Disney 2011--Days 1 and 2

OK.  So starting from the beginning.  We decided to fly to Florida instead of driving (2.5 hrs vs. 19 hrs....no brainer.).  I spent a considerable amount of time planning, calling people, and worrying about getting Dakin, his vent and all his stuff on that plane.  Turns out, going through TSA and flying was one of the smoothest parts of the entire trip!  TSA was very accomodating and gentle with Dakin, and made sure all our things got to where they should have gone.  American Airlines (at least on the way out) was the same way.  I had oxygen set up to be on the safe side--to be honest I was expecting major desaturations and emergency landings in Mobile, AL...haha.    It went perfectly though--Dakin didn't even seem to notice the pressure difference.  So much so I didn't even bother checking his oxygen levels during the flight. 

Here we are waiting at the airport...Dakin was very excited.  He kept saying we were going to be in 'The Great Sky Race' (a Little Einsteins reference) and was happy watching out the window. 

Like I said, the flight went great.  He ended up sitting on my lap because his carseat wouldn't fit his legs--they are too long for the little spaces between those seats.  He didn't even flip out at being up so high, and we kept telling him the pilot's voice was Rocket (again, Little Einsteins).  He thought that was funny.  We got to Orlando in one piece and drove over to the hotel, where we chilled out the rest of the day. 

The next morning we had a character breakfast scheduled--Dakin didn't know what it was (we had told him he had a big big big big surprise waiting when he woke up, and that morning he woke up saying 'big big big surprise'--he was pretty excited).  We went over to the Contemporary Resort and sat down, waiting for the characters to come.  (Wow...I am fantasizing now about those Mickey waffles with whipped butter....yummmmmmm)



This is Dakin very excited about the surprise...

 He had, at this point, spotted the characters, but they weren't nearby. 

 This was right after one of them came over--he was still a little excited, I think...love this face. 

And from here you can see the disenchantment progress...

So yeah...characters were a no.  I have heard this isn't highly unusual, so I don't feel too badly about it.  Daddy and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (and those Mickey waffles...)

And then chaos ensued...a crucial piece in his battery BROKE.  I mean really...we take that battery EVERYWHERE, and the day we are 2000 miles from home, it breaks.  Of course, it was the one thing I didn't plan for, because I didn't think I needed to...sigh.  So we were stuck in the hotel room most of the rest of the day.  But Dakin didn't mind--he loved looking out the window!  That was one of his favorite things, actually. 

We did venture out to the Italian restaurant downstairs--our ventilator has an internal battery life of an hour, so dinner was ok to do out.  We were the only customers, and the staff seemed taken with Dakin (and who isn't, really?) and they gave him this Mickey.  

So...Days one and two!  Stay tuned for how we kind of solved our battery issue (I am a genius) and the BEST DAY EVER.