I'm just SO HAPPY to be here! Christin&Ben's Feb/Mar 2013 Trip! UPDATE 4/7!!!!!!!!!!!

CAStevens218

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 18, 2010
I'm Just SO HAPPY to be Here!

Hello, and :welcome: to my fourth trip report! This is the story of my 6th trip to Disney World, the 5th with my husband, Ben! We started visiting together in 2009 when we were dating, got engaged at Disney World, and honeymooned there in July/August 2012!

What brought us back so soon? Does anybody REALLY need a reason? I know I don't, but a free dining pin code certainly helped us make the decision to head back!

We hadn’t expected to go back so soon…in fact, when we left at the end of our honeymoon, we had decided that we wouldn’t go back until 2014, when the new Fantasyland was (hopefully), complete. The fact that we kind of surprised ourselves with this trip helped us really take the time to smell the roses and enjoy, because we felt absolutely no rush or pressure to do anything in particular…this trip was a bonus, after all!! I think I must have said "I'm just SO HAPPY to be here" twenty times a day, which makes it the perfect title for this trip report!

So, what do you need to know about us to fully enjoy reading our story?

First, there’s me:

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I’m Christin, and I turned 26 just prior to this trip. I work in higher education student affairs, and got amazing career related news during this trip! I love to read, watch movies and tv, travel, try new restaurants, and run. I write with way too many exclamation points, so get ready for a lot of excitement in this trip report!!!!!!!

My favorite ride at Disney World is the Tower of Terror, with Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain as close seconds. I don’t have one favorite character, but the Winnie the Pooh gang will always hold a special place in my heart, and Donald always cracks me up! I also can’t choose one favorite movie…but The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast rank high on my list, which made the new Fantasyland all the more exciting for me!

Then, there’s Ben:

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Ben is 29 and works in gaming at a local casino. We got married on 7.22.12 at our local aquarium, with a Beluga Whale overlooking the ceremony! Check out my previous trip report for wedding pictures! He loves to do all kinds of sports including baseball, hockey, martial arts and rock climbing. He also loves video games and fantasy football (both of these drive me crazy!!!!). Ben is goofy and always loves to have a good time, which makes him a great companion on Disney trips! He loves to skip down Main Street USA!

Ben’s favorite ride is Rockn’ Roller Coaster, but he also loves Space Mountain and Everest! Ben is a thrill ride guy for sure! His favorite characters are Donald and Grumpy, along with any of the funny, sarcastic or quirky characters. He doesn’t have a favorite movie, but he really enjoyed watching Brave on the flight down this trip!

Now that we are all friends, Ben and I would love for you to accompany us as we relive our trip! What can you expect to read about? All kinds of new and new to us adventures!!

For example, this trip included:
- Cirque du Soleil La Nouba
- Bowling at Splitsville
- Gatorland!!
- New Fantasyland
- Art of Animation
- AMC’s Dine In Movie Theater

Basically, we had 8 nights of fun and excitement that we can’t wait to share with you!!!!

So, without further ado, get comfortable, grab some popcorn, and get ready to come along for the ride! Thanks in advance for reading; I would love for you all to comment, introduce yourselves, and just let me know you are here as we go along!

Next stop, DISNEY WORLD!!!!! :wizard:
 
Second Star to the Right and Straight on ‘Till Morning!

January 26 was our travel day, but our flight wasn’t until 6:00PM, so I worked a half day before we headed to the airport. Well…worked may not be the correct word here. Let’s face it, I was useless. I went into the office…stared at my computer…thought about Disney…sat through a staff meeting…thought about Disney….stared at my computer some more…you get the idea! Thank goodness no students needed anything from me that day because I probably would have just stared at them with a glazed over look in my eyes!!

Finally, finally, FINALLY, it was 2:00PM and I bounded out of that office like Simba running from the wildebeests…except happy and excited and not terrified for my life!

After a quick stop for gas, I was home by 2:30PM, and Ben was waiting for me there. His days off are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but he works overnights so he had slept until about noon and then got up to finish packing. I burst through the door and, like a tornado, ran around grabbing last minute items and stuffing them into my suitcases!

Exactly as planned, we were walking out the door at 3:00PM to head to the airport.

Here we are, ready to go!!!

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I guess we were so excited we felt the need to pose in front of the open closet? Ahhh, well.

We live about 1 hour from either the Hartford CT airport or the Providence RI airport, but we tend to get cheaper prices out of Providence, so that was where we were headed. One quick stop for a Dunkin Donuts unsweetened iced tea with extra lemon (I SWEAR they put crack in that stuff…I NEEEEED it!), and we were on our way!

