Disney Day One

Back in October, our family of 4 left the cold Illinois fall and flew to sunny Florida for a week of fun! Make a Wish sent us on a magical vacation to Walt Disney World. I don't think I can put into words just how amazing our trip was! Everything was perfect and we were able to spend and entire week stress free!

Day one... TRAVEL!
     Our flight left SUPER early... like 6:20 am. So the night before we left our wish coordinator had us stay in a hotel right by the airport. It was great to be able to be so close and allowed for an easy morning. We arrived at the airport, got out tickets and headed to our gate. The flight was long, but the boys did great! I believe they both fell asleep, which was part of the reason we chose to take such an early flight.

Once we arrived, we were greeted by a GKTW (Give Kids the world) volunteer who helped us get our luggage (she even knew which baggage claim to go to!) and showed us to our rental van! She made sure we had directions and that we were all loaded up and ready to go.I wish I would have thought to get a picture with her! She was WONDERFUL!

Its a quick drive from the airport to GKTW. Once we got there we met with a staff member who filled us in on everything that the village had to offer. We were then whisked off to our villa!

Our villa was amazing! It had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen and living room. It felt like home! I think I was most amazed at the special care they put into providing us with extra things. There were gift bags waiting for each of the boys, filled with toys, post cards, sun screen, stuffed animals and snacks! There were a few snacks in the kitchen also including pop and water. We brought all of our stuff in and got settled. We then headed out to find lunch! The boys were starving!

I am thankful that the staff gave us a cd with pictures of the village on it. I was really bad at remembering to take pictures! Please note, the following pictures were not taken by me! 

At the entrance.

House of Hearts, aka check in.

Back side of where we checked in.

This is the gingerbread house where they served breakfast and lunch daily. The food was wonderful! They even have volunteers to bring you tray to the table for you! This was a wonderful surprise and much needed with 2 small boys!

Inside the gingerbread house. We LOVED eating here. We met some really amazing families who had some really amazing kids! 

The ice cream palace! Here you could get ice cream 7am until 10pm. Needless to say the boys LOVED it here! Since it was a once in a lifetime trip we allowed them to visit this place every single day! 

Inside.

Castle of Miracles and the carousal. 

I will post the rest of day 1 in another entry. Blogger is having issues! :)