Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Walt Disney World Vacation || Part 1

We got back from vacation 3 weeks ago and already it feels like forever. We had such a wonderful time! I really do think we're having withdrawals and have already started pre-planning our next trip (which we are planning to go to Disneyland in California sometime in 2018).

After getting back, I've jumped right into Fall photo sessions and have been super busy with that, so I just haven't had much time for blogging, but I've been itching to get some of my Disney pictures up here for you all to see. I took SO many pictures that it has taken me this long just to go through and edit some of my favorites. I thought I'd try and get it all done in one long post, but that just isn't working, so here's part one of several Disney posts. I hope you'll follow along! 

We left Friday at lunch time (Jake and I each had to work in the morning). We had the rental car all loaded up the night before and we headed out of St. Louis at around 1:00 Friday 9/23. We rented an 8-seater Ford Expedition so that all 6 of us would have plenty of room for such a long drive. It was the perfect vehicle for the drive and accommodated us all very well. My dad and Jake golfed one day while we were there, so we attached the golf clubs to the roof rack to give us extra room for luggage in the back. It worked out great.

We stopped in Nashville for dinner at Donatos Pizza which was quite good. After dinner, I put pajamas on the kids and we drove on to Atlanta. We had a hotel room reserved in Atlanta for the night. The next morning we had breakfast and headed to Orlando!


Both kids did really great on the drive there and back. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did with such a long drive.

 Such a happy moment when you finally get there and drive through the Disney World Gate!!!

We got to our resort at around 5:00 and got all checked in and settled. We are Disney Vacation Club members and this was our first stay since joining. Our "home" is at the Grand Floridian and to say it's a beautiful resort would be an understatement. It was amazing! It was the resort I never thought I'd ever have the chance to stay in and it was really awesome to actually get to stay there all week. I can't say enough great things about it.



(The lobby of the main building.)

The Grand Floridian has several buildings. The particular building we stayed in was for Disney Vacation Club Members. Our villa was on the top floor overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon. It was all just gorgeous.


The beautiful lobby in the building we stayed in.

This little kids corner of the lobby was so cute!

The kids loved the pools and the view from our balcony was amazing. Our villa had a kitchen, an amazing bathroom and washer/dryer. The kids loved the big jacuzzi bathtub and they loved that the mirror right across from the tub had a t.v.!! Pretty cool.





 After we got in and settled, Jake and my parents went to the grocery store for some groceries for the week while I took the kids to the pool! I definitely got the best end of that deal!







Then later that night we rode the Disney bus to Disney Springs for dinner.
It was very crowded, so we just got some quick food at a couple different stands and called it a night.

 It was a great first day at Disney World! Stay tuned tomorrow for part 2!

2 comments :

Jamie Kubeczka said...

So fun and that hotel looks amazing!!

Johannah Sirois said...

I am so excited you are blogging about your vacation!! We leave in 30 days for Disney and to say I am excited it's an understatement!!! The Grand Floridian is so beautiful. We have never stayed there, but we have visited a few times. Their life size gingerbread house at Christmastime is amazing. We also had breakfast there at 1900 Park Fare which was delicious. I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!!!