The drive is easy and we didn’t hit any traffic. We parked in the long term garage, just in case of any snow while we were away. This garage is a bit of a walk to the terminal, and is not so much fun in the cold. However, we always find ways to entertain ourselves…

Where’s Waldo?

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There was no line at the Southwest counter, so we were able to head right up and use one of the touch screens to check in and print our boarding passes. As the agent was printing our luggage tags, the power went out! Yikes, not good! It was only out for about 5 minutes, thankfully, and the woman was able to check our luggage and send us on our way.

While we were waiting, we heard another passenger in a bit of a panic telling a Southwest employee that he had gotten a text from Southwest that his flight had been delayed by 45 minutes, and then by another hour. So, he had planned accordingly and arrived at the airport two hours before the new time. Just as he was walking in, he got a text that his flight was leaving on time and now he was about to miss it!! I would be SO UPSET if that happened to me! I hope he made it!!

We jumped right into the security line next, and it was a bit backed up because of the power outage, but still not too bad. Just as we got to the front, the power went out again! Thankfully, they were still able to use the regular metal detectors instead of those new body scanners, so we were through security with minimal delay. I was hoping that flights weren’t being affected though!

So, now, we were through security and we had about 1 hour before our boarding time. We were hungry. The food places had no power. Sigh. None of them were able to serve anything because the registers weren’t working!

We decided to wait around the food court area for a few minutes since the power had come back on so quickly the last time. We got a table and hung around for about 20 minutes, but they still didn’t get power back. However, the pizza place decided to serve what they had and take cash only, so we were able to get a couple slices of pizza.

We took it to our gate and found some seats to relax in and eat. It was very dark in the terminal; most of the lights were out! I could see that the gate agent’s computer WAS working though, so I was hopeful that we wouldn’t be delayed!

Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch! We boarded on time and took off on time! It was a nice easy flight; I read a book and Ben watched Brave on my iPad.

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We landed at MCO at 9:00PM on the dot, and headed to baggage claim. We were getting our own luggage this time because I had gotten an amazing deal on a rental car ($144 for 8 nights!), but we had to pick it up from Alamo at the airport. Even if we were using the Magical Express, I probably would have wanted to get our luggage anyway because it was late and I wouldn’t have wanted to wait for it.

We saw this on our way to the fake monorail! Hooray!!!!

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MCO is such a pretty airport!

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We got our bags with no problem and then headed to the Alamo desk. Of course, it was the farthest away that it could possibly be! Ben says I always manage to pick the farthest thing (hotel room, car rental counter, etc…). Of course, I have no control over these things at all, but he likes to make fun of me for it!

We checked in, went across to the garage, picked our car, and were on the road by 10:00PM!

Soon, we were seeing this glorious sight!

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It is TOUGH to get that shot at night from a moving car!

We arrived at All Star Sports at 10:30PM, parked in the check in parking area, and headed in to the desk.

Now, I had a dilemma. I COULD NOT, for the life of me, remember if I had done online check in or not! I had spent so much time on the new Disney website, and it had given me so much trouble…I just didn’t know if I had ever done it!

So, I took a shot in the dark and went up to the regular check in desk. There was no line at either place anyway, so I guess it really wouldn’t have mattered. I told the girl at the desk my dilemma, and she laughed and said it was no problem. I think she thought I was crazy…how could someone forget if they did online check in or not? Oh well.

Turns out, I HAD NOT done online check in, so she printed our tickets and told us we would be staying in the Homerun Hotel! She directed us to the best place to park our car and sent us on our way!

While we were anxious to check out our room and the rest of the hotel, we were also STARVING! Those slices of pizza at the Providence airport had worn off by now and we needed some Disney food ASAP!

Next Stop: End Zone Food Court!
 


Hooray for a new TR!! :cool1:

I hope that guy made his flight! That all sounded like a mess, but I'm glad you were able to get something to eat. :thumbsup2

Your stress over the online check-in was too silly, but I've done that so many times. I just get in the regular, and twice I had it already. Oops! I bet they're used to crazy people like us though! :laughing:

Excited to hear about the resort. Have you stayed at this one before? (I can't recall.)
 
Yay! I can't wait to read all about this trip! I didn't expect to go back this year either but we are going in June. I enjoyed reading all about your honeymoon!
 


Excited to read along!! :wave2:

Yay, thanks for reading!!!

Waiting to see if the food court was still open.

