Well, first we woke up at 4:00 am, got ready, and then woke up the kids at 4:30 and got them dressed, etc. We were in the car, pulling out, at 5:09, which I was quite impressed with. I was also really glad that I had insisted that we load up the car the night before. We got to the airport around 5:30 (it was really cold!), and got on our flight at 7:05 am.
The people on Southwest were so nice; getting little activity books for the kids, even setting up a little bed for Taran on some empty seats (I know, I know, a flight that wasn't full or over-booked. What a miracle!). It was the first time I had flown Southwest in over 15 years, and I was quite impressed. I think we'll do it more often!
Anyway, we got to Orlando, and made our way down to the "Magical Express," the shuttle run by Disney that you can take directly to your hotel. They even pick up your luggage for you! The kids were so excited from the moment that they had gotten up that they couldn't sleep on the plane, or on the bus, like I had hoped, but what else could we expect, really?
We finally got to our hotel (one of the "value" resorts), the All-Star Movies, around 10-ish. We checked in, and went to our room, which was, of course, in the building the farthest away from the main building. But since I hadn't wanted to pay extra for a "pool view" room, I wasn't surprised. We walked past the "101 Dalmations" buildings on the way to ours, and the kids just had to look up close and personal at the fun decorations.
After we checked out the room we went back to the main building and waited for the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We had our lunch reservation at 11:35, which we should have made easily, but we waited over 30 minutes for a bus. The whole week it was like Murphy's Law of Buses. Wherever we wanted to go to had almost no buses coming, while the other stops had bus after bus coming and going. But we got in plenty of practice at waiting. :o)
After we checked out the room we went back to the main building and waited for the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We had our lunch reservation at 11:35, which we should have made easily, but we waited over 30 minutes for a bus. The whole week it was like Murphy's Law of Buses. Wherever we wanted to go to had almost no buses coming, while the other stops had bus after bus coming and going. But we got in plenty of practice at waiting. :o)
We ate at Tony's Town Square (that's the outside, in the picture of Pinocchio), an Italian Restuarant themed out of "Lady and the Tramp," which was right at the beginning of Main Street. The food was great (although my pasta was doused in butter) but the ambiance was even better.
When we finished eating (dessert was amazing! Chocolate Bomb and Lemon curd Layer cake! YUM!) we made our way down main street, and the kids got their first look at the castle. The kids faces were so cute; they were struck dumb with amazement that they were finally seeing the castle that's at the beginning of the Disney movies.
After walking through the castle we went to Fantasyland. We pretty much stayed there the whole time we were at the Magic Kingdom that first day.
First, we went on Cinderella's golden carousel (how can you not?), and then we went over the Mickey's Philharmagic, a 3-D show. Jarom LOVED that, and wanted to go again the second we were out of the theater.
Next we went to the Dumbo ride, which I had never been on, but the kids really enjoyed it. After that we went on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That was also a first for me, and the kids had an extra good time because they knew the story so well from watching the movie. 
After that we needed to take a break, and eat a snack, so we got some cotton candy (the kids' choice, but it was part of the Dining Plan, so yay!) and went over to the Hundred Acre Woods play area. I 'm not sure if they are a relatively new addition, or what, but now several areas of the parks have these great playgrounds. The one in Fantasyland is awesome, but they kids also really enjoyed the one in Toontown and in the Animal Kingdom. They are perfect if you have little kids and need a place for them to run around for awhile. Disney really knows what they're doing!
After the kids played for awhile, we went on the Teacup ride, which was enjoyable for most of us, but not for Kelcey. Her transformation is hilarious, and I just have to show you.
First, she's having a great time.
Then she's not so sure.
Then she is absolutely positive that this is not where she wants to be.
After that we went on Snow White's Scary Adventures, and then on Mickey's Philharmagic for the second time. At this point it was almost 5:00, and we were getting hungry, so we went to Pinocchio's Village Haus for dinner. The kids had pizza, and we had yummy salads, which was a necessity after the huge lunch that we ate. We had gotten "FastPass" tickets for the Peter Pan ride (it had the longest line of all the rides, 45 minutes) and so we rode that after dinner. We followed that up with a ride on "It's a Small World", and then decided to make our way over to the parade route. On the way we stopped by the Castle and caught the tail end of one of the shows they have there.
There were so many people that we couldn't get too close to the parade route, but there was a nice family that let Jarom and Taran sit with them right up front on the sidewalk. Talking with them afterward we found out that they were members of the Church, the Dad taught CTR 6, which Jarom thought was so cool. The "Spectromagic" Parade was good, but almost too long, at least for those of us who had been up since 4 am without a nap.
After the parade was done we decided to stay where we were, on the left side of the castle, because Tinker Bell's flight path from the top of the castle was right overhead. Jarom had lost it at this point, and was asking to go back to the hotel, and Kelcey was asleep in the stroller. 
We discussed it as a family, telling Jarom that we could leave right then, but that this was our only chance to see fireworks ("Mickey's Not-So-Scary halloween party" was going to be the next night, and we didn't have tickets) while we were at Walt Disney World.
Once Jarom heard that the fireworks were going to be better than the ones at the Carolina Mudcat's games, he was on board to stay. And, boy, were they spectacular!! Disney really has some kind of magic at the Magic Kingdom. It feels like all the holiday's rolled into one, even the 4th of July.
After the fireworks were over we did the "shuffle, shuffle, step, step," back to the bus station, with all the other people who had decided to stay too. We waited an incredibly long time for a bus. No buses came to our stop, but the stops on either side had bus after bus after bus. When we finally got the first bus at our stop after almost a 1/2 hour, the entire line burst into imprompu applause. We finally got back to the hotel around 9:45, and everyone was in bed by 10:00. We were so tired, and we had had so much fun! And it was just the first day!
We discussed it as a family, telling Jarom that we could leave right then, but that this was our only chance to see fireworks ("Mickey's Not-So-Scary halloween party" was going to be the next night, and we didn't have tickets) while we were at Walt Disney World.Once Jarom heard that the fireworks were going to be better than the ones at the Carolina Mudcat's games, he was on board to stay. And, boy, were they spectacular!! Disney really has some kind of magic at the Magic Kingdom. It feels like all the holiday's rolled into one, even the 4th of July.
After the fireworks were over we did the "shuffle, shuffle, step, step," back to the bus station, with all the other people who had decided to stay too. We waited an incredibly long time for a bus. No buses came to our stop, but the stops on either side had bus after bus after bus. When we finally got the first bus at our stop after almost a 1/2 hour, the entire line burst into imprompu applause. We finally got back to the hotel around 9:45, and everyone was in bed by 10:00. We were so tired, and we had had so much fun! And it was just the first day! 
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