Sunburn, not windburn : WDW and Universal in September

[kaoden39]

They look so cute. I think in some ways it's too bad that E wasn't Ron but I also think they deserved their own identities.


Cinderella's Castle is so beautiful and I think this may be the first picture I have seen of it at night.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep yep, they did indeed need their own identities. Good way to put it!



Ugh. Jetlag is finally gone and I can stay up past 9; sitting here, typing, and eating one of the candies E couldn't have. A Goofy's Candy Company Mickey-head lollipop; it's just gross! And yet I can't put it down. The Trader Joe's organic lollipops (with tapioca syrup, and natural flavors and colors) are SO much more delicious than this weird thing is. Bleah. Tastes like a shampoo scent would.



At some point during the evening of the Halloween party, I found the fabulous Ghost Mickey popcorn bucket, and snagged one. I love my GMPB.

And at some point after that I realized that food was a must. I'd wanted to try out Columbia Harbour House, and since we all forgot that the Times Guides show restaurant hours, we hoofed it back there (at the back corner where Fantasyland turns into, um, Frontierland? The part where Haunted Mansion is, at least). Sadly it was closed, so we went back, again, to Tomorrowland to dine at Cosmic Rays. Our veggie burgers were fine, though of course E didn't have one, and getting 3 orders of fries for the 3 of us was WAY too much. The adults were trick or treating, too, though I do not know why, and I caught Robert sneaking into the bag a little bit, naughty boy.

For any new people out there...my son cannot have anything based on corn syrup. It causes a violent and difficult reaction in him. Some months after figuring this out about him, at the age of 3, we realized that my husband has a huge reaction to it as well. From things that happened after those realizations, I've come to the determination that it's a blood sugar thing; with my guys, if they eat corn that's been turned into a syrup, their bodies simply cannot handle it gracefully. I've watched my MIL have just about the same reaction, sort of a cross between my son's violence and my husband's passing out reactions, shortly after having a sandwich made with bread that was sweetened with HFCS.

Simple chocolate is fine for them, but most hard candies are just impossible, because they are almost always made with corn syrup, or corn syrup based products (even Dole Whips cause problems, as they have corn syrup solids). And almost everything handed out at the party that night was hard candy. My husband definitely should not have been sneaking corn syrup candy out of his bag, and he knew it (which is why he was sneaking it), and his reactions to it caused my night to be just a bit harder than it should have been (and it's not good for his blood sugar, either). My goodness, my 7 year old knew not to snag things, not even the M&Ms (corn syrup is in the candy shell), and has known not to mess with it since he was 3!

And on that note, I must put that nasty lollipop down. Grody.



More pictures! Got some surprisingly decent shots during the fireworks.

Ooooh...

The Hallowishes fireworks were good. Though long. I always, ALWAYS, feel that the parades and fireworks and just about everything at a Disney park is just too long. At least when these fireworks were at Disneyland, there was the big ball that they projected things onto (Skellington's head, Oogie Boogie Man, etc); made things a little interesting. These were good, don't get me wrong...just long.




At this point, there were wishes to go ride rides, then randomly catch the parade. I, in a surprising turn of events, objected to this. Generally I really only speak up when I sense a need for food. But I was hot hot hot, and I really did NOT want to miss the parade. For those who know me, parades are not usually my "thing", but I'd heard great things about this one! (and let's go back to the $150 thing) I'm short, and I wanted a good spot for this. AND I wanted to be in position in time for the Headless Horseman's ride.

So I urged us to head to Frontierland and to find a spot. Yay, we did!

Well, we found a great spot, and CMs were setting up ropes around it without saying anything, so we thought we were safe. Until 3 minutes later when we were booted from the spot, being told it was a handicap accessible spot. So we had to switch to the other side of the street. Fine, OK. Nearly as good.

