Disney World - Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

We decided (maybe unwisely) that to save some money we would drive the 15+ hours to Walt Disney World instead of flying like we normally would.  We find that since we have to pay for three tickets now instead of just two, flying is a little out of our budget.  Sam flipped his schedule by working a few overnight police shifts leading up to the trip.  Our awesome babysitter Courtney came and picked Robbie up on Saturday morning and took him to her house to play while Sam slept and I packed up all our stuff.  Robbie came home right after lunch, Sam woke up, and we all got in the car for the drive.

We arrived at Walt Disney World's Wilderness Lodge around 8AM or so and we were relieved that they had a room ready for us.  We checked in, changed our clothes, and called Mom & Dad (who were driving up from Ft. Myers to spend the first few days with us.)  We really like the Wilderness Lodge.  Sam and I stayed here on our honeymoon 11 years ago.  The hotel itself is gorgeous inside and out.  The restaurants are great with very "American" food that we always enjoy.  The ride to the Magic Kingdom is just 10 minutes or less by boat and there is a great bus system out front for the other parks.

Disney's Wilderness Lodge

When Mom and Dad arrived, they were able to check in as well and we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the first day.  Looking back now, we probably should have hung out around the hotel or did one of the other farther away parks the first day.  Robbie was tired from being in the car and wanted to run around.  This was also his best behavior day as well because he was running on excited holy-cow-I'm-in-Disney adrenaline.  But we didn't and the day still turned out pretty great.

Disney has this new (or at least new to us) thing called "Photopass" where you have a card with a barcode.  They have photographers all over the park.  They take your picture. They scan your card.  Then when you get back home, you go to the website and you see all your pictures.  You can buy a CD (or download) and a limited release copyright permission form.  It's kind of pricey and I wish I had bought the CD before I left (at the discounted pre-purchase rate) because I could have saved over $50 and we got a lot of really great pictures with Photopass while we were there.

Dad, Mom, Sam, Mandy, and Master Robert at Magic Kingdom
(Photo used with permission (c) Disney Photopass)

First order of business at Magic Kingdom was Robbie's Pirate Makeover at the Pirate's League.  He LOVED THIS.  He especially loved walking around the park and getting people's attention.  They would see him, smile really big and say things like, "Oh what a cute little pirate!"  He ate that up.  After the makeover we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride... ummm... during which Robbie cried profusely.  Now, he wasn't scared of the dark, or the pirates, or the creepy "DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES!" voice... no... he was terrified of the little waterfall boat drop at the very beginning of the ride where if you sit in the front of the boat you get splashed.  He cried and screamed and we felt like terrible parents.  He did calm down eventually and enjoyed the rest of the ride.  When he got off the boat he said, "I'm NEVER riding that ride AGAIN! Never!" and we proceeded on with the rest of the day, now a little worried about how the rest of this would play out.  We visited the Enchanted Tiki Room, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, and eventually headed over to Tony's Town Square restaurant for lunch.  Sam and I ate at Tony's on our Honeymoon and again when we came for our 5-year anniversary.  Then it was back to the hotel for a much needed nap for everyone.

That evening we headed back to the Magic Kingdom and waited to see Mickey and Minnie at the Town Hall Meet-n-Greet.  Robbie was very excited.  He loves Micky Mouse!  We've been watching The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel since he was just a tiny thing.

Mickey really hammed it up when Robbie tried to high-five him with his hook. The characters do such a good job! They are so much fun!

Even pirates love Mickey.

We had dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern.  Oh my.  BEST. MEAL. EVER.  I'm not kidding here, this was an AWESOME meal.  The meal was an all you can eat "family style feast" with roasted meats, potatoes, veggies, bread, mac-n-cheese, and more.  For dessert was ice cream and a warm fruit cake that was divine. We will definitely be going back to this place again!

Sam and Robbie rode the Dumbo ride for the first time this day.  Robbie loved it.  I kept trying to get a picture, but Robbie wanted Dumbo to fly high the whole time.  This is as good as I could get.

We thought Robbie would enjoy the parade, but didn't get a spot early enough and sort of got crushed up against the castle.  He saw a little on Sam's shoulders.  Then we got really trapped as people tried to position for the fireworks.  Really. Trapped.  As in crush-of-people-can't-move-trapped.  We tried to escape out through Fantasyland then Frontierland but didn't quite make it when the fireworks started.  Did I mention that Robbie hates loud noises?  He started crying and holding his hands to his ears but there wasn't any place to go.  Even when they were over, we couldn't get out of the park because of the nine billion other people trying to leave.  It was also at this time that we notice that someone had stolen Robbie's water bottle spray fan off of our stroller.  Robbie was crushed, sad, exhausted,... would this be the worst trip ever?!?

OK.  In truth we had a great day and were thrilled to spend time with Mom and Dad.  We learned a valuable lesson in that if you want to be able to leave the park and be in bed before midnight, you've got to do so before the 9pm parade.  Robbie loved his pirate makeover, riding the kiddo rides, and getting to see Mickey.  He was such a good boy the whole day! Even though we had a few tears, most of the day he had a huge smile on his piratey little face.  Tomorrow on the Clipboard-of-Fun was breakfast at Chef Mickey's and a morning at Epcot...