Monday, January 5, 2009

Day 2

We checked out of the All-Star Sports, and got our luggage transferred to Saratoga Springs. There was a food court at the hotel, so we picked up a light breakfast for the girls. They didn't disappoint by eating just the frosting off the cinnamon roll we bought for them to share, and then wanting the bagel I purchased. We then caught a shuttle to pick up our rental car, to use to go grocery shopping and to drive to SeaWorld the next day. We drove to the Magic Kingdom to meet Jim and Jess at that point, and decided to take the ferry boat over since the Monorails from the parking lot were packed. The kicker was that the girls still had no idea where we were, or where we were heading. My plan was to let them see if for themselves and then tell them where we were, and Allison didn't disappoint. She saw the castle in the distance, and the gleam in her eye blazed strong. When we entered the park, she started hopping up and down. Allie then got Ryleigh all wound up and they started running around. Rachel and I were also excited, because it was our first trip to DisneyWorld as well. Rachel had been to DisneyLand when she lived in SoCal, but it was different she said. The difference? "DisneyLand is dirty." We met Jim and Jess after the little play that went on outside the Castle, and hung out together all day. Allie and Ryleigh got to meet characters they'd only seen in movies, rode special rides, and just completely enjoyed themselves. I was so glad that we were able to give them these memories, and I owe it all to Jim and Jess and their generosity towards me and my family.

When the day was done, Rachel and Jess went to get groceries for the week with the rental car, while Jim and I took a bus with all the kids back to the hotel to get checked in and such. We checked into the hotel, and were underwhelmed at the bell hop counter by being ignored for a good ten minutes while Paco was shifting papers around. When he finally did turn his attention to us, Jim told him that we needed to pick up some bags that were transferred earlier in the day from All-Star Sports. He asked for the name, and I told him. He then told me to write it down, so I did. He comes back out and my worst fears were realized when came out with no luggage. By this time, another guy pulled up in a golf cart, and was handed the paper with my name on it. He goes into the back, and comes out with our luggage....thank goodness. He loads it onto the golf cart and takes all of us to the room. I get the girls changed, and into bed. Rachel and Jess show up with the groceries a little later (they got lost) then expected. We were in bed early that night, just a long day. Here are a few pictures, enjoy.


Saturday, January 3, 2009

Our Little Vacation in December - Day 1

It seems that I've neglected to post on our recent vacation to Didneywhirl. For those of you who don't speak Philly - that translates to Disney World. Last year when Jim and Jess came out for Christmas, and told us that they had joined the Disney Vacation Club. They told us to clear a week in 2008 to join them down in Disney, and they would use their points to take care of lodging for the week for both families. Since they were taking care of that, all we had to do was budget for park tickets, plane tickets down, food and souvenirs, and a rental car for one or two days possibly. What a generous offer from my dear friends - more like family, I say. In any case, over the year we scrimped and saved our pennies, and used the budget minded talents of my wife to be able to afford to go. So, I'll try to break down the vacation like I did our reunion earlier this year, so I don't leave anything out (if possible.)

Day 1 -

We left on Sunday evening from here. We couldn't find anyone to take us to the airport, unless we left our car with them for the week. I don't really feel comfortable doing that, as I have this fear that they're going to save the gas in their car by tooling around town in ours running errands. We ended up finding a long-term off-site parking lot that wasn't too expensive to eliminate begging for a ride. We flew Southwest (my first time) down, and I can see why they are a successful company. We took the Disney Magic Express shuttle from the airport to our hotel for the first night, as we weren't joining Jim and Jess at the resort until the next evening. It was late, and we just wanted to get the kids down and sleeping. Our bags didn't make it to the room until well after midnight, but Rachel had prepared for that by packing the PJ's in a carry-on. I walked down to the McDonald's to get us some dinner, and in doing so found out two very important things about Orlando that would serve me well. First, EVERYTHING is more expensive - Second, that I would have to get used to half-cooked hamburgers served by some flunky in a costume for the next week. That ended our night, and we were looking forward to starting early the next morning.

Here's a picture of our hotel for the first night - All-Star Sports.