2/3 of the Whirlwind Trippers... May 4-7 *FINISHED 6/2*
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1000thhappyhaunt
Maelstromer
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Hey Rhonda, I'm in again.
For the ride.
But I've only read the first part so far. And I'm having trouble believing that Mark gave you a hard time about going to Disney without him. That he tormented you with guilt-inducing comments. Oh, I can believe that he whined a little. And that he possibly even "hrrrmmphhed". But...
Never mind.
Heh, heh.
For the ride.
But I've only read the first part so far. And I'm having trouble believing that Mark gave you a hard time about going to Disney without him. That he tormented you with guilt-inducing comments. Oh, I can believe that he whined a little. And that he possibly even "hrrrmmphhed". But...
Never mind.
Heh, heh.
tammyandtommy
Just call me Duckie!
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I just love your trip reports! Gotta subscribe to this one
GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
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Page 2? Halfway down? Thanks for the love, guys!! Just kidding. I'll try to have a new post later today. If work doesn't get in the way. Oops, is this off topic?
Okay. Up next: Life after meeting your hero and heroine... the LONGEST line of the trip (Mark's fault) and assorted other goodies.
Okay. Up next: Life after meeting your hero and heroine... the LONGEST line of the trip (Mark's fault) and assorted other goodies.
GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
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Day 2, The rest of the day
I have to start with something I forgot. Between riding Splash Mountain and visiting the Main Street restroom I totally left out a fun thing that happened. We were passing through Adventureland, and we had to stop and see Wendy and Peter. The two of them had quite a discussion about the correct positioning of Wesleys hat. Wesley thought it was really funny. Uh-larious, as he says. And the old codfish was right across the way, with Mr. Smee. So we thought perhaps wed go tick tock at him. The handler told us the line was closed, but they would be back in about 5 minutes, if wed like to be the first family to see them. So we waited. But the handler then let us be the last family to see them which was nice. Wesley and Hook exchanged a few blows, and I think Hook won. But PLEASE dont tell Wesley that. He is convinced that HE won. I dont know why. The weapon was on the ground, and everything. But why ruin his fantasy, right? They called a truce, and had a nice hug and handshake. And then we continued on our way to the restroom beside Caseys. So now were all caught up.
Back to We just left Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip from our special, awesome, wonderful meeting with them in the castle, courtesy of Tink and friends.
Magic cant last forever, even at Disney. At least, not the kind of magic that means you get to meet your hero and his (your?) favorite princess all by yourself in Cindys castle. But really, Wesley was on such a high, it didnt occur to him that it was over.
Our time at the Magic Kingdom was quickly drawing to a close, so I tried to accommodate him with his last requests. And he wanted to ride Haunted Mansion again. Haunted Mansion, it is! Kim was soooo excited to ride this one once more. After that, we realize, oh my, we havent ridden Buzz yet! We head to Tomorrowland, expecting to get FPs for Buzz while we do something really exciting like TTA. But the wait for Buzz was only 5 minutes. The three of us rode together. Wesley and Kim had almost the same amount of points. I guess the good news is that everyone knows my son is not addicted to video games although hes getting quite good at saving Aurora on the Sleeping Beauty bonus features.
After defeating Zurg, what do you think my Disney-lovin son wanted to do? Carousel of Progress. Hes a purist. So we did that. Got a bonus, too. At the end, it got off somehow, and we got to watch the last scene through twice. Saw old Dad burn the turkey again. Somehow I didnt exactly feel like it was pixie dust, though. More like a how-can-we-be-trapped-on-this sort of feeling. Not that I dislike CoP. Im a purist, too. But when you only have 30 minutes left in the MK, watching the Christmas tree lights get 30% brighter for the second time in 7 minutes isnt really what youre hankering to do. Im not, anyway. We got out of there, finally. With about 27 minutes to go.
What should be our last MK experience? The PhilharMagic/Wesley side show, what else? We trotted over there just in time to scoot through the AutoMagic doors before they automagically closed. I just love PhilharMagic. More specifically, I love watching PhilharMagic with Wesley. I know in years to come, Mark and I will visit WDW without Wesley. Hell be off doing the adult thing, and Mark and I will go play. But I know that I will never, ever watch PhilharMagic without seeing (in my minds eye) my sweet, innocent, Disney-loving little boy help save Donald; getting me jewels from Ariel; cackling at Donald kissing the electric eel; becoming Maestro Mickey; giggling when Donald goes through the wall. How many times do I have to say it? This is why we go. Again and again and again. When hes 13 and doesnt want to be seen with us (much less do something as uncool as going to Disney World with his parents~not that my kid will EVER feel that way ), I will have these memories to cherish. Wesley did not disappoint. It was a great way to end our time at the Magic Kingdom.
Now, because our car is at Epcot, we can leisurely walk out of the park, up the monorail ramp, and with no stress whatsoever, board the Epcot bound monorail with our stroller intact in an upright position. With Wesley in it. Life is good.
At some point during the afternoon when we departed some ride/attraction to return to the stroller, Wesley found a leaf in it. The leaf became his thing for the afternoon. Who needs a $70 Pal Mickey? Wesley had more fun with his leaf. No kidding. Pal Mickey stayed in the stroller basket for the entire trip. On the monorail, the leaf morphed into Tinker Bell. Wesley put her in his hat. And then he took her out of his hat and began shredding her. On the monorail. I made him stop. I put her (yes, still talking about a leaf) in the little compartment on top of the stroller. Of course, I wasnt paying attention, so maybe by then it wasnt Tink anymore, and Ive been worrying about his psychopathic instincts all this time for nothing. I decided not to delve too far into it then. And he seems as normal as ever, so hopefully hes not really a psychopath. (Horsegirl? Can you offer any clarification here?)
We entered Epcot with two goals: One, get our EMH wristbands. Two, eat. It was about 7:30, and we were starving. The first one was taken care of right away. There was a wristband-giving-out place right by Spaceship Earth. So now were off to get our tummies filled.
