No joke. In this part of my journal, for September 19, 2008, it says "my memory is getting hazy."
DH and I woke up that morning "under the weather."
That's the biggest understatement I've probably written in this trip report. Although I guess to say that we were under the weather on this day makes sense, because the next day, it was that much worse.
Oh, yes, dear friends. We were sick. Very, very sick.
However, I ascribe to certain theories about illness. And one of those theories is, better sick in Disney than well at work.
Now the night before, I left out a little tidbit.
I booked bounceback. Not tellin' where yet. You'll just have to wait for me to start that pre-trip report.
But suffice it to say bounceback was booked. For myself, and for my FIL. I was able to get two rooms for our dates, no problem. The cast member was awesome. His name was Asher. I remember it distinctly because I thought of Anne Rice's novel Lasher. Similar, yet different. Anyway, Asher was great. He ran through different dates, different pricing, all sorts of whatnot with me. Now I've booked bounceback, and at the time, I wrote, "just to have, don't know if we'll go." Ha. Ha. Ha. When Mom and Nana went in October, they were able to book same dates, same resort. So it looks like the family hoopla for the as yet unspeakable birthday is on.
Now I called back this morning, doubting myself even then, and wanting to check out some more pricing. Fortunately, the server was down. I say fortunately because the switch I wanted to make (in theory) would have been big bucks. I take it as some sort of cosmic sign. However, even though that wasn't working, the reservation system for ADRs was. And I had an idea in my head. And if I'd thought about it more, I probably would have realized it may not have been the best idea. With us sick. DS was better, but I should have known. Ah well.
See, in order to dine with the fair and lovely Tink the next day, I'd had to cancel my Crystal Palace ressie, because there was just no way I was doing that much food in one day. Now, I'd been trying the whole week we were down there to score a ressie for this day, Friday, with no dice.
Until that very morning. When I called and got someone's (THANK YOU) cancelled ressie for lunch. I was so excited. We were ready to go anyway, so we headed to the Magic Kingdom with as much spring in our step as you can possibly expect from people loaded up on Tylenol and Ibuprofen.
I was excited as we got there to be spending some good quality time in the Magic Kingdom. And I took lots of pictures to prove it.
Unfortunately, DS was having a day.
You know. Let's call it a toddler day. That's the kindest thing I can say about his behavior at that point. Fine one minute, then any little thing sets him off. We're not sure what to do, but we have time to kill before our ressie.
Where do pirates belong?
ADVENTURELAND!
We head over to POTC and it's a walk-on. DS is apprehensive, but he wants to go on the ride to find Jack Sparrow. Who's surprised? That boy loves him some Jack Sparrow. I have no idea where he gets that from.
Well, we all loved the ride, but I was bummed that the Davy Jones in the beginning wasn't working. Not turned on at all. Ah well. There's always next year. Now, DS would get a little nervous but we played our favorite game, find Jack Sparrow. It's similar to finding Figment, but much nicer for TK.
Now on our way out, what to our wondering eyes would appear?
Oh, heaven.
Oh, joy.
Oh, rapture.
And finally, the question will be answered.
What you waited the whole dang pre-trip report to find out.
Did TarzansKat meet Captain Jack?
Well, not exactly. But I came pretty dang close. And actually, we stayed to watch the tutorial, and as Jack was giving his discourse on piracy, eventually he wandered over our way, stopped right in front of my son, looked him right in the eye, and said, "Eh, redhead?"
I smiled. It may not have been me. It wasn't my moment. But it was good enough. Plenty good enough.
Unfortunately, and feeling quite sacrilegious, we had to leave the tutorial early, because it was time for our Crystal Palace ADR. Now that place is always mobbed. Always, always. And today was no different. When we were seated, I was excited. It's one of my favorite places to eat. I love Winnie the Pooh, and...
Oh, my goodness.
Do you know what I did?
We briefly interrupt your regularly scheduled trip report programming to bring you this delightful TK digression?