Spoiler Alert: It was! I think I googled it on the way to the hotel to make sure it would be open. If not, we would have had to stop for something on our way there.

Hooray for a new TR!! :cool1:

I hope that guy made his flight! That all sounded like a mess, but I'm glad you were able to get something to eat. :thumbsup2

Your stress over the online check-in was too silly, but I've done that so many times. I just get in the regular, and twice I had it already. Oops! I bet they're used to crazy people like us though! :laughing:

Excited to hear about the resort. Have you stayed at this one before? (I can't recall.)

That guy's story was crazy! I don't know what the airline was thinking, telling people the flight time was now later and then changing it back to the original time at the last minute!

Haha, the stupid new Disney website had been giving me soooo many issues, I think I just ended up saying forget it and skipping online check in.

I stayed at All Star Sports with my family when I was a kid, but Ben and I had never stayed there before! We stayed at Music once though.


Yay! I can't wait to read all about this trip! I didn't expect to go back this year either but we are going in June. I enjoyed reading all about your honeymoon!

Hooray for unexpected trips! Thanks for reading!
 
I'm So Hungry I Could Eat An Entire Zebra!

So, when I left off, we had just checked in and were heading for the food court for some much needed DISNEY FOOD!

The food court was pretty empty, so we were able to move around easily and check out all the menus. I already knew what I wanted…the penne alfredo with chicken. Yummm!!! Ben decided on a steak sandwich, we grabbed, drinks, desserts, and our refillable mugs and headed to the register, where we used two counter service credits for our meal. Our refillable mugs also came with our meal plan!

We found a table by the window so we could watch people walking by while we ate.

Here is my penne alfredo. This is sooo good! The serving is HUGE, especially the piece of chicken!

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This also came with a side salad. It wasn’t very good…kind of wilted. I can imagine it might be better earlier in the day because it would be fresher.

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I decided on a Mickey rice krispie treat for dessert, but I saved it to eat back in the room.

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Here is Ben’s steak sandwich. I think he put the mayo on himself at the condiment bar, so it didn’t come with it. Also, notice him peeking into the photo…he decided to insert himself into a number of food pictures on this trip, so be ready for that!!!

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Ben’s dessert was a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, which he also ate in the room later.

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Here was our view of the food court from our table…clearly, we had our pick of tables!

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After we ate, we got back in the car in the check in parking lot and drove around to the lot closest to our room. We parked and started to unload our suitcases. When we tried to open the hatchback of the car, we COULD NOT get it open! There was just a button back there, and we were pushing it and pulling on the door, but it wouldn’t budge! Unfortunately, one of my big suitcases was back there, so we HAD TO get it open!

This whole situation had us laughing SO hard, that we couldn’t even function for a while. Eventually, we collected ourselves and started to try again. I guess I decided the best thing for me to do was snap a picture of our building while Ben pulled on the door with no success!

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Eventually, I got into the car to see if there was some kind of button I could hit. There was nothing labeled specifically for the hatchback door, but I decided to take a shot in the dark and hit the door unlock button…and it worked!! Hoorayyy, we could finally head into the room!

We discovered that we had a great room location right around the corner from the elevator and stairs, and also right around the corner from the baseball themed pool. It was also very close to the parking lot. Can’t beat that!

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The décor in this room was fun!

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We took a few minutes to settle in, and decided to take a walk around the resort to digest and wind down before heading to bed.

We started our tour at the pool in the Homerun Hotel section, which is where we were staying.

Here’s the view from the stairs:

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I love how they made the pool like a baseball diamond and included the dugouts and scoreboard and bleachers!

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Up next, we headed into the football section!

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Then, the surfing section!

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Then, we got side tracked by a rabbit…and Ben decided he needed to act like Elmer Fudd and hunt wabbits!

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I have a friend who is TERRIFIED of sharks, so I HAD to take this picture!

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I love how the staircases in this section looked like giant lifeguard stands!

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Continuing on our tour…we saw the big guy himself!

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We were getting tired, so we looked at the basketball area from afar and then headed back to our room via the tennis section:

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Back in the room, we settled in some more, showered, and enjoyed our desserts from dinner. Ahhhh, that rice krispie treat!!!! I wish I had one right now!!!

We hit the hay very quickly after getting back to the room…we needed sleep so we could hit our first park hard the next morning!

Next stop: Our FAVORITE Disney breakfast!!
 
Ben is too funny in these pics! :rotfl: And he did a Mickey pose!!

Loving the late night tour of the resort. I bet my boys would like this one. It looks like fun!

