Next up - Day One blurs into Day 2 and I finally see the light beyond the Castle!! Or subtitled - Subliminal messages and Mantra do work!!
So, its Sunday night at 5:30pm and we are heading toward the bus. I have on jeans, t-shirt, and a wind-breaker and I am still cold… Both my DS and DD are secretly grateful that I am on this trip and they have warm clothes on also. Actually the only kids that are dressed appropriately are the one’s whose parents are on the trip.. I see all the short-shorts and teenie weenie shirts and they are shaking…. Yes the girls are literally shaking. No pictures here as they would all blur… Speaking of blurring. Somehow even though we arrived in Florida less than 12 hours ago it seems like a whole new day. I am so excited to be going to the Magic Kingdom. I am actually skipping over the bridge to the bus. So we all get on the bus.
View from our room, the skipping bridge!
Break here for instructions: This is proper Band Bus Etiquette, never ever be late to the bus and sit immediately in your original seat. If this is not completed correctly all buses will stay put and not move until every head has been counted twice! Trust me, this is not flexible because the buses didn’t move until 6:15pm and I was not a happy camper….
So the wheels on the bus start to move again and our first “Schedule Change” has been announced. “Girls please make sure to eat dinner while in the park and it has come to our attention that the park will be open until midnight. Please be back at the buses by 12:15!”
(Subliminal messages do work.) DO not lose your ticket as you will need it for all 5 days and lost tickets will be charged immediately to your parents.
FULL PRICE NO EXCEPTIONS. I take each of our tickets and photograph them. I immediately get the “your insane glares”… I try to tell them. If you can prove it they will replace it theory. No go… I was labeled “that mom!”
We pulled up into the parking lot. Now you have to understand something. I haven’t slept in a very long time and we pulled up into the transportation center and I loudly exclaim, “They don’t know where to go, I can’t see the Castle, Stephen… Where is the Castle??” DD grimaced at me and DH led me to the Ferry where I saw the Castle and I proceeded to breath again. Oh by the way did I happen to mention that DD will not go on the Ferry. She is deathly afraid of boats and water. DH carried her on… Now that was a sight to see… Sorry no pics as she was embarrassed enough. Within minutes I am walking through the gates of the Magic Kingdom. I stop and take it all in. The magic fills my eyes and my lungs. The smells, sounds, and sights of what I feel is perfection! A single tear
strolls down my cheek and then it hits me. The kids have left. Yep, they have deserted me!! Right in the heart of Main Street!! I am crushed. For sure I thought DD would pawn off her little brother saying he couldn’t be with the girls. But no, they needed an even number and he was a live body….
My first view!
DH and I stand there for a few more minutes and he tells me you know your stuck with me so we better do something. We start to walk down Main Street when I remember that I have to go pick up my “Magical Fast Pass”. We stop and ask Carlos who is cleaning the streets and he walks over to guest services. We ask him about his job, life, and if he is happy here.. Now you get the picture of how DH and I are different. We address every CM by their first name, we ask questions, Please and Thank You are our favorite words. Life is too short to be angry and WDW is a wealth of people with knowledge far beyond my own. So here is DH and I talking with Carlos, getting my pass and the first of many cell phone calls begin. DS has been stranded without the girls in front of Space Mountain because 45 minutes is TOO long of a wait. He assures me he is okay, but like any normal Mom I freak
. DH and I are walking at a pace far superior than our current health status can take and we make it to him in record time. I call DD in line and tell her.. Well lets skip
what I told her.. and go to the next step. I take DS and we hit the rides. Within minutes we have done Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the Astro Orbiter, and the Speedway. I call DD and tell her we are going to Cosmic Ray’s for dinner is she wants to join us. No go. So we go and get our dinner when what should happen but the cell phone rings again… They need an even body again.. So I give strict instructions to DD and once again Steve and I are alone. We decide to go over to Adventure Land and hit a few rides.. Tons of people in Disney and who do you think we meet up with.. Yep the kids. Now DS has told DD about the “Magic Fast Pass” and the please, please, please start.. I say Okay but I want to see SpectroMagic at 9pm. So we hit the rides, very quickly and efficiently. Lets say that DD’s friends are Wide-Eyed right now and they don’t know what has hit them. DH and I left for SpectroMagic, get our seats and relax… (Well SpectroMagic ran approx. 25 minutes and the phone buzzed about 8 times if you can call that relaxing).
Now the kids are used to the “fast pass” and I am not available, so the “girls” get creative. Did you know that if you
“dance the Macarena”
for the guy at the fast pass line, he lets you in? I didn’t read that on the DIS boards but DD figured it out! Yep on the first night they were able to beat the system. We met again for Wishes together which happened to be the most magical time of the whole trip for me. The kids were with me and wanted to be. They hung out with us old folks for the rest of the night. I still don’t know if they actually enjoyed us being there or the fact that we bought everyone snacks, or that I was the holder of the Magic this trip. But you know what it really doesn’t matter why! We all enjoyed ourselves. DS had long given up his sweatshirt to one of the young ladies and not once did he complain that he was cold. I know he was but he will never admit it… We made back to the bus on time, the kids hand in hand with there friends. DH grabbed my hand and we were like a couple of teenagers on a first date.. See the Magic is there… While on the bus ride back the kids are notified that room check is 1am, wake-up is 9:30am and breakfast from 10-10:45am. We would be leaving for MGM at 11am… Earlier than predicted but I didn’t fight it, I was tired. I could use the sleep… And that is what I did, drifted off into a deep sleep that didn’t end until DH woke me at 9am…
DS one lucky guy - His sweatshirt is the striped sweatshirt.. LOL
Side Notes for guidance…
In the hotel one family gets free lodging w/ the job responsibility of breakfast being served off their beds… Outside the room you would find fresh fruit and juices in coolers. (Milk also). Inside the room on the beds in boxes were danishes, cereals, bagels/cream cheese, muffins, and pop-tarts. This is what our “breakfast/snack money” went for. It was $50.00 per person and every morning and night the food was available. Also at the end of each night another family gave their room up for snacks. For a mere 15 minutes you could pick up cold bottled water, pop, chips, and or cookies so you wouldn’t have to use the vending machines. Now this is definitely not a breakfast for champions, but if you are a director or planning a large scale trip, it works…
Next up: Sprained ankles = plane ride home, 2 lost tickets in one night, and The Mount takes on Disney's Hollywood Studio's
neither just gald to be me! I love WDW even if I had to bring the teenagers. Its a place where everyone can leave their cares behind. Its the place where positive attitudes are expected and not a freak thing happening. I try to have a good attitude most of the time (ask my kids and I am sure they will disagree) but why not enjoy life... Please, about the beatification or canonization I don't think they allow "Church Skippers" there... Yep I admit it, I have stayed home from Church to DIS... So I guess I am just paying my dues to offset the bad
), suspense. This is better than a movie!! 
This year we are going May 9-11 to Baltimore. A 5 hour bus trip will feel like nothing. 