You have to ask WHERE we will be eating dinner? Do you, really? So now I have to say a big, fat THANK YOU to Mark, for alerting everyone on the DIS as to how wonderful the food is at Tangierine Café. Thanks. Thanks a bunch. As we walked through France on our way to Morocco, it appeared that we could likely have gotten a table at Les Chefs de France. Evidently the words gotten out about that, too. But when we entered Morocco, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I thought the MoRockin belly dancer mustve been inside signing autographs and giving out her phone number. The line to order food at Tangierine Café was out the door. Out the door, people! I will never forgive Mark for this. Well maybe thats too harsh. A preachers wife should, after all, be willing to forgive. Her husband, especially. But I was thinking really hard that he had definitely gone overboard in his enthusiasm for TC in his trip reports.
In addition to the mass of human bodies inside the building, there were also no available tables outside the building. I gave Kim my order, and she went to stand in line while Wesley and I walked around and glowered at people who were obviously trying to hang on to their table (though there was no food in sight) til the belly dancer reappeared. Which is silly, because with the crowd that surrounds her, you cant see her if youre seated at one of the tables. Finally, I saw a table that looked as if it would soon be vacated. I inched closer and closer. I think they were getting a little annoyed. Thought I was creepy dee. Im not. I just wanted their table. And there were some other vultures hovering, too, and dangit, I was there first!! At last, one of them got up and started packing things into their stroller. But the rest of them remained at the table, looking at me funny. I said to the stroller packer, Excuse me, are you about to vacate your table? Because I would really like to have it, if you are. Yeah, were leaving soon was the response. So I kept hovering. And finally they left. I plopped down quickly, and the other vultures moved on to hover around other tables.
After about 10 minutes of sitting there guarding our table (after 10 minutes of hovering, to get the table in the first place), Wesley tells me he needs to GO. Oh, great. There is another table being guarded, one over from us. I beg the lady to please not let anyone steal our table, as I have a bathroom emergency with a little one. I dont think she spoke English. But she smiled and nodded and in no way attempted to make any body contact with me. That was good enough. It would have to be. I scattered some napkins and a juice box on the table, and jammed our stroller in beside the chairs, and hoped for the best. I managed to catch Kims eye and through a lot of body and sign language tell her that we had a table, were leaving it at the mercy of a non-English speaking stranger who had at least managed to not plaster her body to mine (yet), and were going to the restroom. She understood every word.
We managed to avoid a bathroom accident, and made it back to our table (which had been well guarded by the foreign lady; either that, or no one wanted an outside table), and still had to wait another 10 minutes or so for Kim to get out with our food. There ya go: our longest wait for the entire trip. Thanks again, Mark! LY/MI!
We finished our meal (which was terrible, mediocre at best okay, Im lying, but in all honesty it was NOT one of the best meals Ive had there. The lentil salad was watery and full of red and green peppers, everything else was okay. Not fabulous, but okay. Still better than France, though.), and found a spot to sit for Illuminations.
Illuminations it just doesnt get much better than that. Unless youre drinking wine whilst watching. That would have made it better. Wesley went back into Maestro Mickey mode and conducted the whole thing.
So now we begin the trek back around the World (showcase) and see whats happening in Future World. On the way, we stopped to pin browse in America. They had a cute one I hadnt seen before, but I decided to take my chances and not buy it then. Checked the Maelstrom line, but it was too long (30 minutes) and of course no FPs for EMH. Hmmph. We did ride El Rio del Tiempo again. But it would be the next day before I made my big discovery on that ride. Stay tuned. And this is something I dont even think Ive told Mark about!!
In Future World, we subjected ourselves to Figment again. And not for the last time this trip, either. Then we saw the gang at Character Connection and then we went to browse in MouseGear for a while. We rode Spaceship Earth on the way out. We were all crashing, and SE almost put me out. Time to go get some shuteye. We called Mark on the way back to the room, and exchanged news about our days like how the 80s dance went at church. Once in the room, Wesley got his bath and finally settled down, and eventually I did, too.
We had a big day coming up: meeting SNAP!! But we had no idea how big (and magical) the day would actually turn out to be
Also included in the next segment: How to become a character stalker. You won't want to miss it!
I have to start with something I forgot. Between riding Splash Mountain and visiting the Main Street restroom I totally left out a fun thing that happened. We were passing through Adventureland, and we had to stop and see Wendy and Peter. The two of them had quite a discussion about the correct positioning of Wesleys hat. Wesley thought it was really funny. Uh-larious, as he says. And the old codfish was right across the way, with Mr. Smee. So we thought perhaps wed go tick tock at him. The handler told us the line was closed, but they would be back in about 5 minutes, if wed like to be the first family to see them. So we waited. But the handler then let us be the last family to see them which was nice. Wesley and Hook exchanged a few blows, and I think Hook won. But PLEASE dont tell Wesley that. He is convinced that HE won. I dont know why. The weapon was on the ground, and everything. But why ruin his fantasy, right? They called a truce, and had a nice hug and handshake. And then we continued on our way to the restroom beside Caseys. So now were all caught up.
Back to We just left Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip from our special, awesome, wonderful meeting with them in the castle, courtesy of Tink and friends.
Magic cant last forever, even at Disney. At least, not the kind of magic that means you get to meet your hero and his (your?) favorite princess all by yourself in Cindys castle. But really, Wesley was on such a high, it didnt occur to him that it was over.
Our time at the Magic Kingdom was quickly drawing to a close, so I tried to accommodate him with his last requests. And he wanted to ride Haunted Mansion again. Haunted Mansion, it is! Kim was soooo excited to ride this one once more. After that, we realize, oh my, we havent ridden Buzz yet! We head to Tomorrowland, expecting to get FPs for Buzz while we do something really exciting like TTA. But the wait for Buzz was only 5 minutes. The three of us rode together. Wesley and Kim had almost the same amount of points. I guess the good news is that everyone knows my son is not addicted to video games although hes getting quite good at saving Aurora on the Sleeping Beauty bonus features.
