[Cincy]

Day 1 January 11th, 2006

Me - 35
DW - 33
DS - 7
DD -4
DS - 17mos

We are not the best packers, therefore we are always up late the night before our trip trying to make sure we have everything that we will need for our trip. I decided this year would be different. We would start packing two days in advance and would have plenty of time to pack.

I decided to help out and did several loads of laundry the Saturday and Sunday before our trip. I must admit that I have been Fired from doing the laundry on several occasions. In my defense, no one ever told me you could not wash silk pants in the wash, but as a result DW now had a pair of Capri pants she did not know she had.

Despite my best effort to help, we were still up till @1am packing the night before our trip. We got up at 5am and while I loaded the car, DW woke and dressed the kids. We left the house at 6am and drove 2 hours to Indy to catch our flight. We checked into the airport 1 1/2 hours before our flight and were on our way.

Our flight was to leave Indy at 9:20am. At 9am we still did not have a plane at our gate. No problem, I am on vacation. Our plane left about 20 minutes late, but we made very good time in the air and arrived on time in Orlando at 11:35am. We went downstairs to claim our luggage and were off to find ME.

We arrived at the resort at 2pm. Checked in and went to our room to drop off our stuff. When we made our reservations, we had asked to be in the Toy Story section. We got our wish. We were in an end unit on the second floor right behind a 40 foot Woody. My kids loved walking through the door to Andy's room. We grabbed a bite to eat at the food court and went to the Magic Kingdom.

We were in the park at 3:10 and guess what..... the 3pm Parade had just started to come down Main street. We had a great view right in front of the Train Station. We were able to get such a great view because the park was dead. There was no one in the park. All around the parade route there were only a few spots that anyone was standing 2 people deep.

After the parade, we headed to Adventure land. We always start in Adventureland, it is a tradition. We hit the Tree House, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise (Tabitha was an awesome guide), POC and headed to Splash and Thunder Mountain. We then went over to the Haunted Mansion (a must do for the first day). All of this was done in less than 2 hours and that was even after spending 25 minutes on Splash Mountain. I think we broke it, but we soon learned that we would break several other rides while we were there.

We moved on into Fantasy Land, went and rode Goofy's Barnstormer (Several times) and finally headed over to Space Mountain. DS loves roller coasters. He rides them every chance we get and is very disappointed if he is to short to ride. This trip we lucked out, DS was 48.5 inches and DD was 40.5 inches. They were both just barely tall enough to ride everything they wanted to ride.

About the time we finished with Tomorrowland it was time for Wishes. We watched Wishes from the Bridge just West of the Astro Orbiter. In all our trips to Disney, I had never seen Tinkerbell fly. This year we not only got to see it, but she flew right over our head. It was Magical. Below is a picture of Main Street as we made it over to the Crystal Palace. What you don't see is important. There was no crowd at all.

[Cincy]

Here is a picture of the kids at the Crystal palace. As you can see our youngest was out for the night.

[Dana]

Day one is awesome! Can't wait to read more cincy!

[Peppertink]

Wow Cincy....No crowds!!!! Keep it coming...lovin' the TR so far. Sounds like things really went your way...got the building you asked for...no crowds...Tink flying over your head:)

awwww....your kids are cute

[roxie]

It's so nice when the parks are empty!!

Good for you Cincy.

[Cincy]

We were very lucky with the first part of our trip.. Weather was great, Highs in the upper 70's no rain and no crowds. By Saturday the weather turned cold and the crowds picked up, but we had already spent 3 days in the parks and had done more than we had planned.

[Cincy]

Day 2 January 12th, 2006

Today was Epcot Day. We left the room and hoped aboard a bus to the park. The first 3 days we never waited more than 5 minutes for a Bus. I must commend Disney on their transportation. It was first class the whole time.

We were in the park at Rope Drop and with Test Track being closed all week we made a bee line for Soarin. DW and the two eldest rode and then Me and the two eldest rode. I must say that the Baby Swap plan was great to us. We then went and rode the ride in the land and watched the Circle of life film. We were scheduled for a "Behind the Seeds Tour of the Land" at 10:30 and had just enough time to do all of this before our tour started.

When we went back to do the tour I checked to see what the stand by time was for Soarin and it was still at 10 minutes. We went on our tour and I must admit we did this for DW. (I am not the gardener in the family, that is DWs hobby. I am in charge of repairs and general labor.) Since this tour was for DW and the older kids, I held onto DS and tried to keep him entertained. Anyone ever tried to wrestle a monkey, I am sure that is what I looked like for the whole hour of the tour. DW and the kids had a great time. Best part for me was taking pictures in the green house.

Ever wondered how you can make a pumpkin grow into a Mickey Shape?

[Cincy]

We went and rode Mission space (Several times) with only a 10 minute wait each time. This was one of the few rides that the Baby Swap did not save us any time as it was walk up and hop on the whole trip.

We had a 12:10 lunch PS at LeCellier so we headed over there. We had a great meal followed by a great desert. Here is a picture of DS and his desert.

[DisneyTeacher]

What an awesome first day! I can't wait for more, this had to be a great trip with a first day like that.

[Cincy]

and to be fair here is DD and her desert.

[Cincy]

Here is a picture of the Family with Donald. I must admit, after 3 trips with the kids to Disney, this was the first time we ever saw Donald outside of a restaurant. He must love to eat as much as me.

[Boss Mouse]

My goodness, what nice pics and story. I am so much wanted to leave work right now and go down.

[Cincy]

After lunch we decided to tour World Showcase. On our last trip we did not have enough time to visit every country and both of our oldest kids wanted to see every country this time. We started and Canada and worked our way around ina counter clockwise manner. We were able to finish up with Mexico at 6:30 just as it was getting dark. IMHO World Showcase is better durring the Day.

We were able to see Belle and Beast as well as Aladin and Princess Jasmine. Aladin noticed that his signature was already in our oldest childrens books so he told Jasmine that he only needed to sign our youngest son's book since he remembered meting Jamey and Kaitlyn last year. Magical Moment time. Our kids still have no idea how Aladdin remembered meeting them last year, nor how he knew their names.

We had a PS for dinner at the Garden Grill at 7:10 so we headed back to the Land. This was by far our best character meal. We saw Mickey, Dale, Chip and Pluto. Here is a picture of Dale.

[Peppertink]

Oh wow!! What a great magical moment with Aladdin...your kids must have been so amazed and happy!

[Cincy]

and a picture of Pluto. The kids were able to spend @4 minutes with each Character and everyone came around 2 times. DS and Dale even got into a bit of a performance together that was side splitting funny.

After dinner we had just enough time to venture out the area just between the Friendship Docks to watch Illuminations. I will never grow tired of watching this show. Well I guess since they are going to change ROE, I am glad we got a chance to see this one more time and our spot was perfect since there was hardly anyone in the park.