Twirling Through the World: Magic, Memories, & Maladies-Sept. 2011 TR- NEW PTR 6/18!

[ronnmel]

Thanks, Mel! And to you and yours, as well!

Just thought I'd post this here because...well...nobody but you people will understand!!
On our last trip, at the Norway Pavilion in Epcot I smelled "Laila...The Essence of Norway," and I loved it. I'm usually not much of a perfume person, but it smelled so clean! I meant to buy some, but circumstances (which you'll hear about rather soon) prevented me from doing so. I was sad, but I just tucked my sample into my planning books and decided to get some next trip.
And what should show up under my Christmas Tree this morning?? You guessed it!! Brandon actually remembered that I'd wanted it and ordered it from the Laila website. Now I'm sitting here smelling like World Showcase and LOVING IT!!!
Also, my kids received clothing and books from "it's a small world" from Mamie last night! And of course we got stuffed Mickeys and Mickey laptops and Mickey keyboards, too. They were so happy!
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and I hope some of your Disney dreams came true!

I totally understand! I got a few Disney related gifts as well. When we were there in August I ahd asked Ron to buy me my Christmas gift right away, and just keep it hidden until Christmas. Well a few weeks back he asked me for a list of stuff I want. When I mentioned the thing from Disney, he said he had forgotten. I was pretty sure he was just trying to throw me off, and I was right! I got an awesome 40th anniversary t-shirt.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Merry Christmas to you guys too!!! How sweet of Brandon to find the Laila perfume for you!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

After a leisurely stroll from the Contemporary Resort to the Magic Kingdom after our yummy dinner with the Fab Five, we walked onto Main Street USA just as the sun was beginning to go down.

We didn’t go very far before we decided to just park ourselves on a curb. It wasn’t nearly the crowd that had us trapped the night before; in fact, it was sort of a light crowd. But we didn’t want to risk feeling claustrophobic, so we stopped in front of the Emporium to begin our viewing for the evening.
This would be the first time we had seen any of this—Main Street Electrical Parade, followed by The Magic, The Memories, and You, followed by Wishes. Okay, technically Brandon and I saw Wishes from California Grill a couple of years before, but we’d never seen it from inside MK. We are also pretty big Spectromagic fans and were eager to see how MSEP compared, if it even did at all.

With everyone settled on the curb and just a few minutes before MSEP, Sawyer and I headed to the Baby Care Center for a diaper and to use the nursing room. I love that the parks have these rooms, but I have to say that I HATE the rocking chairs at the MK. They are old, wooden, hard, and creaky. Yes, they stick with the atmosphere of that whole area around Crystal Palace, but it’s just not comfortable, and I think the babies can sense it. Sawyer didn’t care much, though. He was too busy looking up from his business to flirt with an 11 month old little girl. He kept pointing and saying, “Baby!” And then she’d pop up and laugh and they were having a good time. I hated to break up this party, but he obviously was finished and it was almost time for the shows! We headed back down toward the Emporium and easily found everyone else playing with pipe cleaners (or Chenille Sticks if you’re using the acceptable word for teachers now) and glow sticks.

The Castle was in all its color-changing glory.

Soon, we saw this:

The music was going and I thought it was okay. I heard it on one of my park CDs before the trip and thought it was catchy, but it was no Spectro, that’s for sure!

All three kids were in awe…until it became too much for Sawyer and he fell asleep.

My overall opinion? Meh. I could take it or leave it. The lights were pretty and the kids enjoyed it, but it just doesn’t hold the same magic for me. Probably quite a bit of it has to do with the music. Spectromagic’s music is just that…magic.

With Sawyer snoozing, Mamie decided she’d head into the Emporium and stroll him around during the fireworks while she did some shopping. The rest of us pretty much decided to stay put. I didn’t realize that the lights don’t dim way back there, but it was fine. In fact, it was probably better. Brynn put on the earmuffs we brought. I’m not sure they actually block much sound, but they do make her *feel* like she has some control over the loud booms! She put them on even before Wishes started.

