The idea for this trip began last Christmas, when my siblings and I received money from my Nana's estate. She passed away in February 2007, and on Christmas Eve, my dad gave each of us money that was to be used for something special, not the mortgage or the car payment! My DH immediately said, "Disney World!" Who am I to argue? We were booked right after New Year's Day. My DH chose POR, since it would be the cheapest for our family of 5 plus one under 3. About 6 weeks later, I came to my senses and decided that we should celebrate our 15th anniversary while we were there and upgraded to the Polynesian. Of course, I wouldn't tell the family until we got there. The cast includes me (Beth), DH (Rick), DS12 (Christian), DDs 8, 6 and 2 (Rose, Grace and Kate).
Monday, April 28 - Travel/arrival day
Our flight was due to leave at 7 a.m. from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. When I'd booked the flight, it was supposed to depart at 6:40 a.m. so we had about 20 extra minutes of sleep that morning. Rick had given me an iPod as an early Mother's Day gift, so I'd been up late filling it up with all of my CDs and several TV shows (
Eli Stone and
Lost), and then when I'd gone to bed, I wasn't able to get to sleep. I mean, who sleeps the night before a Disney trip, anyway? Maybe I got to sleep by 1 a.m. and then at about 2:30, Kate called to me, asking for me to get her out of her bed. Apparently, she couldn't sleep either!
I snuggled her back to sleep and then was able to sleep for another hour myself before it was time to get up.
FIL was driving us to the airport and taking our van back with him so we didn't have to pay for parking; what a great guy! He picked us up promptly at 4:15, and I let him in on the resort switch and enlisted his help in keeping the secret from Rick. He said to me, "You sure are full of surprises!" I had put the yellow DME tags on the suitcases after DH had put them in the van the night before, so I told FIL that Rick could not see the suitcases when we arrived at the airport!
We were backing out of the driveway at 4:30, right on schedule. It usually takes us about an hour to get to the airport, but with my lead foot, I think we made it in 45 minutes! FIL and I unloaded the bags while DH got the kids out of the van. I scooted off with the bags to curbside check-in and the bags were gone before DH could see them! Phew! The secret was safe so far!
I had checked us in online the morning before, so now all we had to do was get the six of us through security! Not an easy task, but the kids did well and it didn't take long at all. We didn't have much time to wait before we were boarding! Rick took Christian and Rose, while Kate and Grace sat with me. We passed the time by snacking, reading and watching "Enchanted" on the DVD player (the first and last time it was used during the trip; it stopped working sometime during the week. Looks like Christian is getting a new one for his birthday!)
The kids were very excited about their first "monorail" ride of the trip, and we found the DME counter easily. While it wasn't as empty as it had been last September, there were only a couple of people in line ahead of me. After checking in with a great CM named Terry, I walked to where I had left my family with an anniversary card in my hand.
I handed the card to Rick and asked him to read it out loud. I had written that we were not able to spend our honeymoon at Disney World, but I thought we should celebrate our 15th anniversary there. He has always wanted to take me to Hawaii, so I told him Disney would bring Hawaii to us during our stay at the Polynesian. He seemed very happy about the surprise, and the kids were, too, even though they didn't really understand what it meant. They would soon find out how
it was going to be!
We were directed to a waiting area, since they had to call for a bus equipped with a wheelchair lift. I called my brother right away, and we chatted for a few minutes while we waited for our bus to arrive. Our driver was George, and he had a bit of trouble getting the lift to work. He had to call in another CM, and my DH helped them figure it out, as well. The fact that this was one of the only buses we'd be taking all week was looking pretty good to Rick already!
Christian is ready to roll!
The kids loved the video; I think it really helps them to get ready for what they're about to experience. At one point, Kate said, "We're almost there, Walt!"
Of course, my older girls remembered our last trip, but to Kate, this was her first time at Disney World. She was only about 18 months last time, so it was all new to her. You can just see the excitement in her face.
I think you can see the excitement in Rick's face, as well!
We arrived at the Polynesian at 11:36, which was a little later than I'd hoped. We gave our bus driver a tip, and a little thank you card that I had printed out at home. There were several different ones to choose from, and I always gave the girls the job of picking the right one out and handing it to the cast member. They enjoyed doing this, and most of the CMs were really appreciative, once they figured out exactly what it was that they were given! I had really been hoping that our room would be ready, because it would have been great to have a chance to rest and relax a bit before heading to Epcot for our 1:30 ADR at Le Cellier. I was reminded for the first of many times that everything takes longer than you expect it to!
When I checked in, they told me our room would be in Niue, which is close to the lobby, otherwise known at the Great Ceremonial House. I had requested (via my TA) Tokelau, Tahiti or Rapa Nui. These buildings were "newer," they had recently been renovated, their rooms were a bit bigger, and they were closer to the Ticket and Transportation Center, where it is easy to catch the monorail to Epcot. I asked if it were possible to get a room in one of the other buildings, and the CM gladly checked for me. She was able to switch us to a room in Tokelau, but on the third floor instead of the first, which was my other request so we didn't have to deal with elevators. We ended up enjoying the balcony, so it worked out really well.
Since the room wasn't ready, we camped out in the beautiful lobby for a bit. Grace immediately found a hidden Mickey; she loves finding these!
We got Christian out of his chair, and he and Rick relaxed on one of the couches while the girls and I explored for a bit. The pool is right behind the lobby, so I took the girls out for a quick look.
You can watch Wishes from this pool!
There is a slide inside this volcano!
Rick got a refillable mug from the quick service place, I packed a park bag and we all changed into our matching shirts (the first of many!) before heading out for our first real monorail ride of the trip.
Up next, Epcot!