Day #6

Well our day started out EARLY. We did all of our packing last night so we could get as much sleep in as possible. We got dressed at 3:00 am and went right downstairs to meet our bus. We got to the airport, got our bags checked and were at the security checkpoint with 2 hours to spare. I didn’t get to fly on the same plane as Michelle and Sydney this time, but thankfully all the planes were on time today. We arrived back in Louisville around 11:30 where Grand-daddy met us to drive us all back to see Shelby. We all really missed our little girl.

When we arrived back at Grand-mommy and Grand-daddy’s house we all ate and went to sleep!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about our little princess’ trip. Lord willing we’ll get to do this again when Shelby is about 4.

Day #5

Our last full day at Disney started off with a trip to MGM Studios. Michelle looked at the shows Sydney might like to see and we set off to get into them. Our first show was Disney Playhouse. Sydney got to see Bear in the Big Blue House, Jojo, and the Pooh gang. After that we had to rush across the way to get into the Little Mermaid show. Mermaid had some cool effects including us getting all wet during the storm (where Prince Eric steers the boat into Ursula).

Then it was off to Hollywood and Vine to have a late breakfast with some more characters. Sydney got her picture taken with Jojo and Goliath from Jojo’s Circus and June and Leo from Little Einstein’s - one of Sydney and Shelby’s favorite shows.

Later we went to Al’s Toy Barn and met Woody, Buzz, and “Green Army Man”. The army guy was neat. It’s amazing how much he really looked like a plastic toy. We showed Sydney how to salute to him and that’s how she took the picture. We also went to see the Muppets 3D show which was pretty cute. Sydney doesn’t like 3D shows though and Michelle finally told her to take off her glasses which made things better for her.

The last show we saw there was the Beauty and the Beast Musical which Sydney seemed to like.

After the shows we went back to the hotel to rest up and get in some swimming, yep I said swimming. Although the wake up temp in Orlando was 39 degrees, it warmed up to somewhere around 60 and was just warm enough to get in the pool for a while - luckily the pool was heated. Still, I stayed as far in the water as possible while Sydney kept getting out to jump back into my arms. The wind was still blowing a lot and I could feel the cold on her when she would get back into the water. Michelle decided to forego the swim in favor of getting our trip back to the airport squared away. We only got to stay in the pool for about 30 minutes or so. The polar plunge was abruptly ended when the lifeguard blew her whistle and announced “Everyone out of the water for a unplanned emergency cleaning”. Now I know they were looking at a place on the bottom and even had a couple of kids with masks dive under to try and find out what was sitting on the floor. I heard one of the children say “or it could be mud”. After the announcement of the emergency cleaning, I couldn’t help but think about Bill Murry cleaning the pool in CaddyShack!!

Needless to say we got out and right into the shower. After the shower we went to the arcade in the lobby where Sydney got to play some games before eating dinner. Then it was off to bed. Our departure to the airport is 3:15 am!

Day #4

Today we started out by being served breakfast in bed by mommy. She got us all pancakes, sausage and bacon. Today was also very cold. The high was supposed to be around the upper 50’s, but it was also very damp and windy. After breakfast we went to the bus to ride to Animal Kingdom. The first thing we did after getting into the park was to ride the Safari. That was VERY cool. We got to see all kinds of animals, one white rhino got within just a few feet of our Jeep. The ride consists of us going through Africa and trying to find Poachers that are trying to get the Momma and Baby elephants. Toward the end of our journey we did help catch them and Sydney saw the baby elephant in the back of the poachers truck. Sydney now knows what poachers are and that they are mean.

After the Safari ride you can take a walk through an exhibit. We were walking through and one of the people there chose Sydney to “help track an animal”. They went through many things different things and found out that they were tracking a rhino - Sydney did a GREAT job listening and then putting into practice the things she had learned.

Soon after that it was lunch time. Then Sydney wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom to ride some more. The place was MUCH more crowded than it was two days ago. Peter Pan has become her favorite ride, but we had to get a Fast Pass so we could do some other things. We went to see a show and after that a parade started. We sat and watched it. Then it was time to go see Jasmine and Aladdin. Both Jasmine and Aladdin were there, but Sydney didn’t want him there, so we had to ask him to leave while Sydney got Jasmine’s autograph and picture.

