DisneyWorld...

...was the FUNNEST time ever! We had so much fun! This was all of our first visit's to Florida and of course DisneyWorld. We knew we were taking a chance weather-wise, and were praying for mid-60 to 70 degrees. There are only a few times a year when it is the least crowded and mid-Jan. to the week before Valentine's Day are one of those times. So we really wanted to take advantage of that, plus we really wanted to see our friends Sean and Spring who live there, and we wanted to celebrate Ryder's 1st birthday (a little late, I know), and we again we were hoping for nice weather. Last year after having Ryder I told Paul we HAD to go somewhere warm this year, since the winters here are so depressing. The only bad part, which we tried to put out of our minds, and did a pretty okay job of, was we got in a car accident on the way to the airport. The weather was horrible that day, all the schools had been let out by about 1:30, and we headed out at about 2:30 for the airport. There were 2 cars facing the wrong way off to the left of the lane we were in, and everyone was slowing down fast and Paul went to slow down and nothing. We were just sliding... We slid right into one car and then another, and then our car wouldn't start. But we ended up with the NICEST highway patrolmen, tow truck driver, and eventually manager at the tow truck place who gave us a ride to the airport JUST in the nick of time to get right on the plane. I was SO stressed out by this point, but it went away when we got to Florida... We were just happy to escape reality somewhat at that time...

Anyway, we stayed at the Disney's All-Star Movies Resort, which had motel-like rooms, and each building was themed to a Disney movie. Ours was Fantasia. Each building had huge items or people from the movies. I didn't get to take many pictures of the buildings, but I have some here anyway. Our first morning there we had a character breakfast inside the Magic Kingdom park, which was SO fun! One of the only things I would have changed about this trip was that I would have had a character breakfast every morning. But we weren't sure how he'd react to the characters, so we just had one meal scheduled with them. He got to see Minnie, Pluto, and Chip & Dale there. He LOVED it! He was so curious and interested. It was really cute!

We were able to spend time in all 4 Disney parks at DisneyWorld...Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, & Hollywood Studios. The first day until noon the weather was PERFECT! The sun was out, it wasn't too hot or too cold, it was great. And I described all of this to my mom as we were experiencing it, and not even an hour had passed, and it started raining. It wasn't bad though, just mostly drizzling. We bought ponchos and those worked great. Lots of people left, and the park was that much more empty. :) Most of the days were cold, and we wore our coats (yes, coats!) most of the time. But with that we were pretty comfortable. The last day in the parks it down poured on us and we were drenched and freezing, but other than that the weather wasn't bad.

Our favorites were: Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story Mania!, Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, World Showcase at Epcot, Space Mountain, Rock'n Roller Coaster, and Winnie the Pooh.

Ryder was able to ride EVERYTHING, excpet for the coasters (which there aren't many) and any rides that had a lot of motion (maybe a handful). We were really excited and surprised that he could go on so much! It was fun to see his face and experience his first time there with him. He was curious and full of wonderment at a lot of it. However, he could have spent all day in the Pooh's Play Spot, which was a playground that he loved! He went down a slide for the first time and found out what he had been missing out on. We also got to spend an evening with our friends and their 2 boys, and they got to meet Ryder for the first time. It was so much fun! We only wish we could have stayed longer!

Our first DisneyWorld visit was really special and magical and all that you would expect and more. Everyone greeted us with a smile, and you could tell they were happy to be working there even. There were people from all over the world working there, and I met a lady from Australia and got to talk with her about where to go and what to do when you visit there, traveling, about currency (they have dollars and cents too, but not American, and they don't have any idea what a penny, dime, nickel, or quarter is), and I just just love accents, so it was fun to just talk to her. Ryder was zonked out at the end of every day, he really enjoyed himself. We ate a lot (too much!) and truly enjoyed our first visit. I hope we can go back again soon!