Daniel's First Visit to Disney World

In my previous post I blogged about our first night of our weekend getaway. Our second day was Daniel's first visit to Disney World! This trip to DW was different than any other time I've ever been, this time it wasn't about me, it was all about Daniel! I love watching him experience so many new things for the first time. He is usually a very happy little guy but I'm learning he can be very timid when experiencing something new for the first time. You will see in the pictures that comes across and then he warms up by the end of the day. A few things I learned on this trip:
1.Staying at a close Disney resort with Monorail access is a luxurious bonus which I greatly appreciated! (Not a necessity but a wonderful treat none the less!)
2.We didn't need to rent a $15 stroller once we got there. (We rented and used one of theirs in the morning, and then used our umbrella one in the afternoon and it wasn't a pain to me at all to take our own)
3.The baby station was awesome! It was a air conditioned respite! A place with multiple changing tables, high chairs, bathroom, and kitchen. I highly recommend you take advantage of it if you go to Disney with a little child (especially one still in diapers). I never knew about this little room before having a baby.
4. Next time we'll check ahead of time about the hours of operation of the park. So happened Grad Night was the day we went and the park closed at 7pm.
5. One short day is enough for our 18 month old son.



Taking in the sites of the castle for the first time...Not too sure about all of this yet.



I love this picture and Daniel's little arm and hand clutching to Mike's arm, he had quite a firm grip on daddy. This was taken in line to our first ride, It's a Small World. I think we got to the park around 11 and walked right up and onto this ride. Daniel's button on the back of his shirt says, "1st Visit", the staff at the Polynesian Resort gave it to him when we checked in.




SOOOOOOOOooooo much to take in! He started out sitting in between Mike and me and very quickly moved over into my lap where he remained the rest of the ride. I don't think he really cared for this ride so much, there is a lot going on inside, maybe a tad bit of over stimulation for this guy.




Finally a smile after riding Dumbo, the three of us squeezed into our Dumbo cart (we didn't want to split up because the fun for us was watching Daniel's face!) He did like this ride.



On our way to find something to eat, we ran into a fun parade.



After we ate lunch, we took the ferry boat back to our hotel and we all took naps, which was great for all of us! I would have never done this before having kids. I've always had the mentality, you have to pack as much as you possibly can into your day at Disney. My sisters can vouch for me that on one family trip, I chastised them for wanting to stop and eat! Saying something like, "here's a granola bar, gobble it up and lets keep going!!!" LOL! So I rode rides I've never ridden before (that I remember?) like Peter Pan and The Pooh ride, and we rode the train, which I had ridden before. Mike got to go in The Haunted Mansion while Daniel and I waited outside and watched some birds. This picture was taken towards the end of the day, we discovered that if Mike got Daniel to do "high five" it was a great way to get him to smile!



Here is our token family picture in front of the castle with 1000 other people all doing the same thing at the same time. :)



When it was time to exit the park at 7pm because of Grad Night, we decided that instead of being herded like thousands of cattle down Main Street to then go wait in another long line to board either the Monorail or the ferry, we would stop and watch the ducks until most everyone else had left. Great idea! Daniel LOVED running around the tables on a patio overlooking the water with a great view of the castle. It was the perfect way to end our day at Disney.





And then we let him run down Main Street, what is really what he wanted to do!



We made our way back to the hotel, fed Daniel a quick dinner and then took turns eating at the bar of a sushi place while the other one chased Daniel around the hotel lobby. Again, a completely different Disney experience than ever before, but in a good way! I can't wait to go back and do it all again at the most magical place on earth!