Royal Me This, Royal Me That ~ Disney in December, How About That? *Update 6-1* P26

TarzansKat

Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Welcome! :santa:

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of reading my writing, are you sure you want to be here? ;)

In all seriousness, welcome to my December 2008 trip report.

The players are as follows -

TK ~ That's me!

Mom ~ That's my mom!

Nana ~ That's my mom's mom!

HRH ~ That's my son!

For further details on our likes, dislikes, and family dramatics, feel free to visit my pre trip report here:Pixie Dust and Presents, Christmas Decor, Oh My! What a Lucky Gal Am I!

Royal Discourse - One - The Royal Blood

Royal Discourse - Two - The Royal Digs

Royal Discourse - Three - "A Queen Is Never Late...Everyone Else Is Simply Early."

Royal Discourse - Four - The Royal Feast at The Hollywood Brown Derby

Royal Discourse - Five - Allow Me To Cast Some Light On The Subject

Royal Discourse - Five - The Photography of Mom

Royal Discourse - Six - The Royal Bedchamber Calls

Royal Discourse - Seven - The Royal Alarm

Royal Discourse - Eight - The Royal Penny

Royal Discourse - Nine - Hang Gliding, Royal Style

Royal Discourse - Ten - The Royal Defection

Royal Discourse...oh, who are we kidding...Pirate Manifesto - Eleven

Royal Discourse Twelve - Chefs de France

Royal Discourse Thirteen - Chefs de France Part Deux

Pirate Manifesto Fourteen - A Little Evening Stroll, Savvy?

Photo Update - RD 15

Royal Discourse Sixteen - A Royal Mess

Royal Discourse Seventeen - A New Day

Royal Discourse Eighteen - The Royal Loo

Royal Discourse Nineteen - A Royal Friendship

Royal Discourse Twenty - Make Some Lemonade, For Mickey's Sake

Royal Discourse Twenty-One - A Royal Break

Royal Discourse Twenty-Two - Citrico's

Royal Discourse Twenty-Three - The Magic Kingdom...As It Should Be

Royal Discourse Twenty-Four - A Royal Breakfast

Royal Discourse Twenty-Five - Royal Fashion

Royal Discourse Twenty-Six - A Royal Departure and Final Thoughts
 
December 6, 2008

We had a leisurely morning at home. The night before, I'd gone through my packing frenzy. In hindsight, I totally overpacked. But it made me feel prepared, at the very least, and if I ever go at that time of year again, I have a better formula for what to bring.

We all piled into the royal chariot to head to my mother's house and get ready for DH to take us to the airport. We picked up Mom, then Nana, and pretty soon we were ready to be off.

At the airport, getting to security with all our bags was a real treat, but I'd done it to myself, you know? On the way home, I did manage to combine things, but more on that later.

We did make it through security without a hitch, and using the family lane was definitely helpful.

Even though it was a bit early, I made the command decision to purchase lunch for HRH at McDonald's. He requested chicken nuggets and french fries, and ate a good bit before we got on the plane.

Now Mom and Nana pre-board since Nana has a lot of difficulty with her hip and walking in general and she does need some extra time. So the game plan was for Mom to take the car seat with her, while I negotiated HRH and folding up the stroller for gate check. We were boarding in A group anyway, so this worked very well.

Now, I don't remember why, or how, but for some reason, HRH got really worked up really fast over seemingly nothing. And in his fervor to express whatever it was that was troubling him, he jumped up and down, somehow connecting his chin with the back of the seat in front of him.

And then there was blood.

Lots and lots of blood.

(Do any of you remember how we knew there wouldn't be any dull moments on this trip? :::sigh::: )

But basically, he bit his lip, so it wasn't anything serious. But if you're familiar with that kind of injury, you know that it can be the tiniest little thing, but the mouth just bleeds profusely. So there I am, HRH in tears, me holding his mouth to prevent the blood from going everywhere, and my mother very calmly getting the wipes out. My mother also asked the people in front of us to get ice from the flight attendant.

So shortly after all the excitement we were doing okay, and apologizing to and thanking the people in front of us. They were very gracious, a mother with two older daughters. The mother was a nurse. So she got the whole worry over the mouth bit.

I was just glad he didn't knock out a tooth. :confused3

That excitement over, we were ready to get underway. HRH was exhausted, but it's very, very difficult for him to fall asleep on the plane in his car seat. It's just not comfortable, you know? So I pulled out a little surprise.

He was so excited.

I told him I had a NEW DVD. Would he like to watch it?

"Yes, MAMA!" :thumbsup2

So out comes the brand new Spongebob DVD for HRH, and he was just in heaven. He was very, very good about turning on and off the DVD player at the appropriate times, I was so proud of him. Now, I had a bazillion snacks with us, right? And the lunch, which he ate most of.

Who wants to guess whether or not HRH had any of the snacks?

Ever.

On the whole trip.

But that's for later. :sad2:

We landed without incident and headed to meet Mr. Transportation, and for the first time I felt that beautiful Florida air.

