Dec 10 - The Adventure Begins!

This morning, we managed to wake up and get to Magic Kingdom on time for our 0815 breakfast ADR at the Crystal Palace! The sight of the castle and the feeling of walking down Main Street is simply indescribable. Be still my heart, I'm hardly breathing! The Magic Kingdom was resplendant in all its Christmas finery. With Christmas music tinkling in the background, I felt so overwhelmingly happy I had to restrain myself from sprinting down to our destination.

The Magic Kingdom

The Man and The Mouse

How I felt upon the sight of that castle!

Breakfast at the crystal palace was lovely. Unfortunately, the food was very salty and very sweet but I think this is just something that we will have to deal with and adjust to. We tried very hard to stay healthy but how could you refuse the children a re-aquaintance with their favourite Mickey waffles? The characters came quickly and the interaction was wonderful. Despite having 6 children at the table, Winnie and friends took the time to give each child special attention. As a parent, it was heart-warming to see the children run up and hug the characters so enthusiastically...with the exception of Jonah. He kept saying "I'm scared" yet wanted to be able to be part of the action so he was carried for the whole experience but overall, it was a win because unlike on the med cruise, we have photos this time!

Ee-yore

Piglet

Winnie

Tigger

Mickey waffles

The characters in real life!

Oh...speaking of photos, in my excitement and getting caught up in the moment, photos were almost forgotten completely. This shall have to be rectified tomorrow!

Our morning at the Magic Kingdom was a leisurely day of just trying to stay awake. The crowds were low and we were able to take the children on most of the rides in Fantasyland with no wait at all. One of the children was so excited that he accidentally wet his pants. He shall remain nameless!

Trying to pull out that Sword In the Stone

The beautiful Liberty Belle

Our next port of call was the Haunted Mansion. We were surprised that the 5 year old girls chose to go on the ride. One took it all in her stride but the other kept her eyes closed and kept her head down the entire ride. In the meantime, the husbands and babies went to get fastpasses for Splash Mountain. We were in the process of lining up to meet Woody and Jessie when our time slot came up and so we abandoned ship. The boys, big and little, along with Luan, our Disney mother hen, went on the ride. This was followed by Big Mountain Thunder Railroad, again with hardly any wait. Utilising the child swap, the boys were over the moon to be able to go on again.

Splash Mountain anyone?!?

Tom Sawyer Island

We decided to make our lunch stop at Cosmic Rays. I still get astounded by the size of the soft drinks and meals every time we eat! Do people really eat and drink that much?!?! I think I only managed to down 20% of my coke and eat half my meal. By this stage, Elyssa and Jonah had fallen asleep in their prams and Annelise had fallen asleep at the table. The poor child was oblivous to everyone else eating around her head. So we headed home to finish off the nap which was followed by a swimming expedition to Ol' Man Island. Malcolm and I took all 6 children and that was exercise enough to help burn off some of the calories! The pool was nice and warm despite the cool temperatures. We had to end our expedition early (thank goodness!) to make our dinner reservation at Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Disney.

An afternoon dip...looks can be deceiving. It was cold!

thank goodness!) to make our dinner reservation at Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Disney.

We had become very familiar with our south depot bus stop and thus opted for this safe option rather than the boat ride. We were too afraid that we would end up snoring before reaching our destination. Downtown Disney did not disappoint with all its lights and colours. Walking through absorbing the atmosphere was an experience in itself.

Dinner wasn't too bad. Malcolm and I shared the Macadamia crusted chicken and the Salmon. It was lucky that we both could't decide between the Choc Lava Cake and the Florida Key Lime Pie. We shared those too. The choc lava cake was awesome...but I forgot to take photos!

Although we had such a wonderful day, it was tinged with some sadness. I type with a heavy heart as our dear friend Ethel will have to fly home to be with her father who is likely to pass away from cancer. Tomorrow, we will celebrate her baby's 3rd birthday together before she heads home. She will try to rejoin us in New York. We pray for her and her family during this difficult time.

Sights and sounds of Downtown Disney

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck

We are here!

