I wrote before about what I wanted to do on our 10th anniversary trip to WDW.  I wanted to slow down and really look at the park.  Soak up the details.  Well, here are some pictures of what I found on Day 1 of our trip.

Welcome home! Port Orleans French Quarter

The first thing I did was really look at the entrance to our resort while waiting to get our bags off of the Magical Express bus.  I said before that we went to New Orleans for our honeymoon and I wanted to see just how much detail Disney put into the resort.  I have to say it took me right back there! (you know, except for the drunk people)  I’ll have more pictures of the resort from later in our trip in another post.  Now it’s off to the parks!

At Magic Kingdom we took in Main Street U.S.A.  A lot of people don’t realize this is an area in itself.  We looked at all the buildings and the windows and the “side” streets.  I love the detail in absolutely everything.  Here is some of what we found.

Dance lessons, anyone?

Don't you wish your town looked like this?

Tucked away.

How about sailing lessons from Roy Disney?

See the pretty dress in that window there?

Think there's a part for me?

Warm sunshine!

Love this sign.

After we finished on Main Street we found a few other neat things around the park.

Mmm...

"How do you do?"

Quaint village

Give me liberty

You never know what you may find if you stop and look around instead of running at break-neck speed toward that next ride!  Enjoy the journey!  And there’s more to come.

"Mine! Mine! Mine"

This week’s Magical Moments features my son outside The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends.  He was so captivated by the seagulls.  He probably would’ve stood there all afternoon if we’d let him!  This picture was from our trip in May 2008.

Have your own Magical Moments to share?  Post a link in the comments.

This week’s Magical Moments Monday is from December 2009.  We had just arrived at the Magic Kingdom on the first day of our trip during the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! Parade.  This is my son’s face when he saw Mickey Mouse on the float.  What a great moment!

A Cast Member creates magic with his broom around the Hub near the bridge to Liberty Square.

This is one of the magical things I saw on our last trip to the World.  There are so many things that you miss by rushing around the parks!  I’d never seen this before and can’t wait to show the kids next time we take them.

I love barber shop harmony.  The reason I love barber shop is because my grandfather sang baritone in a barber shop quartet for many, many years.

So for this week’s  installment of Magical Moments Monday I wanted to share one of my own magical moments.  In September 2010 I got to ride the horse-drawn car up Main Street USA while being serenaded by the Dapper Dans.  What a great day!!

Want to share your own Magical Moment?  Post your link in the comments!

This magical moment is from December 2009 when my daughter saw Princess Tiana for the first time in the parade at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.  She was so happy because Tiana waved to her.  I cried after taking this picture.

Wow!  It’s been just over a week since we returned from the World and I am just now getting back into my “groove.”  Can’t let this happen again!  This is just a short post to let you all know we made it back safely and had a fabulous time!  I am planning a few posts – fun, wacky and sweet – so stay tuned.

And I have to add that now that “Round 2″ week is coming I am beginning to get anxious.  I really hope that I make it through because I really want to be on the Moms Panel.  On the other hand I have realized that there are so many people out there with more knowledge and experience than I have.

Here’s some good luck and pixie dust to the other Moms Panel hopefuls.  Can’t wait to hear who makes it!!

I am almost at Disney World!!  My husband and I have been busy planning what we’re going to do, what we want to eat besides where we booked our ADRs and what parks we’re going to on what day based on Extra Magic Hours and such.  It has been so much fun planning it and I know it will be SO much more fun once we get there!!

It just so happens that the end of our trip falls during Epic October 2010!  We are excited that it worked out that way and hope to see a lot of tweeps we’ve met recently!

Below are a couple of links to give you more info about this gathering of Disney-obsessed social media-using people!!  Maybe if we all get on FourSquare we can unlock the Swarm badge. 

Disney Everday – Amanda Tinney lists the schedule of events.
N.Joy Life suggests name tags so we can identify each other!

Hope to see you real soon!

I have to confess… I don’t have an iPod. There, I said it. Rumor has it there’s an iPod Shuffle floating around the house that’s supposed to be mine but I don’t like that you can’t see what’s on there so I don’t mind that it’s M-I-A.  I’ll just stick with my CDs for now, I guess.

Anyway, I have been listening to this CD on and off for a while now. More so now that I’m getting geared up for our trip! The kids enjoy listening to it on the way to school and pretty much any other time we’re in the car. (Though I’m sure the Haunted Mansion soundtrack will come back into the queue again soon.)

It’s a collection of Disney songs done by Disney people who didn’t originally sing them like Dan Zanes, Imagination Movers, Ooh and Aah and The Wiggles. Mickey and Goofy even get to sing a song!

First for the kids’ favorites: Princess C and Prince E like Under the Sea (Doodlebops) and Prince D likes the Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space) (They Might Be Giants) which cracks me up every time I hear it.

This song is my all-time fave… The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room sung by Wayne Brady.

It is so fun and funky and I’m not embarrassed to blast it out my windows without kids in the car!  (It would have been cool to hear this when the “new management” took over!  Only it came out 10 years later but whatever.)

This CD is totally worth a listen.  Especially if you have a Playhouse Disney crowd at home.  Let me know what you think!

If you’ve been here before you’ve probably seen the counter to the right. This is not my first Disney trip but I felt a counter was needed for this one.

This is our first trip without our children (or other relatives). Our first trip ALONE!

After I get over the twinge of guilt of going without our kids I get SUPER excited. No diaper bags. No 65 pound 4-seat stroller for my dear husband to lug onto the bus. No “who has to potty?” every 30 minutes. No “what does so-and-so want to do?” ever.

We can do whatever we want. What was that? We can do whatever we want? How can this be?

Ah, this is how.

It is our anniversary trip. Our 10th anniversary trip, to be exact.

We were married December 23rd 10 years ago and we went to New Orleans for our honeymoon. We were there over Christmas and New Years. What an awesome time! We went to the D-Day Museum and to the Sugar Bowl when “The U” beat Florida 30-10 (I believe). We saw Rex Grossman, Santana Moss, and our beloved Reggie Wayne play in that game. (I got the trophy for Best Wife Ever for going to a bowl game on my honeymoon, by the way.) We also ran into Archie Manning and Emeril Lagasse. We went to Mardi Gras World where they build the parade floats. We ate authentic Po Boys, pralines (praw-leens), beignets at Cafe Du Monde, and 3 types of alligator. We spent New Year’s Eve in Jackson Square. If only I had seen Harry Connick Jr. my trip would have been complete!

So, what does any of that have to do with Disney?

Well, while we were there we talked about going back for our 10th anniversary. Then, as the years passed (and we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside), we decided we should stay at the Port Orleans French Quarter resort and go to Disney World alone. That way it looked like New Orleans but we could do all the things at Disney we always wanted to but never could.

So, in just 7 short days we will be on our way to the Most Magical Place on Earth all by our onesies. And (after I shed a few tears about leaving the kids behind) we will have a GREAT time!!

Stay tuned because I hear rumors of podcasts and maybe even vidcasts during our trip.