Say it with me...

"Ahhhhhhhh......." :cloud9:

When we landed it was somewhere between 75-78 degrees.

Heaven compared to the 20 degree weather we left in New England a few short hours ago.


Up Next - Can we make it to MGM in time for our Brown Derby ressie?
 
I love your new title! :goodvibes

I can't believe you had a first aid emergency on the plane! How scary. I am glad it was nothing major and kudos to your Mom for helping so efficiently!

I am extremely jealous of the Florida Temp when you landed. It's frigid here this morning!
 
Yay - you started!

ackk for blood on the plane ... hooray for spongebob!

I, too, love the title - and always admire your creativity for such things as I am severely lacking in that department...

Can't wait for more... popcorn::
 


I love your new title! :goodvibes

Thanks.

I had Batman on the brain this morning.

No idea why. It's not like we have tons of stuff around the house or anything. ;)

I can't believe you had a first aid emergency on the plane! How scary. I am glad it was nothing major and kudos to your Mom for helping so efficiently!

Mom was really calm. I was trying to be, but I was freaking out on the inside and trying not to let it show so it wouldn't make HRH even more upset.

I am extremely jealous of the Florida Temp when you landed. It's frigid here this morning!

It felt so nice. I wish I could live there.

Yay - you started!
:goodvibes

ackk for blood on the plane ... hooray for spongebob!

We are nothing if not entertaining, that's for sure.

I, too, love the title - and always admire your creativity for such things as I am severely lacking in that department...

Can't wait for more... popcorn::

Thanks. Like I said, for some reason, all I could think of was Batman and the Riddler this morning. Go figure.
 


Oh no, not a head injury! The worst kind. And I KNOW I'm going to overpack for our trip next month- times four! LOL
 
Oh no, not a head injury! The worst kind. And I KNOW I'm going to overpack for our trip next month- times four! LOL

The best advice I could give you, having had a colder day and some colder nights while we were down there is to make sure you have layers, but don't go crazy. For the most part, even when it was warmer, I had HRH in long sleeve tees, and when it got really chilly, we layerd his hooded sweatshirt over that, and covered him up really well in his stroller with a blanket.

For myself, I had some three quarters sleeve tops or tees during the day, and then DH's nice big fleece, which worked well at night. Now at some points I was still cold.

If you want any more advice about going in...are you going in January again, or February, I can't remember...January, I've been then, and I could take a look at my old photos and see what we're wearing. :thumbsup2
 
January in Flordia is unpredictable, so don't bother looking at old pics, TK.

Hi, I am Marita, I left a brief note on Zzubs blog that I was lurking on your TR, so here I am to say HI, and I enjoy your report.
 
Gosh, I'm kind of scared to get on a plane now. :scared: Between HRH's blood and Heidi fainting, yikes! Hopefully that was the only medical drama you had. No :sick: !
 
Hi, I am Marita, I left a brief note on Zzubs blog that I was lurking on your TR, so here I am to say HI, and I enjoy your report.

Marita! :welcome:

Wow, you were lurking and you're de-lurking, I feel so honored. Thanks for coming on over and the nice compliment. :goodvibes

Gosh, I'm kind of scared to get on a plane now. :scared: Between HRH's blood and Heidi fainting, yikes! Hopefully that was the only medical drama you had. No :sick: !

I'm fairly certain that was the only medical issue we had.

Thinking back...yeah, I think that's pretty much it. :thumbsup2
 
I'm so glad that it HRH's accident was too Major, and that your mom was there to help out.

Can't wait to hear all about the trip!:thumbsup2
 
If you want any more advice about going in...are you going in January again, or February, I can't remember...January, I've been then, and I could take a look at my old photos and see what we're wearing. :thumbsup2

What're you trying to say, I've changed my dates too many times to remember?! :rotfl2: We're going January 30-February 8 - I need to work on getting the little girls more layering pieces. I've invested in enough Disney t-shirts for now. :rolleyes1
 
What're you trying to say, I've changed my dates too many times to remember?! :rotfl2: We're going January 30-February 8 - I need to work on getting the little girls more layering pieces. I've invested in enough Disney t-shirts for now. :rolleyes1

Okay, I didn't want to put it like that but...YES!

:rotfl2:

I couldn't remember the dates anymore. I'm lucky I know what day it is. :lmao:
 
Well, it was a nice drive to the Yacht Club.

Say it with me.

THE YACHT CLUB!!!! :woohoo:

I was really very excited to be staying here. It had been so long since I'd stayed in an Epcot resort. As a matter of fact, the last time was before HRH was born, and my mother, father, husband, and I all took a fantastic trip that I will never ever forget for the rest of my life.

