"um, let's just get a fas' pass for it!" (photopass pix pg 5)

[bumbershoot]

Gosh, am I still on the 8th?

We left GCH and went into DCA. Now, you'd think we entered through the special entrance, but no. We had left the stroller in an area of the esplanade near bag-check (they said to!), so we had to go get it. What a bore.

Saw a character we didn't see at all in September.

Saw the Incredibles, too (mom and dad), which DS liked.

Then I ran off to get ToT fast passes...by the way, it's not part of my report, but all through the trip I gathered FPs. Did we use any? NOPE. We were either gone, or not interested when it came time (or just later on), or they just weren't needed. Such is FP life when you go at less-traveled times of the year.

So I ran over there, and on the way asked a photopass person about the Stitch-coming-out-of-the-ground picture. She said she could do it, and she'd be there until 4. She kinda made it sound like SHE was the only one who could do it...I wonder if they get paid, or get bonuses, based on how many pictures they take?

While I was off being a runner for FPs and info, Robert and Eamon got in the Preferred Seating line for Aladdin. We had the vouchers from our package in September but they REALLY weren't needed then. Also, only Robert had seen the movie, and we figured that going to a big theater, seeing a live show, AND seeing a show with unknown characters and story would be a mite bit too much. So we saved the vouchers (sometimes I'm so happy we're on the DLR board instead of the WDW board I can't believe it...) and used them in December.

Well, it's just another line in another place, and then you wait "inside" even longer than the normal line, and really scrunched together. Can't beat the actual place you sit, though, it's in the "orchestra" section, I think the term would be.

Well, DS started getting scared. We had to pull out all the stops to get him to stay there and not be noisy about his feelings. Ultimately, it was the offer to let him sit on my lap, under a blanket, with his light-up light saber (under TWO folds of blanket so others couldn't see it) that made him happy.

Well, the show started, and at first it was overwhelming, but he warmed up to it! It's a cute show, though the Genie was a bit overdone. Then again, so is Robin Williams. The actor really reminded me of a friend of ours from Seattle, who is an actor and who became a ULC minister to marry us.

Just as the show was really being comfy for DS, he had to "go". NOW. We had taken off our jackets and I didn't want to chance waiting, so I picked him up with the blanket, and we found an usher. Went upstairs, got a ticket thing, went downstairs, and....the closest bathroom is all the way in the "back lot" area! Have to leave the theater entirely, walk all the way over there... So we did that, and then went back, and the procedure to get back in was fine, but man oh man, why don't they have a bathroom inside?

Alas, we missed Jasmine and Aladdin on the flying carpet. Saw the carpet flying at the end of the show, but not the big flying moment. But before the bathroom break, we were THIS close to the elephant walking by! We were in the back row of preferred seats, and the elephant goes right behind those seats. WOW.

So anyway, good show, DS enjoyed it. So did we.


On our way out, we saw someone.

Passing by the Beach Blast, Eamon wanted to meet Santa. OK, that's fine. Robert went off to get snacks while we waited in line. Well, actually, E really wanted to play with this weird and bizarre snowman thing.

He did have his picture taken with Santa (those are on photopass and I am waiting on the CD), but the PP camera went floopy. While we were wrangling with the photog's camera and I was figuring out when I should go to the photo place to find the pictures, Eamon went back to play with the snowman. Then Santa went to take a break, and E played more.

And fell down. Hurt his head somehow.

Santa came back and I wanted to get backups with my camera, and since there was no line I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. Alas, all Eamon wanted to do with Santa was tell him about falling down, about how his head hurt, and that he wasn't happy.

Shortly after that, Robert finally got back with snacks (he had been held up by the HSM thing). A banana and a cookie, and Chip, made Eamon feel better.

OK, in the here and now, Eamon has a rotten cold, is overtired, and is refusing to sleep. He's starting to freak out, DH is reaching the end of patience (he's been going back and forth with DS too long), and I need to step in and help out.

 

[bumbershoot]

I love the bug's land area.

If you think the frenzied expression on his face is weird here, you should see the other pictures. He looks like there is a t-rex after him in the others.

One of the few times on the Chew Chew Train where I had a seat to myself! It's so relaxing that each time we went on the ride I would get closer and closer to sleep. But on our first time through, I think we all kind of looked like this.

Despite appearances, it really is:

Not sure about the sauce description, but yumyum brussels sprouts!

Playing with my camera's zoom while on Heimlich's.

 

[bumbershoot]

After our trip in September, I read that the best way of experiencing bug's land is to look up at the Tower of Terror, and imagine that you're a bug in the lawn.

I just couldn't get the colors right on this as the sun went down.

And then it started to rain. Hard. And got cold. And colder. Eamon became miserable, and wanted to go back to the hotel. Robert agreed.

And then we agreed that they could go home, but I would stay. Yay! Molly-time!