Do you know that in writing about my Animal Kingdom day, I totally forget to tell you all about my character interaction before we left the park? I only think of it now because it was with our dear friends from the Hundred Acre Wood! It was after DH and I had decided not to stay for Nemo and on our way out. We happened by the spot where Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore do meet and greets, and since DS was sleeping, I practically begged DH to wait in line with me so I could get my picture taken and meet my favorites. I love Winnie the Pooh. He's the mecca of character hugs to me. There is nothing like a hug from a silly ole bear to brighten your day, let me tell you.
So, we waited in line, DS sleeping snugly in his stroller. Eventually it was my turn. I have no shame people. I march right up to Pooh all by myself, give him a big huge hug, and say the same thing I say every year, "You're my favorite." And Pooh always squeezes me a little tighter when I say it, like he knows.
This year, I also told him, "Pooh, you know, every time I come to see you, you always look the same! So young! But I keep getting older..." And I shook my head. I asked him what his secret was. He pointed to the hunny pot, and tried to give me some, to keep me young. I love that bear. We had a great time getting our picture taken, and then I moved on to Eeyore.
I asked Eeyore if he'd found his tail. He turned around to show me that it was firmly attached. We had a big ole hug over that and took our pictures together. Next, it was Piglet. Piglet was very, very shy, but also, quite huggable. We took our pictures together, and up next was Tigger.
Oh, Tigger. You know that the wonderful thing about Tiggers is, right? Well, one of them, anyway? They're bouncy.
Would you all like to know what I told Tigger? Walked right up to him and said, "Tigger, my son doesn't like it when I sing. But, he lets me sing the most wonderful thing about Tiggers! And then we bounce!" And then, Tigger and I bounced. It was so much fun. It was so corny and childish and awesome. I felt five all over again, and in such a good way. Just thinking of that moment now brings tears to my eyes. So simple. So pure. Just bouncin' with Tigger. And, also, all captured on film. So that years from now, DS will look at those vacation photos, and say, geez, MOM!
Now, we thought it might be nice to have at least one picture with DH and me in it, so he hopped...well not literally, DH is not a bouncin' with Tigger kind of guy...on over and we took some shots together.
And that is my happy little segue that brings me back to the present. At the Crystal Palace. One of my favorite places to eat.
So remember if you will, all of that great character interaction I'd had the day before. Now Eeyore was great. They give the kids these little memory cards with the characters on them to promote the new Super Sleuth movie on DVD. And Eeyore was awesome when DS showed him his card. Actually, I think Eeyore was quite flattered. It was time for the parade, and DS got right behind Eeyore, and they went around, having a great time. I sent DH with him, I didn't feel comfortable with him by himself.
Now DS had been doing okay eating wise, but I'm just guessing he still wasn't feeling up to par. He had some ice cream. Then a sandwich, then some ice cream, and for some reason unbeknownst to us about halfway through the meal he had an absolute meltdown and laid down under the table.
And wouldn't come up. At. All.
And Tigger and Pooh tried. They did try to entice the little nugget up to see them, but no dice. For some reason, unbeknownst to us, DS was done. And it wasn't nap time, it wasn't late, it wasn't hunger, he was just done.
And that tainted the whole experience for me. It just wasn't what I thought it would be. It wasn't what I pictured in my head. It didn't have that magical quality that I'd had the day before, bouncing with Tigger.
And I know why. Instead of thinking of a nice relaxing day at the Magic Kingdom, I did it. I fell prey to the concept of the perfect vacation. I hadn't eaten at the Crystal Palace in two years. I wanted to eat there so badly, I figured we had to cram it in.
In all reality, it would have been better if we hadn't. The food was good, but we were those parents. The ones you see arguing at a table, in a hurry to just pay the check and leave. It happened. We were tired, we were sick, and we were maxed out. In that moment, I realized something. The way I'd been so disappointed in Boma, the way the Crystal Palace wasn't what I thought it would be. We're really Chef Mickey's people. We've had a great time there every year. DS loves those characters, and without fail, he loved it again this year. And maybe some day, the season for Chef Mickey's will pass, and the Crystal Palace will have it's turn again. You have to love that about Disney. Something for everyone. So even though it was a let down, it was also enlightening.
But never fear, intrepid readers. Because for each bad thing, there is always something good, and everything happens for a reason.
Up next - Our Magical Moment