Disney Vacation Part 2-Downtown Disney

Derrick, Lucas (top), Matthew, Me, Natalie outside of Design A Tee at Downtown Disney.




One of our favorite parts of vacation is shopping at Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is a large, outdoor shopping center with fun shops and restaurants. The boys love the LEGO store there, and I'll admit I do, too. The sculptures they make out of LEGOS for the outside of the building are awesome. We've seen a dragon in the lagoon, a Transformer, a Buzz Lightyear, and a Woody from Toy Story. This year, there was a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the dragon from Sleeping Beauty attacking at LEGO knight.
Buzz and Woody made out of LEGOS. This is the scene from Toy Story when they are blasting off of RC Racecar at the end of the movie.
We like to saunter around the shops, Derrick gets Cinnamon Glazed Almonds to munch on, and the boys get to pick out their souvenirs. It sure beats carrying around souvenirs at each park, and for the most part, you can find anything at Downtown Disney that you can find in the parks. We ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express-wood fired pizzas were so good!
Matthew and Lucas outside the Christmas shop.
As we were walking through the World of Disney, Lucas and Matthew were trying on almost every hat possible.
Lucas trying on a Sorcerer Mickey hat and Matthew as Buzz Lightyear.

It was a good spot to start our first day at Disney. We went here after we had checked into our resort because we didn't want to use a park ticket if we couldn't spend a whole day at a park.

Disney Vacation Part 1-The Airport and Our Resort

My Three Cabelleros in front of the topiary outside our resort's restaurant. Matthew, Natalie, and Lucas


Wow! What an awesome Disney vacation we had this year! It started out with a flight from Columbus to Orlando at 12:30. Let me say, it was SO nice to get there in two hours instead of two days in the car. I worked so hard to convince Derrick to fly-and to find cheap fares to show him it was worth it. So glad we did. Granted, the flight wasn't without some nerves-especially from Matthew-but it was uneventful overall.
Lucas and Derrick entertaining themselves with video games

We left for the airport around 10 a.m. and checked our bags. After making it through security, it was just waiting for the flight. Natalie played a bit and napped a bit while the boys (and Derrick) played video games to pass the time. I asked the flight desk if it was full, and since it wasn't, the nice attendant blocked the seat beside me so Natalie would have a seat-so nice! She is technically a "lap" baby...but I knew that could be an issue. However, it worked out that she got her own seat thanks to the nice attendant at the desk.

All was well on the flight. Of course, the Benadryl and Dramamine that I had given the kids didn't work towards the benefit of sleeping. But, just as we were getting extra squirmy, it was time to land and get off.
Lucas and Matthew ready to ride the Magical Express!

We found our way to the Magical Express (Disney's motorcoach service that takes you from the airport to your resort) and didn't have to wait long to board it. It was about a 25 minute ride to Coronado Springs Resort. All the while, they were playing Disney movies, the kids were snacking and looking out the window, and it was good.
Derrick, Natalie, and Matthew aboard the Magical Express
When we arrived at our resort, we checked in and made our way to our room. Let's just say that it was quite spread out and took a long walk to get from the central building to our room. Otherwise, the resort was fabulous, and the boys loved the rockin' pool and waterslide. However, because it is so spread out (you can even take a Disney bus from one part of the resort to the other) we probably won't stay at that one again.
Lucas, Matthew, and Natalie chilling out before bed.

We headed to get something to eat and then explore Downtown Disney while we waited for Magical Express to deliver our bags. When we got back to our room, our bags were there, so we gave the kids a snack and some down time while we unpacked our bags. Then it was off to bed for our first day at Magic Kingdom!
Our resort-Coronado Springs. This is facing the main building, across the lake from our room.