[Disclaimer: No judgement here if you don't read a thing and just skim through the pictures-its another biggun'...I would go back and cut out tons of stuff, but its dinnertime and we're already having pancakes because I have spent so much time blogging already. The edits ain't gonna happen...its every man for himself!]
Its been too long.
Sorry guys. Sorry. Sorry guys.
(Almost every time we came back to the room after being gone all day, Newbie crawled up to his stuffed animals on the bed and said, "Sorry guys. Sorry. Sorry guys!" ...it was like he was apologizing for leaving them there all day while he went out and had all the fun. His sorry's had the Hubs and I busting a gut laughing every time.)
Wow. When I said I had a sister post in the works, betcha didn't think it'd take me a week to get it up here, huh? .......me either. I think it had something to do with how "in the works" meant that I had a trillion more pictures from our trip. ...not necessarily that I had done a single thing with them yet. =)
I spent last week doing everything I could to avoid unpacking and this week actually unpacking, so its been busy. Something about leaving some of the bits and pieces straggling in a suitcase at the foot of the bed felt like maybe a little sprinkle of the pixie dust would settle into our house before I had to shoo all the Disney magic away and get back to the laundry and the dishes and the making my own bed and cooking my own food.
I'd insert something here about how once I finally unpacked everything I realized "the happiest place on earth" isn't really Disney at all but is in fact
home...where the everyday things- the sunscreen and sidewalk chalk and movie nights with the Hubs- prove better than a three minute ride on Dumbo...but that just felt a little too cheesy. And only slightly lacking in truth because while home
is my happiest place on earth, I'm telling you right now: Dumbo was freaking awesome. And Disney World
could very well be the
second happiest place on earth.
So I'm skipping the insert and instead picking up where I left off last week:
Day Five: Hollywood Studios and Blizzard Beach
We hit Hollywood Studios on Wednesday morning bright and early. This was the only day we utilized our get-into-the-parks-an-hour-before-the-rest-of-the-world perk for staying at a Disney resort. After seeing Pluto and Goofy, we high-tailed it over to see "Yightning the Keen". Newbie was a little freaked out by the sound of Lightening and Mater's engine, and I think he was severely disappointed that they didn't move...or blink. He was happy to see them, but Duffy blew Lightening out of the water.
(Sorry, Honey. The thumbnail was too small to see that your eyes were closed...and I'm too lazy to dig out another one.)
I was majorly excited about the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground because I remembered it being awesome from when I went to Disney as a little girl and as a middleschooler. Note to self: sometimes things experienced in childhood are not as awesome when you are 26. Boo! Newbie was a little too small to really enjoy the grass blade slides and we didn't last long. I think he was a little confused about why all the grass was so big...and he had no appreciation for the larger-than-life super soaker or oatmeal round cake. As a child of the 90's, I had to have a moment of silence as we left because I bet a good 99.435% of kids today haven't seen
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and that one was a winner!
It was a bit drizzly out, but we powered through with Newbie's Buzz Lightyear umbrella and a good 6 or 7 rain ponchos jimmy-rigged to keep the stroller dry.
We opted to wait in line to see Buzz and Woody instead of waiting in line to ride any rides. We finally came to the realization that Newbie enjoyed meeting characters far more than riding anything, and the 45 minute wait to meet some of his besties was bound to be better than a 45 minute wait to climb into a ride we'd only have to climb out of after Newbie decided it was a NO GO. (See "Carousel of Progress" anecdote in Disney Post I)
Newbie loved Woody and Buzz, and despite a phantom dirty diaper that had me snaking backwards through the line with a wholelotta "excuse me's" and then back through the line with even more, it was a lot of fun. Newbie tried to shoot the breeze with the guys again, telling Buzz that there were blocks on the wall behind him and asking Woody about his badge. The characters are always good sports and spent a good little chunk of time "talking" with Newbie. For the record, Buzz is the creepiest Disney character to date. Wowza. Check out the face on that guy.
There was nothing to do after meeting Buzz and Woody but eat lunch at Pizza Planet, duh.
