Magic Kingdom

It was a pleasant surprise to have the whole family wake up naturally between 6 to 7am in the morning. It wasn't as pleasant to discover that the TSA had somehow damaged one of our locks after opening it presumably for an inspection. We had to call guest services to get the lock cut open. It was obviously a day for locks of all sorts to misbehave. We somehow also managed to lock ourselves out of our bathrooms. Yes, you read correctly. The bathroom got locked with no one inside the bathroom. Fortunately, the maintenance man who came was friendly and did not look at us like we were fools.

The view of our beautiful resort from our balcony. Sorry I should have straightened this photo first but I'm too tired right now!

The joy of the children when they discovered the television in the mirror. Brushing their teeth had never been so popular

Got to love the areas set aside for little people. Handy when parents need to sort things like with reception

We ate breakfast at the hotel's quick service restaurant again as we were not organised enough to make a reservation at the Grand Floridian Cafe beforehand. In very non-Disney fashion, we missed rope drop! Fortunately the monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom was quick and we were off to enjoy our first park of our trip. We spent some time of our morning exploring the new Fantasyland expansion. Enchanted Tales with Belle was gorgeous and a great way to meet with Belle. A quick food pit stop was made at Gaston's Tavern as we had to try Le Fou's Brew. The protein meal that was the pork shank on offer wasn't too bad either.

We're following the leader, the leader, the leader wherever he may go!

A quick ride, next stop...Magic Kingdom!

Filled with excitement ready to go!

Let the  memories begin at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Crossing under the sign that takes you to the happy Disney bubble

The magic began straight away! We piled into our ride to the Castle

Yes I got to be the driver...just for the photo!

We're here!!!

First ride of the day

Driving is serious business

Main Street Philharmonic, amazing musicians. Talented and funny!

Guess where we're eating?

On the to try list

Our lunch

Gaston, the man himself

It was a LARGE piece of meat

The outside of Under The Sea, one of the new attractions within the expansion of Fantasyland

 It was a day filled with so much fun. Our time went by quickly and we returned to our resort to enjoy some time at the pool which we ogled over the previous night. We ended the swimming session to beautifyy ourselves for an evening with Cinderella and family at 1900 Park Fare. The food was surprisingly good! We enjoyed the strawberry soup, a specialty of the restaurant. Meeting Prince Charming and the evil stepsisters were a hoot, and Cinderella was as pretty and charming as always.

The children enjoying their swim at the resort pool

Dinner venue

The evil stepmother teaching Shirley her ways

Prince Charming

Cinderella with the ladies

This wicked stepsister had her eyes set on Jared. I believe she wanted to marry him

The December babies getting their special treat

Specialty of the house, strawberry soup

One last photo at the Grand Floridian

Hearing your child tell you "I'm so happy!" at the end of the day would never fail  to warm any parent's heart. It makes the long journey and the sacrifices all worth it! With plans made for the next day, we retired early to our rooms to rest.

Dec 7 Revisited

Sydney Airport was busy on the first weekend of private schools being on holiday. The queue for immigration was horrendous as was the wait for security. The line for the TRS was even worse! We were that close to leaving Jason behind...Our Delta flight from Sydney to Los Angeles was filled to capacity. The plane was old and tired as was the crew staff but there was on demand entertainment and that was good enough to keep the children entertained. Excitement ran high as we started our travels with friends. The children did remarkably well with the very long journey. Jonah, in particularly was a champion. He fell asleep about 4 hours into the flight and proceeded to sleep for the next 10!

Checked in, the gang is good to go! We welcome a new family, the Tongs, to the Disney madness

Our theme park strategist doing some last minute fine tuning to our touring plans

The boys...

...and the rest!

One of the first to be on the plane because we had SO many children.

After the 14 hour long flight, we scrambled to the power source at LAX. iphones needed juice!

Finally at Orlando's MCO

We survived our very long first flight, our transit at LAX and our next 4.5 hour flight to Orlando. The connecting flight was a schmozzle with an overcrowded gate overbooked passengers and a late arriving plane. We were glad to finally reach our destination of Orlando. Disney's Magical Express Counter was like a beacon of welcoming light to weary travellers. The Disney bubble had enveloped us! Suddenly it seemed like we had no worries. We gave them our names, and they sorted everything else out. All we did was hop on the bus and we were whisked away to our first resort of our Walt Disney World stay, the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian. The newest of Disney Vacation Club's properties, it only just opened on 23 October this year. We felt very privileged to be one of the first guests to stay here.

The Grand Floridian is a beautiful resort, as is its newest extension. We checked in and then ate a quick dinner at Gasparilla Grill. To Malcolm's horror, it isn't one of the restaurants that receive the DVC discount! We obviously had not read up on our preparation material well enough. With stomachs full, we oohed and aahed at the pools on our way to our villas. The children were delighted to see the fireworks from our balcony as a treat before bedtime. We can't wait until tomorrow!

Show these to the Disney Cast Members and they'll pick it up for you from baggage claim and deliver it to your hotel room. Too easy!

We're finally here! At the gorgeous Grand Floridian

The Christmas decorations are up!

The water feature in the lobby of the Grand Floridian Villas

The all important magic bands!

Personalised

It can do amazing things...

...like energise a half dead child!

A studio at the VGF

As with all things Disney, theming is beautiful

A surprise glimpse of the fireworks!

Time for bed but ready for tomorrow

Disneyworld Here We Come!

After what seemed to be years of planning, the day has finally come! It has been a year filled with wonderful moments but also one that has been challenging in many ways. Both Malcolm and I have really been pushed way out of our comfort zone and well beyond our coping capabilities. We have had to think long and hard about our priorities in life. For us, it has also been a great lesson in finding peace only through complete submission to God. We are thankful for being blessed with the opportunity to take a break and recharge with family and friends. What better place to do this than the happiest place on earth!

Wedding!

Eek! I leave tomorrow and I just realised that I haven't finished my posts on my trip to Jakarta! So here is a very hurried overview of my cousin's beautiful wedding...

The morning, to be honest, was a bit of a disaster. The whole extended family travelled to the opulent Shangri-La Jakarta with the intention of getting dressed with more space. Unfortunately, it turned out to be closer to a refugee march, with all of us moving from one room to another. Three rooms later...we found our home!

The ceremony was a simple Christian ceremony, with the reception within the hotel itself. It was nice to meet up with cloes relatives that I haven't seen for years. Although it appears that we're related to half the guests in the room...The evening ended quickly and I had to return home the next day. But not before doing some shopping!

We stopped at a local craftsman expo and it was amazing. Local products including batiks of all kinds from different regions of Indonesia were on display and for sale. Being the last day of the expo, there were great bargains to be had!

Jonah and I were dropped off at the airport and the rest of the family continued on their holiday in Bali. So jealous!!! The flight home was uneventful. Jonah was a champion, falling asleep when the plane was taxi-ing and stayed asleep until we landed. Phew.

The flower girl

The groom's mum and the groom's uncle, my aunt and my uncle

Jovela, the bride and her brother walking her down the aisle

My very tired niece!

How many people can fit into one hotel room...

Ready for evening festivities!

My parents part of the welcoming party

The massive cake!

Content to eat and watch

A happy groom singing to his bride

Happy greetings all round

Family and friends

The groom's brother

Alright...here's a photo of me with my cousin