Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Three... C 32, P 39 - The End...Or Is It?

You did? I don't think so, I would have remembered a cool moment like that. Sigh. I am losing it. :rotfl2:

I'm about 95% that we talked about it when I came back and I swore you to secrecy.

Apparently, you're a very good secret keeper. :lmao:
 
TK, I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandad, but I'm happy to learn he's doing better and hope he's fully recovered QUICKLY!

That being said...

I"M DYING! DED over the Junior Caretaker for your DS! HM is my FAVORITE Disney ride. EVER. I have the purple wallpaper as my desktop background. I have the soundtrack on my iTunes... I LOVE IT. And I LOVE that they did this for your DS! What an amazing memory!
 


TK, I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandad, but I'm happy to learn he's doing better and hope he's fully recovered QUICKLY!

That being said...

Thanks again, hon. You're all so supportive, it really helps.

I"M DYING! DED over the Junior Caretaker for your DS! HM is my FAVORITE Disney ride. EVER. I have the purple wallpaper as my desktop background. I have the soundtrack on my iTunes... I LOVE IT. And I LOVE that they did this for your DS! What an amazing memory!

I didn't even describe in that chapter how much I love the Haunted Mansion. I mean, it's one of my favorite rides. That and Pirates. They are must do rides for me every time I go. I loved that whole experience, it was amazing.
 
HM and Pirates are all I need for Disney, ever. They ARE Disney to me. I know I'll end up on HM so many times my DH is going to end up with permanently rolled back eyes.
 
Well, of course we made good on our promise. I headed off into one of the little shops in Liberty Square and got DS a Mickey Pez. That boy loves him some PEZ. Reminds me that I should get some refills and bring a dispenser with us on Saturday. Anyway, I digress. The boy was quite happy with his candy, and I figured, being a finite amount, as opposed to a gigunda lollipop he'd never be able to finish, this would be easier, less messy, and he'd be happy.

He was in a little slice of heaven, my boy. :cloud9: With his candy, and his stroller, all contented. I'm sure you can guess what came next, right?

Nap time! That little nugget had gotten his ride on and was all tuckered out. I guess being an honorary caretaker will do that to you. We decided to head back to the Space Mountain arcade, where the claw machine curse continued. I swear, we were really feeling the gaming curse on this trip. Every single trip we win the boy a plush and it was looking like a big ole no dice in this case.

Now I want to point something out really quickly. Before you think I'm a horrible wife who doesn't appreciate my husband. I offered many, many, many times to get DH a slushy coke on this trip. And each time, he said, oh no, I'm fine. Or, I'll get one later. Well, being that today was so close to the :::sniff, sniff::: end of our trip, he finally agreed. We headed over to TLP in Tomorrowland, and DH got the sacred slushy coke. Honestly, if you'd like my theory I think he's a creature of habit. I think if we're not staying at Pop, then he has to have his first slushy coke from that stand in the Magic Kingdom. Just a theory, mind you. :rolleyes1

With DH so happy and contented, I suggested some shopping on Main St. I love shopping while he's happy and DS is sleeping. It makes for a nice experience for me. I have to say, honestly, I didn't really see anything for myself on this trip. I guess I have a lot of Disney stuff, you know, and I just don't get jazzed over more of it. I know that sounds absolutely awful. There is one thing that I regret not buying for myself. If they have it this weekend, I know I'll get it. But I'm not telling what it is. So there. pirate:

I was able to finally locate two tees for my co-worker for her grandbabies. One boy, one girl, the my first mickey tees. So so cute! They were in one of the shops on Main Street, and I was just so thrilled to finally have them. A little side note for ya. As I was checking out, I overheard a man who was talking about how sick his daughter was this vacation. How she's lost her voice. Does anyone see where this is going? ;)

After our little shopping success, we decided to head to the Contemporary Arcade. I know what you're thinking. Man, they spend a lot of time in the arcades! Twofold. One, DH never gets to play this much when we go with the extended family, and I was indulging him and me. Two, we like to pass DS nap time in a cool place. It just makes for a better sleep experience for him, and happier waking up experience for us.

