The big trip began as all big trips do: with chaos. The night before we left I told the kids "now let's just have a quiet evening and we'll avoid any last-minute emergencies." I should have kept my mouth shut. Not one hour later Ted came barreling across the playground and tripped at the last second. He face-planted right into a bench. Here'e what his eye looked like the night before the trip:
And here's what it looked like the next morning:
It was squeezed shut. So of course we were like "Plane or hospital? Hospital or plane?" We were unable to even pry the lid up to check to see if his eye ball was OK. Not to mention would we even be allowed on a plane with a child that looked like Quasimodo??? We were in full-tilt panic mode when Ted came running out of his room sporting a pirate patch and yelling "I'm all set to Go!" So we went with it! He literally rocked the patch for all 3 flights.
In all the mayhem, Sasha still remembered our countdown chain and cut off that last link for us just as we were going out the door.
Our first flight was to Japan. One thing that's been great about living in Asia for the last 2 years is that our kids will now officially eat/try anything!
We flew from Busan to Toyko (2hrs), Tokyo to Detroit (13 hours) and then Detroit to Orlando (2+hrs). What a trip! When we got to MCO our bags were the first ones out, we got right on the Magical Express and the bus was pretty full so we took right off. And Saratoga Springs was even the first stop! It was an epic Disney win. And Teddy's eye had gotten to the point where we could see it again.
Saratoga Springs is all themed to horses and racing and it's a beautiful resort. We checked in,
Checked out our room,
And then headed to get some very late dinner/breakfast/who knows? It was 8:30 pm but we had slept a bit on the plane and it was 9:30 am Korea time so we were kind of wired and not sleepy. So we ate and then went to the pool until 11pm!
The next morning we found out that Mickey had left us refillable mugs as our first Mickey Present! We headed straight to the Artist's Palette to fill them up and grab some breakfast!
Mickey Waffles! We don't know what they put in those things but they taste like no other waffles on earth and we love 'em!
Our 2 nights at SSR were for us to just relax and get over our Jet-lag so we headed to the pool.
There was a race to open the slide at 10am and Teddy won!
He got escorted to the top of the slide by the cast member and was the first one down.
Sasha was right behind him!
We love pool time!
We had a blast in the big pool and then headed over the play structure thingy to check that out.
Love the way they play together!
Then back to the big pool!
On our rest day each person got to pick one thing that they really wanted to do. Sasha's pick was some great pool time. Check. Teddy wanted to eat lunch at the T-Rex cafe. So we took a boat over to downtown Disney to eat with the Dinosaurs.
We didn't eat in the Ice Cave room this time but it was still super cool to watch.
Jeff and I ordered a coron-ita. It's a massive margarita with a corona stuck upside down in it. Magical.
Look at this thing! I don't know who came up with it, but they definitely need a raise!
We were hungry after all that swimming. We're ready to dig in and sooo happy to be on vacation!
I ordered the shrimp skewers over rice with mango salsa. Now T-Rex cafe food often gets a bad rap, but this lunch was fabulous!
King of the Dino's!!
After the lunch and the Coron-ita's Jeff and I were barely ambulatory but we gamely headed out to the Lego store just to check it out.
And Teddy got a Tattoo!
Then we headed back to SSR for a much-needed nap. Jeff's pick for the day was to get some really excellent food so we took the bus to the Magic Kingdom and then caught the Monorail to the Grand Floridian. Here it comes!
First ride of the trip!
We had an excellent meal at Narcoosee's. It's one of several awesome restaurants at the Grand Floridian and it kind of sticks out over the water with a great view of the MK.
My dinner. It was seared tuna with spicy shrimp. Sooooo good!
Narcoosee's:
That left just my pick for the day. I wanted to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. So we headed into the MK just for the parade. We found a great last-minute spot in Frontierland.
The first time I saw this parade I was 5 and there have been many versions of the night-time parade but with this one they brought back the original music and I remember it from 1977! It brings back such awesome memories! And its so fun to watch the kids make their own memories. Sasha just spotted the fairies coming around the corner!
Up Next: The rest of the gang arrives and the trip begins for real!