After defeating Zurg, what do you think my Disney-lovin son wanted to do? Carousel of Progress. Hes a purist. So we did that. Got a bonus, too. At the end, it got off somehow, and we got to watch the last scene through twice. Saw old Dad burn the turkey again. Somehow I didnt exactly feel like it was pixie dust, though. More like a how-can-we-be-trapped-on-this sort of feeling. Not that I dislike CoP. Im a purist, too. But when you only have 30 minutes left in the MK, watching the Christmas tree lights get 30% brighter for the second time in 7 minutes isnt really what youre hankering to do. Im not, anyway. We got out of there, finally. With about 27 minutes to go.
What should be our last MK experience? The PhilharMagic/Wesley side show, what else? We trotted over there just in time to scoot through the AutoMagic doors before they automagically closed. I just love PhilharMagic. More specifically, I love watching PhilharMagic with Wesley. I know in years to come, Mark and I will visit WDW without Wesley. Hell be off doing the adult thing, and Mark and I will go play. But I know that I will never, ever watch PhilharMagic without seeing (in my minds eye) my sweet, innocent, Disney-loving little boy help save Donald; getting me jewels from Ariel; cackling at Donald kissing the electric eel; becoming Maestro Mickey; giggling when Donald goes through the wall. How many times do I have to say it? This is why we go. Again and again and again. When hes 13 and doesnt want to be seen with us (much less do something as uncool as going to Disney World with his parents~not that my kid will EVER feel that way ), I will have these memories to cherish. Wesley did not disappoint. It was a great way to end our time at the Magic Kingdom.
Now, because our car is at Epcot, we can leisurely walk out of the park, up the monorail ramp, and with no stress whatsoever, board the Epcot bound monorail with our stroller intact in an upright position. With Wesley in it. Life is good.
At some point during the afternoon when we departed some ride/attraction to return to the stroller, Wesley found a leaf in it. The leaf became his thing for the afternoon. Who needs a $70 Pal Mickey? Wesley had more fun with his leaf. No kidding. Pal Mickey stayed in the stroller basket for the entire trip. On the monorail, the leaf morphed into Tinker Bell. Wesley put her in his hat. And then he took her out of his hat and began shredding her. On the monorail. I made him stop. I put her (yes, still talking about a leaf) in the little compartment on top of the stroller. Of course, I wasnt paying attention, so maybe by then it wasnt Tink anymore, and Ive been worrying about his psychopathic instincts all this time for nothing. I decided not to delve too far into it then. And he seems as normal as ever, so hopefully hes not really a psychopath. (Horsegirl? Can you offer any clarification here?)
We entered Epcot with two goals: One, get our EMH wristbands. Two, eat. It was about 7:30, and we were starving. The first one was taken care of right away. There was a wristband-giving-out place right by Spaceship Earth. So now were off to get our tummies filled.
You have to ask WHERE we will be eating dinner? Do you, really? So now I have to say a big, fat THANK YOU to Mark, for alerting everyone on the DIS as to how wonderful the food is at Tangierine Café. Thanks. Thanks a bunch. As we walked through France on our way to Morocco, it appeared that we could likely have gotten a table at Les Chefs de France. Evidently the words gotten out about that, too. But when we entered Morocco, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I thought the MoRockin belly dancer mustve been inside signing autographs and giving out her phone number. The line to order food at Tangierine Café was out the door. Out the door, people! I will never forgive Mark for this. Well maybe thats too harsh. A preachers wife should, after all, be willing to forgive. Her husband, especially. But I was thinking really hard that he had definitely gone overboard in his enthusiasm for TC in his trip reports.
In addition to the mass of human bodies inside the building, there were also no available tables outside the building. I gave Kim my order, and she went to stand in line while Wesley and I walked around and glowered at people who were obviously trying to hang on to their table (though there was no food in sight) til the belly dancer reappeared. Which is silly, because with the crowd that surrounds her, you cant see her if youre seated at one of the tables. Finally, I saw a table that looked as if it would soon be vacated. I inched closer and closer. I think they were getting a little annoyed. Thought I was creepy dee. Im not. I just wanted their table. And there were some other vultures hovering, too, and dangit, I was there first!! At last, one of them got up and started packing things into their stroller. But the rest of them remained at the table, looking at me funny. I said to the stroller packer, Excuse me, are you about to vacate your table? Because I would really like to have it, if you are. Yeah, were leaving soon was the response. So I kept hovering. And finally they left. I plopped down quickly, and the other vultures moved on to hover around other tables.
After about 10 minutes of sitting there guarding our table (after 10 minutes of hovering, to get the table in the first place), Wesley tells me he needs to GO. Oh, great. There is another table being guarded, one over from us. I beg the lady to please not let anyone steal our table, as I have a bathroom emergency with a little one. I dont think she spoke English. But she smiled and nodded and in no way attempted to make any body contact with me. That was good enough. It would have to be. I scattered some napkins and a juice box on the table, and jammed our stroller in beside the chairs, and hoped for the best. I managed to catch Kims eye and through a lot of body and sign language tell her that we had a table, were leaving it at the mercy of a non-English speaking stranger who had at least managed to not plaster her body to mine (yet), and were going to the restroom. She understood every word.
We managed to avoid a bathroom accident, and made it back to our table (which had been well guarded by the foreign lady; either that, or no one wanted an outside table), and still had to wait another 10 minutes or so for Kim to get out with our food. There ya go: our longest wait for the entire trip. Thanks again, Mark! LY/MI!
We finished our meal (which was terrible, mediocre at best okay, Im lying, but in all honesty it was NOT one of the best meals Ive had there. The lentil salad was watery and full of red and green peppers, everything else was okay. Not fabulous, but okay. Still better than France, though.), and found a spot to sit for Illuminations.
Illuminations it just doesnt get much better than that. Unless youre drinking wine whilst watching. That would have made it better. Wesley went back into Maestro Mickey mode and conducted the whole thing.
So now we begin the trek back around the World (showcase) and see whats happening in Future World. On the way, we stopped to pin browse in America. They had a cute one I hadnt seen before, but I decided to take my chances and not buy it then. Checked the Maelstrom line, but it was too long (30 minutes) and of course no FPs for EMH. Hmmph. We did ride El Rio del Tiempo again. But it would be the next day before I made my big discovery on that ride. Stay tuned. And this is something I dont even think Ive told Mark about!!
