The One With a View from the Top

Well, today was our first full day here in Orlando. As of tonight, I am sitting with my feet up, looking out the window, towards the Magic Kingdom. The lights are illuminating the castle, Space Mountain is glowing, Main Street is alive with the bright lights, I can hear the puffing of the whistle on the train, and I just saw monorail blue and tiel head on by. In just a few minutes I will stop writing this post and go watching the Summer Nightastic fireworks show from our balcony. We are just trying to figure out what channel the music play through on the TV to hear it. More on this just a bit later.

This morning, we started out at the Hyatt Resort at the aiport. We had a great breakfast at their restaurant that was included in the price of our rooms. We then headed back up to the room to wait for our rental vehicle, a very Suburban that fit all of us, our bags, and some other things that I will explain later. It is a very nice SUV and we will definitely be using it throughout the trip to go in and out of WDW (mostly to go to the outlets, lol!).

We then made a trek over to the Orlando Premium Outlets for an hour and a half whirl wind shopping marathon because we wanted to hit the 4th of July sales that went into today, as well. You Americans have some amazing deals, I will admit that! No wonder most of our clothes are bought in the States! :)

Next, we headed over to Publix to stock up on groceries for our kitchen at Bay Lake Tower. We purchased breakfast items, drinks, and a few snacks. Most of it is stuff that we don't have in Canada. I even purchased my first "energy drinks" and will try them eventually (guess I had to try them at some point to see what they are all about ;) ).

Next, well, the moment Chloe (and all the rest of us) have been waiting over seven months for had arrived. We headed up the interstate and crossed through the gates of Walt Disney World property. I don't care what you say, the second you go under that sign, there is this feeling of "ahhhhhhh, I feel so much better!" As we made our way down the road Chloe pointed out the Tower of Terror, the "Big Ball", the "Swans" (Swan Hotel), the monorails, and everything that had even the slightest resemblance to Mickey Mouse.

It was then that we went "under the lake" and headed up the hill to where we caught a glimpse of the castle and to the left, well there it was, the Contemporary Resort and, right behind it, Bay Lake Tower! Never, in a million years did we ever think that we would be staying here. It was only until I received a promotional code for 40% off that we decided to give this a shot. So, it was up to the check in desk where we were greeted by Gabriella and Tobie who did a wonderful job of welcoming us "home" and getting us ready. When we made our reservations 7 months ago we did do a bit of research as to different room requests and Beckie (sister extrordinaire) and found one that caught her eye. Well, long story short, when you ask really really nicely, dreams sometimes do come true. Gabriella presented us our welcome package and low and behold the room Beckie wanted was granted to us. Beckie almost burst into tears at the front desk and she had to catch her breath. Again, as you can see from the pics, we were NOT disappointed with what we found! This place is absolutely incredible and we know that this is probably a once in a lifetime stay for us and we are going to appreciate every single moment that we can!

After admiring the view and getting unpacked, we decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom to pick up our passes and get our Table in Wonderland card (gets us discounts all over the place for meals). As I am coming back in January to run the "Goofy's Race and a Half Challange" (and hang out with some REALLY COOL PEOPLE), I got an annual pass. As we were heading back to get ready for our dinner date with Mickey at the Contemporary I did what any Annual Passholder can do; I went up to the Magic Kingdom gate, went in and walked right out again! I have christened the pass! WOO HOO! Chloe then asked if we could ride the monorail so we rode it back to the Contempoary.

It was then time to go and meet Mickey for supper and of course Chloe got to see all of her "friends" and we had a great meal. Anyone that complains about that buffet, give your head a shake! It was AWESOME! The characters were amazing and Minnie even spent over five minutes just hanging out with Chloe and flirting with her uncle (blush). Chloe has not changed in the last three years that she has been here. Everytime she sees her "friends" she flaps her arms and laughs and laughs. Tonight, was no exception and to us, it was priceless to see her smile from ear to ear! She is a Disney girl through and through.

Well with our bellys full we headed over to pick up our mugs so we can get drinks for the length of our stay. We have even thought about bringing them back on our next vacation to use again. NOW, I am so kidding when I say that as I KNOW that is against the rules. So, Twitter people, no yelling tweets at me about that! :)

We then headed back to the room and got changed to go and take advantage of an hour at the pool. That was what I was most looking forward too because it seemed like a pretty cool place to hang out. It did not disappoint and even when the skies open up and started down pouring, we just kept on swimming; unlike everyone else who bolted for the indoors. Suck it up people, it's rain! You are already in the pool! Rolling my eyes right now! :)

Now, we are back and just hanging out in the room waiting for the fireworks to start at the Magic Kingdom. We found out that the music plays out of channel 20 so we can hear the music and watch the fireworks. BACK NOW from watching the fireworks!! WOW!!! That "storm the castle" scene!! AMAZING!!! Plus, ummmmm, having the fireworks right outside our balcony....BONUS!

On the agenda tomorrow:

IT IS BECKIE'S BIRTHDAY SO PLEASE TWEET @wdwgirl1 a very happy birthday! We will be celebrating at the Magic Kingdom for the day, have swimming time, and then head over to Ohana for supper!

Again, please feel free to follow along on Twitter as I will tweet as much as I can throughout the day!

Have a good one!

Please click here to see today's pics!