While wearing my stylish poncho (clear plastic with Mickey on the back), I wandered around. First thing I had to go on was Tower of Terror! That's an interesting queue. There was no line outside, a tiny wait in the lobby, and then we went to the back. The boiler room? Is that where you're supposed to be? Anyway, that's where the main wait was, and there were many of us with ponchos on, and we were all starting to steam. While waiting, there were two young 20-something men. One was on his cell, talking to a boy or girlfriend, being all cutesie but sort of hostile. Making the person feel bad that they weren't with him, while the other person was trying to do the same to him, and the "I'm having more fun, no, I am, no really, I AM having more fun" thing. The other guy was giving him junk. Meanwhile, I just giggled inwardly at the whole thing. We were seated next to each other, and they suggested keeping the belt loose.

WOW, what a ride! It made me laugh. I'd ride it again. And that's saying something!

After that, I wandered around, and ended up on Grizzly River Rapids. There was absolutely NO line. I ended up in a raft with 5 preteen-aged boys, fresh from having won a big chess tournament. They were SO funny. I have three younger brothers - two of them much younger - and I just adore preteen boys. They talked to me just like I was one of them (meaning another boy, b/c if I were a same-aged girl they probably wouldn't have talked so much), and let me know what was good and bad about the ride. One of them was just terrified of going backwards and screamed "nooooooo!!!!!" anytime he was backwards in the ride. Since there was no one else riding (after dark, cold day, had recently been pouring down rain), they asked to go again. I was farthest from the "door", so I asked if it was OK if I stayed on with them, and everyone was cool with it. And so we went again. That time, towards the end of the ride, the spray of water that shoots up started while our raft was over it. So we could feel the water on the bottom of the raft, and as we got out from over it, it exploded up, over, and down onto our raft. I got soaked. I was still wearing the poncho, but the water managed to get under the poncho on my leg, so my whole leg was dripping wet.

The boys wanted to go again, but I decided to stop while I was still having fun.

Next up on my solo tour? Soarin'.

WOW WOW WOW. I went in the single rider line, which was a weird experience. I was all alone in it, and there was a long line inside that I bypassed. Well, I knew the fun of walking past everyone who end soon, but everyone else didn't, and they glared at me as I went by. But then I stopped at the yellow line, poked my head around the corner, and was told that I would wait there until they told me to go. Shortly after that, the big line started moving, and I felt like people were saying "ha" at me. Whatever; I knew that they would go until a single rider was needed, and wasn't worried or surprised. And finally they needed a single rider, and I went on the same ride cycle as everyone else in the line.

I think that I was on the bottom row, so it wasn't as amazing as it might have been without shoes dangling above me, but it was still amazing. They had the scents working that day (I've heard that sometimes they don't have one smell or another), and the ride was cool. I would never ever hangglide, nor would I go in a small plane or helicopter, so seeing things in that way is about the only way I'll see them. I wish I knew how they caused the sense of motion...just like on Star Tours, I experimented by closing my eyes, but could still feel sensations of motion...HOW do they do that?

Once I was off of that, I texted Robert that he HAD to go on it, because it was amazing.

By that time I was getting tired, and even though it wasn't *late*, it was dark, and I was aware of the walk back to the hotel. I did bought some disney dollars. I wanted to get a Mickey bar, but the vendor didn't take cards. I didn't have cash, and figured the disney dollars would do. Well, that transaction took so long (she tried to tell me she didn't have them, and then her co-worker let her know that they were under the money tray in the register) that when I got back to the vendor, they were closed up. So, no Mickey bar for me. So I went back to the store, bought a present for Eamon, got a cocoa and a snack, and left.

By the way, the cocoa is a big YUCK. I'm a cocoa powder, sugar, a dash of salt, and heated milk kinda person, so the cocoa mixes with weird ingredient lists do very little for me. Plus we can't keep them in the house, b/c of Eamon's problem with high fructose and regular corn syrups, so I really have no taste for them.

Before going home, I went to the photopass place, and they tried to find the Santa's Beach Blast pictures. They had no luck, but we had fun trying! And by the time I got all the way home (after 9 days in San Diego) and I looked at my account, they were on there, so all is well.

Walked home and did a child swap, LOL. The boys had ordered dinner from Coco's, but I was full from the cocoa and snack.

Sadly for Robert, he was told the very wrong DCA closing time by his wife, and was only able to ride Soarin' before the park closed. But then he was urged by that same wife to hop over to DL, which he did. He rode Star Tours, Space Mountain, and HISTA. He said that HISTA was surprising, because he hadn't read anything about it. He liked it. While crossing over to the other side of the park, he wanted a picture of the castle, but didn't have a camera. He asked a photopass guy to get a picture of the castle, but they wouldn't do it without a person there. So he got a picture of himself in front of the lit castle. I was able to *almost* crop Robert out entirely, and got a pretty picture of the lighted castle while editing the photopass pictures. Nothing against Robert, but he doesn't like the picture, and I don't like to torture him by having unflattering pictures of him. Hence, cropping all but the top of his head, LOL. Then he rode POTC, HMH, and lastly Indy.

Robert had fun being there by himself just like I did. Except that I like being alone there more than he does.

