Tommy's Birthday Trip part 1

[BigThunderFan]

Well I have been back a few days now and I suppose I should get started on this!

Me (Tommy 33)
DW 31
DS 7
DD 3

We left a cold Kansas City at 6:35 am on 1/23 and arrived early in Atlanta. After grabbing a quick bite and souvenir for the kids we boarded our plane to MCO and proceeded to sit there. And sit there. And sit there... We looked out ahead and there were SO MANY planes lined up on the runway. It took over 40 minutes of sitting on the runway before we took off. Oh well, we'll be there soon enough right? After landing late in MCO the vacation was nothing but uphill from there. We had a great driver on ME (Bill) and he was very funny. Actually sounded like the evil doctor from Phineas & Ferb (I know the name but not going to even try to spell it!). He even pointed out a large gator and drove slowly by it so we could all see, this was a highlight for DS who loves gators.
We checked in at WL and didn't get the room we wanted (MK view on upper level), but ended up very happy with the room we stayed in. The view was towards the Villas pool on the third floor. It was on a corner and right across from the elevator, we loved this room!
After getting situated and putting on shorts (in January!) we headed to the boat for a trip to MK. This was so much fun, and we ended up using the boats several times throughout the week. The MK was fairly crowded as we expected, it was a Saturday and Spectro was that night. We grabbed some fastpasses for JC (DS favorite from last trip) and headed to the Tiki Room. After this we caught the Country Bears, and then PhillharMagic. We then used our Fastpasses for Jungle Cruise and back to Haunted Mansion (DD's favorite). We found a nice spot to view Spectro right in front of the gallows area of Liberty Square. I grabbed some dinner for us at Harbour House, and then some new glowing toys for the kids (gotta love traditions!). Spectro was great like always, and it was neat to be able to watch it come towards us, turn right in front of us, and then watch it going toward Frontierland. Made it seem like we had more time to view each float, I definitely recommend this spot, but get there early- we were there 45 minutes early during value season and were soon crowded. Afterwards we flew through Fantasyland and grabbed a spot on the Tomorrowland bridge for Wishes. Both kids have never seen it before because they fell asleep last time so we were excited for them to see Tinkerbell. We were right below her as she flew across and the kids loved it!
We took the boat back to WL and then hit the hot tub for a little while. I then ventured down to the beach and watched the Electric Water Pageant. I slept like a baby and was up ready for my birthday bright and early!
Part 2 - Tommy's Birthday will be up soon! Thanks for reading!

[faline]

Despite the late arrival in Orlando, you're off to a wonderful start to your birthday trip!

[KylesMom]

Been waiting for your reports. How absolutely COOL that you could share so many things with the kids upon arrival day, especially Spectro, Tink and Wishes.

Don't ya just love that boat back to WL??? Thanks for sharing - can't wait to see how you spent your birthday!

[BluegrassDaisy]

Sounds like we shared a vacation last week! You are making me miss the WL. We enjoyed being close to Epcot - but DH really missed WL. We have viewed spectro from an area near where you viewed and loved it!

[SBETigg]

Happy belated birthday! I'm glad you didn't spend it all sitting on a runway waiting to take off. Delays are the worst when you just want to get there. But you did get there, off to a great start after that!

[princessgirls]

Great first day!!

Thanks for sharing!

Julie

[yjgirl32]

Glad to hear your vacation is starting out smooth- for the most part. Thanks for sharing.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[dtootsie42]

Happy belated birthday greetings. Thanks for sharing.

[Joannelet]

thanks for the report! Can't wait to read your others!
Happy Belated bday by the way!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[Mousefever]

We flew in on the 23rd too and also saw a very large gator off the right side of the bus. Our driver didn't really talk, but I was looking out the window. It was so big that I thought it was fake! I also saw a lot of armadillos from the bus that day.

Amy

[DisneyorBust]

Except for delay at the airport, it sounds like you and your family had a great start to your vacation! Thanks for the report!