In Future World, we subjected ourselves to Figment again. And not for the last time this trip, either. Then we saw the gang at Character Connection and then we went to browse in MouseGear for a while. We rode Spaceship Earth on the way out. We were all crashing, and SE almost put me out. Time to go get some shuteye. We called Mark on the way back to the room, and exchanged news about our days like how the 80s dance went at church. Once in the room, Wesley got his bath and finally settled down, and eventually I did, too.
We had a big day coming up: meeting SNAP!! But we had no idea how big (and magical) the day would actually turn out to be
Also included in the next segment: How to become a character stalker. You won't want to miss it!
kpk89
<font color=green>I know that you know that I kn..
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- Aug 29, 2004
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Hi Rhonda!
I'm glad you're back on page one.
You are my kind of mama ... what with the liberal use of the IF card. Love that, and the whine-be-gone mints. I will have to try that. Do they also make "no more knocking your baby sister to the floor" mints? I could use some of those. 
Anyway, I am amazed at the magic that you Whirlwind Trippers gather on every outing! You are magic magnets. It is good to have friends in magical places!
I can't wait to hear the rest.
I'm glad you're back on page one.
You are my kind of mama ... what with the liberal use of the IF card. Love that, and the whine-be-gone mints. I will have to try that. Do they also make "no more knocking your baby sister to the floor" mints? I could use some of those. Anyway, I am amazed at the magic that you Whirlwind Trippers gather on every outing! You are magic magnets. It is good to have friends in magical places!
I can't wait to hear the rest.
LaLa
Hangs with the Mensas
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GADISNEYGIRL said:
Hey Rhonda. I love this.
Philharmagic is one of our family's all time favorite attractions at DW too. And this is one of those paragraphs that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I think every one of us parents can relate to this feeling. As I sat here and read your words, I could see my little girl reaching out to touch Ariel and grabbing the floating jewels and throwing her head back to laugh at Donald as he flies across the theatre and lands in the wall. Those are priceless memories. So thanks for that Rhonda.
Your little Wesley is a complete doll and yall have such the luck with character sightings.
Looking forward to hearing more.
FSUMARCHIEF
<font color=blue>Adjust your cargo deary<br><font
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I can't wait to read the part that you forgot to tell me. Comeon babe - Git-R-Done!
Blessings!
MarkyMark
Blessings!
MarkyMark
PKK/MJK
DIS Veteran
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- Feb 17, 2000
- Messages
- 956
WOW!!!! Rhonda, I had no idea you were such an amazing writer!!!!!!!!!! You make even the tiny details so interesting--and FUNNY!!! My DH and I have both been absolutely glued to every word in your trip report/s! We especially enjoyed the section about Wesleys wonderful time in the Castle with Aurora and Phillip! It is definitely amazing how much magic and how many beautiful memories those royal couples create, isn't it. We're looking forward to the rest of your report to find out what other adventures you had.
sheridac
DIS Veteran
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Oh, but a most wondrous change! My very best friend made a conscious decision to forgo having children. And while she is very happy with her choice, and so I, in turn, am happy for her, inside I am also sad for her for never having had the experience.
I believe it was John Bowring who said it better than I ever could ~
A happy family is but an earlier heaven
nicolemarie
DIS Veteran
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- 804
Love all the good, sappy stuff, Rhonda. I seemed to end my TR with plenty of it. Disney brings out the sap in me. In fact, much of life brings out the sap in me.
Hope we get to meet soon!!
Hope we get to meet soon!!
GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
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nicolemarie said:
Oh, that's terrific!! We're soul sisters!!!
Okay, we're working on it, we're working on it... PM me with a good day/time for you...
GeorgiaAristocat
<font color=purple> Côôl DIS Veteran <img src=htt
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Rhonda -
I will sign up for the classes on the character stalking.
My daughter believes that she will DIIIIIEEEEEE if she doesn't get to show Snow White her snow white dress. It is a matter of most critical importance. Really, the future of the world depends upon it. I think I have her covered, but nothing in life is sure, so it wouldn't help to back it up with a little stalking.
Enjoy your trip next week!
I will sign up for the classes on the character stalking.
My daughter believes that she will DIIIIIEEEEEE if she doesn't get to show Snow White her snow white dress. It is a matter of most critical importance. Really, the future of the world depends upon it. I think I have her covered, but nothing in life is sure, so it wouldn't help to back it up with a little stalking.
Enjoy your trip next week!
AshClan
DIS Veteran
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I'm caught up! And posting to do my part to get you the "last page thingie".
Great stuff, as usual.
Geesh, Mark, I was looking forward to trying out the Tangerine Cafe, too. I won't be happy if you've ruined it for us. Speaking of which, maybe you guys should get some commissions on that one, too.
Philharmagic. Love, love, love it. Wish it was around when my guys were littler. I'll have to live vicariously through you (and lala, and amy, and horsey, and poop, and kim, and all the rest of you who have little ones).
Great stuff, as usual.
Geesh, Mark, I was looking forward to trying out the Tangerine Cafe, too. I won't be happy if you've ruined it for us. Speaking of which, maybe you guys should get some commissions on that one, too.
Philharmagic. Love, love, love it. Wish it was around when my guys were littler. I'll have to live vicariously through you (and lala, and amy, and horsey, and poop, and kim, and all the rest of you who have little ones).
GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
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GeorgiaAristocat said:
She's in Toon Town. Only time we've ever NOT seen her in the Princess Room was one night right before closing. It was Princess Minnie and Alice, instead. She is also OCCASIONALLY in Germany at Epcot. But not as frequently as Aurora, Belle/Beast and Jasmine/Aladdin are out. Only bad thing is... there is a loooong wait for the Princess Room, almost always. Even in slow times. Still...it'll be worth it! What, you're not doing any princess meals?
wdwr
<font color=blue>My friends call me She-ra, I don'
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Oh MrsMarkyMark!!!!!!!!!