We checked out a few other attractions, but ended up taking off shortly after lunch because Newbie was crashed and there wasn't a ton of stuff we could do with a 2 year old there. Mid morning Newbie bailed on Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and after the Hubs took on another quest for the exit sign, we just decided it wasn't worth waiting in line. So we snatched up a few souvenirs, the Hubs did a headstand, and we were off for the water park!
Our Blizzard Beach experience was one for the ages. We had to stop at the resort after Hollywood Studios to change into our suits, and as we walked into our room, the thunder rolled and a downpour started. We called the *magical* front desk and found out Blizzard Beach was closed, but would reopen. We ended up waiting for a bit, changing, and heading out for Blizzard Beach about 45 minutes later. As we walked into the park, NO KIDDING, the downpour and thunder started again. We dashed under an awning at the lodge, found a bench, and sat there for another 45 minutes while the park closed and waited for the storm to pass. We watched billions of people leave, but were determined to put our hopes in the rumored reopening of the park because four Disney lifeguards standing near you, bummed that they don't get to leave work can't be wrong. And they weren't. The pools reopened and we had the place to ourselves. There were literally NO other kids in the kiddie area, and maybe three other people in the lazy river. The Hubs rode a few rides and didn't have to wait in a single line. It was so much fun. Newbie had a ball.
(We suprised Newbie with a Nemo towel before we left for Blizzard Beach. He wanted it on the floor and did this then yelled, "SAFE!" ....home plate, beach towel- its all the same, right??)
After the water park, we went back to the resort for dinner. On our way back to our room, we spyed the Epcot fireworks through some palm trees. Newbie is a big fan of fireworks from miles away. We also spyed a snail. I thought it was super gross and the Hubs and Newbie got a kick out of it. Newbie still says, "eww! Snail gross!" when he's looking to get a laugh out of us around here.
Highlight of the day:
Seeing Newbie meet Woody and Buzz...a dream come true for that little boy! Watching Newbie ride down a tube water slide at Blizzard Beach was also a riot. He was so tiny, but sat right down on a big boy tube, held onto the handles, and rode all the way down. The funniest thing was his complete lack of emotion- he must have been concentrating on holding on or trying to figure out what he was doing sliding down on something instead of just his bum- because he didn't crack a smile until we set his feet on dry ground and he started trekking up the hill to do it again.
Day Six: Animal Kingdom and our last hurrah at Downtown Disney
We went back to Animal Kingdom on Thursday because we had made reservations for a character dinner at Tusker House. Everyone had told me we
had to make character dinner reservations for our trip, and this was the only place that had any openings left when we scheduled our trip three weeks before we would be leaving, so I made them. And everyone was right. If you go to Disney, you have to do a character dinner! It was such a blast. At a character dinner, the characters come right up to your table and "talk" with you and take pictures. At Tusker House, Mickey, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy were all dressed up in their safari gear. Newbie was in awe of seeing the characters waltz up to his table. He kept talking to them and telling them about what he was eating and trying to talk to them after they had moved on to the tables next to us. It was so much fun.
(Because you only live once and really should make elephant noises before walking through the gates to Animal Kingdom.)
We crammed a lot into this day before lunch. The Hubs rode Everest, the roller coaster. I would have, but opted to stand in line to get good seats to Nemo the Musical instead. The musical was cute, but Newbie was done after the first three minutes of the show starting. The barracuda flashed across the stage and brother was D.O.N.E. The Hubs was a champ and let me stay for the show while he took Newbie for some one on one time...and ice cream. =) We met some more characters before lunch, and I had to apologize to Pocahontas because she was sharing a hut with the chipmunks and Newbie had to see her before he saw them and he didn't give her the time of day. ("Sorry, Pocahontas...we just haven't seen your movie yet...") Its so funny to see Disney World through the eyes of a little boy, because I'm telling you right now, I was way more excited about meeting Pocahontas. But when you're touring the world with two men, you have to pass up on the princesses and get pumped about the animals and action figures. I'm hoping the Lord lets me keep a little girl here someday so Momma can get her some princess time on our next trip to Disney. Don't even get me started on how we didn't get to meet the fairies at Magic Kingdom. Boys are so totally not into fairies.
