Two weeks of......

[dolphinmickey9170]

Hot, humid fun in the sun.....or so I thought.

Cast of characters -
Me - 37 - 10th disney trip
Ben - 42 - 6th disney trip = and both in so much need of a vacation
Katy - 17 - 7th disney trip
Keara - 22 months - 4th disney trip..too funny because her mother has never been. I'm so evil

Kathy - kakn7294
Phil, Stephanie, and Megan

Jessica - Capt. Jessica Sparrow

Other friends I will mention as necessary!!

Sunday - Aug 10th -
The alarm was set for 3:45am, however, Keara and I were already awake. I guess the anticipation was just too much. She was so good natured, just knowing we were going to WDW. I asked her if she wanted to go to Disney World, her response was a bubbly "YEAH!"

We pile into the van, which I had packed the suitcases in on Tuesday, yes, I am that OCD, and headed for BWI. We get there by 4:40 and said our goodbyes to Keara's mommy and head to sky cap to check our bags. I already had secured A line boarding passes, however, they needed to reprint Ben's as his name was carrying Keara's. This is her last time for free flying; next time it's a car seat and air fare. UGH! I think we will drive.

Security was a breeze and we are settling into Gate A3 waiting for our plane and I was looking in my bag for Keara's Motrin and Benadryl. I packed it on Tuesday in her carry-on so I would have it. Well, after 15 minutes of dumping all three carry ons, I can't find it. So I ran up to the stand looking to buy them. No luck. They only Benadryl they had was pills, not for Keara. They didn't have any infant or childrens liquid motrin either. Well....we'll just take our chances, no other choice.

We load up on the plane, chose our seats and we were off right at 605am. It was a great flight. We landed a few minutes earlier than our 815 schedule. We were off the plane, made a quick stop to change Keara, and we checked in at the DME counter. Once on the red carpet, we were loaded immediately on a bus and were at WL by 9am.

Checking in was a treat, we were offered to be the flag family on the 19th, we were given anniversary buttons and a birthday button for me (see my user name for the date), although our room wasn't ready, oh well. I was given a couple copies of the hidden mickey hunt, checked my carryons with bell services, and headed off to AK to meet up with Kathy and her family.

Once into AK, we headed for FP for the safari then walked the Pangani Trail. It was a great ride. For the second time in all these years, we saw the cheetah. He/She was lying in the shade just chilling out. We had to stop a couple of times as a white rhino kept stopping traffic. Another awesome ride.

We met up with Kathy and her family and headed for Pizzafari for lunch. It was so nice to sit in a cool place. It was so hot and humid and the sun was just cooking.

We headed for E:E, a ride I prefer in the evening as the Yeti is much better looking in the dark. We do Primevil Whirl and then I start to feel ill. The heat always kicks my butt on day 1. I didn't plan ahead and tank up on fluids the previous day. We part company with Kathy and head back to our resort, because our room is now ready. When I called, they gave me the room number, so we get off the bus and start the treck through the villas to find our room. We have never been in this building before, so we are a little lost wandering around to find 4560. Well, we finally found it. At the complete opposite end of the resort as far away as possible (with the exception of the one room on the other side of us). We are overlooking the laundry service, trash collection/pickup area. Don't get me wrong, the room was wonderful, but I just couldn't believe they put us out in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, who cares, at least I'm at the happiest place on earth. We entered our room to find this.

We settle in to the room and head off to Epcot to meet up with Will and Shannon from Magic Never Ends podcast, and Keegan and his family from The Adventures of a Teenage Disney Geek podcast. We were meeting them in Japan for dinner. We catch up with them just before our seating time and are all in one room together as a group of 14. TeppanEdo was a great treat. To watch all the cooking going on right in front of us was very interesting. We all had the filet mignon which includes seasonal vegetables with udon noodles and steamed rice, with three dipping sauces. For dessert, we had Soft Served Ice Cream, Green Tea Pudding, and the Fruit Tart. All was very good!! I recommend you all try this at least once. Two people at our table ordered the shrimp and chicken combo, they said it was delicious.

We headed back to the room to meet up with Kathy who had purchased Keara's diapers and some water for us at the local walmart. By the time I called her, it was late, so we decided to meet up in the morning.

Tomorrow - Mini meet #1

[SBETigg]

Or so you thought? Oh no! That sounds ominous. Great first day, except for feeling ill. I'm staying tuned. Thanks for reporting.

[ChipnDaleGal]

Off to a wonderful start! Glad your flight went so well. Your dinner sounded so delicious and so much fun. Thanks for the great report.

[dtootsie42]

Thanks for sharing a great report. TepanEdo is one of our favorite places and we try to always go when we visit the world.

[RedSoxFan]

A nice first day..........

[Lizzie]

A great first day thanks for the report.

[DizNee143]

what a great first day! glad the plane ride went smooth..cant wait to read about the rest..

[tinkerbell04]

Kristen, I have been waiting for your report ever since you gave us the snipets of info live! I got some glimpses from the Kathy, but it is nice to fill in the gaps and put the stories together. Thanks for sharing, I am off to read more.....

[DisneyorBust]

Thanks for the report! Here's hoping that you will be feeling better in your next report!

[indytraveler]

Pretty good first day. You've got me hooked. thanks for sharing.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!

[wilshade]

Very nice story! heading on to the next installment.

[iheartmickey]

Sounds like an excellent first day! I'm making it my mission to get my family to try TeppanEdo ... sound yummy!

Thanks for sharing!

[faline]

Wonderful start to your trip!

[Meerkat]

Thank you for the report.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Thanks for the report

[MickeysEars]

it makes me want to leave right now

[Diznee4Me]

That Cheetah always seems to be in the same spot. I am beginning to wonder if he/she isn't an animal-tronic! Get it!

Thanks for the report - looking forward to reading more.