Do we, your devoted fans, have to wait for your return from WDW this weekend to get the next installment for this trip?
I've been waiting patiently for 3 days now. (ok, not so patient since I posted)
At least this goes towards your "last page" request.
Shelley
Do we, your devoted fans, have to wait for your return from WDW this weekend to get the next installment for this trip?
I've been waiting patiently for 3 days now. (ok, not so patient since I posted)
At least this goes towards your "last page" request.
Shelley
2infinity&B-ond
Mouseketeer
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Hi Rhonda. Just wanted to pop in and say I love hearing about your trips to the world.
And I hope Wesley feels better soon. (Hope the medicine works this time!)
Now I have to go read more of your great report.
And I hope Wesley feels better soon. (Hope the medicine works this time!)
Now I have to go read more of your great report.
Shelby5514
<font color=87005b>John Taylor is my guilty pleasu
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Rhonda~ I know, I know...what's taken so long for me to read your trippie? Well with all the drama around here, it's been hard to try to keep up here, there and in both chats. But YES, I have finally found this report and I am L-O-V-I-N-G it! Loved the last ones (your and Mark's) too!
DH and I ate at both Marrakesh and Tangerine and I have to say they were both very enjoyable. One question tho? What did Mark have to do to get his picture taken with the belly dancer? DH was wanting to, and even told our waiter, but as soon as she was done she was GONE.
Maelstrom my friend...
DH and I ate at both Marrakesh and Tangerine and I have to say they were both very enjoyable. One question tho? What did Mark have to do to get his picture taken with the belly dancer? DH was wanting to, and even told our waiter, but as soon as she was done she was GONE.
Maelstrom my friend...
GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
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Shelby5514 said:
That's the MoRockin' belly dancer Shelby... not the one from Marrakesh. I don't know if she always poses for pictures... but after their set we asked to have one of her with Wesley and Colleen, and then Mark and Keith kinda jumped in there, LOL!
GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2003
- Messages
- 1,227
Saturday
Buckle up for the ride folks, its our last park day!
We were tired and worn out. We let ourselves sleep in a bit today. Didnt get up until 8am (now thats more like it!!). Wesley was REALLY tired and worn out. I let him sleep til almost 9:30, even though we had planned to be at Epcot at 9. Oh, well. He needed the sleep.
Now, a word (or several) about Commando Mode. As Ive said, in reading our reports, you probably cant believe that we arent commandos. But its true! Yes, we are often at a park (or two parks) from open to close. We seldom, if EVER, go back to our room for a mid-day break. But that just doesnt work for us. That is partly because most of our trips are well whirlwind trips. We dont have the luxury of time. Going back to our room (especially when not staying deluxe) means a minimum of three hours out of the park, when Wesley will likely only get a one hour nap, if that.
And theres another issue naps. You see, our little Wesley is a night owl. Just like his parents. (Thank goodness!) And though he was a very good napper for about 3 ½ years, that was pretty much it. About last September, we noticed that though he did, in fact, take a nap every day he wouldnt go to sleep at night until 11pm. Or midnight. So then he would wake up tired the next day, and take an even longer nap, and the cycle kept getting more and more vicious. Eventually, we decided that him sleeping at night was more important than him getting a nap. And, basically, that was the end of his napping. Now we put him to bed around 7:30 (on a good night), and with any luck he is asleep by 8:30. However, he has great stamina (if you dont believe me, see my last weekend of Feb TR. The child was up from 7am til 2am. With a 45 minute nap.) He will still nap in the car (when I use the IF card ), and he will often nap in his stroller when we are at WDW. But leaving the parks for the PURPOSE of him getting a nap well, it just doesnt work.
Another thing many people enjoy doing is taking an afternoon swim break. Another NADA for us. For one thing, our best friends have a pool. Water is not a novelty to us. Why SWIM at Disney? I can SWIM at home! And especially you cold weather types you will swim in ANY weather, simply because youre in Florida. Folks, you can lie to your neighbors. If you are in FL in January and the high is 50º, do NOT feel like you still have to get in the pool, just because you told everyone in Minnesota that you were headed for warm weather. You can tell your neighbors back home that it is 83º and sunny if that makes you feel better. But why on earth do you feel the need to get in a pool, simply because you are in another state? Sorry, that was just an aside rant, and dont give me the spiel about the Disney pools being heated. Youve gotta get out some time. Anyway. Pools. Water. At Disney. Just not our thing. Wesley is more than a little timid in a familiar pool with a small group of people he knows. A huge pool with lots and lots of loud splashing people is a definite: Uh, NO! When he gets older, who knows. But I have a feeling hed rather be riding Rock N Roller Coaster than swimming.
Now, Mark and I used to be Commandos. Serious Commandos. We had a list of rides to ride, and the goal was to ride as many as possible, as many TIMES as possible, before we had to leave. And this was pre-FastPasses, folks. We had a SYSTEM. We didnt ONLY do the thrill rides we also hit all of Fantasyland, just because it was classic Disney. But it was mainly about the thrill rides. We have done MGM, MK and Epcot in a single day. We did not see a single character or a single parade, and we certainly did not have sit down ADRs. In fact, we didnt even know ADRs (or at the time, PSs) existed. And we would never have dreamed of wasting ride time sitting down paying a lot of money for a meal.