We were continuing to wilt from the heat, even my Floridian family, people were sweating buckets. And we had no, I repeat no, water. And since this was the first day, I knew I wasn't going to get a good response to "does anyone want me to buy them some water?"

So I just took off...I'll be back in a moment!...and just walked away. To a food cart, to buy water. But, ya know, I had Disney Debit Card Rewards dollars, and I had some leftover GiftCards, so it was OK. I stood there at the cart, waiting for my turn, and by the time I got up there, I'd convinced myself to buy 4 Dasanis waters. For $10 total.

Took them back, handed two to my cousin's family and two to my family, and everyone was very happy. No one objected, either. I really should have bought more, but 4 felt decadent enough!


I love lanterns.

While waiting, the CMs came by very very seriously to tell us to stand back from the ropes, to not even touch the ropes, and to be quiet for the Headless Horseman. They take the health and welfare of the *horse* very seriously, and do not want him to be spooked. Everyone in my general area took it just as seriously as the CMs did, which was nice. All children were directed away from the ropes; no one wanted any injuries, to us or the horse!



Ooh, this is a better shot of the Headless Horseman than I thought it was! How thrilling.

And then at long last, the parade.

 

[bumbershoot]

Taking pictures of parades at night is tricky.

If you use the flash you get things focused, but they look unreal.

But without the flash, things get murky.

Ooh, Barbossa...

Pirates of all sorts. Isn't that piratess there just perfectly perfect? She looks like an audioanimatronic.

The POTC 4 float; you can see Penelope's character there in the front.

These next shots are fine, but should have been so much better. My camera is, at heart, just a point and shoot, though it looks like a fancy camera. And my camera's flash gets a bit dodgy; takes little vacations every so often.

Jack Sparrow was on top of the POTC4 float, and he was So Very Much posing for my area (dare I say ME?), but my flash would not go on!

Until he turned around.

Seconds before those shots, he was looking down at us, posing. So so frustrating.



Then there was the Haunted Mansion ghost/zombie float, and the dancers. They were probably the BEST of the parade.

This group of dancers had the shambling thing down pat, and they were using the shovels in their dance. Now when you see someone dancing with a prop like that, your mind goes to Step in Time in Mary Poppins, with the brooms. But then you see these guys DRAG their metal shovels across the ground, making hideous screeching noises and causing actual *sparks* to come up, and thoughts of Burt are lost! I didn't manage a picture of that, but here they are with their props.

The noise and the sparks were just horrid, and also perfect. You can see there are several dancers, so you can just imagine.

The next dancers were wonderful as well. It was a sort of waltz or other old fashioned group dance, and they just looked...unhinged, physically. I don't know how dancers do that (I never took dance)...manage to do perfect moves but also look like they are going to literally fall apart, but they got it right.

In one brilliant photographic moment, I snapped the picture just at the right time, so when they came up from their movement and into a bit of a "ta da" pose, my camera clicked!

The rest of the pictures don't have memories associated with them. The ghost/zombies were just too good.

Oh wait, this has a memory. This was a big advertisement for the Goofy Candy Company, and they were pumping out smells like you would not believe. Oh it smelled so good! (far far better than their lollipop product tastes, that's for sure)

And then the parade was over. They unravel those parade ropes so fast you can barely believe it, and then it's as though it never happened.

 

[kaoden39]

I got a good chuckle out of you saying grody!! I can remember when we would say things were grody to the max!!


Living close enough to Jelly Belly, I know how good candy can smell. That place is a mixture of delightful smells and other times it is almost cloying.

 

[bumbershoot]

Like, totally.

 

[bumbershoot]

Things I never thought I'd, nay, ANYONE, would say.

"Please don't slurp your cottage cheese".

Like, gag me with a spoon.


(FYI to anyone new, I homeschool my son, and he was sitting here having lunch when I made that statement. oh how I wish I didn't have to make that statement...bleah....)

 

[kokotg]

Subbing!

