[MerlinMatt]

Here's Day 1. Click on the link to skip to the pictures for the trip

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Day 1 - Travel Day.

When things start out badly, there are 2 schools of thought. The first is: if something starts out badly, then you're in trouble, you're setting a trend. The second is: great, get all of the bad out of the way early. Kinda like eating green beans before eating the steak.

Anyhoo, I'll go with the second. At least that's what I was praying.

We sent the kids off to school and I prepared the dogs to get dropped off. I prepped the car with blankets in the back and got them ready for a short drive across town. Of course, Max (6 years old, acts like a puppy) is acting like a spaz, pushing the blanket onto the floor of the car.. Jack, the old man, blind and partially deaf is just happy that someone's giving him attention. Halfway there, I get the great idea of calling to make sure they're open early. No such luck. So, I turn around to go back home.

Did I mention that Max was having some "digestive issues" recently?

So, about a block from the house, Max suddenly jumps into front seat and I notice that he's got a smear of... Oh my God! What's that smell??? MAXIE!!!! All over the back seat! And having stepped in it, Max got it all over the front seat. Needless to say, the day was starting out.. well.... poopy.

Did I mention that it's barely 25 degrees?

DW shows up and the two of us are remarkably chipper about the whole thing. Thank God for leather seats... and toothbrushes. 30 minutes, 2 toothbrushes and 3 frozen mop-buckets later, the car is clean. NOW I can take them to the kennel. So, I get the feeling back in my fingers just as I'm dropping them off. "Um, yeah. We had a little 'incident' this morning. You may want to give Max a bath."

Before leaving, DW needed to pick up her new contact lens prescription. After 20 minutes of waiting.. they can't find them. Has anyone ever heard the expression, "whatever can go wrong will go wrong..." ? It was beginning to feel like a day like that.

Then, all of a sudden, it was like Tinkerbell flew by and dropped pixie dust on us. The eye-care place gave DW a free pair to take with her on our trip. We got back to the house in plenty of time and our "cab" showed up about 15 minutes early. It was a beautiful black Town Car for a fixed rate to the airport which was about the same price as a taxi. We grabbed the kids and flew down on a remarkably uneventful trip. Carlos from Quicksilver was waiting despite our showing up 45 minutes early. We were out of the airport 5 minutes earlier than we were scheduled to land.

Oh, and the weather. Sunny, high 50s. Just terrific! a 30 degree improvement in just a few hours.

We checked into PC in about 5 minutes. Fastest checkin in my life. The room was in the 90's on the second floor. Far from Classic Hall, but actually quite convenient for buses. We had dinner at Portobello's and it was great. We decided that we'd sleep in in the morning and get the vacation started comfortable and slow. The beds were comfy.

[Erin]

OH wow! That was a...different start to your day!! LOL!


Please keep it coming, Matt!!

[dznygrl]

Oy vey, what a way to start your trip! Haha. I'm glad things improved by the end of the day, though. I cannot wait to hear more, Matt!!

[dznygrl]

P.S. Your pictures were great! Makin' me homesick for WDW...can't believe it's been over a year and 3 months...

[Pooh Fan]

Matt,
I am glad to see that the end of your day was much better than the beginning. I loved the pictures and can;t wait to read more.

[tiggerlover1971]

Oh my Matt that was quite a way to start a trip

[royorb1]

Loved the pictures Matt, MainSt. was awesome at night, can't wait for 1900 Park Faire, and what theatre was that?

[Jen]

Your day started off like so many of mine, lol! Glad to hear it ended better!

Loved the pictures ~ loved your DS's green hair!

Can't wait to hear more!

Jen

[Dana]

What a "poopy" way to start off your day. I am so glad that the day got better with DW's eyes glasses, improved more with an early flight and great towncar service, and ended perfectly in a comfy bed after eating your favorite WDW restaurant. I cannot wait to hear the rest of this. The pictures were GREAT! I love the one of your childrens with their haircolors and the one of you all in front of the tree.

[DisneyWorldFan]

What a crappy start to your day! LOL
Glad that things picked up after that.
Nice report, and thanks for including the photos.
Look forward to hearing more about your trip.

[disneyguy]

Matt, I am glad to hear that once you got to the airport that everything was fine. It sounds like a great start to the trip. I cannot believe that you got checked in within 5 months!!!! That is awesome!!!!! The CM that checked us in was a little slow, because she was new and was actually a CM over at CBR, but she was great.

[disneyguy]

BTW: I just got done looking through the pictures. I have to say the best one is the one with your son and Pluto in Tomorrowland. What is the towel supposed to be?? I am guessing a Mickey, but wasn't totally sure.

[BDavis932]

Great pictures, Matt! Thanks for sharing them with us!!!!!!

Did you DD and DS both get haircuts at the Barber Shop? Can you make ressies for that?? If not, how was the wait for it?

Can't wait to read more about your trip!!

[mickaholic4077]

Okay,matt,great start so far. Where's the rest of the report???

[tigger]

Great start to your TR. Glad you got all the crap (sorry couldn't resist) out of the way early on...enjoyed the pictures but were is the robe, hat, and wand?