Blessed by Two: A Surprise at Disney World!

Ahh, finally I am blogging about our trip! This has been one crazy week at our house but finally I have the time and energy to do it!

So we just got back from our Disney trip and it was wonderful! The first night we got there we went to Downtown Disney but I will blog about that later. The first day after checking into the Polynessian Resort we headed to the Magic Kingdom for our first reservations at the Crystal Palace, which is a character meal with Winnie the Pooh and friends. We had early reservations so we got to the park about an hour before it opened (they will let you in if you have reservations inside the park). So as we were walking up and Josh was getting our bags checked, three Disney cast members (employees) stopped me and said "How would you like to be the first family of the day and open the park?" Of course having been there I knew what this meant and I knew getting chosen was like 1 in a million (ok, maybe not that much)!!! I was so excited and when I told Josh, we were both grinning from ear to ear! (So here is the part when everyone asks, how did we get chosen? I am not totally sure, there were tons of other people there. My guess is we meet the traditional family profile and well, my kids are cuties!! At least I think so!!)

So what does this mean, you ask? Well it meant we got to ride on the Disney fire truck by ourselves, to the back of the park to meet a whole host of characters, by ourselves! No one is in the park but us and the characters. They gave each of the kids their own autograph book and pens and the characters signed them and we got to meet and greet with them. We also got a certificate with our names printed on it, saying we were "the first family" that day. We also got Fast Passes (Passes that prevent you from waiting in lines) and a free 5x7 picture (which we forgot to get!) Then we all got on the Disney train and rode it to the front of the park for the Opening of the Magic Kingdom Ceremony! The kids had a great time playing with the characters on the train and being silly with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale, etc.

We got to the front of the park and if you have never been there the train is up above the crowd so is Mickey, all the characters, and the Disney Dancers/Singers were there. We got to wave to all the crowds below and they announced our names and where we were from. Then Paxton got to get on microphone (along with Mickey who was the MC) and count down from 10 to 1. Then we all got Pixie Dust and threw it over the crowd! Of course all the Disney Magic was everywhere with music and sparkles, etc! Then we had another little photo shoot with Mickey and the mayor of Disney. It really was a truly special moment and very hard to be topped!

We had our own Disney photographer and then another photographer using our camera to take like 100 pictures of the whole thing. So I don't have the Disney pictures yet (I am working on those too) but here are the pics taken with our camera that morning. Sorry there are so many but believe me I pared down on this!

Riding the fire truck around the park (Paxton loved to ring the bell in the back and here the old fashion siren)

A picture you won't find too often. No one around in front of the castle but us!

The characters coming out of Mickey's house in toon town to meet us!

Hugs and high fives all around!

Yes that is my goofy grin that I wore the whole time! Some might say I was more excited than the children.

Josh givin' the Donald a good handshake.

Lorelei has found a Princess!

High Fives to the Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

Group shots, and yes it was as hot as it looks already that morning.

The characters escorting us to the train.

The next pictures are of all the character on the train, I think you should know who they all are.

Mickey and our family on the train from toon town to the front of the park.

Chip and Dale. These guys were hilarious staying in perfect character the whole time. They played all kinds of silly games with the kids.

Lorelei giving Mickey a kiss. From that point on, she kissed just about every character we met that week.

Paxton and Lorelei loved playing with Mickey. He spent the whole time (and it took a while) playing with the kids and giving them lots of love and attention.

Here we are as the train pulls up to the front station. They told us to wave really big to the crowds.

Our shots are from the camera person behind the train, they had another taking pictures from the front. I will those when my Disney Photo CD comes in.

Sprinkling Pixie Dust over the crowd. I love this shot! Wish it was a little closer and yes the kids are there just too short for you to be able to see them here.