LOL, while asking him what he rode and if he liked things, I've started trying to convince him that we should go for one full day the first week of January. Ha ha ha ha.

The wee bairn was tired that night, and I snapped one more picture before he went to sleep. I lightened it up quite a bit with iPhoto, which then brought out the "noise" in the picture, but oh well. The picture looks like I'm sure Eamon felt at the moment.

 

[lexmas]

I'm really enjoying reading your trip report! You're giving me all sorts of good ideas, I already have a list going of things to do and see and eat while we're at Disneyland next fall...I'm getting excited! Thankfully! Because I was in a WDW mood for a little while there, and we have AP's to DL, so we're totally going there again next year! DS will be almost 2 next time, so a bunch younger than your DS, but it's still good to read reports from people with little kids.

It's nice that you're able to go do things by yourself in the park (and your DH too!)...DS still nurses very very frequently on demand, so I didn't get to do much that he couldn't go on last year...I didn't want him to freak out on DH! (Not that DH couldn't deal, I just couldn't handle the idea of DS needing me and me not being there!) But maybe by next year I'll be able to do a bit more. In fact, I forgot all those "adult" rides were at DL!

Anyway, this is a bit of a ramble, but I'm subbing and can't wait to read the rest!

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi!

You should look at my other main trip report. It was for September, but also talked about our one-day trips when DS was just over one and just over two.

POTC is terrific to nurse a little one on, in case you haven't yet discovered that.

Small World is a bit brighter, but if you can snag a back bench and not worry about the boat behind, knowing that there are no monitors in there can make a person happy to nurse. Then again, in their refurb, maybe they'll be adding some.

That's good to know if you're planning on extending nursing. We did, er, do (I'm *finally* starting to see that there might be an end at some point, which isn't something I thought I'd look forward to, but that was then and this is now and I want to nominate my late mom and living stepmom for sainthood for nursing me and my half-sister (respectively) until we were each over 4!), and it has gotten easier each visit b/c he's less dependent on me each time.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our last day, Sunday the 9th, dawned bright and rather chilly.

DH was beyond exhausted from his later-than-mine night, and just couldn't wake up. I was absolutely willing to go out on my own and let them sleep, but Eamon got a bit tweaky about my leaving without him.

If I were a good person, I would have gone back to sleep. But when it comes to Disneyland, I am having a very hard time getting it through my thick skull that I need to chill out. DH and I are really starting to think that I'm going to need a couple solo trips, even just one-day'ers, so that I can be a better parent-at-the-parks.

So Eamon and I bundled up and headed out the door. By this time everyone was sick of granola bars (our usual first food for trip mornings), so I'm not 100% sure Eamon ate anything.

We got to the gates, and E was just dragging. I had reached the end of my length-of-stay stroller pass, and I didn't want to rent another one. We saw the Mad Hatter and Alice. A few days before (I don't remember when, so I didn't mention it before) we saw them, but I went off to pick up the stroller while the guys stayed. Of course I had the camera, and my timing was bad; I just got back when their interaction (which had lasted quite awhile) was ending. On the 9th, E said he wanted to meet them, but wasn't into it.

The Mad Hatter was still trying, but DS was done.

We walked over to the tunnel, and he just stopped. I got down to his level and asked if he was OK, and what we could do. He said "I'm just not happy."



We quickly figured out that FOOD, food, glorious food would help, so we went in search!

Even though it was a hike, I decided to try Cafe Orleans. just the knowledge that we were on our way to food made him happier, and it was a pretty good little walk. We looked at the window displays on the left side of Main Street, and he spent several minutes looking at the cute Ratatouille display where Linguini is teetering all over the kitchen.

We stopped next to the Dole Whip cart (drat, I still haven't seen Tiki Room as an adult!) to do something. Not get a DW, because they have corn syrup solids which poor DS can't have, but maybe so I could switch my camera bag to the other side so I could carry him on my stronger side if needed? Not totally sure. While there, he saw that they had paper umbrellas, and asked (politely, but still presumptive) for one. They were kind enough to give him one, though they had to interrupt their prep work to do so.

Did we go on Jungle Cruise again? I don't remember doing so, but can't quite imagine passing it with E without him requesting to go on it...hmm. Darnit, I just remembered that we never did the Tarzan Treehouse! He requested it many times, each time while trying to get somewhere quickly...and I flat out forgot to make time for it. Drat.

Finally we got to Cafe Orleans, and they could seat us. Unfortunately, they sat us outside, and it was COLD.

 

[bumbershoot]

Played around with this picture a bit in iPhoto and shutterfly, but I just can't get the colors/brightness right for how lovely it was. Oh well; perhaps it will remind others who have seen it in the morning how pretty it can be!

I love that area because I have really loved New Orleans itself. I have been there twice, both times by myself. The first time I stayed a few days on a driving trip across the country. The second time was a 20 hour blip of a trip while I was otherwise hiding out at my brother's then-house in San Antonio. Rather than going home as intended from San Antonio on the SWA voucher they gave me after a nasty breakup (pre-Robert), I bought a cheap one-way ticket to N.O., taxied in, spent the day, then used my voucher to go home from there.

