Come Sail With Me: Day One by Contributing Author Rachel Horsley

The Best Laid Plans…

To begin my story, I would like to thank the dear TSA agent who pulled my husband and I out of the tremendously long airport security line (with our 6 carryon bags, stroller, and squirmy toddler) and into the express line. I hadn’t realized how happy being able to keep shoes and a belt on could make me. Another shout out to the lovely SWA flight attendant who offered 2 drinks for my 1 specialty beverage coupon. That, however, is where the day’s luck ran out. A turbulent flight, a long wait for the Magical Express to depart (with ours being the last of many stops,) accommodations in the farthest block from the lobby and on the ground floor (I had requested exactly the opposite of both,) and a missing checked bag rounded out the evening a little after midnight. That being said, the next day recovered nicely, when we moved to a more preferable room, the bag showed up, and we were finally enjoying our Walt Disney World® Resort vacation!!

One of the questions on this year’s Disney Parks Mom’s Panel application asked, “if you only had one day to spend at Walt Disney World®, what would you do?” What follows, largely, answers the questions for me (with a few bumps along the way.)

Waking with the residents of Kidani’s Sunset Savannah was really special, and a great way to start our trip.

We raced to Donald’s Safari Breakfast (try the quiche!)…and onto the Kilimanjaro Safari®.

A quick visit with the tigers and some light excavation at Dinoloand, and we were off to the Magic Kingdom® by 10:30!

Of course, we had to stop (using a FP+ reservation) and say “hi” to the big cheese, then back to the New Fantasyland to enjoy a special lunch at Be Our Guest with Kim, a fellow Disneyphile and friend from “The Internets” who I finally got to meet in-person! By the way, the Coq Au Vin and Tropical Fruit Eclair are the two best offerings I’ve enjoyed there. Yummy!

After catching up, we parted ways and headed to the Jungle Cruise® to take-in the awesome sight that is…the backside of water! I finally got the MyDisneyExperience app to work properly, and while waiting for Jungle Cruise, was able to cancel our Elsa & Anna greet and book an It’s A Small World® FP+ (yup, that’s right, cancelled it! Apparently the meet from February was enough for the boy.) Then we headed back to Kidani Village to enjoy the savannah, rest, and await Kelly from Kids Nite Out (we’ve been hiring her since Andrew was a year old and we just love her!) Our plan was to enjoy appetizers at Sanaa, then head over to Epcot® for the Sparkling Dessert Party. Well, you know what they say about the “best laid plans.”

Everything went well until we got to Epcot, where I got horribly sick. We checked into the party, thinking I could make it. My husband even got to enjoy 2 glasses of Champagne (enjoy, is not the right word, he actually disliked all of them) while I continued to be ill.

Around 8:30 I gave up and approached the hostesses, explaining that I did not, and would not, be partaking in their lovely offerings and, would I be able to get at least part of my ticket refunded? They did even better and refunded both our tickets. Sadly, we left Epcot and headed back to our resort. As I type, our bags are ready to go to the cruise terminal, I am feeling much better, and we are excited to embark on tomorrow’s adventure!