We watched The Magic, The Memories, and You. It’s very cool, though you can’t really see the pictures of people unless you’re right up next to the Castle. We were amazed.

Soon, Tinker Bell was flying down from the Castle, and we were waving at her! And Brynn was clapping.

For just a moment, sit back and enjoy Wishes…or at least pictures of it. “Starlight, star bright…”

And Shoulder McShoulderson kept getting in the shots (we really didn’t mind, but I apologize for the pictures).

And my FAVORITE shot of Wishes from the evening:

I loved sharing this night of firsts with my girls. And I love that they were awestruck during pretty much the whole thing, as was I. Their silly Mommy even got all teary-eyed several times. This is during the finale:

Perfection.

We made our way inside the Emporium and easily found our still-snoozing baby and Mamie, who had purchased a bag of soft Fab Five toys for Sawyer (which they would all play with all week) and Cinderella light spinners for the girls. She wasn’t finished shopping, so we crazily decided to go use our Fastpasses we collected at some point that day for Winnie the Pooh. The girls were pretty excited about that, though I hated that Sawyer was sleeping and couldn’t see it. I thought we’d do it again on that trip, but I was wrong . Oh, well. Next time he’ll see it.

I don’t have any pictures, but we made it back to Fantasyland with little effort. I was SO happy we had the FPs, though, because the standby line was HUGE! I should mention that it was evening EMH that night, and we had not planned on staying. We endured the dirty looks as we hopped quickly into our “hunny” pot. After we had our fill of Heffalumps and Woozles, we went to find the rest of our crew. Immediately we spotted Mamie cradling and bouncing Sawyer outside the store. Uh-oh. He had woken up, but she got him away from the loud people and had him back asleep, but barely. We started walking out while he was still asleep. On the path back to the Contemporary, where our van was parked so conveniently, she handed that heavy boy over to Brandon. He slept the whole van ride and all through the night that night, which he still rarely does at home to this day! I guess our very busy day wore him out!

I made Julia take down her BBB hair that night and both girls went to sleep quickly. I’m pretty sure I did, too.

Up next: MY FAVORITE PARK!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I love the pictures of you guys watching the fireworks!! How wonderful to capture the amazement!

Lucky you guys for having the FP's! I always hate when people give you the dirty look for using a FP though. It's not like they're some special exclusive pass! Everyone could have just as easily gotten one as well!

 

[HilJoy14]

Love all your shots of Wishes! Also love that YOU get to be in photos. I never do, because my DH never takes the camera.

 

[dara00]

great trip report so far. I esp. like that you wrote down when you nursed sawyer (and posted a pic too!) because I'm a nursing mom too. we also use cloth diapers but do disposable also so it shouldn't be too hard to do only disposable while we're in florida!

 

[RyansMommy1]

Aww those pictures of you and the girls are absolutely precious!! GREAT memories!!

 

[ronnmel]

I think it's such a great idea to turn the camera around and take pictures of the girls' reactions during the fireworks, instead of the fireworks themselves. Such precious memories!!

Magic, Memories and You is my new favorite nighttime show at Disney and I think it totally deserves to be watched from up close. Hopefully next time.

 

[PirateKate]

I love those pictures of the Wishes! It was cool seeing pictures of you and the girls enjoying the show, too. Wishes is so impressive from Main Street.

 

[TinyDancer]

All caught up!

Your Chef shirts are adorable! Sawyer is the cutest thing kissing Mickey!!

LOVE the shots of you with your girls watching the fireworks.. Yes, I get teary eyed too.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I love the pictures of you guys watching the fireworks!! How wonderful to capture the amazement!

Lucky you guys for having the FP's! I always hate when people give you the dirty look for using a FP though. It's not like they're some special exclusive pass! Everyone could have just as easily gotten one as well!

For real! Yes, we were about 8 hours late to use them, but we were definitely not alone!!

Love all your shots of Wishes! Also love that YOU get to be in photos. I never do, because my DH never takes the camera.

