Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 14 years and 7 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

This weekend is Labor Day Weekend, so it’s time for our annual mini (or should that be “Minnie?”) family vacation at Walt Disney World. We drove over this afternoon after picking my daughter up from school and hit no traffic going through downtown Tampa or across to Orlando on I-4, which got us to our hotel by 5pm. We’re staying at the new Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort, which just opened a month ago. This is the first time we’ve stayed in one of the deluxe resorts and it is incredible! Check out the view of the Magic Kingdom from our private balcony:

Still no free internet access, though … what’s up with that? Anyway, since we had arrived relatively early, we had time to wander around the grounds and also check out the Contemporary next door. Here’s a view of the tower from the Contemporary, near the walkway that connects the two buildings.

After dinner and a quick dip in the pool, we enjoyed the Magic Kingdom fireworks show back in our room:

What an amazing view. So far, this vacation is off to a great start. Tomorrow, we hit the parks …