From Here To There And Back Again...PART 1

Disney World Trip '09! We did it and have lived to tell the tale! What a trip full of twists and turns and truths! We arrived in Orlando mid afternoon on Christmas day, and the flight was fine: the kids behaved, the flight crew humored us, and Jas survived flying without being drugged. (He has since said he's not flying for another 20 years- bless his heart.)

I think this is the moment that Morgan Jane realized that we were at Disney World!

Can I please just tell you how AMAZING our hotel was???

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom's Jambo House and Oh. My. Gosh. Gorg-eous! Seriously. Everywhere you looked there was something beautiful to see. Every door knob, every tile... it was so perfect and authentic. Because I am a loser, and watched an entire special on our hotel, I found out this fun fact to know and tell: It contains the largest African art collection in North America.

View from the 5th floor down into the lobby

Fire pit in the lobby...

Oh, how I wished I could have curled up with a glass of wine and a good book over here...

Fun, huge ostrich egg lamps!

Out back, looking from the outside in...

Everything was decked out in christmas decor with an African twist. This tree had to be at least 40 feet tall and was covered with animal print ball ornaments, huge woven baskets and african folk art. It was so pretty!

From above...

Tree view from the floor...

The thing that amazed me was how different the lobby looked throughout the day. We arrived at dusk, so it was dark and moody and then when we came down the next morning I was amazed at all of the details I missed the night before!

Lobby light fixtures....

Here is my fancy-spancy image stitched panoramic view of the lobby...

When we arrived in our room, we were greeted by this:

and this:

and this!:

We had zebras, giraffes and ankole cattle (these guys:)

...outside our room everyday. Morgan loved watching them from the balcony and would cry and cry when we made her come in. Our room was so fun and festive: everything from mosquito nets over the beds to African land wallpaper in the bathroom!

Please take a moment to notice the carved wooden bed platforms. They will play a big roll in the Disney story later on...

We got settled, grabbed a bite to eat and then geared up for our next day: Hollywood Studios!