It started to rain buckets after lunch and Nemo, so we headed back to the resort where Newbie and I each crashed on a bed for a good hour and a half. It was the best nap of my life. The Hubs woke us up for pizza at the resort and then we hit up Downtown Disney for our last hurrah. I went into a Disney frenzy, scooping up souvenirs and Mickey propaganda like it was going out of style. Which it is. What is it about going to Disney that makes you want to wear all kinds of Mickey Mouse stuff when you would not even consider buying something with a mouse on it when you're at home? I don't know. But it happened to me, and I have three Mickey t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants to prove it.
(Dessert at Ghiradelli? Yes, please! Newbie's kids' ice cream was bigger than my single scoop and covered in sprinkles....Disney knows what the children want.)
Highlight of the Day: Everything about our character lunch at Tusker House. The food was amazing, the best we had all week, and it was so much fun to watch Newbie chow down. He got a Mickey pancake AND a bowl full of mac and cheese. Homeboy was in heaven. And watching him with the characters was priceless. Hearing him ask, "I talk to dem a while?" each time he saw one coming had us in stitches.
Day Seven: Magic Kingdom and a moonlight swim finale
Friday we spent the entire day at Magic Kingdom. We made it there early enough in the morning to catch another park opening celebration, which had Newbie even more excited than the first time he saw it. We rode Dumbo again, made a first twirl around the teacups, and finally made it to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house. Let me tell you something no one will tell you about that sucker: it. is. TALL. You don't remember it as a kid because you're too short or small to care, but when you get up there with your bad self and you are a good five foot four and can see over every rope rail, you realize you can see way too much of the park, and you may just teeter on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I'm not saying I did. I'm just saying no one tells you how high that tree house is until you're up there and every adult is saying, "Gee, this thing is high." "Whoa. We're going up more?" "Hold on a sec- I'm dizzy." I was so happy to have two feet on the ground after that one. The Hubs, on the other hand, was mourning the fact that he couldn't move in. He's a big fan of the "forge your own home in the wilderness" deal.
We hiked miles through Magic Kingdom that day. Space Mountain, lunch at Tony's Italian Restaurant (of Lady and the Tramp fame), Splash Mountain, Hall of Presidents while Newbie napped in the carrier, and funnel cakes for a snickety snack.
("I see it Goofy! I talk to him a while?")
We caught the "A Dream Come True" show at the castle in the early afternoon. That one was another doozy. We had front row seats to the show at the castle, and Newbie was the world's biggest fan on his daddy's shoulders watching Mickey and Minnie and the gang sing and dance. But everything hit the fan when the villain from Sleeping Beauty popped up on stage complete with a green face, mean voice, and a ball of fire. Newbie's entire body shook all at once, and he almost leaped (is that a word?) from the Hubs' shoulders into my arms, and just looked into my eyes crying, nearly screaming: "Weady to GO! Weady to GO! Find it my bus! Weady to GO!" It was the saddest thing I'd ever seen, and you can bet after three seconds of trying to console him to no avail, I put it in reverse from the very front row of the castle and hauled my cookies straight through that crowd. Over and out, people. Trying to get through the crowd at the castle for that show was like trying to walk through a pile of sweaty, sticky, (sometimes cranky) boulders. But a momma's gotta do what a momma's got to do, and homegirl got my boy out of there before fire balls and green faces stole sleep at our house forever.
(Clearly, this was a pre-vilain smile.)
Newbie recovered well from a distance and we re-upped on sunscreen and hit the streets for more fun. I can't even remember all the rides and shows we hit, but I know for a fact there was a Dole pineapple ice cream float and at least two parades involved. It was just such a special day. We spent hours riding rides and just walking and looking and talking and soaking it all in. We followed Newbie's lead, hit all the things on our "gotta do" list, and were finally ready to wrap it up about an hour before dinner time. We debated staying longer, but we were all wiped out after such a packed day, and decided to head back to the resort, eat at the cafe, and then hit the sandcastle pool at our resort for one last moonlight swim. Newbie was such a fan of the pool. It was rainy under a dusky night sky, and we just had a blast with the water splashing us from top to bottom. Newbie's daddy hauled him from one cannon fountain to another for a good hour before we finally decided we'd be too tired to walk back to our room if we didn't leave then.