We had a similar experience to yours at last year's Halloween party--big group (who didn't care enough about the parade!), not enough food, felt like we couldn't get everything done. We had a do-over this year and it went much better.

And we're homeschoolers, too

looking forward to reading more!

 

[bumbershoot]

Glad to have another reader! Large groups are really something, aren't they?

I liked this trip, but we're definitely switching our strategies for the next time we have a big trip like this. One of the changes will be having the big family part at the END, for when we're tired and just don't care if we hit rope drop or get to a park at all!

 

[bumbershoot]

Before the parade, my little bitty cousin fell asleep in her stroller. Poor munchkin! When she sleeps, she SLEEPS.

Robert and cousin's hubby went on Haunted Mansion, cousin and daughter sat it out, and I took Agent E and "Harry" onto Small World. Yay! We were handed the red lanyard card thing (to measure the length of the line) and then nearly ran through the line. It was soooo empty.

Not sure what's going on with E's posture there, he was taking the MIB thing very seriously I suppose!

Have I mentioned that Robert taught him to tie a tie (tye?)? It's the neatest thing. He doesn't do it perfectly, he gets the back part WAY too long, but still, he's got the knots down pat. My aunt was very impressed. (he wore a black tie with his MIB outfit)


After that we started making our way out. Passed by the, hmm, Diamond (?) Horseshoe. Different than Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe, and I guess it's almost never open (unlike DL's Horseshoe). But it was opened up for a dance party with Woody and Jesse.

On the way out we needed to stop...we were SO hot. Eamon had to loosen up his clothes because he was about to fall over from the heat. While doing that, he posed.

Bye orange Mickey!

There ya go...the rigid stick has been taken out of his posture. Whew. But isn't it scary how grown he looks (even while holding hands with his second cousin)? How do boys learn to walk that way, so cool?

We had taken the bus to the party, and we took the bus home. The bus was a HUGE bone of contention with Robert, because in December he and my Aunt had had a really rotten experience trying to get home from DHS on the bus. We rented a car last time and this time; we had some good, some bad, some indifferent experiences on the buses last December, but we had only GOOD experiences with the car, so we did want the car. But for this party, the bus won out. On the way there, it took AGES. But for the way home, it was nearly waiting for us when we got to the line.

[for the WDW newbies, when you leave MK and head for a bus, there are aisles (think about DLR's aisles where ART picks you up...it's like that but SO much bigger), and there's a big board before you get to the aisles that tells you what spot to stand at for each destination. pay attention to that board!]

It got us home quickly and efficiently, and I couldn't complain. What was extra fun was that we were on the bus with a bunch of people we'd ridden in with! I've just now remembered this. On the way in, before we were all sweaty messes, there was a lovely family with 3 sons; the mom and dad were Mary Poppins and Burt, and the boys were the penguins from the movie. And there were some others on the bus as well, and it was neat to see everyone all exhausted and bedraggled. The boys sat up in the VERY front seat facing the driver, and I was a nervous nellie so I stood nearby. Just worried that they were going to fall to sleep and fall, I suppose!


Anyway, the other kids went to sleep but Eamon had to look at his candy-swag. Sorting it all out, and talking about how we would be swapping it for him (buying candy he *can* eat and swapping it for the stuff he can't).

The taped up mascara at the front of that last picture was Agent E's neuralyzer (flashy thing). Turns out...that would have been WAY better to have purchased at Universal last December than the "noisy cricket" blaster, because more people recognize the idea of the MIB "flashy thing" than the little teensy gun Will Smith is given to use. Go figure!



At last we went to sleep.

 

[kaoden39]

Wow look at all that candy!!


The heat must have been horrible. You poor things.

 

[bumbershoot]

It was most definitely hot! I kept having to remind myself of how stinkin' cold we were in December, over and over and over.