As embarrassing as it is, I have a confession to make. Has Mark told our honeymoon story? I cant remember, so here it is, briefly. We were going on a cruise. Big Red Boat. Arrived, were told they werent ready to board anyone yet. Went to Kennedy Space Center. Went back to terminal. Were told we could get out, but dont bring your luggage~yet. They began making announcements: We will begin boarding in 15 minutes. They would make the same announcement 20 minutes later. This went on for a while. And finally, they said we werent boarding. At all. Had to do with safety upgrades and a Coast Guard inspection that they never had. So the Coast Guard wouldnt let them sail. It was a pretty big deal. Made USA Today, even. And made for a pretty rotten start to our honeymoon. So what else do we do? Go to Disney, of course. Decided to stay onsite (for the first time I KNOW!!), and go to the Contemporary. So Mark called and told them our sad, sad story and when we arrived at the Contemporary the next day, they told us wed been upgraded to tower, MK view, CONCIERGE!!! WoooHoooo! Sad thing is, we didnt even know how awesome this was. We just thought it was cool that we had free water bottles to take into the parks. Our one concierge experience, and we didnt even know enough to appreciate it. BUT, it did one thing for us: CEMENTED our love and appreciation for Disney, in general. ANYWAY, I guess that is embarrassing enough. But the other part is, even on our honeymoon, we didnt eat a single table service meal. Wed never even heard of California Grill, and we were *right there*. Cosmic Rays, woooohooooo! I suppose you could say that we just didnt appreciate the finer things in life at the time. Fast forward about 5 years, we have a little one, weve become foodies, and we want to make a trip to WDW start doing a little research (I found the DIS) and discovered that you have to PLAN your dining in ADVANCE. Huh. What a concept! So we did. And weve never looked back.
Since then, we have become connoisseurs, of sorts, of WDW cuisine. Some of its finest. (We have not yet done V&As. Maybe one day!) Not that we dont still enjoy Cosmic Rays or Pecos Bills on occasion. And for heavens sake, you ALL know that Marks favorite place to eat in (almost) all of WDW is Tangierine Café. Thanks, once more, Mark! But my point in this is that we found other facets of WDW to love and it has been an evolution for us, from Thrill Ride Park Commandos to a slower paced, eat-our-way-around-the-world, take-time-to-smell-the-roses (sometimes literally), poke-around-and-see-what (or WHO)-we-can-find style of adventure. And it has been a very fulfilling adventure, indeed.
How did we get there? Well, when you have an 18 mo old, there isnt much you CAN ride, thrill-wise. I mean, you can do baby swap, but we like to ride TOGETHER. Whats the fun of riding Rock N Roller Coaster if you cant scream in each others ears? Or is that just us? We found that, in its own way, Peter Pans Flight was just as much fun as Space Mountain. Not as thrilling, certainly but still fun. And Ive gotta say: Id rather be riding Peter Pans Flight WITH Wesley than riding Space Mountain WITHOUT him.
The other thing is, we had 5 day park hoppers, but because we couldnt go for 5 straight days, we were milking our tickets, taking these little short WHIRLWIND trips. So wed go for a Thurs-Sat, and go to the park(s) only on Friday. Saturday wed spend at an out-of-the-parks character meal, and browsing at DTD, or maybe checking out other resorts, before heading home.
And since I mentioned characters, Ill discuss that here. I thought long and hard before posting this, but I figure that most people are set in their Disney ways, and a bunch of rambling from me isnt going to change their style. And if a few do start doing things differently well, hopefully they wont be there the same time as us, so they wont take up our character interaction time! Basically all of our awesome character experiences have been by accident or just plain luck. (Magic, if you prefer!)
Our first magical experience (which I wrote about in my first ever trip report) happened at Chef Mickeys. We had a late seating (I think because it was the only thing available see, this was just by accident!), and ended up with the characters to ourselves. Us and one other family. This was Wesleys first encounter with characters, and he wasnt overly keen on them. The thing about characters is that they are pretty darn good at figuring out who really likes them, and who would rather them go about their merry way. I have seen exceptions to this, but most of them are very perceptive. So on that morning, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale had been skirting our table. Maybe a wave as they went by. Minnie, however, was a different story. She would stand way back, wait til Wesley glanced her way, then wave at him. Then shed make her rounds. The next time, she would come a little closer, then blow him a kiss. The next time, she would come closer still, and play Peek-A-Boo. It was working. He was getting interested. And by the time it was all said and done, Minnie was holding him, he was kissing her on the nose, and patting Pluto. I truly believe that if Minnie had not taken all that extra time with him, he would not love the characters in the same way that he does today. That day, we all became Minnie fans. For life. Wesley doesnt even remember that. But he loves Minnie anyway, and we know why. Mark and I do remember it, and likely always will. My only regret is that we didnt send a letter of appreciation to her.
After that, Wesley got slightly braver around the characters. He sometimes needed a little encouragement, but he never refused to see them, he never cried, or anything like that. One interesting thing we found, however, was that (especially as he began talking) he preferred the fur characters to the face characters. For most children, its the other way around. But because he is often shy when talking to people he doesnt know (which certainly isnt a BAD trait), he didnt like the face characters, because they would TALK to him expect him to TALK to them!
Wesleys Disney love runs DEEP. He has LOVED Disney since he was about 14 months old. That was about the time we moved to the church we currently serve, and there was a lot of stress in his life (moving is hard on EVERYONE, no matter the age!). He became fixated with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Before we had a Woody, Buzz or Jessie doll (we have all three now, along with Hamm, Rex, Slinky, and other assorted TS characters ), Wesley would SLEEP with the movie boxes. Hug them tight to his chest. When he was 17 months old, he fell and hit his head on the corner of our coffee table (which now resides in the attic). Had an overnight hospital stay to make sure there was no skull fracture (thankfully, there wasnt), and for observation. The ONLY thing that kept him calm was watching Toy Story. A friend brought us her copy, and we probably watched it 8 times while we were in the hospital~less than 24 hours. It was right after that incident that we decided it was time for his first trip to The World. (Thankfully, Woody, Buzz and Jessie couldnt talk!) So for a year or so, we focused primarily on the fur characters, and left all the little girls to the princess room.
After that year, his Toy Story phase kind of faded out. I must admit, I miss hearing that little baby voice talk in his crib (to the movie boxes) about Woo-wy and Buh. But now he was REALLY into Peter Pan. Unfortunately, we didnt have any great Peter Pan experiences. And Captain Hook kind of intimidated him. But that year, we took our first trip to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. And we fell in love with our first face character: Alice. (Although she turned out to be OUR Wendy!) We also had great, fabulous, wonderful interaction with Mary Poppins and Bert. (Also further detailed in a previous trip report.) That was in September. Around that same time, Sleeping Beauty also became a contender in the favorite movie category. We did both CRT and PSB that trip, but neither of them really seemed his thing. Didnt matter. Daddy enjoyed them both!