On those visits, I just wandered, wrote in my journal, and took pictures. Had beignets and coffee (and learned to not wear black at Cafe du Monde), ate at a tiny vegetarian cafe down an alley, called Old Dog New Tricks (I don't even know if it exists anymore, sniffle). I walked down streets until I felt uncomfortable, then I turned around. I went on a Vampire Tour with "Chaz", and a Garden District walking tour back when Anne Rice still lived there.

So anyway, I love New Orleans and therefore I love NOS even though they aren't the same (obviously).


Coffee.

Mickey waffles sans syrup (stupid corn syrup; I forgot to bring the organic maple syrup so E could partake, but he has learned to enjoy powdered sugar (thank goodness he doesn't have an all-over corn problem, b/c they use cornstarch in powdered sugar!)).

Then Robert was there! Before DS and I left the room, I packed us up. Robert got to take everything to the bell services area and he checked us out. And then he joined us.

Even though E and I had already had meals (E was still working on his), along with Robert's meal, I ordered their beignets. Fritters? Mickey-shaped with dipping sauces. I thought dipping sauces sounded awful last trip, and was wanting to be all pure about the beignet thing, but then the things we got at Ralph Brennan's were dreadful. So I gave fritters a chance this time.

The fritters at Royal St Veranda were good.

But these were even better!

During our meal, Eamon was freezing. The service was a bit slow, and due to Robert's late arrival, and then my beignet order, WE were slow. Eamon was shivering. He wanted a scarf. So I went in search for one. Therefore, I missed out on the actual paying of the check, but for some reason, they gave us Nightmare Before Christmas ornaments, one for each of us.


By this time E had warmed up, which is a good thing b/c I couldn't find a scarf.

There's one "pirate" that wanders around, he's tall and has a deep voice. Each time he has seen Eamon he calls him "my recessive gene lad". Silly.


Looks like a face in this bench.

We went to Pirate's Lair! We saw the Bootstrappers as well as the Jack Sparrow show, which we didn't see last time. For whatever reason, E didn't enjoy it like I thought he would (that should be the title of this whole trip report!), but was a good sport about it. We asked if Jack would be in his picture area later, and were told that he would be. And lo and behold, about 10 minutes after the show, he was! Oddly, he looked a bit different than he did during the show.

I only have photopass pictures of that, and only four of them (which of course turned into 12 b/c of the edits I did (hard to do edits on Jack meet and greet photopass pix, though, b/c they throw a border around the pictures that I haven't figured out how to get off)), and I don't have the CD yet so I can't post 'em.

In September, he showed Jack his sword. This time he showed Jack his little light saber. Both Jacks (er, both times he saw Jack) were good sports about playing with the things he brought.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh man...I'm watching Love Actually and I'm just bawling my eyes out.

*********

After Pirate's Lair I don't know what we did. Wandered, very likely. Soon, though, we wandered towards Woody's Round-up. We went behind BTMRR, and on the way, we saw Woody and Jesse. They were on their way somewhere, and trying to get away from the masses. So instead of being annoying, or missing out entirely, I sped up to get ahead of them, and had E on my hip facing backwards so he could see them. This did result in both Woody and Jesse, one at a time, giving E a thumb's up or a pat on the head, but without them having to stop.

Then on to the Reindeer Round-up.

They take cards now for their cookies! Which is good. But, as we determined by behaviour in awhile, and by reading the cleverly hidden (on the bottom of the box, lol...we just didn't WANT to read it at the time) ingredient list a few days later, there was corn syrup all in the cookie and frosting. But he did have great fun while decorating it.

There were two frostings, one white and one blue. There were sprinkles, and especially cute, tiny red and white striped, candy cane shaped sprinkle things. Mrs Claus came by, asked if she could show him something. He said yes, and she took a stirring straw that she had with her, put frosting on it, and picked up two of the little canes (one at a time) and made a heart.

But this is what he really wanted to do.

We didn't stay for a show because, well, the corn syrup was hitting. We went over to Dumbo, but he was awful in the line. He was spitting on me. Bleah. I gave him ample warning, and when he didn't (couldn't) stop we left the line.

I'm not sure why we didn't go on the teacups (a fave of his) or Alice, but they might have been mysteriously closed. I have next in my notes that we went on IASW. This was Robert's first time through in the holiday version!

The line was INSANE. But it was fast. Which was weird.

We got on, and weren't even a quarter of the way through when a voice came over the speakers telling "us" to stay in the boats, that someone would be by the boats to get us out presently. Huh? Shortly after that we noticed that we were going far slower than normal, we'd almost stopped entirely. It was kind of nice and kind of bad at the same time. I like the ride, but maaaaybe not enough to be stopped entirely in the ride. I looked around and there was one full boat behind us, then a totally empty boat, and nothing after that. So soon after we got on, there was a stop somewhere up the line. Whew, good timing!

But we never actually stopped, and soon after it picked up and we were done.