We have the opposite problem--HE is never in the pictures because he's always taking the pictures!! I'm pretty sure you just can't win on this front.

great trip report so far. I esp. like that you wrote down when you nursed sawyer (and posted a pic too!) because I'm a nursing mom too. we also use cloth diapers but do disposable also so it shouldn't be too hard to do only disposable while we're in florida!

Thanks! You know, breastfeeding has been such a big part of my life that I almost don't realize when I talk about it! When I'm writing the TR, I'm reporting the facts of the day, and nursing a baby is a part of that day! I also think that other nursing moms might want to know some good spots to feed a hungry baby at WDW. I have nothing against just sitting on the nearest bench (and I could do that with Julia and Brynn), but Sawyer is easily distracted and needs some sort of privacy, and some moms want their privacy, too. Thinking about it, for the last six years and nine months, I have either been pregnant, nursing, or pregnant AND nursing, with the exception of about a month and a half back in 2007. It is just so normal to do it and talk about it for me. My hope is that more people would realize that breast is not just best--it's NORMAL. When more people are doing it and more people are seeing it, maybe that can happen (just like it is in pretty much the entire rest of the world!!). You might be the only one to notice that Sawyer was nursing in a picture! I can assure you I was showing much less skin than many others in the park that day . Okay, off my soapbox now!
As for the diapers, I think we got a little bit better with disposables as the week went on, but I'm pretty sure they were either a bad brand or bad fit! He was within the weight limits it said on the box, but they just seemed to gape open, especially around the legs, quite a bit. We were happy to get back home to his cloth diapers! I am glad we took disposables, though, because I don't trust anybody else's washer with my diapers. You never know what could be on the inside that could make them start to repel, and you don't know if the water heater is turned up high enough. I doubt we'll ever take cloth to the parks.

Aww those pictures of you and the girls are absolutely precious!! GREAT memories!!

Thank you! I'm so happy Brandon decided to do that!

I think it's such a great idea to turn the camera around and take pictures of the girls' reactions during the fireworks, instead of the fireworks themselves. Such precious memories!!

Magic, Memories and You is my new favorite nighttime show at Disney and I think it totally deserves to be watched from up close. Hopefully next time.

We saw it later in the night as we walked by the castle and the pictures were much clearer. Next time we'll definitely try and get a close spot!

I love those pictures of the Wishes! It was cool seeing pictures of you and the girls enjoying the show, too. Wishes is so impressive from Main Street.

Julia was just too excited NOT to photograph! So happy we got those shots, and also that Brandon didn't constantly take pictures so we could just be in the moment!

All caught up!

Your Chef shirts are adorable! Sawyer is the cutest thing kissing Mickey!!

LOVE the shots of you with your girls watching the fireworks.. Yes, I get teary eyed too.

Thanks! He is a mess!
I can just listen to that music now and get teary eyed!

 

[dara00]

Thanks! You know, breastfeeding has been such a big part of my life that I almost don't realize when I talk about it! When I'm writing the TR, I'm reporting the facts of the day, and nursing a baby is a part of that day! I also think that other nursing moms might want to know some good spots to feed a hungry baby at WDW. I have nothing against just sitting on the nearest bench (and I could do that with Julia and Brynn), but Sawyer is easily distracted and needs some sort of privacy, and some moms want their privacy, too. Thinking about it, for the last six years and nine months, I have either been pregnant, nursing, or pregnant AND nursing, with the exception of about a month and a half back in 2007. It is just so normal to do it and talk about it for me. My hope is that more people would realize that breast is not just best--it's NORMAL. When more people are doing it and more people are seeing it, maybe that can happen (just like it is in pretty much the entire rest of the world!!). You might be the only one to notice that Sawyer was nursing in a picture! I can assure you I was showing much less skin than many others in the park that day . Okay, off my soapbox now!
As for the diapers, I think we got a little bit better with disposables as the week went on, but I'm pretty sure they were either a bad brand or bad fit! He was within the weight limits it said on the box, but they just seemed to gape open, especially around the legs, quite a bit. We were happy to get back home to his cloth diapers! I am glad we took disposables, though, because I don't trust anybody else's washer with my diapers. You never know what could be on the inside that could make them start to repel, and you don't know if the water heater is turned up high enough. I doubt we'll ever take cloth to the parks.