In December of that year, we were back. Sleeping Beauty had a slight edge over Peter Pan. We were THRILLED to find Prince Phillip and Aurora outside of the castle at the Christmas party, and we stood in a long line to meet them. Not that Wesley cared about the length of the line he was all about meeting Phillip and Aurora. It was later that night that we walked by the castle and saw the handler (or greeter, as they are called by CMs, I believe) standing outside alone. And thats how we discovered that Cindy, PC, Aurora and Phillip were inside. All alone. We took pictures with them individually, with both princesses giving him kisses, and with all of them. It was really, really cool.
That same trip, we had an incredible experience with Aurora at Epcot. We found her in France, again with no one around. And after a few moments of shyness, Wesley, our quiet, shy, reserved little boy, was talking a mile a minute to her, with his head in her lap and his feet stretched out on the wall. Uh-larious. What makes it even better is that Aurora had the hiccups! He had been to see Santa as Downtown Disney, and told him what he wanted for Christmas: a Diesel 10 (the bad guy from Thomas the Tank Engine), a kitchen and a sucker. He told Aurora all about seeing Santa, and what hed asked for. So Aurora asks him, if he gets his kitchen for Christmas, what will he cook for her? A hotdog. (His favorite food at the time.) A hotdog, says Aurora. Oh my prince, its all Ive ever wanted!! All the while trying to royally handle her hiccups. We saw Aurora again this past February, and she remembered Wesley as the hiccup boy. She even remembered that he was going to cook her a hotdog. Had she not had the hiccups, she likely wouldnt have remembered that encounter with Wesley. So call it accident, luck, fate, whatever We call it a magical memory. (BTW, Wesley did, indeed, get his kitchen. And he still loves to cook. What a prince... handsome AND he cooks. Did your DD see *that*, horsey??
His two favorite cookbooks are, of course, Disney cookbooks. He make a mean ~pretend~ Goofy's Birthday Cake!)
There are many layers to the character experience. First, you have to have contact with them. For Wesley, his shyness has actually been an asset. He wants to see the character initially but when he actually gets to them, he gets shy. But once his turn is over, hes gained a little confidence, and wants to go back. Heres where were different from most everyone else: we allow him to see them again. Rather than rushing him off to another ride or another attraction, we let him get back in line. If he wants to see a character, well see the character. Going to see them more than once makes him a little more memorable. Especially since, lets face it, hes just darn cute! Another thing is, if you see the same character more than once, it helps if you recognize that youve seen them before. For instance I recognized the hiccuping Aurora this past February. Had I not mentioned the episode (which happened over a year before!), Im certain she wouldnt have recognized Wesley. So sometimes you have to help the magic along.
Other times, you get incredibly lucky, as we did with OUR Wendy SHE remembered HIM, without any prompting from us. (That was a first for us. And for the record, the times we saw her in February were, to that point, the ONLY special attention we had gotten from any character in the sense that she knew where we would be sitting for the afternoon parade, and asked some of her friends to be really nice to Wesley. And of course, now shes gone, so we dont have that in anymore.)
We have asked ourselves over and over why he gets such special attention. Why was HE picked to ride the Barnstormer with Goofy (which was one of his dreams), when there were so many other kids around? Why does Captain Hook always notice him during the parade? Why does Princess Aurora always ask him to dance? The truth is, we dont know. But we are grateful. You know, Disney rides are great. Disney shows are fabulous. But one on one interaction with characters is unbelievable. Special. Magical. The kind of things that stay with you forever. Commandos have fun. But they rarely find magic. We are there for the magic!
And I realize that I have said nothing about our day, per se. But this is important stuff.
Carpe diem!
Buckle up for the ride folks, its our last park day!
We were tired and worn out. We let ourselves sleep in a bit today. Didnt get up until 8am (now thats more like it!!). Wesley was REALLY tired and worn out. I let him sleep til almost 9:30, even though we had planned to be at Epcot at 9. Oh, well. He needed the sleep.
Now, a word (or several) about Commando Mode. As Ive said, in reading our reports, you probably cant believe that we arent commandos. But its true! Yes, we are often at a park (or two parks) from open to close. We seldom, if EVER, go back to our room for a mid-day break. But that just doesnt work for us. That is partly because most of our trips are well whirlwind trips. We dont have the luxury of time. Going back to our room (especially when not staying deluxe) means a minimum of three hours out of the park, when Wesley will likely only get a one hour nap, if that.
And theres another issue naps. You see, our little Wesley is a night owl. Just like his parents. (Thank goodness!) And though he was a very good napper for about 3 ½ years, that was pretty much it. About last September, we noticed that though he did, in fact, take a nap every day he wouldnt go to sleep at night until 11pm. Or midnight. So then he would wake up tired the next day, and take an even longer nap, and the cycle kept getting more and more vicious. Eventually, we decided that him sleeping at night was more important than him getting a nap. And, basically, that was the end of his napping. Now we put him to bed around 7:30 (on a good night), and with any luck he is asleep by 8:30. However, he has great stamina (if you dont believe me, see my last weekend of Feb TR. The child was up from 7am til 2am. With a 45 minute nap.) He will still nap in the car (when I use the IF card ), and he will often nap in his stroller when we are at WDW. But leaving the parks for the PURPOSE of him getting a nap well, it just doesnt work.
Another thing many people enjoy doing is taking an afternoon swim break. Another NADA for us. For one thing, our best friends have a pool. Water is not a novelty to us. Why SWIM at Disney? I can SWIM at home! And especially you cold weather types you will swim in ANY weather, simply because youre in Florida. Folks, you can lie to your neighbors. If you are in FL in January and the high is 50º, do NOT feel like you still have to get in the pool, just because you told everyone in Minnesota that you were headed for warm weather. You can tell your neighbors back home that it is 83º and sunny if that makes you feel better. But why on earth do you feel the need to get in a pool, simply because you are in another state? Sorry, that was just an aside rant, and dont give me the spiel about the Disney pools being heated. Youve gotta get out some time. Anyway. Pools. Water. At Disney. Just not our thing. Wesley is more than a little timid in a familiar pool with a small group of people he knows. A huge pool with lots and lots of loud splashing people is a definite: Uh, NO! When he gets older, who knows. But I have a feeling hed rather be riding Rock N Roller Coaster than swimming.