Glad you were able to get your bags out of the car!! :laughing:
 
Hi Christin!:wave2:

I love your TR so far. What a great pic of the Disney sign at night! The Sports buildings tour brings back great memories. We stayed there on our first trip. But I don't remember the surfing section; is that new?:scratchin

Too funny about the hatchback - glad it ended well. :lmao:

I hope you don't mind my asking but where did you get your luggage? Who makes it? I have a similar Diane Von Furstenburg set and want to replace with something durable.

Anyway, loving your TR and can't wait to hear more.popcorn::
 
Ben is too funny in these pics! :rotfl: And he did a Mickey pose!!

Loving the late night tour of the resort. I bet my boys would like this one. It looks like fun!

Glad you were able to get your bags out of the car!! :laughing:

Ahhh, he totally did a Mickey pose!!! I will have to show him some of Blake's Mickey poses, he will get a kick out of it!!

It is definitely a fun resort...so much to look at and so many fun places to play!

Ohhh, that car was a challenge! I thought we were going to have to call AAA!!!


Yay! Another report!

Jill in CO

Thanks for reading!!!!

Hi Christin!:wave2:

I love your TR so far. What a great pic of the Disney sign at night! The Sports buildings tour brings back great memories. We stayed there on our first trip. But I don't remember the surfing section; is that new?:scratchin

Too funny about the hatchback - glad it ended well. :lmao:

I hope you don't mind my asking but where did you get your luggage? Who makes it? I have a similar Diane Von Furstenburg set and want to replace with something durable.

Anyway, loving your TR and can't wait to hear more.popcorn::

I stayed at Sports on my first trip as well! We stayed there when I went with my family as a kid!

I'm not sure about the surfing section...I think we stayed in basketball when I was a kid.

Oh man, that car...it definitely has us laughing, but I was really worried for a while!

The blue luggage that Ben has in the picture from the airport is actually a cheap set from Walmart. It has made it through about 4 trips so far, but is getting toward the end of its life! I have other luggage (red leopard print, not sure if it has been in any pictures on here) that I actually got at at TJ Maxx last December. I needed something big and light for my trip to India, and this set was great! It has only been on two trips (India and this trip to Disney) but it is holding up well so far. Not sure of the brand, but I can check when I get home tonight!



Yay, thanks for reading!!!
 
Enjoying so far!!

Especially love your the title to the first chapter.. Second Star to the right.. And straight on till morning.. Favorite Disney Quote!! :))))
 
Thanks for the quick response about the luggage. I forgot about TJ Maxx. I got my daughter's luggage there - it's light weight with great features. I'll be sure to check there.

So India huh? Wow! That sounds amazing! Are there parts of Animal Kingdom that bring back memories of India for you?

Your TR sounds wonderful so far; can't wait to hear more!:cool1:
 
Enjoying so far!!

Especially love your the title to the first chapter.. Second Star to the right.. And straight on till morning.. Favorite Disney Quote!! :))))

Thanks for reading!! I'm going to try to use a Disney quote for the title of each chapter...we will see how far I get!!


Thanks for the quick response about the luggage. I forgot about TJ Maxx. I got my daughter's luggage there - it's light weight with great features. I'll be sure to check there.

So India huh? Wow! That sounds amazing! Are there parts of Animal Kingdom that bring back memories of India for you?

Your TR sounds wonderful so far; can't wait to hear more!:cool1:

India was amazing! I did a post about the trip in my last trip report, so if you are interested in pictures, check it out!

Parts of Animal Kingdom DEFINITELY remind me of India! I had a great time pointing out the similarities to Ben on this trip!
 
QUOTE=CAStevens218;47876427]India was amazing! I did a post about the trip in my last trip report, so if you are interested in pictures, check it out!

Parts of Animal Kingdom DEFINITELY remind me of India! I had a great time pointing out the similarities to Ben on this trip!

OMG! Your pictures of India are spectacular!:hyper: Thanks for posting them.

Is it mandatory for all hotels in India to have such breath taking views? No matter which city you were in the views were amazing. The Taj Mahal looks beautiful in pictures; I can't imagine what it feels like to see it up close. :faint: And that market with the fabric. I love to sew, so not sure how I could get all of that fabric home on the plane. :rotfl2::lmao:

Your camel pics remind me of camel-riding in Lanzarote on our honeymoon. It was so much fun!

