Disney Day 1 - Hollywood Studios

We had been counting down for 20 days, and finally it was time to leave for Disney World!!  For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to book a 6:15 am flight, so we had to wake the kids up around 4:30.  We put them straight in the car (in their jammies) and excitedly headed for the airport.  Once we got to the airport, Hunter loved looking out the window at the airplanes as we waited to board.

After we did board, we had some time to get settled before the plane took off...

We were blessed to have an open seat on both of our aisles, which came in really handy when Charlotte decided to throw her screaming fit.  Luckily I was prepared with a backpack full of fun Disney stickers, crayons, coloring books, DVDs and puzzles.

When you stay at a Disney resort, they provide free transportation to and from the airport on the Magical Express.  We couldn't contain our excitement during our ride on the Magical Express!

Our bus driver on the way to the resort was a trip!  I wish I would have recorded him...he was cracking James and I up.

We arrived at our resort around 11am and were greeted by the longest. line. ever. for check in.  Luckily I had checked in online so we got to go to the short online check in line.  The cast member behind the counter told me that it wasn't usually that crowded, but that there were a lot of people checking in that day, particularly from South America because it was their summer.  It turns out there were more foreigners than Americans at Disney World during our trip...I had so many great conversations with people from England, India, and Canada on bus rides and waiting for the fireworks during our trip.  And we heard a ton of different languages all around us...I never would've guessed our Disney trip would be such a cultural experience for the kids:)

Even though it was only 11 am, our room was ready, so we went up and unloaded our carry on bags. (Disney has another great service where they pick up the bags you check at baggage claim, and then bring them to your room later in the day, so you don't even have to deal with it.)  We gave the kids the option of taking a nap or going to the park, and they chose the park (I know you're shocked.), so we headed down to Everything Pop (the food court area in our resort) and had lunch.  It was really overwhelming the first time we ordered.  No one really explains it to you, and there are so many different lines to go through and some things are snack credits and some things are meal credits and when you are on the dining plan, you get a dessert with lunch and dinner and a bottled drink, but they also give you this refillable mug.  See?  Really confusing.  After figuring it out, we sat down to a yummy lunch and then got in line for the bus to Hollywood Studios...

So exciting!

Of course we had to take some pictures during our first ride on the bus to the park...

Although I had a touring plan typed out for each day, Hollywood Studios was really overwhelming when we got there.  It was really crowded, which threw me because the crowd calendars I'd been following had led me to believe that this would be our least crowded day.  (It turns out that it was more crowded because it was the weekend...we got there on a Sunday.)  Also, I'm not good at reading maps, and that park has a confusing layout to me.  We finally decided to go to the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.  I didn't originally have this on our itinerary, but James convinced me to add it for Hunter.  I'm really glad he did because it ended up being Hunter's favorite thing from the entire trip. 

I got separated from James and the kids during this show and the stadium seats 5,000 people.  I tried to find them, but not surprisingly, I couldn't.  So we didn't get any pictures because I spent most of the show walking around looking for James and the kids or waiting by the stroller for them.

After the show, we tried to go to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set which is basically just a play area for kids, but it was swarming with people.  We actually lost Hunter at one point and I freaked. out.  After we found him, we quickly left so I wouldn't have a nervous breakdown from the possibility of losing our kids again.

Next, the plan was to head to the Monsters Inc. meet and greet, but Hunter wasn't ready for character interaction quite yet, so he and James went to hold our place for the parade while Char and I went to meet Mike Wazowski and Sully...

As you can see, she was a little wary of them at first.

All throughout the different parks, there are cast members blowing bubbles for the kids with bubble machines.  I thought it was a great little touch, and Charlotte had so much fun chasing the bubbles after our photo session with Mike and Sully...

We met James and Hunter about 10 minutes before the parade started, so we gave the kids a snack to make the wait a little easier...

Finally the parade started and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I loved all of the parades we saw at Disney, but this may have been my very favorite.  We saw so many fun characters, and they blast the music to get everyone in the mood for fun!

Elastigirl and Frozone...

Mr. Incredible...

Flik...

Here's Hunter's expression up to this point...

 Not too impressed.

Sully...

Some Up characters...

Mr. Potato Head...

Jessie and Bullseye...

Once Hunter saw the Toy Story characters, he yelled, "Toy Story!" and we finally saw some excitement from him...

He even waved at Buzz and Woody...

And they waved back!

After the parade, we went to the Toy Story meet and greet to meet Hunter's favorite Disney characters, Buzz and Woody.  I think the fatigue was catching up with him, though because he was adament through the entire 30 minute wait that he wasn't going to meet Buzz or Woody...

They were really great with him, though, and once we got up there, he let them sign his book and took a picture with them...

After that long wait, we decided to go relax and watch Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  It was a really good show for the most part, but Prince Eric really cheesed me out at the end.  Charlotte and Hunter didn't seem to notice, though:)

Then we went to Jim Hensen's Muppet Vision 3D, which I was going to just skip because we were all getting so tired, but I'm so glad we didn't because it was SO good...

The 3D effects were awesome, but they really terrified Charlotte.  There was this little bird that got right in your face - or seemingly at least - and Char would jump and pull her fisted little hands up to her mouth any time he'd get close.  I eventually picked her up and put her in my lap, but she was still terrified throughout the show.

After it was over we went to eat dinner at Pizza Planet!  So exciting!  The food was just okay, but the kids loved playing the games...

Every night I asked everyone what their favorite thing of the day was so I could record it and always remember.  Here are the favorites from Hollywood Studios:

James - Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show
Carole - Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! parade
Hunter - Pizza Planet (This is what he told me that night, but when the vacation was over he told me his favorite of the whole trip was the car stunt show because "guess what, mommy!  there was a motorcycle and it slid through FIRE!")
Charlotte - Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Since it had been such an early morning, we left the park early and headed back to the hotel for baths and rest because we had a busy, magical day the next day!