The Happiest Place on Earth!

We are back from Walt Disney World and I am getting ready to start school back tomorrow but I wanted to fill everyone in on our fun trip and put some of the pictures I took to good use by sharing them! Here is a quick report from day 1 with the rest of the trip to follow! Enjoy!

Our first day was last Wednesday and we got to Disney, checked in early but since our room wasn't ready we headed straight to Magic Kingdom.  One of the best perks about staying at either the Contemporary or at Bay Lake Towers next door is the walking path to MK.  It was a 10 minute or less walk and we rarely even saw anyone else using it so it certainly was never crowded! (which in Disney is amazing!!) The above picture is from the 3:00 parade, and you may not be able to tell but all of the performers in the parade were drenched in sweat because it was HOTT!

 

This is the entry-way to our resort.  Because Bay Lake Towers is actually a vacation club resort, all of the doors are locked all the time and you have to have an active key card to get in.  This is different from the other, non-vacation club resorts that you can visit and wander through at any time. 

 

 The above two pictures were taken from our balcony.  Certainly not a castle view but it was a nice, quiet room with a pretty view of the lake.  And you can roast marshmellows by the fire pit on the beach every night!

 This is while I was just hanging around downstairs.  That is the express monorail from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom.  It goes straight through the Contemporary resort but doesn't stop, unlike the monorail that runs on the far track in this picture that stops at all of the Magic Kingdom resorts.

 This is the view from the breeze-way between the Contemporary and the Towers.  Obviously, I used all the zoom I could get out of my camera but still a pretty awesome thing to see as you walk between the buildings! :)

And there's the guy everyone loves to see -- Mickey Mouse! And his lovely lady Minnie!  One of my favorite parts about going to Disney, especially after having been a cast member, is just listening and talking to the other people around me.  While waiting for this parade to start a mom and her two kids walked up behind us and I offered to let the kids stand in front of me because I could clearly see over their heads.  After the action had passed mom asked the kids what land they should head to next.  As they debated the mom leaned over to Mama and I and said "how about chardonnay-land?!" This became a quote repeated throughout our trip every time Mama was hot, bored or thirsty!