Also, in this case, we had a lot of points left to use up, so we wanted to have some fun. We had a great time using up our card, and getting tickets. DH hit the JACKPOT on one of the machines, and we got a TON of tickets. We were so excited to get our tickets totaled from all our arcade playing. Of course, we were just shy of earning a Mickey plush. How bummed were we, right?

Not only did we have claw machine curse, we had ticket curse. Now, the kind CM behind the counter overheard our dilemma, and let us have the Mickey plush anyway! SCORE! It was so great, we finally were getting that plush for DS. We prop it in his stroller, so he can see it when he wakes up and be surprised.

We decide that we're done with our gaming, after having the Mickey plush success and using the majority of our tickets. We head off to Downtown Disney, since we haven't been there yet, and we're getting toward the end of our Pirate's Life for Three.

Now DS wakes up on the bus on the way down with his cranky pants on. We joke about it with some of the other parents, as their toddlers are acting a bit cranky too. Must have been something in the air. Speaking of which, we're all still under the weather, but especially myself. DH is, but he's getting better, while I'm getting much, much worse. Just something for you to keep in mind for upcoming chapters.

Now this night is really all about DS. We want to the boy to enjoy himself. We want him to eat a "normal" meal. We want him to be able to play and run and be a little boy.

We head to McDonalds. And it's the most I've seen him it on the whole trip. Remember, we haven't had our signature dining experience yet, so I have no frame of reference. I remember specifically how bold the squirrels were. I mean, they would come right up on the table, one of the mothers, alone with her toddler was a bit freaked out. I don't blame her. And then we figured out why. One of the workers gives the squirrels the leftovers. Ah, now we know.

We hit all the fun stores. Lego, World of Disney, Once Upon a Toy. At WoD, I find DS the exact same hoodie he currently has, with the fab five on the back, but in the next size up. This boy is so resistant to change right now, I tried to talk him into something different, but he'd have none of it. At least this will make it easier on me. I can just trade sizes and he'll be none the wiser.

Now this was also a reconnaissance mission of sorts, in that I watched DS. I watched what peaked his interest, what toys he gravitated towards. It may have been September, but I had holiday shopping in mind. So I had a lot of fun watching DH and DS doing their thing, playing with different toys, and just having a grand old time.

Now, eventually, I got hungry. And we had a bit of discourse about where to eat. Should we eat real food or just go all out? The boy had already had McDonald's, and my throat was killing me.

It was only natural.

Yup.

We went to Ghiradelli's. Ice cream for dinner. What's better than that? I'd never eaten there before and it was fantastic. I had some kind of peanut butter hot fudge concoction, DS got his own little sundae with extra cherries (which we had to pay for, but we were splurging dagnabit), and I don't remember what DH got. Some kind of fantastic sundae. It was actually a bit funny, as we were sitting there, a trio of older women next to us kept staring at us.

At first, I thought it was me. I mean, I was sick, so it was possible I was neurotic, too.

But it really seemed as if they were staring. At me, and DS, and DH. I couldn't resist. I asked DH after they left. Did I have a booger on my face? Lipstick on my teeth? Did I not shower today, what was it???

DH said, honey, look around. So I did.

And then I got it. There were very, very few parents with kids there. It was almost predominately older people, or couples, etc. Not people with toddlers. "Honey, we look young. And we have a younger kid." Implying our unfit parentness as we look young, inexperienced, and are letting the boy have ice cream at some late hour of the evening.

Well, when he put it that way, I got it. And didn't care. We were on vacation. At least I didn't have a booger on my face.

When we finished with our ice cream, we decided to wander back towards the front, heading towards the Pooh shop, the Christmas shop. DS had a great time playing with some of the fixtures. At the Pooh one, he pretended to give us honey, which was adorable. He ran up to the Dalmation statue and give it a big ole hug. The boy was just so happy to be running around and playing, you know? Hindsight being 20/20, I wish we'd given him more of this. Not that he didn't have any, but it would have been better if he'd had more, you know?

At the Christmas shop, the boys found cartoons to watch while I browsed around. Does anyone else love the smell of that shop as much as I do? It just smells like the holidays. I bought a candle there one year that smelled so deliciously wonderful. I've never been able to find it again.

Eventually, I roped a complete stranger into talking our holiday photo for our cards by a little mountain of plush, with DS holding one. Too cute. Is it the best photo ever? No, but it's just adorable.

