Have any of you ever seen
Music and Lyrics? It's got Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant (who I totally lived around the corner from when I was studying abroad in London), and it follows the story of an 80s pop star who's now 40 and trying to keep his career from going down the toilet. It's awesome, and there's this song (and music video) in the movie called "Pop! Goes My Heart"--it's terribly catchy, and every time my sister and I watch the movie, the song gets stuck in our heads. Then, we go around for days singing it and doing the dance moves along with it.
Long story short: go see the movie if you haven't.
So, what does this have to do with Disney World? We were staying at Pop (goes my heart) Century!
It's been an old favorite of ours since it was built a decade or so ago. We were big fans of Port Orleans in the 90s, but when Disney built the value resorts, we switched over to those. Pop is my favorite since it has its own bus, but I ventured over to Art of Animation a few times, and it's really nice! (Possible digs for a future trip?!?!)
Anyway, on Saturday, December 6th, my husband and I got our daughter up and ready early--probably 6 AM. We live about 30 minutes from my parents and sister, and we had to meet them at 8 AM to start our trip.
We got up, we got dressed, and we got out of there...
Only to find that my dad still hadn't packed a stitch of clothing, and my mom was at the store buying snacks. So much for that 8 AM departure.
Two hours later, all six of us were in the cars and headed to Disney. Better late than never. Right?!
We stopped in the middle of Georgia for lunch, and then got right back on the road. With much cheering and clapping, we saw those glorious Disney signs welcoming us back, and we pulled into Pop Century a little after 5 PM.
As we bounded out of our cars, I couldn't contain my excitement. After 18 months of waiting for this moment, I was HERE! I didn't have the easiest pregnancy, labor and delivery, or postpartum experience, and sometimes, my Disney trip was the only thing that kept me going in the middle of the night when my baby daughter was up for the fourth time in five hours.
The weather was perfect, and the sun was setting over Century Hall as we headed in to get our rooms.
My husband and I are not selfie people usually, but I needed a picture of our Disney happiness!
Here's everyone else after I physically stopped them from moving an inch more:
And I couldn't go in without a picture of those gargantuan dates out front!
Once Landon pulled me away from picture taking, I headed into Century Hall. Oh, the Christmas decorations! November was kind of hectic for me, as we moved into a new house, and then I left to go on a trip for my travel blog; by the time I got home, it was Thanksgiving! Because of the craziness, we hadn't decorated for the holidays yet, and I was feeling like the Grinch. There's something about those Disney decorations to start a carol singing in your heart!
As I checked in with my sister (who'd been in charge of organizing the trip for herself and our parents), we tried to make small talk with our Cast Member. This Cast Member had a name tag that said she'd gone to the University of South Carolina (where both my sister and I went for grad school), so we tried to talk with her about that. I won't go so far as to say she was rude, but this particular Cast Member was not in a chatty mood that afternoon.
My sister and I kept our heads up, as we were determined not to let anything small like that ruin our Disney vibe. My husband came to the rescue with matching pearl Mickey head BandIts for my sister, mom, and I--and Britton got a collection of Minnie heads. She flipped out and started screaming, "MINNIE!!" every time she caught sight of her Magic Band (which she insisted on wearing the entire vacation).
Next, we headed off to our rooms in the 70s building. We'd requested rooms away from the elevator but close together, and we ended up getting two rooms side by side and right next to the lake. We had a great view of the Cars section of Art of Animation!
We explored the rooms (all 100 square feet of them!) and unpacked our bags. I travel a lot for my blog, so when I go on longer trips, I like to get rid of the suitcases and live out of actual drawers for a while!
Britton had a grand time going back and forth between the rooms--they weren't connected, but we would leave the exterior doors open and let her walk and visit.
Once we were settled in, we decided to head to Downtown Disney for dinner. I was hoping we could go to Rainforest Cafe, but I hadn't made reservations.
I know, I like living on the edge.
Stay tuned for the next installment! Will we get to eat at Rainforest Cafe? Will Britton like her first taste of Disney property?
Her first trip to Disney was just as important as her first words and her first tooth!
