Walt Disney World arrival

If I've been quiet, it's because we've spent the past week at Walt Disney World. Bryan and I started planning for the trip when Cameron was born and last year we decided that it was the right time and the girls were just the right age to book the trip.

Saturday (the 17th) we flew to Orlando via Southwest. At the airport we found out it would be a full flight and it wasn't hard to guess where most of us were going. We were just one of many families, most with small children, and we were probably the only family not wearing a Disney t-shirt or other Disney outfit. When we arrived in Orlando, my first introduction to Disney was a very long line. It turns out that Saturday is their busiest arrival/departure day.

Disney has a great program called Magic Express, where they pick up your luggage from the baggage claim and bus you straight to your Disney resort on property. (The luggage is delivered something later that night.) But the line at the airport is something like checking your bags at the airline counter, with a lot more people. Only one person per family is allowed to stand in the line, while the others wait in a waiting area. You present your vouchers to a very cheery "cast member" who checks you in and tells you to gather your family and report to the "red carpet" (a tiny square) where you are sorted into lines for a specific bus going to your resort area. This is also initiation for the one question you will be asked at every park, in every line for every ride: "How many?" Four. 4. (hold up four fingers)

Disney does transportation very well; they are experts in moving people all over their property. The bus ride took about an hour, maybe a little more, and they played a "Welcome" movie as they drove all of us (full bus) to three of the four Magic Kingdom resorts. On the way to our resort we caught an outside glimpse of the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian.

But our stay was at the Wilderness Lodge. We loved it and honestly have to say we kind of wish we were still there tonight. In attaching the link just now I looked at their photos of the Lodge. I love how when you've been to a place, you know just where the photo was taken and you try to remember everything you loved about that place.

During check-in, we were asked if we had dinner reservations for all seven of our table service meals. Um, no... was it really necessary during this "off-season" time of year? Yes, we were told that if we didn't have reservations we might not be able to get into any specific places. The only problem was that I hadn't figured out which day we would be doing which park.

Our room was on the fifth floor in the left wing facing the swimming pool.

It also gave us a fairly decent view of the lake.

Though the hotel is really big, we discovered that our room was in a darn good location. We were about halfway down the hallway from an elevator that put you on the first floor right next to the Roaring Forks eating area, a little "quick-service" location offering a grill, freshly made sandwichs, grab and go options and drinks. We also purchased the refillable mugs allowing us to pop down and fill up with hot chocolate, coffee, or cokes at any time of the day.

After seeing the room (no luggage yet at this point) we had to figure out what to do. First order of business was to get some lunch. It was 4 p.m. (eastern) and we hadn't eaten since breakfast and a snack on the plane. We used our first quick-service credits (Disney Dining Plan) to get hamburgers and cheese pizza.

Immediately after eating, I received a phone call from Sue M., a dear "internet" friend whom I've known for ten years now and met twice before. She and her family live on the eastern side of Orlando and they were coming out to visit with us this evening. Even though we have only seen each other twice, the kids picked up right where they left off two years ago. I'm so amazed at how much Sue's older daughter has grown. The first time I met her she was about 7, and now she's a teenager.

For about three hours we explored the hotel courtyard and let the girls run around the pool, dipping their feet into the kiddie wading pool. Bryan went to make some dinner reservations and see if the luggage had arrived (it did) and unpack. Sue and her girls hadn't eaten so we popped back into Roaring Forks to get them some food and continue visiting. Her girls both have cell phones and Cameron & Brenna were thrilled to play with them, taking photos, "texting", and Cameron even talked on the phone to one of K's friends.

Finally about 8:30 p.m. we said goodbye for the third or fourth time and went back up to the hotel room. Bryan had made dinner reservations for the Sci-Fi Drive In restaurant at Hollywood Studios for Sunday, so we knew where were were heading in the morning.