(This is what 2 o'clock looked like just about every day: Newbie asleep in the Ergo and Momma and Daddy munching on a snack...and a poncho stuffed on the top of the stroller from early afternoon sprinkles.)
(My man is such a keeper...had so much fun with him on this trip!)
Highlight of the Day: Newbie pulling the sword out of the stone at Prince Phillip's (Phillip? Eric? Gregory? Fred?) carousel. Oh yes. he. did. The sword in the stone is directly through Cinderella's castle, and we stopped at it on our way to Dumbo first thing when we arrived that morning. Newbie and I tugged and tugged and couldn't get it. The Hubs tugged and couldn't get it. I preface this story with that so you know how stinking stuck that thing was. We left to ride Dumbo, then came back to ride the carousel. When we got off, Newbie and I went back to the stone while the Hubs went to get our stroller.
Three kids were ahead of us, and each pulled and pulled and couldn't get the sword to move. One boy even stood on the stone, straddling the sword, and tugged. Nothin'. Then it was Newbie's turn again. His little hands gripped the sword, he pulled and -I CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP- he pulled the sword out of the stone! It rose a good foot or more out of the stone and I was freeeaking out. Freaking out too much, in fact, to keep pulling and see if the thing could be brought home as a souvenir. I looked up to holler at the Hubs, but he was no where in sight. In fact, no one but one other mom was watching, and she was freaking out as much as I was. In the midst of the sword hysteria, I thought Newbie was going to be the new king of Disney or at least get to ride on a float in a parade or something. None of the above, but we left with our knowledge that if all were right in the world, Newbie would most certainly be the new king of England...or whatever the haveth's and lo's explained on the front of the stone for he who removed the sword. When the Hubs got back with the stroller, our explanations tumbled out of our enthusiasm: "Honey! Honey!!! He did it! I big kid who STOOD on the stone didn't get it and then it was his turn, and he got it!!!" "Daddy, I pull it out the so-wed out!" I think the majesty of the moment was a little lost on him...kinda a "you had to be there" moment, but it was definitely the highlight of the day for me. Newbie and I still talk about it. =)
Day Eight: Burning time at the resort and airport and flying home
We got up bright and early Saturday to try and cram everything back into our suitcases. It was a humiliating affair because the Hubs got to witness firsthand all the excess clothes I had packed, evidenced by their untouched place in the dresser. I'm the queen of over packing. Not to mention we had a suitcase full of food and diapers that we brought down, only to fill again with souvenirs. Our families gifted us several parts of our trip, and we were able to have a little fun in the Disney shopping department. Hence the suitcase full of stuffed Nemos and Simbas and t-shirts and Christmas ornaments. You're only at Disney World once, baby. After we packed, each bag weighed in right at 49ish pounds, so we squeaked by extra fees at the airport by the hair of our chinny chin chins.
Our morning was spent waiting in line at the resort to check our bags for the plane, riding the Magic Express back to the airport, and then eating CHICK FIL A (!!!!!) at the food court. Newbie crashed in the baby carrier, so we were spared an hour of entertaining him while we waited to board at our gate, and security even let me keep him in the carrier while we passed through the detectors. They just had to do a fancy swipey thing and run it through the machine. Brilliant. Newbie did fabulously on the flight home, again not a single tear and several compliments from the passengers around us. I think everyone expects a flight next to a toddler to be miserable, and I'm so glad he did so well. GiGi, Grandad, Uncle J, and Aunt Corndog were all there to pick us up from the airport back home. Newbie saw them, screamed, "GIGI!" and took off running for the crew. It was good to be home. =)
We had such a fabulous time on our trip. I would recommend Disney World to anyone. It is such a unique place to go, and they do such a wonderful job of making it a family friendly experience all the way around the block. We're hoping to go back years from now with a quiver full of kiddos. I have two more posts I'm hoping to get up soon- one with a few tips for visiting Disney with a toddler while its still fresh in my mind, and one featuring the Hubs' highlight of the day for each park we visited. So this isn't the end of the Disney train, but we're getting there. =) If you've hung in there for the entirety of this post, I feel like you should get a cookie or something...these posts have been so long...and so unrevised. Eep! You are a trooper! Thanks for reading and putting up with a momma's need to write this stuff down somewhere!
...and have a magical day!