Of all that candy, E was able to eat the Crunch, and all the rest was swapped. Of that swapped candy, I snagged one lemon drop and the lollipops and the "sours" packaged like Smarties. To cut to the end of the story, I ended up putting all of the uneaten candy into one of the lion king themed ToT bags they gave out, and left it with a note for our last housekeeper (along with the laundry detergent I'd bought and the styrofoam cooler we ended up buying) if she cared to take it. I was going to offer up the beer, too, but I'd seen her in the hallway and she was wearing a head covering, so I figured she was Muslim and wouldn't appreciate *that* offer, even if she did appreciate the other items.

 

[bumbershoot]

September 14th.

I just erased some stuff. Felt too whiny.

Facts!

1. Cousin, her hubby, their son got a one-day ticket and then upgraded it to an Epcot After 4 ticket after using the day.

2. I was getting more jetlagged by the day. Tired, wiped out, and forgetful. A change for the future? Start the trip on the GO! Go go go, and THEN relax when jetlag actually hits. Because it's not hitting at the beginning, it seems. So forget this "try to avoid jetlag" nonsense.


To give an idea of how scattered I was, I kept losing things. Important things. My notes, my plans, my lists of ADRs, that sort of thing. Apart from the "no thinking" problem, I made it WAY harder on myself because I had things written in different places, kept in different areas. I need to keep things in ONE spot, with room for notes, and preferably small enough to carry with me without weighing me down (*cough* passporter *cough*). This is another one of the changes for the future. ONE notebook with everything!

The other change for the future....less complicated financial situation! I have 3 checking accounts and a savings account, and money was scattered all over the place. This got *ridiculous*. And then I never felt I had the time to write it all down to keep us on track with budget, and I still haven't taken care of that. I mean, NO worries, everything is already paid off (or scheduled to be at the end of the week), but I like to know where my money is going.

So next time, a clear budget, and either ONE account (and no losing credit cards, as a hint for things to come) OR Disney giftcards for the Disney portion of the trip.


Anyway, I'm fairly certain (from the time of some pictures I took of the kids being silly, that I can't show because I don't like putting faces of people outside my immediate family online) that we all got up nice and late, lazed around, and just didn't do a whole lot of anything on the 14th.


The 4 adults with small kids did end up going out shopping, though. We hit Costco and Publix, while my Aunt took the kids to a very fun playground near the quiet pool at Old Key West. It was SO sweet of her to take them, and I must remember to send her a thank you note for how helpful that was!


One of the big things we bought at Costco was the only thing that helped my brain...a case of Glaceau Vitamin Waters. The Revive formula was better than coffee for me!


Once we got back, we decided to go for an early dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. In retrospect, it sounds like a "lost" day, but I don't recall feeling bad about it at the time.

What was neat is that the exact same tables we ate at in December were available, so the kids got their own little booth while the adults sat at our own little half-booth. It was kinda neat.

 

[kaoden39]

I read the last post in my email first so I read the unedited version. I understand how you felt. That would have ticked me off.

I love the Glaceau waters. They definitely taste better than coffee.

 

[bumbershoot]

It would have made me feel like that at the time, IF I had understood what I was really feeling at the time. Since I only really get it now, now that I've had time to think about it, there's no emotional charge, just a "oh, yeah, that's why it didn't feel right"... Oh well!

 

[kaoden39]

Probably better you didn't notice on the trip. It might have put a damper on it for you. A bigger one than it might already have.

 

[Brady's Mom]

I'm lost on the just previous conversation.... Maybe I need to switch to instant email notifications!

I did want to say how much I love your pictures. I am sometimes amazed at how well my pos camera does compared to our "better" camera.

And don't you love the posture of boys??? They just crack me up! They get into their "mode" and just sort of go with it for a while (at least mine do) and then they change out of it like it never happened. E looks so, so big! I can't believe it. I know I have a 7 year old and you have a 7 year old, but my 7 seems to look so much younger than your 7. Maybe it's because I see him all the time and haven't noticed the bigness, yet!