Went to the IASW gift shop and were figuring out some little thing we could get when there was an urgent need for a bathroom break. I had E put down what he was holding in his hand, and we rushed up to the Princess Faire bathrooms. As we were going up the hill, he said something about a Buzz toy. I thought he was talking about someone else's toy, but then remembered that we should never ignore what he has to say. I looked in his *other* hand, and he had a Buzz toy.

I told him to just "hold it", and we went back to the store, I had him give it back to the cashier (just in case she noticed us leaving with the toy I wanted to make sure she knew we came back), and we went back up. Whew. Two crises averted.

Well, then our next thing-to-do was the Princess Fantasy Faire. I know, that sounds odd with a boy who has no sisters. However, he's only 3. And he likes princesses. He also likes princes, and one does tend to find princes with princesses. He wanted to meet princesses, so we went to the Faire!

Oh. My. Gosh. What a line. Somehow it all worked out, and he was good. Mainly because of a woman with her daughter and nephew in front of us. But at long, long last we were next. E wanted his picture taken with the line CM, Jonathan.

He met Belle, Pocahontas, and Princess Minnie. He liked Princess Minnie the best, though when looking at the Photopass pictures, I realized that he liked Pocahontas, too. Alas, I think he liked her because he thought she was Sacajawea as seen in Night at the Museum.

After that, he didn't want to go. He actually wanted to go buy something in their shop, but I figured about all they had for boys was a prince philip sword and shield, and he already has one of those.

 

[Hedy]

I think it's cool that Eamon wants to see the princesses.
And man, reading your reports I remember how corn syrup is in *everything*

 

[bumbershoot]

They had just finished the coronation ceremony, and Robert's time at the park was drawing to a close. But they had a storytelling time coming up, so we went to be part of that. They told the kids who wanted to listen to sit on these round mats, and parents did, too. Robert didn't want to sit on the mat, so he stood up, out of the way. Eamon saw the "ladies in waiting" and thought they were princesses, too. We couldn't explain what a l.in.w. was, and what the heck, why not get an autograph, right? So Robert and Eamon went over to do that while I sat.

Turned out to be an interesting choice. Right after E came back to our shared mat, one of the ladies in waiting came over to us and asked if Eamon would like to dance with the princess that was going to come out. Uh, yeah, sure he would! "Eamon, would you like to do that? Yes? OK." "Yes he would."

They set out a special mat for us to sit on, and left DH behind. He had disappeared momentarily and didn't fully see what happened.

So then Sleeping Beauty came out and told her story.

And when she got to the part about coming across a man in the woods and singing "Once Upon a Dream", she had Eamon come out to play the part of the young man. My camera got confused with the weird lighting in there, so forgive the pictures. Also, he was tired and a bit confused by it all, but willing to go along, slowly, with it.

He's always happy to get hugs.

So that was pretty much our trip!

After that we were starving, and ran over to the Pizza Port for lunch. The pasta line was insane, so I didn't get to eat what I really wanted to eat, and just had pizza. Then we realized our timing was awful and to walk across the park just before the 3:30 parade was nuts. Especially because we didn't really know the route the parade takes, and what would be blocked off.

So we jumped onto the monorail, as Robert called the shuttle people to let them know he might be a little bit late. The monorail was Robert's idea, by the way. As was our riding it with him, which didn't sound like a good idea to me, but I knew that he was sad to be leaving. So we rode it to DTD, got off, then walked *back* to the grand californian so he could cut through and get back to the hotel. We went as far as the Libby Lu store with him, said our goodbyes, and he left to be home for work the next day.


Eamon and I decided to go to DCA. We found a photopass guy and he said he would take the "Stitch" picture for us. We posed and he got the picture. Ended up not "coming through" (Stitch is something added in the camera by the photographer), but the lovely photopass CM I got ahold of via email was able to add him in. I can't wait to get the CD so I can copy the pictures onto an online account and share them!

Of cousre we went over to bug's land, and we rode the Chew Chew Train for maybe 4 loops. Then I realized the Block Party Bash was going to start, and we decided to go see it. Got out to the parade area, but E balked. The music was starting and it was really loud and overwhelming.

So instead we got a snack, and while we were waiting on my latte, he looked outside to the parade, er, Bash, and yelped "Mister Botato Head!" A few people laughed b/c of his tone of voice, just full of joy. So then of course he wanted to see the show, er, Bash.

Watched it outside, it was fun! We'd only caught the very end of it in September, and it was nice to watch more of it. The dancers bouncing on the rebounders look like they are having so much fun! He saw Sully, the green army men, and he could just barely see Mike up on the pedestal, and enjoyed it.

And then we left!

Walked back to the Anabella, and my brother called to apologize that he was running *early*. Well, so were we, so that was good! I got our bags from the bell people and sat around their fireplace. With the amount of bags and such, we sort of took over. An employee, Scott, chatted with us and that was nice. Soon my brother showed up and whisked us off to San Diego!


And now we come to the explanation for the title.

