[angelina]

Day 3: Palm Trees, Warm Weather and Finally-Disney World

As we drove through the sunshine in GA our salt covered Expedition really stood out and we were really wishing we had washed the car before we left. But if you wash your car in the winter your door can freeze shut! (Remind me why some of us live in MN?) We always get really excited when we see our first palm tree. In fact we get off the interstate in Tifton,GA (the first place we see them) and take a picture with the palm trees. We were all starting to get antsy because we really wanted to be in Disney and as an added bonus my DD started throwing up. We're not sure if she had a bug or if she was carsick. This slows our driving down, because we make frequent stops to change her and just hold her (my poor baby) [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] But whatever it was passed quickly, because by the time we reached Gainseville,FL she was her old self again, running around like a crazy baby!We let her burn off some energy on the U of F campus( a fun little stop) By 5:00 p.m. we're just miles away. Our AAA trip tick told us to get off the FL turnpike and take 27. We did and it seemed much slower than going through Orlando like we usually do. There were stoplights and we came in a totally different gate( not the gate by Buena Vista Crossroads like usual) But when we finally saw those purple and red signs I was so excited I wanted to jump out of the car and run the rest of the way there. We pulled up to the security gate and told the guard we were checking in. She located our name on a list before she would let us in. This was a new security procedure, even from our last trip in March 2002. But my DH and I both agreed that it was a good precaution. When we pulled up to the lobby of POFQ a cast member told us one person had to wait in the car while the other went inside. Another new security procedure, we used to just park our car in front and check in. But both DH and I wanted to go in so we just parked the car and headed in. My DD was off and running,so while I checked in DH chased after her. There was no line to check in. But the cast member who I dealt with was not very knowledgeable. We opted for the Silver add-on plan, which I know is relatively new, but no one who works for Disney seemed to know anything about it. When I booked our vacation through CRO the wonderful CM helping me told me about the silver and gold plans and it sounded great, so we chose silver. But after that CM all I got was conflicting information about what our plan did and did not include. The most useful info I found was on wdwig.com, which gives a pretty complete list of what the plan contains. When we checked in we were given a brochure about the plans and I thought, "why didn't they send this a month ago with everything else?" it would have been helpful. Oh well. I told the CM checking us in that my husband and I wanted our magical wish features(you get 2 per person perday) for today for the length-of-stay access to the GF fitness center, to work out. He had no idea what I was talking about. [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] So, I had to find it in the brochure he had just given me and show it to him. He asked the CM next to him if he knew anything about it and that CM told me guest services would take care of it. Great, so I gathered my maps and brochures thanked the CM and moved on to the guest services line, and I mean line. But it gave me time to look at all the beautiful details in the lobby. When it was finally my turn the CM at guest services told me they could take care of that where I had just checked in. I told her they had just sent me here. So then she said they took care of it at the health club. But I told her that I had called CRO and asked them and they told me they took care of it at the hotel. So she called the GF helath club and they told her I just had to come to the health club and they would add me to their list. I was concerned because I had been told that you got 2 wishes per day, if you didn't use them they were done. And since it was too late in the day to use the wishes for anything else they were going to go to waste,I didn't want to drive out to the GF and waste more time tonight. But the CM told me that you could use any number of wishes per day. You can also use them for any number of meals per day(I was told you could only use them for one meal per day) So after all that confusion, we finally headed up to our room. A funny coincidence,while my DH was chasing after our DD he ran into our pediatrician who was there with her family. It was so neat! This time in addition to making room requests with CRO I faxed them according to the instructions on wdwig.com. We got everything we asked for. We were in room 5342, with a beautiful view of the coutyard. I unpacked while my husband brought up the bags from the car. We always like to start our trips with a visit to MK but as it was closing at 7pm we would never make it in time. So we headed to Epcot.
I love EP at night, Spaceship Earth lit up is so beautiful. Our most magical moment of the day came in the EP parking lot. As we were walking towards the entrance our DD stared hoping up and down in her stroller clapping and said, "Yay, Disney World!" We almost started to cry. It was like one of those Disney commercials that get you all choked up.
We waited in a small line to have our bags checked(one line I never mind waiting in) Could you believe last year we actually heard someone complaining about this procedure! Once instead the park we were so excited to finally be here we just stood there taking it all in for minute. Then we headed for the fountain. My DD was mesmerized by the water and lights. Our first attraction was Ice Station Cool. I always get a kick out of how much fun the CM's there have with the snow, they're always having little snowball fights. My DD just loved all the sweet sodas ( the first she's ever drank) except when she tasted Beverly she made this horrible face and threw the cup on the ground.
We were absolutely starving and I couldn't wait for table service so we headed to Mexico and ate at Cantina de San Angel. The food was like Taco Bell only 10 times more the price. I wanted the nachos which came with beef,except I don't eat red meat only poultry and fish. So I asked if I could sub chicken for beef. They said no, I don't know why. So 2 meals and 2 margaritas came to $30.00 which for the quality of food was outrageous. We got a table outside, and this was about 15 minuites before Illuminations (there was no one in EP) So we got to enjoy IL while we ate. Why don't they put those umbrellas down? My daughter at first was a little scared of the loud bangs, but she quickly got over that and just loved the fireworks and the images in the globe. IL makes me cry everytime I see it. It got really cold out, I think it may have gotten down in the 40's so we quickly headed back to our car and back to POFQ. We ended our night with more unpacking and watching all the park info on TV. I could watch those channels non stop, but after a day or two it drives DH nuts [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] We drifted off to sleep dreaming of our days to come.
Next, Breakfast with the Princesses