What a rich culture; you're so fortunate to have experienced it. Well, it's nice to know, if we can't get back to the places we love any time soon, Disney brings a little of them to us!:woohoo:

Looking forward to your next updates!::yes::
 
QUOTE=CAStevens218;47876427]

OMG! Your pictures of India are spectacular!:hyper: Thanks for posting them.

Is it mandatory for all hotels in India to have such breath taking views? No matter which city you were in the views were amazing. The Taj Mahal looks beautiful in pictures; I can't imagine what it feels like to see it up close. :faint: And that market with the fabric. I love to sew, so not sure how I could get all of that fabric home on the plane. :rotfl2::lmao:

Your camel pics remind me of camel-riding in Lanzarote on our honeymoon. It was so much fun!

What a rich culture; you're so fortunate to have experienced it. Well, it's nice to know, if we can't get back to the places we love any time soon, Disney brings a little of them to us!:woohoo:

Looking forward to your next updates!::yes::

There were so amazing views from the hotels and restaurants we went to! The Taj Mahal was breathtaking...EXTREMELY crowded though!

Getting things home on the plane was definitely a concern when we were shopping! I'm sure we were quite a sight to see when we were trying to pack on our last day!

I had never heard of Lanzarote before, but I just googled it and it looks AMAZING!
 
Think of all the joy you’ll find, when you leave the world behind…​

We woke up bright eyed and ready to go on our first morning! We got ready quickly and headed out to the car to head to our first park…the Magic Kingdom!

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On our way, we saw our first Disney bus of the trip! We LOVE having a car now that we have experienced it, but seeing those busses means we are IN DISNEY WORLD, so they still make me excited!

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Ahhhhhhh, soooo excited to be here!!!!!

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We drove to the Transportation and Ticket Center and got a front row parking spot! We love being there early enough to park in the front so that we don’t have to wait for a tram at the end of the night!

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Mickey insisted that we pose with him….and who can refuse Mickey?

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Now, I know I promised you all a day at the Magic Kingdom….and, I promise we’ll get there…but FIRST, we needed to eat!!

Anybody know where we’re going?

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Well, we hopped on the resort monorail….and rode it around to the Polynesian! Know where we are going now?

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Kona!!!!

We LOVE having breakfast at Kona, and we always try to do it on our first morning if we can!

I had made a reservation the night before, so we walked on up to the podium and checked in. The CM checking us in was very pleasant, and told us it would just be a second and then we would be seated. I started to head toward the railing to look down into the lobby, and before I even took a step, our name was called! The CM laughed and said “I told you it would only be a second!” I LOVE when someone says that and it is true…especially when I am on my way into breakfast at Kona!

When we were handed our menus, I was THRILLED to see that the red velvet pancakes were still on the menu!

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I didn’t even have to look, my decision was made! Ben looked for a few minutes and chose the Big Kahuna for his meal. He was hungry!!!

While we waited for our food, we discussed what we hoped to accomplish at the Magic Kingdom that day. We didn’t have much time to talk though, because our food was in front of us very quickly!

Check out these babies:

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These we SO. SO. SOOOO. GOOD!!! They were very rich, so I didn’t finish them, but I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. That cream cheese topping….yummmmm!!!

Ben wanted to be in his food picture again…so here he is with his Big Kahuna!

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He really enjoyed this as well. I tried some of the potatoes and they were delicious!

When we were finished, we paid our bill (we paid cash here instead of using a dining credit), and headed back out to the monorail. NOW it was Magic Kingdom time! See? I told you we would get there eventually!

We rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, went through the bag check, through the turnstiles, and found a spot for the opening show!

Now, side note, we got to use the new turnstiles for the first time on this morning. They were neat, but the set up baffled me. There were basically four of the little machines for every 1 CM. People were moving so quickly, there was no way the CM was able to see everyone. It would have been so easy for someone to just walk right on through and say they had used the machine. Not sure about the set up, but the machines were nifty! Yup….nifty, I said it!

Anyway, back to the opening show…this always makes me tear up!!! Who knew that people singing about “good morning” could make me emotional?

Finally, the gates were open and we entered the Magic Kingdom!!!!

I always feel such a strange combination of excitement and calm when I walk down Main Street USA for the first time on a trip. It just feels RIGHT.

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As we made our way toward the castle, we saw the Dapper Dans getting off the trolley. I love their outfits!

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When we got to the hub, we had a decision to make. We had been talking about what we should do for a few days now. Did we want to follow our tradition and head to Space Mountain or did we want to head to the new Fantasyland to do Enchanted Tales with Belle?

Decisions, decisions….

Next stop: Our day at Magic Kingdom!
 

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