Disney World!!!

So it has taken a Lenten break from Facebook and a trip to Disney World to get me blogging again. I would love to catch up and blog about the holidays, so I might end up doing that in recap mode here soon. Since I won't be wasting hours per day on Facebook, I might as well try to get back on the blogging bandwagon.

We really did not start planning this trip all that long ago, but an Orlando-bound February business conference for Jarrett spawned the idea sometime in late fall. And despite the somewhat last-minute planning, my parents actually decided to jump in as well. However, they made a week of it, driving down last Saturday, and hitting additional parks -- Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Our vacation is really just beginning today, and our plan is to only visit the Magic Kingdom, spending two full days there, tomorrow and Saturday. Originally, the girls and I were supposed to fly down today, meeting Jarrett at the Wilderness Lodge, where are we staying (Jarrett flew to Orlando for his meeting on Tuesday afternoon). Plans changed, though, when my brother texted me a message Tuesday afternoon that said a meteorologist out of Charlotte was predicting six to eight inches of snow in our area for Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This same guy was correct in predicting the snow we got Tuesday morning that came as a surprise to everyone (and caused Jarrett's flights to be delayed in getting out). So seeing as to how this has been a much-anticipated trip (see Elsa's countdown calendar), I decided to take this dude seriously and called Delta to see if we could fly out Wednesday morning instead. And proceeded to be on hold for about an hour and ten minutes until speaking with a representative. It turned out that because Delta already had a weather bulletin for Greensboro, I was able to switch our flights with no fee or penalty. Talk about worth being on hold for ages!!!

So Elsa, Aveline, and I flew out bright and early yesterday morning, and arrived here in Orlando around 12:30. We had to cancel our Magical Express reservations and instead grab a taxi to Jarrett's conference hotel, the Caribe Royale. The place was not all that special, but the girls still found it very exciting. The kiddie pool, with built-in fountains. The playground. The elevators. And even the two of them sharing a queen bed with each other (something Elsa was first dreading, but later stated how much she loved).

Today we woke up, ate at the hotel's breakfast buffet, and took a cab to the Wilderness Lodge. Wow. This place is pretty great. It is designed after a national park lodge, and throws in elements from several that are quite apparent, and quite appealing to this family. Our room has bunk beds, and it adjoins with my parents' room (we met them here today...they've jumped hotels a few times over the course of their week). Because we scored an extra day in this warmer weather (by the way, we DID get five to six inches of snow at our house last night!), we also had to figure out what to do with the extra day, as we did not have a park ticket. So we took a shuttle bus to Downtown Disney and walked around the shops and ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe. The girls were first a bit intimidated by all the moving rainforest animals, but soon warmed up to even the big gorilla, towering over our table. Elsa became bored with the walking around and shopping, and both girls were exhausted, so we did not last too long before going back to the lodge. There is a lot to see and do here too, and the girls ended up in their swimsuits again. But the kiddie pool here has a couple of water slides (something else the girls are not so sure about...we shall see how the rides go!). We ate dinner at a restaurant on the property, which even included a pony ride on stick horses for the kids and a round of Hokey Pokey for the whole restaurant (yes, even this introvert is getting into the spirit of Disney). Avie was asking to go to bed, so she and I left dinner early. Elsa and Jarrett attempted going to an outdoor showing of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but Elsa declared it a scary movie, and she and Daddy just toured the grounds of the lodge together instead.

Our gorilla companion at Rainforest Cafe.

Terrible photo, but the only one I really got of the pony ride at dinner.

It's a fun place, and I cannot wait to see how the girls experience the Magic Kingdom tomorrow!

Oh, and as for the snow we missed? These photos were sent by Jarrett's brother, Stephen.