Our First Day at WDW

Sorry for the big delay, everybody! I figure that pictures say much more than words, so I'll give a quick explanation and post a few here.

Our first day at WDW was spent at the Magic Kingdom. All I can say is that it really was...magical. Sorry to be so cliched, but that's the best description. We had an early breakfast at the Crystal Palace, before the park opened. It was incredible to walk down Main Street nearly alone, without the usual crowds (this was why I scheduled a breakfast at 8:15am for our first day!). It was a character meal featuring Pooh and friends. The food was great - but I was so busy keeping the kids fed and meeting the characters that I didn't eat much of it. Our first ride - at Helena's request - was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. She loved it, but closed her eyes as soon as the Heffalumps and Woozles showed up. (Later in the week we tried again, and she kept her eyes open that time.) It was a wonderful day, and the kids were so good!

The best part of the day was Helena's monorail experience. She was charged up and ready for the day when we drove to the Transportation and Ticket Center to board the monorail and go from there to the Magic Kingdom (we had to drive the first day, as it was earlier than the busses were running). When we were waiting for the monorail to come, a cast member struck up a conversation with her and succeeded in getting her to talk. After a few minutes, he handed her a Transportation Trading Card with Snow White on it. She smiled the biggest smile in all of creation and said, "I got a ticket!" Well, after that it was non-stop chatter about breakfast with Pooh and "all my friends from the Hundred Acre Wood" and the castle and how high up we were on the monorail...

By far, the best part of the vacation was experiencing my kids' reactions to everything. Doesn't matter what they remember, because I'll remember!