Disney Day One

The Big Adventure Begins.
Tuesday, January 1st

At 4:00 a.m. we pulled out of the driveway and off to Disney we went. The drive went well (which is code for 'uneventful', although it's something to note that seven people ordering off of the value menu at McDonald's rounds off to something like $33.00 a stop which is pretty dadgum eventful). Anyone who knows me any length of time at all knows that I'm a bit of a planner (psycho list maker), so I had the Loser Cruiser packed to the gills with interesting stuff to ensure an uneventful trip. Like CD players and new CD for the kids. Ten new DVDs to keep everyone entertained (although there was that little slip of buying Ratatouille knowing that my mother is terrified of mice/rats which didn't go over so well).


We checked into the All Star Sports Resort at 4:00 p.m., right on time.

Plus: Hotel was nice.
Minus: Room was in the farthest building from the bus stops. Like 200 yards from the bus stops. Now, 200 yards isn't so bad unless you're walking it four or six times in a day with four kids and strollers and diaper bags and assorted drinks and souvenirs hanging off of you. Then it's like some sort of nomadic gypsy desert crossing of the badlands.

We got to Epcot at around 5:30 and had enough time for a couple of rides before our dinner reservations.Epcot was a sleeper hit. I thought it would be the place the kids would snooze through, but perhaps since it was our first day or whatever, they were wound up. I think that the Nemo ride in The Seas area went down as a favorite.

Lily didn't take one photo with a straight face the entire trip. Here's her impression of this character from Nemo. Spot on.

We ate at the San Angel Inn in "Mexico" for supper.

This place is so cool. They’ve got a huge Mayan ruin-style pyramid and volcano in the restaurant and the sky looks like night time with stars overhead. Of course, we couldn't see any of that from the table they put us at. This was the most average meal of the trip and the worst table in the history of time. I determined before leaving that Sister Sunshine Charlotte wasn't going to appear during this vacation, so the first night out, these folks got a major break and I took that poopy table without remark. But I silently vowed then and there not to make the mistake of being so hungry that we couldn’t wait for a better seat! The entire point of being at Disney is the experience of being at Disney. No more table in the corner without a view for this family! We are Johnsons, by God! (She almost escaped again there.)

They have a huge "river" that runs through the restaurant, and you can ride boats through the building. This is ubercool for Shorties. We also had time to ride the boat in "Norway" (although Lily handled this well, she did talk a lot about "dat boat" and I know this is the one she meant since it had the huge troll that jumps out and tries to eat you). We came outside from that ride to see the park closing fireworks production. Lily watched from the vantage point of my shoulders and every time a big firework would blast off she would jump and scream, "THAT IS SO BE-U-TEE-PUL!!!" at the top of her lungs until everyone around us was tickled.

That's all the energy we had for day one. :-) The Mother Bear was tired.