Since they were happy, and I wanted to browse some more, I left them to watch cartoons while I headed to the Art of Disney and the scrapbooking / book store.

And I enjoy my little alone time. But being alone, it finally hits me.

Hard. Like a ton of bricks. Now it's been coming all night, but it really really hits me full force.

I'm exhausted.

And to top it all off, I've saved the best for last, guys.

I'm losing my voice. I've been losing my voice all day. Just left that little tidbit out for you. Was hoping it wasn't really happening, but oh, it was.

It's time to call it a night. I'm so tired on this bus ride back to the Lodge, I don't ever remember being that exhausted. I'm sure I have been, but I just feel tired to the very core of my bones. The fireworks we saw on the way home were just lovely. And even though I was tired and sick, I could still appreciate that, you know? And I could appreciate the night we'd had. The fun of just walking around, letting DS do his thing, the ice cream for dinner, all of it. Sometimes the best times are when you have no particular plan. That's my favorite kind of vacation. Serendipitous.

On the way back to the room, we catch part of the electrical water parade, but DS isn't in the mood to stay and watch.

It's back to the room and off to bed.

Up Next - Will I have a voice to talk to Tink with?
 


That sounds like a lovely evening. Truly lovely, except for the whole voice losing thing. :hug:

I really can't wait to hear about the big dinne from your perspective! :thumbsup2
 
That reminds me of something.....the scrapbooking store next to the Art of Disney is closed! If I remember correctly it's going to be the new Hanes make-your-own T-shirt store.
 
That sounds like a lovely evening. Truly lovely, except for the whole voice losing thing. :hug:

I really can't wait to hear about the big dinner from your perspective! :thumbsup2

It was really, really nice.

That reminds me of something.....the scrapbooking store next to the Art of Disney is closed! If I remember correctly it's going to be the new Hanes make-your-own T-shirt store.

Wow, I had no idea! Good thing we're not going to Downtown on this trip, my mother will be so disappointed!!! Make your own T-shirt never really appealed to me. I guess because we're such a crafty bunch, we make our own. :lmao:
 
Oh dear, voice losing is no good! Hopefully it disappears by morning. Funny how quickly the tired sneaks up on you in Disney, isn't it? Like hitting a brick wall!

I am looking forward to trying a slushie coke for the first time at Pop in just a few weeks! Now I will toast you and your DH when I have it! :thumbsup2
 
I am looking forward to trying a slushie coke for the first time at Pop in just a few weeks! Now I will toast you and your DH when I have it! :thumbsup2

Aww, thank you, hon.

Just a warning.

Slushy cokes = highly addictive. :thumbsup2
 
September 20, 2008 -

The last full day of our trip.

The day I was due to meet Tinkerbellarella for the very first time.

The day we did nothing.

DH and I woke up exhausted. Funny, that. How you can have slept all night but wake up completely exhausted. We were really, really sick. Especially me. Honestly, I don't know what I was running on up until that point. Disney magic? And DH, the poor man. He put on a brave front, but he was beat.

We all woke up really late. Who's surprised? DH was doing a mite bit better than I was, so I sent him out to procure breakfast. He went to Roaring Forks and got us a delectable smorgasbord of breakfast. All I remember is two adult meals, and one child meal, and it was so dang good. When you're that sick, that much salt feels good on the tastebuds, savvy?

As DH was off on his manly task of finding food, I started some preliminary packing. We weren't really sure what we were going to do today, and seemed to be having a leisurely morning, so I thought to take advantage of it, and get some packing out of the way. That way I wouldn't be tempted to go crazy and have to do all of it when we got back from dinner.

Ah, dinner. How I was looking forward to it. Even though I was exhausted.

We ate a leisurely breakfast, and when I'd packed as much as I could, I was so done. D-O-N-E, done.

I was ready for a nap. I kicked the boys out to go play in the arcade or walk around or something, just get out of the room for a bit. And bless him, DH took DS out, and I went back to bed.

And took a nap. After I'd basically been up for a few hours.

Oh yeah. We were looking at a riotin' good time, folks. When I woke up, I decided even if I didn't feel good, that didn't mean I couldn't look good. So I got in the shower, ready to beautify myself for the day's activities. Ha. Ha. Ha.