I agree! and same here, my oldest is 6 yrs and 9 mos so since I got pregnant with her, I've been pregnant, nursing, or both all of the time besides for when I stopped nursing my first before I got pregnant with my 2nd!

some of my diapers are smelly right now, I tried to strip them but I don't think I did it right. (I rinsed them in hot water multiple times...) I don't know what I did to them to make them start smelling though!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I agree! and same here, my oldest is 6 yrs and 9 mos so since I got pregnant with her, I've been pregnant, nursing, or both all of the time besides for when I stopped nursing my first before I got pregnant with my 2nd!

some of my diapers are smelly right now, I tried to strip them but I don't think I did it right. (I rinsed them in hot water multiple times...) I don't know what I did to them to make them start smelling though!

I'm not sure what kind of diapers you use, but we're big fans of pockets.
Are they microfiber inserts? Because really that's all I know--throw in wool and hemp and I am lost!! Here's what I know:
They will all smell eventually. If you strip them using the hot water method, crank up your water heater realllllly high, then wash them with no detergent until you see no suds or film on the water. It could take LOTS of washes. Lots. I'm talking maybe a couple of days. You'd be surprised how easily detergent builds up...which leads me to, which detergent are you using?
Another way to strip them is to use a drop of the blue Dawn dishwashing soap. Scrub them thoroughly with a scrub brush, then rinse and rinse and rinse and wash and wash and wash until there are no more bubbles. NOT MUCH SOAP.
Yet another way is to actually boil them--this only applies to inserts, not pocket diaper shells or covers. In my opinion, this is pretty stinky and is best done outdoors in a big stock pot or something. It works, though.
Something I've had a lot of success with is using Rockin' Green Detergent to "rock a soak." Fill a bathtub with HOT water, add three scoops of it, throw the diapers in overnight. Take them out, wash them three times--cold/cold, hot/cold, cold/cold--with NO detergent. Nearly new after doing that for a couple of my laundry cycles. And I use Charlie's Soap for normal washing because it doesn't leave a residue.
And if all else fails, buy new inserts. Diapers.com has cheap 3 packs of FuzziBunz inserts.

Ahhhh, the discussions you'll have on the Disboards...

 

[dara00]

lol, cloth diapers, disney, sure it's on topic! I do use pockets w microfiber inserts. I guess I should get new inserts for the older ones. It's weird though, they started the smelling thing when I put them back on Simon after I did a 3 week disposable diaper study where he was only wearing the ones for the study. so they sat for that long. not sure if that has anything to do with it!

I just got a few new diapers and the inserts for those are fine - and really soft too! so I will look at diapers.com.

 

[katt789]

Aww those wishes pictures made me teary eyed! Ah! I miss that! So much amazing magic happens there! Looks like another awesome day!

 

[999ghostslover]

Great pictures. I can't wait for MK fireworks with just the girl. 35 days baby!

 

[999ghostslover]

I bit the bullet and bought new inserts awhile ago and it was a great decision. We had an issue where they didn't smell until that first drop of pee hit the diaper and then I would have Lalapalooza portapotty smell flashbacks. Nasty.

 

[oboedm]

Signing on! Your family is beautiful... And I love the name Sawyer. That is my DH's favorite character from LOST!

 

[inkedupmomma]

I don't have time for a full post, but OMG at how cute the pic of DD and you! the one where you're looking at fireworks?? to die for! love your hubs photog skills!

miss you

 

[Queenofallthings]

I have to admit that post brought a tear to my eye! What fantastic pictures....I always find people take pictures of the fireworks or parades...how I love that the reactions of your three girls were captured...that is priceless my friend