Lots going on!

It has been over a week since I posted anything and the only excuse I have is that I am still jet lagged and tired from the DW trip and hopefully this weekend, I can recoup! We had such a great trip. The flight there was pretty uneventful except for when we were getting ready to board, they made an announcement and said that there would be a slight delay because we didn't have a flight attendant. WHAT???? You have got to be kidding me. We were delayed about an hour until they "found" one and then were on our way. When we arrived in Orlando, the weather was gross! It was raining and very cloudy. We were afraid that this weather was the precursor to what the rest of the trip would be like. We got to the room, ate dinner, walked around, played in the arcade and waited on luggage. The Disney Magical Express takes care of everything so we didn't claim our bags at the airport. They pick them up and bring them to your room. We checked in at 7:50pm and at 10:30, we still didn't have luggage. I wanted to shower, take my contacts out and go to bed. Arden wanted to swim, Mike hadn't slept at all the night before because he worked, then got up went to class and we left for the airport, so he was passed out on the bed and could have cared less about anything and Mom was like me and getting a little worried. I called the front desk and they said, "It can take up to 3 hours, so just be patient, they will get here." Around 11:00 I headed down stairs to talk to someone in person. I spoke to a young lady who informed me that it can take up to 8 hours to get luggage. When those words came from her mouth, I think my head spun around! I said 8 hours? So you are telling me it could be 4:00am the next day before I get luggage? I don't think so. She corrected herself and said oh well, yes I guess it is 3 hours but we don't really have any control over that. I said,
"well, then I need you to get me someone who is in control." By this time, I was not happy because I was tired and not in the mood to deal with this. The Magical Express had not been very magical and the only magic I had seen was the "disappearing luggage act" and I was NOT impressed! By this time it was 11:30-11:45, I spoke to a very helpful young lady who knew what to do and who to talk to and she got me the answers I was looking for. Withing 30 minutes, the luggage had arrived and I was happy again! When I got to the room, Mike was still oblivious to what had happened and mom was going through our bags. So around 12:30 we were finally able to get some sleep!

The next day we slept in til around 9:00 and headed to the Magic Kingdom around 10:00. The weather was perfect and we were ready to take it all in! There were no lines for any of the rides, so we were able to do everything we wanted. The only time we actually had to wait in a line was for character pix and autographs. We worked out a system so we all would not have to stand in line and wait. Mom or Mike would go wait in line while Arden and I rode, then she would be able to get the pix and move on. It was great!!! We had dinner at Cinderella's Castle that night, so we left the MK around 3:00 to clean up and be back at MK around 5:00 so we could be there in time for dinner. It was the most amazing thing we did while there. Arden dressed up in her Cinderella dress and got her pix made with the "real" Cinderella. The meal was prepared by 5 star chefs. We had steak, potatoes, steamed asparagus and tea. Then for desert a chocolate cake that was to die for. The mice and Fairy Godmother came and danced and visited with all of the patrons but paid very special attention to the little "Princesses". It was wonderful! While we were eating it rained but when we left the castle, it had stopped! Perfect timing! It was about 7:15, so we still had almost 2 hours until the park closed and we didn't slow down. We rode everything and anything we could. We had been so lucky and hadn't been rained on all day. But as we were leaving the park, it began to pour and we got soaked. None of us cared because the park was closing and we were on our way to a warm hotel room!

The rest of the trip was great. On Friday morning we went to Animal Kingdom and then to MGM. On Saturday, we had breakfast at the Grand Floridian with Mary Poppins, Alice In Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Tigger, and Pooh. Then we took the monorail over to Epcot and stayed until around 3:00, then went back to the MK for the rest of the day. On Sunday, we had to leave :(. The Magical Express took us back to the airport. We had about an hour before we were supposed to take off and the sky began to look ugly. I told Mike after we boarded that we needed to get off the runway ASAP because it was going to storm. Weeeeelllllll, needless to say, we sat on the runway for 2 hours before taking off because it did indeed storm! Arden was the most understanding of us all. She never fussed one time about the delay! She was perfect! We finally landed in Nasvhille about 3:30, which was 3 hours later than scheduled, but we were home safe and sound, and that is what really mattered!