We got to do a few more things before going to dinner. This dinner was going to be very special because Cinderella and her friends were going to be there to visit. So during the meal, Cinderella, Prince Charming, and two of the mice came by and got their picture taken with Sydney and gave her their autographs. I wish you all could see the way she went up to the characters and hugged them. These are not just any hugs, they are genuine.

After dinner it was back to the Magic Kingdom. We asked one of the crew members about the nighttime parade and fireworks. She started talking to Sydney and asked her about her favorite ride. Sydney told Susan, the crew member, about only getting to ride it once - the second time it was broken, the next time there were too many people in line. Well Susan told Sydney that she was magic and gave her 3 Fast Passes to ANY ride in the park so she could go and ride Peter Pan. Sydney loved it again.

The parade was followed by the fireworks. Before the fireworks were over, Sydney asked is we could leave. She was one tired little girl. So, we carried her out to the bus stop and came back to the hotel. Sydney had been wondering all day what they were going to do to her Cinderella doll, but alas, she was just laying on the bed.

Day #3

Today we started out in Epcot. We had a breakfast appointment to meet several of the princesses; Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, and Mulan. Sydney
dressed up as Sleeping Beauty and was terribly
excited to see everyone. After breakfast we visited a few of the other “countries”. In China, Sydney was chosen out of the audience to say HELLO and THANK YOU in Chinese. The lady taught her the words and then she had to go to
the front of everyone and say the words - she did very well.

Later we went to ride the Nemo ride. Sydney enjoyed watching Nemo, Marlin, and all the others swimming around. After that ride we got to see a “sneak preview” of Turtle Talk. It’s brand new and isn’t shown all the time yet. You go into a small room with a movie screen. All the kids get in the floor while we bigger kids got to sit on benches. Crush then comes swimming in and starts talking to everyone - and the kids could talk to him. He asked a couple of questions to find out some stuff about humans and then the kids got to ask him questions. Only 3 or 4 kids actually thought of something. We couldn’t see Sydney, but when Crush asked what the person’s name was a little voice came through the speakers and said “Sydney”. Michelle and I just looked at each other - we both just knew she would have something to say, we just didn’t know what. Her question to Crush was “How long do fishes swim?” Crush looked at her very puzzled (another cool feature of this particular attraction) and said “Is this a trick question?” He then thought and said “well....for as long as they live, unless they’re flying fish then they fly sometimes. So, if they’re a whale I guess they swim for about 90-100 years. If they’re a guppy, then they swim around for a couple of days until they’re eaten.” That was a good time.

On our way back to ride Test Track we ran across a place where Sydney could meet a lot of the other characters. The line wasn’t long at all so we got to meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Minnie, and Goofy. She got all their autographs and pictures taken with them.

After riding Test Track we had to rush over to the
Magic Kingdom to have story time with a character.
We didn’t know who it would be, but we got there
and Sydney got to sit in the floor right in front of the
stage. There were only 9 kids there - it was a private
attraction for AAA members. Turns out Cinderella’s
Fairy Godmother was the story reader for the day.
She did a wonderful job with the story and with the
kids. She played a quick trivia game with them all and then took pictures.

After story time it was off to eat dinner. We ate at the
Concourse Steak House in the Contemporary Hotel.
Sydney acted like she hadn’t eaten all day (which hadn’t since breakfast). The best part was the dessert she had - vanilla ice cream. I realize that doesn’t sound like much, but they gave her four small bowls to go along with it - one had a cherry, one had sprinkles in the shape of Mickey’s Head, one had M&M’s and one had Chocolate Sauce. She went to work and it was truly like an artist at work.