We were fortunate to have an uneventful flight to Orlando. Arrival was a smooth and pleasant process and we proceeded down to the Welcome Centre.We couldn't be more ecstatic to see the signs and the welcoming faces for the Magical Express! The service was friendly and efficient. We very happily passed over our check-in luggage stubs to Martin. Before long we were on our way and on the very clean and well maintained bus heading for Port Orleans Riverside. The children could hardly contain themselves and we hadn't even set foot on Disney property! The moment of the day had to be Lara proclaiming "This is so special!" whilst getting into the line for the bus taking us to our resort. It really did help to take away all the tiredness associated with the long travel.

Hurray, this means our end destination is near!

Being served by the friendly Martin

Counter 7, my lucky number

Still fresh after almost 24 hours of travel, except for the photographer who took this rather poor focused and poorly exposed shot...

We checked into the beautiful Port Orleans Riverside and stopped for a quick dinner at the dining hall before proceeding to our room the LONG way (accidentally!). Even at night, the setting was amazing and the walk to our room was so pleasant. We were placed in a corner room in building 16 at Alligator Bayou. The room was a touch on the small side but the theming was delightful. I loved the details in the building and in the room.

The children still waiting for check-in to be completed

The gorgeous lobby of the Port Orleans Riverside Resort

The very first junkfood assault on our bodies...dinner!

The children eating dinner and starting to flag

The lovely touch in our room by mousekeeping on arrival

The boys settling down to sleep

Before we crashed for the night in anticipation for our first "real" day at Walt Disney World, we received our shopping packages. I think I will let the photo speak for itself...

Dec 9 Revisited

Traffic to Sydney Airport was absolutely horrendous! We checked in at about 2 hours before our flight. Somehow, time disappeared on us and we ended up being one of the last ones to board the plane. According to Malcolm, our names were very nearly called out...

At Sydney airport, waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive

Just before entering the gates. No turning back now!

Jonah looking at the Delta plane taking us to the USA

We started our "day" again in America at 6am in LAX. Other than Malcolm having coffee spilt on his pants by the flight attendant, we made it through our 14 hour flight relatively unscathed. Hallelujah! Passport control, baggage claim, customs, bag drop and security check were surprisingly quick and painless. We were through everything and transfered into the Delta Terminal within the hour. Even after a long visit to McDonald's, we still had over 2 and a half hours to kill. Jonah thankfully had his afternoon nap on the flight to Orlando and the other children stayed awake.

Still happy and chirpy before the flight!

The giant McDonald's iced coffee purchased to keep us awake. It was nearly twice the sice of Elyssa's head! We should have known better to only keep to small...

Awaiting our flight to Orlando at LAX

The flight to Orlando so far has been very pleasant. The flight attendants are so much friendlier than their international counterparts and the free wifi onboard is just awesome. Can't wait to get to get to Port Orleans Riverside!

D-Day

The time has come! The bags and children are loaded, the house tidy and we're set to go to the airport. As we leave Sydney for our long journey to the Americas, we thank the Lord for getting us here and we pray for a safe trip.

Bon voyage to me!

Not So Happy After The Hunter

The past 48 hours have been crazy! In short, major changes had to be made to our house plans by today and our to-do list for our trip appear to have increased exponentially. Co-ordinating all this remotely from the Hunter Valley was not easy, and emailing/going over plans discreetly during a work meeting was stressful! On my return at 6pm, we reviewed the latest version from the architect but it still wasn't quite right so Malcolm went ahead to Lara's recital whilst I visited the architect. He joined us after the recital and it was a productive meeting with good results by 930pm. I got home at 10, scoffed down some dinner and went to sleep.

I just have to get through today's work day and then I can start all the final preparations for our trip. Malcolm, the lucky duck, reminded me last night that his holiday had started. He has today off. Well, can't believe we'll be flying out in just over 24 hours!

Happy In The Hunter

I am sitting here with Minhaj in our huge 2 bedroom apartment, surfing the internet and chatting about family.

The day started off in the typical chaotic manner with breakfast, haircuts, Church, lunch, shopping, packing and continual attempts to restore the house into some sort of order. Malcolm was luckily only called in twice. His parents also came to save the day taking the children out in the afternoon for some last minute pampering before we leave.

