s a Small World, which was a big hit. Other attractions that we went on included Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Cinderella’s Golden Carousel, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey’s PhilharMagic (a 3-D musical adventure where B refused to wear her special 3-D glasses). We debated whether to see fireworks but it was a long couple of days and the kids were ready for bed so we left around 9PM catching a little bit of the Spectromagic parade as we walked out of the park. Incidentally, that is the best way to see a parade. Why get to a perfect spot an hour early sitting in the heat and then have people plow in front of you minutes before the parade starts?

Once we got back to the hotel, it was bedtime (or so we thought). The kids fell asleep pretty quickly around 10 but J and H were awakened by the people in the hotel room next to us. They got back to their room after 11PM and they were incredibly loud – laughing and shouting probably after a night of adult beverages. Once they belted into a chorus of Reo Speedwagon’s Keep on Loving You, J was at his breaking point. J called the front desk to complain about the noise and the lady who answered the phone said that she would ask security to check out the situation. At the end of the call, the Disney employee told J to “have a magical day.” J was dumbfounded by this response and groggily hung up the phone. Fortunately, the commotion stopped and we got to sleep.