FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: 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!