The Cartwright Chronicle: January 2011

By day three we were getting really excited. We woke up and were heading to check into our Disney hotel where we would stay the remainder of the week. This was our first time ever to stay at one of the Disney Resorts. We arrived at the All Star Music Resort and before you can get to the property you have to pass some attendants and as we told them we were there to check in they said " Welcome Home" and I teared up a bit. I am a sappy like that.
Everything at Disney is over the top. The music hotel is one of the value resorts, but they still go over the top with the decorating and theming. When you arrive you are immediately taken to another time and place. We checked in and our room wasn't ready yet. But they told us to unload our bags and to go and do whatever we wanted for the day and when we arrived back they would be in our room waiting for us. That is what I love about Disney all the extras that just make everything so nice and convinient.
Our plan was to head over to the magic kingdom for the rest of the day. There is nothing like getting that first view of the castle as you enter the park to get you in the Disney Spirit.
I wish I would have had my camera recording when we entered Disney World. The kids were squealing with delight. It was so great. I was of course tearing up again.
We had a nice afternoon at Magic Kingdom. It was pretty crowded since it was still Thanksgiving weekend but we were still able to enjoy quite a few things.
When we arrived we had lunch at Caseys Corner. Its a cute baseball themed place that serves Hotdogs.
One of the first things we did attraction wise was see Mickey's PhilharMagic3D show. We all loved it and the kids were begging to see it again. Good thing we knew we would be back to the magic kingdom a few more times during the week to have that opportunity.
next we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. That one also became a family favorite. After Jack rode it for the first time he exclaimed " I like that Poop" (he wasnt too familiar with Pooh before the trip) It remains one of our favorite quotes from the trip.
We got to do a few other things but really we just wanted to walk around and get familiar with the park for the remainder of the week. We knew all the big rides had long lines and that it would be easier to ride them next week when the Holiday crowds were gone.
We had our first sit down dinner at The Diamond Horseshoe. It was in Liberty Square. It was a family style meal and it was all you can eat and it was wonderful. We had ham, turkey, roast beef, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, green beans, salad, and apple crisp. They brought all the food to our tables in platters. It was nice not to have to go through a buffet line with all the kids. And if we needed a refill on something they brought it right out.
We were on the Disney Dining Plan so we got to have some really great and fun dining experiences. We all ate like Kings...and gained a few pounds too.
After Dinner the kids were very tired and we rode the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Carribean and then were ready to call it a night. We still had not settled into our room.
When we got back to the resort we were happy to see all of our bags had made it and were there waiting for us. The room was nice and we quickly got everyone settled down for the night.
here are Pictures of Day #3