We stayed for 9 days in San Diego. My sister in law is a 5th year associate with the top 3rd law firm in the country, and works her butt off. Even on weekends she has her Blackberry out often. Towards the end of our stay, she had a weekend, and we thought that SeaWorld would be fun.

Last year we all went, and discovered the Pets Rule show. They adore cats, and the idea of trained cats (their first cat is almost trained, it's very cool) caused them to actually become passholders. Since it is close-ish to her office, they sometimes would go on a long lunch just to see that show. They let their passports expire, and figured they would get new ones during our trip.

While looking for the usual "buy one day get two" deal, I found a Fun Card. Buy one day, get the rest of '07 and all but 5 days of '08! Um yes, sign me up for that please. The four of us went to SeaWorld and had a nice, low-key, time. E loved the sharks and we went through that exhibit twice. We also saw the Pets Rule show, of course.

A few days later, my SIL was working, so just my brother and the two of us went again. This time we saw the Shamu show, which was cheesy as usual, but also fun. On our way to somewhere, we passed by the Pets stadium. Outside of that stadium they have a little holiday-time Cat Parlor, with bunches of cute cats roaming around. Or rather, sleeping.

Outside the shark exhibit, on our way in, there was an employee with a tank with some sort of something-spotted bamboo shark. E and I were able to touch it, which was weird.

We went to see the eel exhibit, which my SIL really hates, but I like. It's under the bat ray pool, where we had been before. Eamon got to touch bunches of bat rays.

We think that they have been watching the Shamu show, because they've started to slap the water towards the people, getting them wet just like the whales do. Eamon had to change his clothes (or rather, I did) after. Thankfully I brought extra clothes!


Took a picture in a sleigh...the sun was so bright, even though it was cool.

As you can see I got him a haircut. But ugh. I wish we had never gotten his hair cut at all. It just wants to go forward like Robert's hair. In fact we have a school picture of Robert with his hair doing almost exactly what Eamon's hair was doing by the end of our Disneyland stay. Except that Robert's mom just gave up, and literally gave him bowl cuts. And except that Eamon gets a bit of curl when his hair gets longer, while Robert's has no curl. And that I haven't given up, and I have no plans to put a bowl on E's head to cut. But unless I can convince Eamon to leave "product" in his hair (product in little kids' hair just makes me twitch), or just wash it every single day (ugh), his hair just won't look as adorable as I want it to look.




While we were at SeaWorld the second time, we were trying to figure out if we wanted to see the Pets show again. The time on it was both too long and too short, to do anything meaningful (not just wandering around). We were explaining that it would be a long wait before the next show, and Eamon, almost 9 days past our Disneyland trip, pipes up with

Um, let's just get a fas' pass for it!

And that's the story of the title.


On our flight back, at the last minute, I decided to check his carseat. I'm not quite sure why, since I know that it's safest for him to be in the seat, even on the plane. But I was overwhelmed by the number of people in line, and by the amount of sweating I had already done getting us through security, to the bathrooms, sitting down, to Starbucks to keep myself awake, then sitting down again...I was just stressed and didn't want to deal with bumping it down the aisle AGAIN...the gate guy offered to gate check it, and I said "OK fine".

Eamon's desk area (with the car seat you can't get the tray table down).

During our trip, Eamon started this weird lip-rubbing thing. I think it was because his face was getting chapped and so he was licking his lips then the wetness bugged him so he wiped it off. And over and over. My brother had a weird lip-pulling thing he did around the same age, and this bothered me just as much as my brother doing his thing did back then! San Diego was warm/cold like Disneyland, and I noticed that it was doing a number on MY face, even without excess licking, so you can imagine what it was doing to him!

Actually, you don't have to imagine, b/c here's his little face, all excited to be in a regular seatbelt. The ride went well. He wasn't naughty without the 5 point belt, and on the second leg (we didn't change planes) he ended up lying down (still belted, just like I used to do going home from college) head on my lap, and he just passed out for a good hour.

But here was the picture from the plane.

And then we were home!

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi Hedy!

I can't stand that corn syrup. I really hoped that E's sensitivity was only to the high fructose kind, but he's really shown that it's corn syrup and c.s. solids as well (the former was proven, even before I knew it was an ingredient, after trying a dole whip in September). It's so frustrating for all of us.

Luckily he's pretty reasonable about it. He wouldn't believe me that it was in the Uncrustable, and REFUSED to even hear it that it *might* be in the round-up cookie...but of course he's the one feeling the insane emotions, he's the one running in circles, and he's the one beating up his parents and spitting on them (ew, he's a real terror when he gets that in his system!), which does bother him, I can see it in his eyes at points during his freak-outs. From now on I highly doubt he'll touch an Uncrustable, but that cookie actually tasted GOOD, so I think we're going to have to make other plans, should we go during a time when they have an activity like that. Bring our own frosting...

Oh, I just checked the picture I took of the ingredient list. The cookie itself was FINE.

The buttercream frosting has HFCS twice and corn syrup once.

The sprinkles are fine in terms of that, but of course have the dyes.

