Day One In the Books!

Well, our first full day at Disney is complete, and overall it went very well. The day began with the alarm going off at 5:50 a.m. to ensure we would make it to our 7:10 a.m. breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Hotel. That's what we get for waiting so long to book a character breakfast. Anyway, we took a boat from our hotel to the Contemporary, and the girls loved the boat ride, even though it was literally still dark outside. Breakfast was a great buffet, and the girls saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald there. It seems Amanda is finally over her fear of people in giant animal costumes, which is a relief!

After breakfast, we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, which was another fun ride. We actually got there before the park opened, but that meant we got to see the little opening number the cast puts on every day. That was fun to see. Once.

In the park, we basically spent most of our time in Fantasyland riding all the kiddie rides -- Dumbo, Peter Pan, Teacups, It's a Small World, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, etc. both girls really enjoyed all the rides, but Reagan got a little scared during Snow White's Scary Adventure, and I don't blame her since that creepy witch kept popping up over and over again. I'm frankly amazed Amanda did as well as she did through it all.

For lunch, we had reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table, which was really great. We got the girls dressed in little dresses and got to go inside the castle, which Amanda had been asking about all day. It started with a photo of Amanda and Cinderella, which turned out really well. We then went upstairs to the dining room, where we (the grown-ups) had a great meal, and the girls had the usual chicken fingers, etc. But they got to meet Snow White, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle, which Amanda just loved. Even Reagan smiled at them and got fussy when they left the table to move on. It was really cute, and the princesses were just great with the kids. And they were also easy on the eyes, even though I feel like a creepy old man for saying so.

Since we had narrowly averted a Reagan meltdown before lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel after lunch so she could get a good nap. Sure enough, she went right down for over two hours. While we hoped Amanda would also nap, it was not to be. She just played and played and played. I don't know where she got the energy. Susan and I napped for a little, but not long enough!

We had a special treat for dinner, as Aunt Terri and Uncle Rick came over from Cocoa to visit. We took the boat to Fort Wilderness Campground and we all (including the Luskins) ate at a country buffet. The food was good, but our luck had run out with Reagan. She got fussy early and was pretty much inconsolable unless she was being held and/or carried around. It made for a difficult and less than ideal dinner for Susan and me, but thank goodness Terri was there to occupy Amanda (who was still going strong). She was a lifesaver.

We got back to the room, got the girls bathed and in bed, and pretty much got ready for bed ourselves. Tomorrow is another Magic Kingdom day, and we're meeting some more family from the Space Coast. The best part is we get to sleep in!

I'm gonna try to upload a few pics, but I'm not sure how that'll work on the iPad. Here goes...