Day: May 23, 2008

Karen and I took Katie Beth to Walt Disney World for her first time.

She was great on the flight down and seemed to enjoy looking out the window.  When, we arrived we had trouble getting to our bags, because it has been awhile since we had to handle our own bags in the Orlando airpot (MCO).  We have been use the Magical Express Service provided by Walt Disney World, which picks up your bags and delivers them to your room.  But, we finally got our bags and worked them into our compact car.

It was nice to be back at Walt Disney World.  The last time we were in here we learned that Karen was pregnant with Katie Beth.  It was during the International Food and Wine Festival.

During check -in, Katie Beth was awarded a “1st Visit” button.  This button will be a nice keepsake for Katie Beth.  We got our room keys and parking pass for our visit.

After check-in, we got a bite to eat, because our room was not ready.  We had arrived three hours prior to check-in time.  But, the room was ready within a few minutes.

We put our things away and headed to the pool where Katie Beth got to play in the wet play area.

She was timid at first, but she started to walk into the water as the trip continued.

Later that day, Katie Beth tried a lemon for the first time, which was funny.  She reacted to the lemon as aspected, but in the end she liked it.

We had the chance to purchase pins to trade with Charlie and Hannah, my sister’s two children.  We picked out pins that they can’t purchase at Disneyland, which is near their house.  The pin to the right is a Disney VISA Card exclusive pin.

We took Katie Beth to Fulton’s Crab House, which is a boat, for lunch and to let her watch boats drive by us.  We met a nice couple also dinning on the front of the boat.  They ended up paying for our lunch and we never got to thank them.  (Thanks!)

We took Katie Beth on a ferry ride back to Saratoga Springs Resort after lunch at Fulton’s Crab House, but Katie Beth didn’t appreciate the excitement of riding on a boat.  She wasn’t afraid or anything like that, but she didn’t see it as something new.

We went over to the Polynesian Resort to watch the water parade at dark.  Katie Beth fell asleep so got some quite time to watch the world go by without a care.  After Katie Beth woke up, we walked back to the Polynesian Resort’s Pool.  While walking back to the pool area, we let Katie Beth experience sand for the first time.  She ate it!

She didn’t even think anything of it.  And, she ate some more.  It is very hard to get sand out of a baby’s mouth.  She truly enjoyed the sand.  She rubbed her hands and feet all through the sand while grinning and laughing.

After playing in the wet play area, we watched the water parade and the Magic Kingdom’s fireworks.  Katie Beth sleep through the fireworks.

On Wednesday, we went to the “Welcome Home Wednesday” event, which is held each week at the Dance Hall on the Boardwalk.  It is a Disney Vacation Club members meet and greet were Disney gives away prizes to everyone who comes.  They even have a Jeopardy-like game show where Disney Vacation Club members get to play for fun and prizes, because in the end everyones wins.  I got picked to play and got a Disney Vacation Club beach towel/bag, which was very nice.  Katie Beth had fun watching me in the game.

I like the “Welcome Home Wednesday”, because you get to know other Disney Vacation Club members.  It amazing how many will walk up and say hello when they see you later.  And like I said, everyone wins.  Everyone was given a Disney Vacation Club hat.

We went to the Campfire Sing-A-Long and Movie at Fort Wilderness Campground.  We had never been to the camp ground area, which looked very nice.  They had a campfire and you could buy marshmallows, chocolate bars, graham crackers, and a stick.  I had never made s’mores.  Wow!  Karen enjoyed them, too.  But, Katie Beth got covered in chocolate, because in the darkness we couldn’t see the chocolate dripping.  Katie Beth enjoyed the graham crackers and they weren’t too meshy.  A lady came out to lead us in songs and she was joined by Chip and Dale.  Chip and Dale walked around to visit all the

guest.  Chip came by to visit Katie Beth and she loved it.  She wanted to hug and be held by Chip.  After the singing and some more s’mores, the movie was started.  It was the original Herbie. But, bugs started to bite so we had to go.  (Karen has bite marks all over her.)  We had a great time at the sing-a-long.  We learned that many people love the camping and they would not visit Walt Disney World any other way.  We are not sure what kind of bugs were bitting us, but they hurt.  The return to the car was very slow, because the bus driver passed us by at the bus stop.

Katie Beth loved the pools.  We pickup a noodle float for her to play at the rental area, which is free to DVC members.  She liked pushing it around the pool and keep trying to eat it.  She learned to hold her breath when she slipped under the water.  It has funny to watch her walk straight into the deep water without any look of concern.

Karen and I did have sometime to relax when Katie Beth took longer and longer naps over the course of the vacation.  We even had time for a beer at Downtown Disney.

We all had a blast on our trip.  We learned some new things about Walt Disney World, which is always nice.  In the future, we expect to take longer trips and include more of the smaller activities like we did on this trip.  Karen just loved not going into the parks.  She enjoyed the slower pace with no set schedule.  We even played shuffle board.

But, it is time to head home and start planning the next trip to Walt Disney World.