Trip Report, Day 1 1/2..Jan 31-Feb. 1, 2006 (Pt 1)

[sterm26]

The cast: Myself, 37 (my 9th WDW trip), DW, 36 (5th trip), my Dad,
62 (12th trip), and DD, 6 (3rd trip, spoiled brat!!LOL!)

This is the second year in a row that we went to WDW during Super
Bowl week. For some reason, the Phila. school district schedules
Thursday and Friday of that week as teacher "in service" days, which
means no school for the kids. What better way to take advantage of
an off-season long weekend at our favorite place in the world?

After some discussion, we decided to take our daughter out of school
on Wednesday so that we could squeeze an extra day in. DW is
pregnant (due in June), and we probably won't be able to have a
proper vacation for awhile after that. We flew out Tuesday night on
Air Tran.

The flight to MCO was one of the best we've ever had. We were
sweating out a predicted snowstorm for that day, but it fizzled out
and we left right on time, and we made it to MCO a half-hour early!
My father decided to splurge on a rental car, got a great rate
through National. (Thanks to Mousesavers.com!) National is located right in the MCO terminal, we
walked across the street, picked a car, and were on the road about
45 minutes after we landed.

Check-in a Pop was a breeze, we got a room in the 60's, about a 30
second walk to the food court. It was about 11:30 at this point, we
went right to bed after unpacking.

Mickey woke us up at 8 AM on Wednesday. First stop-Chef Mickey's! We
drove to the TTC and took the local Monorail to the Contemporary.
The restaurant was typically hectic, with characters and kids
running to and fro, but the food was good (and very filling, a
recurring event on this trip), and the atmosphere got us ready for
the rest of the day at the MK.

After passing through the turnstiles, we saw the boss, Mickey,
posing for photos and signing autographs in front of his topiary in
front of the train station. From this message board, we learned of
the Photopass CD offer, so we grabbed a couple of PP cards and lined
up! Mickey made a fuss over my daughter's Pal Mickey doll.

After that, I eagerly awaited my first glimpse of the newly
decorated Castle. We had been to Disneyland last August, and while
their Castle is the original and very cool, Cinderella's Castle
never fails to take my breath away. In fact, after seeing DL's squat
castle, Cindy's looked downright huge! The 50th anniversary
decorations were impressive, and I don't take to Castle changes very
well ( I hated the Cake Castle back in the 90's, and when Stitch
TP'd it a few years ago, I was very angry!)

After our requisite 30 Castle photos, we lingered on Main St. for
once, admiring the detail of the buildings (I had a Field Guide to
the Magic Kingdom with me, it's like the Keys to the Kingdom tour
without the tourguide). We met the Mayor of Main St, two
female "citizens", and enjoyed a show put on by CM's who danced and
sang around the horse-drawn trolley. We had never seen this during
our prior visits, and we enjoyed it very much. We were home!

(Cont'd)

[butlers]

A very very nice start.... can't wait to read the rest.