I was glad when Minhaj came to pick me up for our trip up north. We were dropped off at work where the bus was waiting to take us to the Hunter Valley. It was surprising huge and luxurious with reclining soft leather seats and flat-screen TVs. Before long, the snacks were handed out and a movie started to ease our journey. I had not seen any movies for a while and so was glad of the opportunity to watch ANY that was on offer. Killers with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl was rather entertaining and we reached the Crowne Plaza for check-in in no time.

I was delighted to the welcoming sight of a King bed with an ensuite and TV. This is on top of the generous living space complete with a kitchen. Dinner was a relaxing affair at the hotel restaurant. Ah...one really should go to work meetings more often!

We have a 930 start tomorrow morning so I will be able to sleep in before enjoying my most favourite part of any hotel stay...the buffet breakfast!

Oh. And the rest of our WDW itinerary has been emailed out. Yippee!

5 Days To Go!

Chaos has descended upon our household and our humble abode resembles the crash site of a plane wreck. I am attempting to pack in preparation of our trip. Husbands on call and meddling children have not contributed to my efforts.

As I write on my rest break, I am most disappointed to announce that I have failed in my attempt to contain our belongings within 3 suitcases. There goes my plan of 2 suitcases within 2 others babushka doll-esque style. I was going well until I had to try squeeze in a certain someone's footwear. I have grossly underestimated the combined volume of Malcolm's shoes. Who has such mammoth feet? And what male needs to bring five pairs of shoes?!?! Thus, a babushka suitcase had to be brought out of its comfortable bigger brother's cocoon just to accommodate his shoes.

The clothes were relatively easy to pack. It was the Disney paraphernalia which kept me on my toes. Autograph books, big permanent pens, lanyards, fish extenders, door magnets, the list continues. WDW has been occupying our minds of late. Whilst awaiting our detailed park plan from our theme park strategist, Malcolm has worked out his casual walking speed to be 6.2km/hour with an 8kg daypack assuming no wind and level ground. Others have been working on pelvic floor exercises to minimize the need for toilet stops and chances of unfortunate accidents on scary rides. I have been refining my "scoop and sprint" technique to be able to gather (belongings and children) and run quickly to an attraction if need be should any overtaking of other Disney wannabe fans are required.

I was delighted when our 2 page Animal Kingdom touring plan was distributed, complete with map, contingencies, and an accompanying 30 page supporting document. I am wondering how our theme park strategist has time to do this being a surgeon with an active 18 month old child. Now awaiting the same for the other 11 days!

The last few weeks seemed to have passed by in a flash. I was most excited to discover that Malcolm is now staff at Macquarie University. He very flippantly mentioned this AFTER listening to me lament for days about how expensive photoshop is and how I wished we were eligible for the student/teacher version which was so much cheaper. So we now have in our possession a copy of Lightroom 3 and Adobe CS5!

Our most recent "stress" is what the front desk at Port Orleans Riverside will think of us. We have been madly purchasing things online with the fantastic post-Thanksgiving sales. Disney T-shirts, Disney pyjamas and a Disney Christmas tree-skirt amongst other things. The tree-skirt survived a close call being nearly embroidered with "Lara" upon Malcolm's instruction until the Disney customer service officer kindly intervened:

"Sir, how about The Albany Family?"

"Oh, ok"

"I think that would work much better Sir'

Malcolm had thought that it was a skirt for Lara!!! I had to be grateful though that he was willing to spend time on the phone "fixing" our order so as to be able to ship it free to our hotel. Somehow, in the process, he managed to get an extra $12 off! Woohoo!

We've now had our Christmas "parties" with both sets of parents as well as Malcolm's grandfather. The children have been delighted to get all their Christmas presents early. They have also received generous donations for shopping in the US. They are very lucky children indeed!

There is good news on the home front. Our plans were finalized on late Thursday night. We are now awaiting landscape designs and finalizing other external elements such as roof lines, colours and windows and doors. This will hopefully be done by Monday leaving 2 days for final preparations with submission to council slated for Wednesday.

On Sunday afternoon, I will be leaving for the Hunter Valley for an off-site work meeting. I think of this as a child-free treat to relax and prepare myself for the long journey on Thursday. Upon my return on Tuesday evening, there will be a ream of things to do including buying that bottle of phenergan...