It involved an upgrade to the Captain's Deck. And for those of you who may not know, that's their presidential suite. :thumbsup2

But I digress. That's a tale for another time from the as yet unpublished TK trip report volumes. ;)

We arrived at the Yacht Club and I was excited! As we were disengaging ourselves from Mr. Transportation's vehicle, I was greeted by a friendly cast member who asked if we were checking in. I said yes, we are, but she's in charge, and laughed as I pointed to my mother. And that was totally fine with me. I was along for the ride, you know? She had all the plans in order and I was content to let someone else be in charge.

For the most part.

Eventually I exerted my own will, but that came later. :rolleyes:

Of course, HRH discovers the kid area right away, and the old school Disney cartoons. I can't tell you how many times we watched those cartoons on this trip. Fortunately, they were some of my very favorites. And at the risk of sounding horrendously old, they just don't make them the way they used to.

Now while he's otherwise occupied and Nana's got an eye on him, I took the opportunity to take some photos.

For myself but also, for you guys. I know that most likely, I won't go in December again. I knew this was a once in a lifetime type trip. For a lot of reasons that I can't go into right now, or it would just ruin the whole trip report. I'll save the why for my final thoughts.

But suffice it to say that I thought about my readers and the Lapuettes more on this trip then on my September one, and I found myself taking pictures of things I normally wouldn't have because I would think of one of you and know you would love it.

And that made me happy. Knowing that I was capturing on film something that would bring a little smile to someone else.

I'll let you in on a little secret, too. Even though we probably won't make it there in this chapter, let's just say there's some royal food art coming your way. (We royals don't call it porn, it's art.)

So, to get to it, I took lots of photos.

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HRH really loved this train they had set up in the lobby.

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I was intrigued by all the little details.

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And when Mom was done checking in, we headed off to our room. Now, I'm grateful to say that check in went off without a hitch, and we even got the type of room we requested. We wanted something close to the boat dock so it wouldn't be too much of a walk for Nana. Because walking is really, really hard for her most days. Especially that much walking, you know? Now we rent an ECV in the parks, but you still need to get there. Although this trip I really made a point of recommending to Mom and Nana that they should research one of the companies that you rent for from the whole week, who will drop the ECV off at your hotel. For the price you pay per day at Disney, who knows what you could get from one of those companies, you know? And even if it's more, it may just be worth it to have so she doesn't have to walk at all, and can really enjoy herself more.

Now, on our walk to our room we passed the gift shop, which was quite nice. I couldn't wait to do some damage in there, but we saved that for the last day, so you'll just have to wait.

I did, however, take a picture of this decoration.

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I love how the decorations are themed to the resort. And honestly, although I love the bright airiness of the Beach Club, I really think the Yacht lends itself to the holiday more, with the rich deep blues and burgundies. So very pretty.

We arrive at our room and I go mad taking pictures for you all. Even though we're on a mega time crunch to make our Brown Derby reservation.

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Our one and only towel creature.

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Hidden Mickey in the comforter.

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Now that's what I call a room with a view. :thumbsup2

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At this point, I quickly lay out the gifts for everyone on the bed, and Mom and Nana LOVE their bags and slippers.

And no joke, every night when we got back to the room, we would all put on those slippers, and it felt SO good. I am totally bringing slippers with me every time I go to Disney now. On an aside, my shoes that I brought which I thought would serve me fine, were just awful. My feet were killing me at the end of the day.

And these were no slouchy shoes, people. They're Merrells. Expensive, good quality, I expected better kind of shoes. Oh well, at least I have them for work. But I'm still on the search for a good, good park shoe. My absolute favorites would have to be my Teva Elixer Flips from September. Unfortunately, even though I brought them, it was just too cold to wear them. Which was a huge bummer. Because those are like little slices of heaven right on your feet.

HRH loved his new Hulk slippers. Since, he's discovered that he can remove the fur lining and he wears them around the house without. They're too big, I bought them too big because of the lining, but I'm hoping they'll fit him really well for next summer. And if not, he can still just wear them around the house as slippers.

And he was over the moon for his new Spongebob pajamas. He loved those jams, and wears them a lot now. If they're clean, they're what he picks. How we do love Spongebob in this house.

So after all of that it was time for me to do the quickest possible reorganization ever.

I had to transition our bags from being airplane ready to park ready, change myself, and get ready to head to MGM.

It's no mean feat. And I rushed. Because we weren't running late, but it was questionable whether or not we'd make it to the park for our ressie on time, depending on how many people were going at the same time, savvy?

On a side note, I hate that.

I hate having a reservation the first day, I hate feeling rushed, and I hate having to throw myself together. But although this trip was a birthday gift, it was not about me. It was about Mom and Nana showing me Disney how they like to do it, and me going with the flow.

So I did. I went with the flow.

A lot.

Breathing in and out and trying to repress my inner pirate. It was hard.

Very, very hard.

But for the most part, I succeeded.

Up next - Again, I say...did we make to the Brown Derby on time?
 

It all sounded so smooth, even though you had to hurry a bit. I can only hope!

Would it be possible for you to PM me bigger versions of these 2 pics? A florist friend of mine is making me a centerpiece for my Christmas table and these are just beautiful! Thanks!
 

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