Penny's Walt Disney World Vacation

A lot of people said we were crazy to go to DisneyWorld with a toddler but I have to say it was one of my favorite vacations ever! I was super nervous about flying with Penny for the first time but like all things I really shouldn't have worried about it as it turned out better than expected. Penny did stay up until about 15 minutes after take off and then she fell sound asleep. I wish I had done the same but alas, as a mom you can't help but worry. Penny probably could have slept more than 5 hours on the plane but alas the landing gear started making it noise, the pilot came on the loud speaker and of course, they always turn those bright lights on when you are on a red eye to alert you that it is morning where you have landed. The combination of those things woke up Penny. We landed in Miami, Florida and didn't have to make but a short trip to our connecting flight to Orlando. Penny decided she didn't want to miss out on the early morning action and stayed up. When we landed we all found ourselves hungry and made a pit stop at Chik fil a for a breakfast sandwich. We made our way to the Disney Shuttles pretty easily. It has helped that we have navigated the airport before on previous trips. Hubby was excited to use his Disney Magic Bands, for which, we were chosen to test out by our resort. Hubby had been talking about these Magic Bands so much that he was truly disappointed when we weren't selected. However, what hubby didn't know was that Disney doesn't select you months in advance they choose you 2 weeks prior so color him a happy camper when I received an email that stated we had been chosen for the test run of the Magic Bands. So with our greedy Chik Fil a hands we grabbed our bands out of our carry on and put them on. With a few swipes of our wrist that lit up some Mickey Ears, we were all checked in for our bus transportation to The Beach Club. As we were about to board the bus I hear my name being called and whom should I see but my mother. She flagged us down and immediately started talking about their experience. My parents had flown into Orlando the day before and had stayed in one of the airport hotels. So it was kind of cool that we happened to be in the same place at the same time and were all able to ride to our hotel together. When we arrived, something that has never happened occurred...our rooms were ready! I was so grateful because I was super tired and the 5 hours that Penny had were wearing thin. We get to our rooms and I swipe the card and upon entering I see that there are still people in our room!! Yikes! I felt so bad. They felt bad for us. Not sure what to do we tried my parent's room which was adjoining and luckily, their room was empty. They suggested we take a nap in their room and then later we would meet for lunch. Just as I was settling in the phone rang and it was the front desk who apologized about the people in the room thing. I was so grateful to be able to sleep (normally, we can't get a room until 4pm) that I let them off the hook, hung up and fell asleep. We all had a good catnap and awoke refreshed. We met my parents at the Sunshine Pavilion in Epcot for lunch. Since it was September and all the kids had gone back to school we had a relatively easy time getting on rides. I'll have to remember that for future trips. Penny loved WDW from the moment we got there. We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Pluto immediately and Penny gave them the tightest of hugs. We went and talked to Crush and Crush commented on her eagerness to touch the screen. We had a great time! We had a late dinner and Penny stayed up tip 10pm which would become her new bedtime for the week. We had gotten a king size bed> Penny took one look at the crib and and another look at the King Sized bed and she knew where she was sleeping...in bed with us! I have to say though that she zonked out pretty easily each night and co-sleeping with her was easier than expected. For all those naysayers who said Penny was too young to enjoy WDW, all I have to say is boo on you! Penny had a great time! For an almost 2 year old she behaved really well. I loved watching the excitement in her eye when she hugged a character, or when she tried on a sword and crown in Fantasyland, or when she played in Casey Jr's Water Playground or when she say Mickey for the millionth time! She loved the pool at our resort, especially the sandy bottom, she loved all the snacks at the parks, especially the popcorn. Her little eyes were full of wonder everywhere we turned. She was even pretty good at all of our sit down dinners and lunches (Crystal Palace, Coral Reef, Be Our Guest, Booma's, and the Hoop Dee Doo Dinner Show).