Downtown Disney

We made it to Orlando and we brought the Cincinnati weather with us. Saturday evening we pulled into our rental house driveway and we were all very happy to get out of the car. We quickly unloaded our suitcases and various snacks from the trip.


Rachel’s first order of business was to set up the Christmas tree that she had brought from home. It was very cute to see her and Brinlee decorating the tree together. I think that was more important for Rachel than picking out her room, or even looking at the pool (of course it was too cold to go swimming as it was 55 degrees).

Everyone else’s first order of business was unpacking and finding something to eat. We were toying with eating in, as we thought we would be eating out the rest of the week, however no one wanted to cook. So we ended up eating in at Ponderosa down the street and connected with a tacky gift shop. And true to form with 5 children you can’t get out of a restaurant with a tacky gift shop without going through it. We were looking for that perfect gift for Brandon (the boy watching our dog) but the best we could come up with there was a stuffed alligator head or a dead baby shark in a bottle which Lance called shark abortions.

By that time it was about 8:00 and Barb wanted to get her kids to bed so they would be fresh for the next morning. (I couldn’t blame her there) So they went off to the house for bed and we went off to “Downtown Disney” for some souvenir shopping.

The girls were going crazy in the car as we passed each park. It was funny to hear Rachel talk about how she had visited each park in March with the Colerain Marching Band. She was so happy to be about to tell each of her sisters what they would like and what they wouldn’t.

Once we were parked and started walking in, I thought Leah was going to bust. I heard her say to Hannah she was so excited she just had to touch something. With that she ran over and touched one of the poles holding up the Welcome to Downtown Disney West. (I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of that one.)

We were glad Downtown Disney was open until 11:30. We shopped at several of the store’s there. I think the best purchases that we made there were each of the girls got a charm bracelet. Now when they go to each of the parks they are able to pick a charm they want to help them represent that park. That is Rachel’s thought. I’m not sure where Hannah stands (of course), Leah is just excited to find something that I will let her buy at each store.

We walked around until 11 . . . Enjoyed candied apples and slushies from the Candy Caldron, then headed back to the rental house for bed.