When the Magic Began, A Look Back

Once upon a time I had great ambitions towards becoming a master scrapbook artist. I have hundreds of dollars worth of materials in the basement to prove that the ambition existed and that I failed miserably. I am very ashamed of all the money I invested in this hobby to have no follow through. In my defense, I am obsessive about the details and getting a couple of pages done took me forever. Then came digital photography into my life and out when the trips to WalMart to pick up photos I had developed. It just all fell through the cracks for one reason or another. Still, I really wish I had beautiful scrapbooks of our lives to flip through and reminisce. Then I discovered blogging and Forgiven and Saved became my outlet for recording our lives. I know I cannot back track and blog about all that happened in our lives prior to 2008 when I began my blog but there are some memories I do want to take the time to write about so we will have it here when we want to skip down memory lane. My first "oldie" is going to be our very first trip to our favorite place...join me as we go back in time and visit...

Walt Disney World

January, 2008

This trip was the very first for all of us. We were delighted on Christmas morning to discover that Santa had left us all the goods for a magical trip to Disney. The note stated we would leave in a few weeks on MLK weekend. The excitement was hardly containable at our house. Up went the paper chain in the kitchen to count down the days and we waited with anticipation to get to the very last loop! The day finally came and after Chad and I got off work, we headed south. We had intended to stop for the night along the way but we were all excited, the time passed quickly and we ended up going all the way to WDW.

We were in awe when we passed through the entrance, I can still feel the excitement and it is just as exciting each time we have driven through to begin a trip.

Our trip was planned for Disney's POP Century Resort so we decided to try there first in search of a room for the night. No luck but they were super accommodating and got on the phone searching for us a room. They found us one at All Star Movies. We were just thrilled to already be in the park when we would wake up the next day.

It was fun to see all of the enormous movie props all over the property at Movies. Cooper was trying so hard to get outside to the huge dalmatian just outside our door.

Claudia checked out the view once more before we headed to bed. We were completely worn out and couldn't wait to see what the next day would bring. We couldn't even begin to imagine...

The morning took longer than expected but we finally got switched to our resort and arrived at the

Magic Kingdom

Looking back now, I realize how much I did not know about "doing Disney" that I have since learned. Knowing the ropes certainly helps you get more out of your trip but on this trip, we didn't even realize we were missing anything because it was all new to us and it was all completely enchanting!


We stopped by to say hello to Walt and Minnie.

It was a damp hazy morning but nothing could diminish our joy...

I could not wait to see the castle for the first time. That is all it took, even through the foggy morning, I was captivated and fell in love immediately. I do not have any idea how many times I have photographed the castle since I took this very first picture. It is my very favorite WDW landmark to photograph. In any light, at any time of day, it is spectacular.

I will try to refrain from labeling everything as "our first..." because for this trip, everything was a first for us!

Watching their faces as they saw everything was captivating for me. It brought me so much joy to see how happy it all made them. I knew this would not be a one-time trip for us. We were all in love with WDW on our first day and I knew w'ed all be dying to go back. I had no idea God would bless us and allow us to go 5 times in 5 years but I am so thankful for every trip.

Lunch was Pinocchio's for pizza. We were famished and so thankful for a rest stop.  It didn't take us long to finish up and get back to the adventure.

At 5 years old, our sweet Claudia was still quite afraid of big characters. I had high hopes she would not be afraid of the "face" characters. She fell in love with Ariel and declared that Ariel was her "favorite" princess. Ariel was sweet as she talked to Claudia.

I can still hear Ariel asking "And who is this little guppy?" as she gestured to Cooper. Just like it was yesterday...

I didn't choose the best location for us to watch our first parade but Claudia didn't seem to mind. She was amazed as every character came into view. I figured it out and the other days found us great spots.

To my delight, after lunch each day, Cooper would go to sleep in the stroller and take his normal nap. I guess he was always tired because his naps didn't suffer at all on this trip. He didn't even have to go back to the room. After this day, I just put him in the back where I could recline his seat and cover the top to block the light. He would wake up so happy and excited when he'd realize where we were. Keeping him in his stroller and content was a breeze because he was amazed to see everything. He loved WDW as much as we did. On this day, he did miss his first parade because he was all tuckered out from such a big day so far.

The parade is still one of my favorite activities at Magic Kingdom. I am so glad Cooper still likes to wait for the parade with me.

I've always loved anything Cinderella...

It is so amusing to me how surprised people are when they ask how old the kids were when we took them on their first trip. (She was 5 and he was 20mths) It also amazes me how many people will say they don't want to take their kids until they are old enough to remember going. I just don't get that! I now wish so badly we had taken Claudia before she was as old as 5. Cooper's age as perfect! 

Here is my other take on that statement. Granted, Cooper will not remember this trip. In fact, honestly, he doesn't remember the 2nd trip either. However, I have precious memories and pictures I wouldn't give up for anything. I mean who wouldn't want a picture of their precious toddler toddling up to his pals Pooh and Tigger? If we hadn't taken him when he was so young, I would not have these precious pictures. This is another reason I wish we had taken Claudia when she was smaller. I do not have these pictures of her and I wish so badly that I did. Really, this memory of seeing them for the first time with Cooper was worth everything!

3 months later when Cooper turned 2, this precious picture was part of his birthday invitation. That was priceless!

And then we have the wonderful Claudia story with Tigger and Pooh. I had waited in line with Cooper for a long time and didn't worry that Chad and Claudia were not with us because up to this point, Claudia had been very afraid of all characters in her life. I was thankful she had done fine with Ariel but she is a face character, this is totally different. Chad and Claudia came up just as we were seeing T/P and I wanted him to bring me our PhotoPass card. I knew Claudia would never come over for a picture. Then the unreal thing happened to my precious Claudia...sweet Tigger starts waving at her and motioning for her to come see him. Chad picks her up and she doesn't cry as he walks towards Tigger. T was so sweet waving and blowing her kisses that she did come over and let us have a family picture made. She even touched him! WOW! It was a major milestone in her life and I was so excited! From that moment on, she totally loved WDW and went to every character without fear! I was so proud of her!

Loved the Pooh Bear ride!

I think before we started going to Disney, the only two rides I really knew about where the tea cups and Dumbo. I guess that is because anytime a show has something about Disney, those are the rides showcased. They are iconic to the Magic Kingdom so I was thrilled to get to ride them both. Claudia and Cooper loved them as well. Chad isn't fond of spinning so he can do without the tea cups.

He was so small he could barely see over the edge of Dumbo to see the view. How did they grow up so fast?

We all remember Cooper saying "Daddy, that's mines!" when Chad did this for the picture.

I was so happy to be able to schedule a special dinner on our first night. We had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table right in the castle. Prior to being seated, we got to meet the princess in all her royal beauty and have a picture made with her. 

My favorite Disney Princess and my very favorite Princess of all time.

Some of Cinderella's sweet friends stopped by to say hello as we dined.

I cannot imagine how panicked my sweet girl would have been if sweet Tigger had not made all the difference!

Our family dining in a castle...

The beautiful fireworks were exploding as we dined. We couldn't see them completely but we were near a window and could see some of them. This concluded our first day. We left the Magic Kingdom exhausted from all the fun we had.  We couldn't wait to see what the next day would bring.