It was finally time to head back to the
hotel. For the second straight night
Sydney fell asleep on the short bus ride.
When we got back to the room we
noticed the TV was on. Looking around
we noticed Cinderella was sitting in
the middle of Sydney’s bed. She was
covered up with the bah and had the
remote sitting next to her. I guess she had a good time watching the Disney channel all day :)

Day #2

We finally made it to the Magic Kingdom! After the day of travel yesterday, I really didn’t want to get out of bed. Michelle, however, was more excited than Sydney to get to the park and forced me out of my slumber. So, we all got ready and went downstairs to wait for the bus. The ride to the magic Kingdom was only about 15 minutes and we were soon inside the gate.

Sydney told us she wanted to do the Dumbo ride first. On our way we met Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters. They asked what kingdom Sydney was from and she told them Kentucky. She also got them to sign her autograph book. She had opened it up to a page that had a picture of the fairy godmother and the stepmother said “oh, I have to sign beside her!” When Sydney got her book back, someone had put an X over the fairy godmother - very nice touch.

After that we went to the Dumbo ride. Later, we FINALLY got her on the Peter Pan ride - she didn’t want to because she was scared of the pirates. However, now that’s all she wants to ride. She also go to ride some roller coasters and liked them very much. We went over to Tom Sawyer’s island and found one of the hidden paint brushes. If you find one of these you get a special prize. Now this isn’t something they tell you when you go over there, Michelle just happened to read about it on the web before we left. Sydney gave the brush to the lady there and they gave her a “fast pass” to any ride she wanted.

At dinner, we ate at the Crystal Palace. At this restaurant Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore come by to visit you while you’re eating. Piglet was the last to come by, but Sydney seem to get more excited about him coming than any of the others. She also got to join in a little parade around the dining area - she followed Eeyore.

We took the bus back at around 7:30 pm. When we
got to the room we noticed housekeeping had taken
Sydney’s Cinderella doll and tucked her into bed.

Day #1 of Sydney’s Disney Trip

Well after months of planning on Michelle’s part, the day for Sydney’s first Disney vacation has come. We are sitting at the terminal right now waiting for our plane. Sydney made it through the check point just fine. She wondered why we had to take off our shoes. We explained that was to help keep us safe. One of the security people gave Sydney two quarters that someone evidently left in the bowl.

Michelle gave Sydney her new Tinker Bell backpack. Sydney is looking through all the treasures from the bag. Included in the treasure trove were the following: An autograph book that is in the shape of a purse, some activity books, some stickers and of course her snacks.

Lots of people have asked me if Sydney is excited. Well, she is, but not about things you would think. She talks about wearing short sleeve shirts and “short sleeve” pants. She was also terribly excited about packing her snacks last night.

I write this in the Memphis Airport in the middle of a 4 hour layover. Our flight from Louisville this morning was about 1 1/2 hours late. Once we got on the plane, the captain said we were off balance and that one person in front of Row 8 had to move to behind Row 8. After that we started taxiing. The taxi was quite a long distance and Sydney asked if the plane was going to stay on the ground the whole time. She got very excited as the plane started moving - then we stopped again. Seems as though the plane was just a little over weight, so we had to sit for 5-10 minutes while we burned off some fuel. The person next to me said, “well, there goes any hope we had of getting our connecting flight”. The actual flight was pretty normal. Sydney said the plane was bigger than Granddaddy’s truck. She really liked the takeoff, but slept through the landing.

As we approached the Memphis Airport, the captain came back on and said he would have us on the ground in about 17 minutes - that would give us about 7 minutes to get to the connecting flight. Thirty-five minutes later we landed (I guess the captains calculations were a bit off). Then we pulled up to the gate and sat there for about 7-8 minutes. The captain FINALLY came back on and said they were having problems getting the ramp to move - everyone on the plane just let out a moan.

Michelle set out to find an agent. We got
booked on the 8:30 flight, putting us into
Orlando at about 10:30. I guess we’ll get
to the hotel around 11:15 or so.

Sydney got terribly upset when she found
out that we wouldn’t be getting there in
time to do any actual Disney visiting tonight.
While waiting she’s been listening to her “story book reader” and eating some ice cream that she and mommy picked up from the Eddy’s store.

Well the flight that was supposed to take off at 8:24, pushed away from the gate at 9:18 and actually took off at 9:32. We finally got to the hotel after midnight and everyone was in bed at 12:45 am.