Walt Disney World Day 1: A Little Pixie Dust

Think of the happiest things
It's the same as having wings
Take the path that moonbeams make
If the moon is still awake
You'll see him wink his eye
You can fly, you can fly!
You can fly!
–from Peter Pan

Saturday, January 18, 2014
Destination: Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Weather forecast: High of 67˚

1:00 am, MST: Why am I still awake? Oh, that's right. Because I have to finish a million things before we go on vacation {squee!} for a week! About 870,000 of those things will just have to wait. At least the packing is done. Except for the things we need to use before we go. I hope I remember everything.

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3:00 am, MST: Too. Early. To. Wake. Up.
3:25 am, MST: If I don't get up, we're missing the plane.
4:07 am, MST: In the car and on our way. Piece of cake. This isn't so early. We've totally got this.
4:54 am, MST: Economy lot parking row 8E, shuttle stop 12. Noted. We're in the shuttle to the terminals.
5:01 am, MST: I couldn't find a link to do this on-line. Is this seriously the line to check a bag?
5:11 am, MST: Airport security protocol briefing for the Not-So-Little Bugs: 1) stick to your ticket. That's very important. 2) Never leave your bag unattended.
5:35 am, MST: Mr. Bug has lost his jacket somewhere during the security check, boarding starts in 10 minutes and I need to use the bathroom. We totally don't have this.
5:41 am, MST: Jacket found, potty break achieved, gate located.
6:00 am, MST: Finally our group is boarding. What is the advantage of on-line check-in if you're still the last ones to board?
6:15 am, MST: We're about to take off. This is the first flight for the Not-So-Little Bugs. LadyBug is so excited. It is fun to watch her. Grasshopper is . . . a teenager.
6:20 am, MST: It turns out that it doesn't really matter that getting a new embroidery project together to work on was one of the 870,000 things that didn't get done. I'm so sleepy that I'm not even going to work on the stand-by project I brought.
8:24 am, MST: I just had the strangest dream — I was flying through the middle of a cloud bank. Wait. That's not a dream.
9:57 am, CST [8:57 am, MST]: We're at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. Great. We already lost Mr. Bug's luggage tag. I hope whoever finds it puts it in the mail instead of sending someone to rob our house.
10:20 am, CST [9:20 am, MST]: Everyone wants something different; an Egg McMuffin for Grasshopper, donuts and chocolate milk for LadyBug, and barbecue beef sandwiches from The Salt Lick for Mr. Bug and me. When in Texas . . .
12:10 pm, CST [11:10 am, MST]: Captain Harkness is on the P.A. with one word that gets everyone's attention: cancelled.
12:11 pm, CST [11:11 am, MST]: He's only kidding. The maintenance crew is doing final check and we will begin boarding soon.
12:47 pm, CST [11:47 am, MST]: Departure. The novelty of flying has worn off and LadyBug is not so excited anymore. Grasshopper is still . . . a teenager.
12:48 pm, CST [11:48 am, MST]: Yep. I'm going to sleep through this flight too. I really hope they don't wake me up to try and give me a beverage.
4:15 pm, EST [2:15 pm, MST]: We made it! Orlando, baby!

Supposedly Disney took our checked bag directly to the hotel. Now to find the Disney Magic Express which will take us to the hotel.

4:37 pm, EST [2:57 pm, MST]: Say, these Bands really are Magic. I touched the Mickey silhouette on my band to the Mickey on the scanner and the silhouette on the scanner turned green. I'm guessing our reservations showed up on the computer screen at the podium next to the scanner because the Disney Cast Member standing there then directed us to the right shuttle stop.

We got to choose the color of our MagicBands and have our names engraved on the inside. In addition to getting us to the hotel, they are also our room keys, allow us park entrance, have our FastPass and restaurant reservations {which we made on-line at home a couple of weeks ago} on them, and can be used for purchases throughout the park. MagicBand, indeed.

4:57 pm, EST [2:57 pm, MST]: Departure for the hotel. It's a 30-minute trip. I'm sleeping on this ride too.
5:32 pm, EST [3:32 pm, MST]: Check in at the hotel: Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter. This is SO awesome {although the cute woman who is helping us check in is using a little too much black Sharpie on my map of the resort}. I am so glad we are staying at a Disney hotel. They do hospitality well.

{Our room is on the corner of Rue D'Blues and Ragtime Alley.
Bottom left: View from our room
Top and Middle Right: You can't miss the Disney magic. It's everywhere.
Bottom Right: Our Building}

6:07 pm, EST [4:07 pm, MST]: We're taking a quick 5-minute trip on a Sassagoula Water Taxi up the river to the Port Orleans Riverside resort for dinner at the Riverside Mill Food Court.

7:30 pm, EST [5:30 pm, MST]: Boarding the park shuttle service — Magic Kingdom, here we come!
10:25 pm, EST [8:25 pm, MST]: We rode Space Mountain, Ariel's Underwater Adventure, the Disney Railroad {they use real steam engines, in case you were wondering}, Pirates of the Caribbean and saw the fireworks at Cinderella's Castle. They are open until 1:00 am, EST {11:00 pm, MST}, but we're calling it a day and catching a shuttle back to the hotel.

10:59 pm, EST [8:59 pm, MST]: As if by magic, our checked luggage has appeared in our room. I'm too tired to unpack. Or think.
11:15 pm, EST [9:15 pm, MST]: Lights out.