And then the mini M&Ms go bad again.


So...get the cookie but bring my own frosting (how to whip that up in a hotel room, I wonder?), deal with the twice-a-year sprinkles, and bring health food "m&ms"?


Have I mentioned how excited I am for the photopass CD? Ooh maybe I should pull out my CD from the share I was part of, and play with that in my other trip report! If I haven't done so already, of course...

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Sounds like a wonderful time! Eamon seems like a neat little boy!

 

[bumbershoot]

Aw thanks. He's a handful, that's for sure! If I hadn't finally figured out the corn syrup problem I don't know what I would have done with him.

Story: I had been wondering last summer what was wrong with him, and then one day we were alone at a festival, and I let him have a HUGE treat from one of the booths- a dum dum lollipop. He has some problems with his teeth -both his father and grandfather had crumbly primary teeth, and two of his baby teeth did the same, and two of the adjacent teeth are very prone to random decay - so a lollipop that I knew he'd crunch was very special. All of a sudden, not 20 minutes later after doing a craft at a kid's booth, he was attacking me. I'm short and he's tall, and it was all I could do to control him before he got a good slash in from his fingernails. We had to walk home from the festival in the heat of July, and both of us were crying. I think he barely knew what he was doing.

That was finally the "aha" moment, when I fully realized the problem.

So as long as we keep him away from that stuff, he's a good kid, a neat kid (isn't there a Fiddler on the Roof song similar to that?).

 

[Casey's Mommie]

I wonder if it's a common problem and people confuse the allergy with ADHD? Anyway, I'm glad you figured it out. That must have been a scary time for you!

 

[bumbershoot]

I think so. I was just reading Dr Bill Sears' "Healthiest Children in the Neighborhood", or something like that, and he had an epiphany during his medical practice about nutrition and additives and such, and he definitely noticed a change in that sort of behaviour. I absolutely know that if I were a different person who consulted with MDs and hadn't noticed the corn syrup connection, if I were to describe his behaviour during those times to the health care professional, he would very likely be on some sort of medication, or at least being watched carefully.

And I know that when he accidentally or purposely (letting him finish the uncrustable, not checking the ingredients of the cookie frosting, so as to not "ruin" his fun, which is a stupid stupid limited-thinking decision that we will try to not do in the future) eats it, while he's dealing with the feelings it creates, almost anyone passing by would VERY likely be doing some armchair diagnosing.

Of course, now I armchair diagnose, but I diagnose them with needing to dump things from their diet!

*****

I could cry! My photopass CD isn't slated to arrive until the 7th of January! Augh.


Since I don't have any pictures to share from photopass and haven't remembered any other stories, does anyone have any questions? What a goofy question.


Each trip I take, it seems, I learn more about what I like there and what I want to do. It's like each trip sets up a future Perfect Visit. Anyone else do that?

 

[KirklandTutu]

Of course, now I armchair diagnose, but I diagnose them with needing to dump things from their diet!

But is it really that bad of a thing to suggest that children might have a better quality of life if they weren't to have High fructose corn syrup and trans fats?

armchair diagnose away!!!


-----

After a nutty December, I finally got to read your trip report, and it's fab! It makes me want to go to DL. now. of course the Seattle weather isn't helping right now I suppose.

 

[Hedy]

Where are you planning to stay on future DL trips?

 

[lexmas]

I'm definately going to start reading your last trip report. Right when I finish typing this, actually lol.

I have to say that I laughed out loud at the "what he really wanted to do with the cookie" picture. Adorable. And I love that you took him to the Princess Fantasy Faire...we took DS in there, but everyone thought he was a girl all trip anyway, so I'm sure no one noticed.

Oh, and he looks like he's having so much fun with that little umbrella! Free souvineer! You can't beat that.

I never got to nurse on POTC last year because DS is a marathon nurser and would have gotten really upset when I had to have him stop so I could get off the boat. And now he's just highly distractible and wants to stand up and move all around while nursing, so I doubt it will work next year. Unless this is just a phase? Please? Lol. I will probably take advantage of POTC if he's really tired though, now that his nursing sessions are shorter. Can't beat a cool dark ride.

Let's see, my question now would be do you like the rental strollers? We've never used a stroller with DS, just the sling, so I'm amazingly incompetant at pushing one. I bet we'll just use the sling again on our upcoming trips, but just incase we want to think about getting one for naps sometime, are they any good?

 

[bumbershoot]

But is it really that bad of a thing to suggest that children might have a better quality of life if they weren't to have High fructose corn syrup and trans fats?

armchair diagnose away!!!

Definitely not a bad thing. Just yesterday I mentioned HFCS to someone on another board...it was taken well, which I was amazed by. I myself am sensitive but I can't make that translate to saying things in the nicest way (in person or online). I was once on a business trip with someone, and she said something to a co-worker that was taken well....I could have NEVER said it without causing an argument. I asked her how she did it, and she said "well I have a sensitive 9 year old, and I don't like making her burst into tears". Still, I could have said the exact same thing and copied her tone, but I would have caused an argument. It's weird.

