Days One and Two

So... Monday I was at rosary praying for my flights not to be cancelled when I got an email telling me that because the upcoming storm might impact my flights I could now change my flights for free. 

I looked at the option for leaving later that day and it was possible. So I called Husband. He was quickly on board with the plan because we had already kinda looked into it and opted not to pay the crazy amount asked. So I booked the flight. We actually got a credit because we were no longer getting our comfort+ seats for the first leg. 

Then I booked the hotel. Last trip we stayed overnight at the Hyatt at MCO and it worked out beautifully. We opted for that again, especially since we would be getting there so late. 

I wrapped up rosary and then went to work for a bit to get all my ducks in a row there. Then I went to get the kids. Their teachers knew they'd be gone the rest of the week but only had a few hours notice that they'd be leaving earlier than expected. Neither kid was super thrilled about leaving school early but I had packing to do. 

Husband came home from work. We went over everything. And we loaded up to go beat the storm! 

Heading into our little airport with not a flake in sight. Let it be known that Husband was the one who was adamant we fly from here and not drive to Chicago for significantly cheaper flights. He was right, because we wouldn't have been able to be as flexible nor would we want to drive the 2.5 hours there or back. 

The first flight was uneventful. We were in the very back two rows but it was a non-issue. 

At the Atlanta airport we waited an extremely long time for Chick-Fil-A. C had about run out of patience at this point since it was already bedtime, he hadn't eaten dinner and there was a whole extra flight to go.  

Everyone was happy to eat and get on the next flight which was basically empty. We were still the furthest back row of passengers but there were empty rows behind us and there were so many empty seats on the flight. This plane was big and had the screens to watch shows which was a novelty and made the kids happy!

I myself watched some favorite moments from Mamma Mia! The Wedding Planner and Frozen before I switched to flight tracker. 

Hello Florida! 

We got off the plane and headed to the hotel. We checked in, got the kids in pajamas and they were asleep within a half hour of the plane landing. The MCO Hyatt isn't the cheapest option but it's convenience could not be beat. 

We weren't in a rush Tuesday morning as we weren't initially planning to arrive in Florida until 1:00 in the afternoon. So we slept as long as we could... it wasn't too long. And we headed out! 

We stopped to look at the planes because why not?! Then we took a pit stop at the airport mural before we went downstairs to catch a bus. 

As luck would have it there was a bus ready and waiting so we just walked right on. We were the second to the last people on the bus and before we knew it we made it to Walt Disney World! We had a really great bus driver, his name was Gregory Moore and C still talks about him. Sometimes it's the little things that make a big impact. 

We checked in and a room was available which was awesome. And we turned around and GOOFY was there and he hit the final check in button for us! So... that was kinda cool. I didn't get a picture of that though because I wasn't anticipating needing that. We ditched our bags at bell services so we could eat breakfast without all the stuff. 

After we were fed and some of us were caffeinated, we went back to bell services to get our bags and the grocery delivery I had waiting. And we made our way to our room. We stayed at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room. 

And we were all happy to finally be at Disney. Hours earlier than we anticipated. So the kids went swimming. We knew that it was going to get cool the next two days so if they wanted to swim at Disney this was their chance. It was cloudy pretty much the entire time we were in Florida but it was quite temperate. 

I read my book. It was a swell deal.

After swimming, we changed and went for a Skyliner ride to Hollywood Studios! 

M took a picture with a palm tree because she was so happy. 

Then we took a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a resort I have never been to and while I am no stranger to resort hopping Colleen's adventure made me want to see the giraffes too!

We enjoyed exploring the resort and seeing the animals. I think if I were going on an adults-only trip with minimal park days I would stay there. It was very peaceful. 

After exploring the resort pretty thoroughly, we boarded a bus for Magic Kingdom! 

Then we got on the monorail for the resort loop. 

We got off at the Polynesian because we had dinner reservations at 'Ohana. (That we had booked 60 days prior so this wasn't copying Colleen though it sure seems like we were. I attribute this to great minds.) I think it's one of my favorite restaurants. The noodles. The steak. The dumplings. The bread. The dessert! It's all so so good. We loved this live musician too, and the kids even knew all the words to one of the songs that I am quite sure I've never heard before. Sometimes these two amaze me. 

We had breakfast there our last meal of the last trip. This was meant to be the first meal of our trip. As it turns out, our first flight out of home wouldn't have been canceled with the weather, but the original flight out of Atlanta was delayed so much that I don't think that we would have made our Ohana reservation. So I am glad it all worked out well. 

Oh! AND it was a snow day so the kids didn't even miss school. We kept joking that it was the best snow day ever! 

While we were at Ohana a big storm came through. We told the kids to eat slowly because we wanted the rain to be over before we left. That worked out, it was just drizzling as we monorail-ed to MK and bused back to AOA. 

We had one more surprise up our sleeve... one of our favorite friends from home was also at Disney World and staying at AOA so we "happened to bump into them." 

M was delighted. Then the kids all played and the grown-ups chatted and it was really great to see them. 

After we checked out their room, a Little Nemo suite, we said goodnight to them and headed to bed so we could get ready for our first park day!