 

[bumbershoot]

It was just about something that was decided that was opposite of what had been talked about, and made it very very different than what had been talked about.



Our fellow condo building residents were commenting on how big he is yesterday at their every other Wednesday *sit in the lobby eat snacks and drink lots of booze* party. We moved in *just* as he was turning 4, so they've seen him grow quite a bit!

And I'm sure that the fact that I let him watch Zach and Cody, and 2 Kings, and other preteen shows doesn't help a bit; he's learning to posture from those shows. (I've been trying to convince him that the "Kings" in 2 Kings are actually NOT cool, that they are made fun of constantly in the show, but he refuses to believe me!)




Robert gets home late tonight. Finally! Just in the last hours of our 11 year meeting-anniversary. (which should really just be our dating anniversary, since it was all over after our first meeting)

 

[Brady's Mom]

I am SOOOO glad you cleared that up for me!!!

Yay for Robert getting home - that would have been a little hard for me to come home by myself after vacation. All that laundry and unpacking and stuff that I, alone, would have to be responsible for. I mean, how could I rightly blame my DH for not doing anything if he wasn't even home!!

When you were talking about how much E has grown I just realized that I was pregnant with my DS 7 when we moved here and that was 7.5 yrs ago. Man, they grow so fast, as evidenced by my now married 23 yr. old! Kinda makes you wonder what happened to all the years.

 

[bumbershoot]

Facts!

For the months before this trip, we discussed scenarios. At first, there were no ticket questions, so it was just going to be fun fun fun at the parks! Slowly I realized that something needed to change from the way we did it in December, so we discussed, and agreed upon, early mornings, park in the mornings, then at some point between noon and 2ish, we'd head on back and enjoy the resort. Because the resort was fabulous and we missed it when we were at the parks!

Then things got in the way of family getting tickets to meet all needs. Aunt and little cousin still have seasonal passes, but the other 3 had nothing. So it was discussed at home what to do...give up parks, do parks in the morning and play with them after lunchtime, etc etc. It was all openly discussed, and it was decided that if my family of 3 (fo3?) was going to go to a park, if no tickets were purchased, we'd go in the morning and then be back for big family fun later. Yay!

What then happened was...MNSSHP tickets were purchased. Then a single day ticket was purchased for the day following what I've written about here, and we went to DHS. At the end of that day, an Epcot After 4 pass was purchased for cousin/hubby/CousinE for the rest of the time they were there.

Which made our "we'll play in the morning and hang out at resort the rest of the day" plan, well....well, it erased that plan.

So those are the facts.


But I couldn't put those facts in order until the other evening; I just knew something had gone awry but I couldn't figure out what had done it!

 

[Brady's Mom]

It's always a struggle to go with a big group. Not because the group dynamic is bad - but because there are so many opinions. AND because plans invariably change. We've been with bigger groups before - sometimes as many as 12 or 13 people and it's hard to wrangle all the ideas and plans.

I had to laugh when I read the facts! Just because I've been in a big group at DLR and know how hard it is to stick to a plan. And I know how I am when my plans are messed with. (Can you say Type A?) It sounds, so far, like you had a good time, everyone got some park time, you got to see the Halloween Parade and the cool fireworks and didn't freeze to death! AND, you got to be with your family. That makes the trip worth it, even with some plans going awry.

I can't wait to hear more of your adventures and to live vicariously through you. We won't be able to make it to DLR for Halloween this year. Even though I really, really, really wanted to. We are going in March instead with another big-ish group. Our DS 15 is playing in a concert at DL and going to a workshop the end of the first week in March, so we are going to hear the concert and attend DLR with our very best friends and their "adopted" daughter who is 8 - right between my two youngest in age! We've been with them before (and their big kids) and had a great time, but now they have Holly and that will make it even more fun.

So the group is - DH and me and DS 9 and DS 7. BFF's Him and Her and DD 8. So, 7 people, I can't wait!