1st Family Trip to WDW 2/9 - 2/15 - UPDATED 4/18 About This Page:

[DyanKJ130]

Nice score with Cindy's!

[iamgrumpy]

More please! Great Start

[tammyd_rn]

Yeah, you got your CRT with success along P&PP tickets on Valentines. Looking forward to how those events went down.

[mcc0313]

Glad you got all the ADR's you wanted and were able to attend a P&PP while you were there...

[Colexis Mom]

Great update!!

[MGW]

We were there the same time you were! It was a wonderful week wasn't it! A little more crowded than previous Feburarys from my recollections, so getting to eat in the castle was a great score! Can't wait to hear about your trip. You can read my TR to find out what we were doing on the same days!

[mattnkatsmum]

Great start to your trip report

Can't wait to hear all the details.

[hildai]

Day One ~ Saturday Feb 9th
We woke up at 4:30 am after a crazy night of last minute packing and trying to get the girls to bed at a decent hour. Who could sleep? We were going to Disney! I felt like I was 8 years old again! Being that this is Michigan and our lovely weather can be VERY unpredictable, we awoke to 22° and falling temps as a beautiful drizzle of freezing rain and snow came down. All that went through my head was “PLEASE no flight delays and get me out of here!”

As DH dropped the girls and I off at the curbside check-in for AirTran, he went to park the truck. My DH suggested putting our winter coats inside our suitcases before checking in our luggage so we wouldn’t have to drag them on the plane with us ~ good idea! We were able to do just that. The skycap told me to take my time and get everything organized before turning in our luggage. By the time my DH met up with us inside the terminal, all the luggage was checked in and we were set to go. No worries about boarding passes, since I had printed those the night before at home. I don’t know what I would do without the internet!

We had a very uneventful flight into Orlando (just how I like them!) DME was very simple to use: get in line one for your pass, line number two for your bus, and finally line up to get on the bus. Not bad at all. I was just happy we didn’t have to wait for any luggage. My DH still had his doubts on whether or not our luggage will eventually make it to our resort and room. I told him to have faith in the system (But just in case, I did have a change of clothes, swimsuits, and a few other necessities packed in my carry on.

Let me just say that all the wonderful things I had read about the Beach Club turned out to be true when we finally pulled up at the resort. WOW! It was beautiful! Check-in was a breeze and it was only 12:30 and they had a room available for us. YEA!!! The girls couldn’t believe that it was February and in a few minutes they would be swimming in Stormalong Bay!

We found our way to the BCV building and met CM Sissy at the villas concierge desk. She was extremely pleasant and helpful. We would be seeing more from her later on. Our room was on the 5th floor at the end of the hallway. One negative thing about the layout of the resort was the VERY LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG hallways. They seemed never ending at times, especially after a long day in the parks. Anyways, we had a studio villa. It was very nice. The kitchenette was adequate with basic necessities. We had the pull-out sofa for the girls and a queen size bed for us. The view from the balcony was pretty. You could see Spaceship Earth and at night, Illuminations. Considering we were not here to stay in the room all the time, it would suit our needs perfectly.

After convincing the girls on the importance of eating lunch before we venture out to the pool, we grabbed a quick bite at the Marketplace café at the Beach Club. Sandwiches were nothing fancy, but it would do until dinner. Swimming was on their minds so honestly it didn’t matter what we had for lunch, they just wanted to get to the pool. So off we went.

Stormalong Bay was wonderful. And as gorgeous as the weather was when we arrived (sun and blue skies), it turned cloudy and gray thereafter. That didn’t bother them though. As long as it stayed warm enough to swim (about 75°) I let them play in the pool until they got it out of their system and finally convinced them that we needed to get back to the room to wash up, change, and rest before heading out to our first park for dinner and some fun. Hopefully our luggage would be there waiting for us???

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you're enjoying the Beach Club and SAB More please

[KandJluvdisney]

great update hilda
glad that you were able to take advantage at stormalong bay
hurry back with more

[PrincessSharon]

Great so far. Looking forward to more.

[jhoshowski]

Glad the girls enjoyed SAB - can't wait for more!

[tammyd_rn]

Glad you had an uneventful flight and the girls were able to enjoy SAB. I have heard great things about SAB.

[carters_mom]

Glad to see you back with an update. Can't wait for more!

[hildai]

Saturday, February 9th Part Two ~ Afternoon
So we head back to the room to wash up from swimming and get ready for dinner and our first day in one of the parks. I open the door to our room and find two suitcases that do not belong to us by the doorway and our five suitcases are no where to be found. Okay, stay calm I say to myself . . . . All I could think about was my DH comments of “are you sure they’ll know how to get the luggage to us all the way from Detroit??”
Well, apparently something went wrong so I hopped on the phone as quick as I could and spoke with Bell Services. They assured me that our luggage should arrive shortly. Two of our bags were already with them downstairs; they were just waiting for the other three. By now, it’s a little after 3 o’clock. Our plane arrived in Orlando at 10:20 am. We checked in at 12:15 or so. I’m beginning to wonder about our bags. Oh no!! A half hour later, a bellman shows up to pick up the mystery luggage that was in our room and said he knew nothing about ours. Don’t panic I say.

I get the girls washed up and back in their clothes. DH washed up as well and we are now all ready to head off to a park. It was close to 4:00 and I knew that MK closed at 7:00 for P&PP. Plus I wanted their first day at MK to be special and I knew the girls would not last too long with today’s early morning wake up. So, we decided to head off to Hollywood Studios by boat.

We stopped by the Bell Service desk to inquire about our luggage one last time. They took our name and room number and reassured me that the bags would be there safe and sound when we returned that evening.

Our boat ride to HS was very relaxing and the girls enjoyed it very much. They were able to see how beautiful the Swan and Dolphin were with the fountains cascading down. Wow, I had never seen it from the back end and it was beautiful.

We pulled out our 5 day park passes once we arrived at HS ~ I couldn’t help but feel excited. All my planning for months and months was about to begin. I had to make sure to remember all the words of wisdom I had picked up from the boards when touring the parks. At the same time, I wanted to make sure we ALL had a good time.

The park seemed a tad crowded when we walked in. Granted, it was a Saturday, the weather was nice and HS was open until 8:00 pm. So there was plenty of time for us to get a taste of WDW! After grabbing a times schedule, park map, and renting a stroller for Serena, we were off to our first attraction. I knew the best place to start for us would be the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Serena has been in love with all things princess since she was 2. Her obsession with Ariel has been going strong for over a year. I had to make sure she saw her princess.

I know I’ve read about how people get teary eyed when they first see the castle or fireworks. Well, I got teary eyed watching my five year smiling from ear to ear when she saw Ariel singing on that stage. It was magical! The show was great! We were off to a wonderful start!