I remember getting out of the shower, looking at DH and saying, "Great. Meet Tink for the first time, and I have no voice."

Yup. I'd lost it. My voice that is. Whatever else I've lost is to long a story, savvy?

My voice was completely gone. It was that hoarse whisper type speech you only have when you are so sick your vocal chords just give out. They said, we're done. D-O-N-E, done. Except they didn't really say that. More like a whisper. Or a whimper.

DH was tired at this point, so the idea was for him to take a nap with DS. Now of course, you can all see where this is going, right? DH took a nap. DS? Not so much. Now, I wasn't privy to this, because I decided to get out for a bit (with my little burst of newfound energy) and just enjoy the resort. Now we'd debated going to Epcot today. If you all remember, we only made it there once, at the very beginning of the trip. Honestly, it was probably the shortest debate I've ever had with my husband. Mostly consisted of, "Do you?" "No." We were flat out. And the thought of walking the World Showcase again, much as a love it, just wasn't appealing. Basically, I knew if we were going to make it through dinner, we weren't going anywhere today. And come you know what or you know what I was making it through dinner. That implies that dinner was bad. You know what I mean.

So I headed to the Mercantile, and do a little damage. I'll save what I bought for the souvie chapter. Bet you didn't know TK had a souvie chapter, eh? But I do. I just got a few things. Nothing crazy but, stuff I knew certain people would like.

I headed over to concierge and got our boarding passes printed. :::gulp::: Leaving day. Didn't want to think about it, but there it was. Smacking me in the face.

I headed over to the rocking chairs in front of the big fireplace. Do you know how many times I've been in that resort and I've never sat in one? I've always wanted to, so I did. And then it happened. The tears welled up. As I stared at that big fireplace, all I could think was do not cry, do not cry. But I did. I was sad, dear friends. I'd grown to love this Lodge of mine. It was my little light and oh did it shine.

I had that moment. That moment where the trip comes full circle again. Where you reflect on everything you've had, everything you've experienced. Where in that moment you are grateful. Grateful to be alive, grateful to be there, grateful to be at Disney. Happy to have that magic, glad you spent the money on the Wilderness Lodge, glad that you treated yourself and your family. And despite whatever pitfalls we'd experienced, thinking about going home made me cry.

Savvy?

I pulled myself together and took some photos. One of myself that I obviously won't post since the shot is pretty much...well, my head. With a lovely Lodge background. And you can tell that I'm sick. You can see it in my eyes. But even though they're tired and puffy, they're smiling. When I smile, really smile, I smile with my whole face. Just like my little peanut, just like my Granddad used to. It's hard to explain, but nice to see. Not to be conceited, my goodness that came out wrong. I just mean it's a look of pure happiness.

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The lovely fireplace where I had my moment of zen...and a few tears.

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Okay, LL, hon, at the time I had no idea you were light fixture crazy, but now that I know, I dedicate these two photos to you. :thumbsup2

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I really expected a sign that said ZZUB was here. ;)

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Some not so hidden Mickeys.

Well, it was time to head back to the room and get ready for our dinner with Tink.

And you know what?

She deserves her own chapter.

Up next - What's better after a day of nothing than meeting your long lost sis?
 
Thank you for the light dedication. :goodvibes

I think it's those rocking chairs at WL, they bring out the tears! I was sitting close to the fire place before we were getting ready to leave and it just hits you. *Sniff Sniff*

I miss the Wilderness Lodge. :guilty:
 
Thank you for the light dedication. :goodvibes

I knew you'd appreciate it.

I think it's those rocking chairs at WL, they bring out the tears! I was sitting close to the fire place before we were getting ready to leave and it just hits you. *Sniff Sniff*

I miss the Wilderness Lodge. :guilty:

I do, too. In all honesty, it's my favorite resort now. Despite how many times I had to eat at Roaring Forks and got a little sick of the same thing over and over again, I really, really love it there. It is home to me. Home with my boys.
 
I knew you'd appreciate it.

I do, too. In all honesty, it's my favorite resort now. Despite how many times I had to eat at Roaring Forks and got a little sick of the same thing over and over again, I really, really love it there. It is home to me. Home with my boys.
Do you think you'd eat there as often if you had been feeling better?
 

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