 

[bumbershoot]

Where are you planning to stay on future DL trips?

I really want to try CCI, perhaps with the ladies only trip in April! And I've heard really nice things, elsewhere, about Alpine Inn. I seem to be on a Katella kick, obviously.

Someday I'm sure we'll stay at DLH and GCH, but not right now, not while DS is still so little and we can't find the time to even LOOK at the HoJo pool let alone actually use a super-incredible pool.


lexmas, here is E on my shoulder, asleep, while we wait in line at Royal St Veranda, that was after he nursed to sleep on POTC. He's a marathoner too, and I was so glad that he fell asleep on the ride, b/c despite being an extended nurser and wanting others to feel comfy nursing anywhere, I am actually not the hugest fan of nursing in total public view.

What was funny about our next trip, when he was over 2, is that he didn't ask for milk on POTC. He sat in between me and DH, one eye peeking out. What was funny is that he put my *shirt* in his mouth and sucked on that, and I had a huge wet blotch on the side of my shirt by the end. I guess he needed comfort, but not too much comfort! He said later it kept him brave.

"Free souvineer! You can't beat that"

Oh free souvies are the best! You would not believe the number of stickers the kid got. If he even said "hi" to a CM they would hand him a sticker.

Beware if you go to SeaWorld and your kid likes to put stickers on his skin (Eamon likes to put them on his wrist like a watch). The Seaworld sticker gave him a rash, and it was only on his skin for half an hour. Wait, he put on the sticker and then went to the bat ray area, so it might have been a combo of the two, but nowhere else that touched that bat ray water got a bumpy rash.

But anyway, yeah, stickers. Oh and "honorary citizen" buttons! He has 5, I think. The CMs hand those out like candy, too. Especially if, like in September, the kiddo has been knocked down in the waterplay area by a much much bigger kid. Instant stickers and buttons galore. I have a bin just for our buttons now.


The strollers are, well, they are good and bad. They steer very nicely. Their main problem is that you can't take them to your hotel! That's when we needed the stroller the most on these last two trips (our first two trips were just daytrips driving there and back from San Diego).

I don't have pictures of him in the stroller for our first trip, b/c he was really only in it for about 5 minutes. Then we got to IASW and he was out, and stayed out. But he has DH's broad shoulders, and seemed squished from side to side.

Our second trip he was in the stroller a bit more, and still seemed squished, at least while getting in and out. While actually in he seemed comfy.

Oh, and there's an honorary citizen button. And a b'day cake Robert got for me in a princess birthday bucket, that I didn't like but Emaon did...and it likely had tons of HFCS in it, explaining his behaviour before he passed out for that picture, but we didn't know about the HFCS problem at that point.

Here's another picture, showing his shoulders vs the side of the stroller while not totally in it.

He did fall asleep in it on that trip, which was nice! It doesn't recline or move at all, but it isn't straight up and down, so an older kid CAN get comfy enough to sleep.


But this was his main transportation during his 2 year old trip.

That's my SIL's hand he's touching. She is in so many pictures from those trips, b/c they adore each other. But I have never asked her or my brother for permission to post pictures, b/c I'm afraid of being laughed out of their house (she is a lawyer at a big time firm, and brother works for Cisco, and I *highly* doubt they would appreciate having their faces splashed on the internet) so I just crop crop and crop some more!


We didn't even buy a stroller until he was 2, when I wanted to walk but he was getting so big (it's his height that got to me before his weight), and we went straight to a lovely jogging stroller with a swivel-front wheel (InStep). But I refuse to take one of those on the plane.

In September we were just going to rent, but we went to TRU while visiting my dad, since a brother of mine worked there, and we saw a perfect lightweight stroller (BabyTrend) for less than the rental would have been, and snagged it. It was GREAT for our September trip. I wish I would have brought it for December, but DH talked me out of it.

Since I feel the main use of a stroller is to take the kid to and from the hotel, from now on I *plan* to bring our own. But if we were staying at GCH, or planning on taking ART or a shuttle (say to CCI), I might leave the stroller home and rent again, because they are perfectly decent strollers for rent.



The one huge caveat about any sort of strollers is to NOT leave ANYthing in it if you leave it somewhere! E's brand new pirate hat was stolen in September, out from under a sweatshirt and my brother's Duke cap. We replaced it with a different hat (Mickey pirate ears), and then the CMs replaced the hat the next evening when they heard him talking about the MEAN pirates who took his pirate hat (didn't want him to be angry at other guests if we told him *someone* took it, but didn't want him angry at Jack Sparrow either, so we said it was MEAN non-Disney pirates that took it).

Anyway, unless you want someone to take things, don't leave anything in the stroller. Doesn't happen to everyone, but it happened to us, and we won't leave things in the stroller anymore. OK, I won't. DH kept trying to leave things and was getting so annoyed at me (I'm getting annoyed at him just now thinking of it) for refusing to allow it, and I had to continue to remind him how disappointed we were to have someone take that hat.

Anyway, don't leave anything in a stroller.