Happy Monday, friends!! Hopefully most of you are still celebrating a holiday weekend and had the day off today!! I’m still on a bit of a Disney high today with a little adrenaline that’s keeping me going. The kids are off school today which I thought I would dread, but it was kind of nice to not jump into the hustle of rushing out the door this morning.
I have 9 million thoughts rushing through my head today and so many things I want to type out and share with all of you from our trip. I’m trying to upload photos, post recaps, and share a long list of tips while all these things are fresh on my mind. We just spent the last 5 days in Disney World and had such a blast with a big side of crazy. Crazy being trying to do so many fun things with two small kids who are on such a high throughout Disney World, but still have melt downs, fears, and frustrations on the drop of a hat Mickey Popsicle.
Today I am going to share our first day in Disney World. I will do a big post this week with all the details of our resort, how we planned, our best tips, what parks we loved, where to eat, how to get fast passes and so much more. I want all that to be all in one place for everyone to easily access.
We decided to fly to Orlando instead of drive even though we are only about 7 hours away. Madelyn is not good in the car yet and I wasn’t prepared for the drive. The flight is direct and about 1.5 hours, so we went for that. Plus Madelyn flies free still, so we better take advantage of it while we can 🙂
Here we are at the airport getting ready to go and Matt’s face cracks me up because we were just laughing as to whether we were excited or crazy to bring these kids to Disney by ourselves this young! Madelyn had a couple of good meltdowns on the plane when we told her she couldn’t stand up and walk the aisles. She would scream, throw her head back and pout on the floor. It was lovely. But we managed to make it there in one piece and we had Disney’s (complimentary) Magical Express to pick us up when we arrived in Orlando and take us to our hotel.
We arrived at the Polynesian Hotel around 3pm for check in. Our room was ready in the “Hawaii” building (see above) and they were so kind to us! A friend of mine recommended that we stay at the club level at the Polynesian and I am so happy that we did!!! We had paid for a garden view club level room and when we got there they upgraded us to a lake view club level room and we had the best view of Magic Kingdom!! That meant we got to see the firework show every single night plus the cute boat parades they had at night! We had two queen beds, so Brody slept in one, Matt and I had another and Madelyn slept in a pack N play (provided by hotel) in the bathroom. If you see that sofa in the photo, that is also a day bed if you needed more sleeping room too.
We settled into our room and realized we didn’t have any luggage. When you take the Disney’s Magical Express, they deliver the luggage straight to your room for you; but it usually arrives several hours after you do! So, it is very important to pack a few things in a carry-on bag for the entire family. I packed swim suits for the kids in case they wanted to take a dip when we got there. Madelyn was ready for a nap, so her and I relaxed in the room while Matt and Brody went to the pool.
That night, we made dinner reservations at the Spirit of Aloha Dinner & Show at the Polynesian. They have two different dinner times, an early and a late, so we went with the early. Our dinner started at 5:15pm and our luggage still hadn’t arrived yet; so we went to dinner in our travel clothes.
I was so happy that we chose to stay at the hotel for dinner that night rather than travel somewhere else on Disney property. It worked out great. Unfortunately, the kids didn’t last through the entire Aloha show; but we enjoyed dinner and then just left early. We headed back to our room, our luggage had arrived, and we settled in.
We all took showers, got in our jammies, and grabbed a few desserts (and wine) from the club room to get ready for the firework show.
We snuggled in bed and got ready for a big day at the park!! More to come…
If you have any specific planning questions that you want answered, please leave them in the comments below or sent me an email to annieamalone@gmail.com and I will answer them in another post!
You can read about the rest of our trip here:
We are thinking about staying there next year when we take all 3 kiddos to Disney–they will be 5, almost 3, and 6 months. Still thinking we may be absolutely mad to do it though! I have heard such great things about the Polynesian for ease of access to Disney. Was it easy to use the monorail? Did you guys have any complaints of boat noise at night?
Looks so fun! I haven’t been to Disney since high school, but I’d love to go back someday! Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip! 🙂
I love Matt’s face in that first picture! Sounds like you all had a great time and I can’t wait to get more recaps. Kyle and I always say we’ll never take the kids to Disney (mostly because we’re not sure we could handle it) but I do think it would be so magical for them. Miller hates character costumes right now so we would probably have to wait another year or so.
Eek!!! I can’t wait to read all about it. So glad you had a theme park view!
Love that you guys took the kids this little! My grandparents lived in Orlando, so we’ve been there a bunch of times, and it makes for the most special memories!!! Can’t wait to hear about the rest of the trip!
Ok, definitely staying at Polynesian next time! #goals The fireworks!!! How convenient. How amazing. How fun! Can’t wait to hear more about the trip!
I can’t wait to read these posts! I am dying (!!!!) to take my oldest daughter to Disney. She’s almost 3.5 and I know would just be in awe of the “magic” at the age she is.
I’m kind of going through a Disney World obsession at the moment – looking forward to more recaps so i can live vicariously through you.
Likewise gal!! I’m still on a Disney high and now ready to plan a cruise!! Haha. My husband will kill me!
I LOVED the Polynesian. I can’t wait to go back. Love your recap, it’s funny, I’m currently writing our DisneyLAND recaps for the week. Check me out!
~ Teri
http://www.shhmommysdrinking.com