Now, Mark and I used to be Commandos. Serious Commandos. We had a list of rides to ride, and the goal was to ride as many as possible, as many TIMES as possible, before we had to leave. And this was pre-FastPasses, folks. We had a SYSTEM. We didnt ONLY do the thrill rides we also hit all of Fantasyland, just because it was classic Disney. But it was mainly about the thrill rides. We have done MGM, MK and Epcot in a single day. We did not see a single character or a single parade, and we certainly did not have sit down ADRs. In fact, we didnt even know ADRs (or at the time, PSs) existed. And we would never have dreamed of wasting ride time sitting down paying a lot of money for a meal.
As embarrassing as it is, I have a confession to make. Has Mark told our honeymoon story? I cant remember, so here it is, briefly. We were going on a cruise. Big Red Boat. Arrived, were told they werent ready to board anyone yet. Went to Kennedy Space Center. Went back to terminal. Were told we could get out, but dont bring your luggage~yet. They began making announcements: We will begin boarding in 15 minutes. They would make the same announcement 20 minutes later. This went on for a while. And finally, they said we werent boarding. At all. Had to do with safety upgrades and a Coast Guard inspection that they never had. So the Coast Guard wouldnt let them sail. It was a pretty big deal. Made USA Today, even. And made for a pretty rotten start to our honeymoon. So what else do we do? Go to Disney, of course. Decided to stay onsite (for the first time I KNOW!!), and go to the Contemporary. So Mark called and told them our sad, sad story and when we arrived at the Contemporary the next day, they told us wed been upgraded to tower, MK view, CONCIERGE!!! WoooHoooo! Sad thing is, we didnt even know how awesome this was. We just thought it was cool that we had free water bottles to take into the parks. Our one concierge experience, and we didnt even know enough to appreciate it. BUT, it did one thing for us: CEMENTED our love and appreciation for Disney, in general. ANYWAY, I guess that is embarrassing enough. But the other part is, even on our honeymoon, we didnt eat a single table service meal. Wed never even heard of California Grill, and we were *right there*. Cosmic Rays, woooohooooo! I suppose you could say that we just didnt appreciate the finer things in life at the time. Fast forward about 5 years, we have a little one, weve become foodies, and we want to make a trip to WDW start doing a little research (I found the DIS) and discovered that you have to PLAN your dining in ADVANCE. Huh. What a concept! So we did. And weve never looked back.
Since then, we have become connoisseurs, of sorts, of WDW cuisine. Some of its finest. (We have not yet done V&As. Maybe one day!) Not that we dont still enjoy Cosmic Rays or Pecos Bills on occasion. And for heavens sake, you ALL know that Marks favorite place to eat in (almost) all of WDW is Tangierine Café. Thanks, once more, Mark! But my point in this is that we found other facets of WDW to love and it has been an evolution for us, from Thrill Ride Park Commandos to a slower paced, eat-our-way-around-the-world, take-time-to-smell-the-roses (sometimes literally), poke-around-and-see-what (or WHO)-we-can-find style of adventure. And it has been a very fulfilling adventure, indeed.
How did we get there? Well, when you have an 18 mo old, there isnt much you CAN ride, thrill-wise. I mean, you can do baby swap, but we like to ride TOGETHER. Whats the fun of riding Rock N Roller Coaster if you cant scream in each others ears? Or is that just us? We found that, in its own way, Peter Pans Flight was just as much fun as Space Mountain. Not as thrilling, certainly but still fun. And Ive gotta say: Id rather be riding Peter Pans Flight WITH Wesley than riding Space Mountain WITHOUT him.
The other thing is, we had 5 day park hoppers, but because we couldnt go for 5 straight days, we were milking our tickets, taking these little short WHIRLWIND trips. So wed go for a Thurs-Sat, and go to the park(s) only on Friday. Saturday wed spend at an out-of-the-parks character meal, and browsing at DTD, or maybe checking out other resorts, before heading home.
And since I mentioned characters, Ill discuss that here. I thought long and hard before posting this, but I figure that most people are set in their Disney ways, and a bunch of rambling from me isnt going to change their style. And if a few do start doing things differently well, hopefully they wont be there the same time as us, so they wont take up our character interaction time! Basically all of our awesome character experiences have been by accident or just plain luck. (Magic, if you prefer!)
Our first magical experience (which I wrote about in my first ever trip report) happened at Chef Mickeys. We had a late seating (I think because it was the only thing available see, this was just by accident!), and ended up with the characters to ourselves. Us and one other family. This was Wesleys first encounter with characters, and he wasnt overly keen on them. The thing about characters is that they are pretty darn good at figuring out who really likes them, and who would rather them go about their merry way. I have seen exceptions to this, but most of them are very perceptive. So on that morning, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale had been skirting our table. Maybe a wave as they went by. Minnie, however, was a different story. She would stand way back, wait til Wesley glanced her way, then wave at him. Then shed make her rounds. The next time, she would come a little closer, then blow him a kiss. The next time, she would come closer still, and play Peek-A-Boo. It was working. He was getting interested. And by the time it was all said and done, Minnie was holding him, he was kissing her on the nose, and patting Pluto. I truly believe that if Minnie had not taken all that extra time with him, he would not love the characters in the same way that he does today. That day, we all became Minnie fans. For life. Wesley doesnt even remember that. But he loves Minnie anyway, and we know why. Mark and I do remember it, and likely always will. My only regret is that we didnt send a letter of appreciation to her.
After that, Wesley got slightly braver around the characters. He sometimes needed a little encouragement, but he never refused to see them, he never cried, or anything like that. One interesting thing we found, however, was that (especially as he began talking) he preferred the fur characters to the face characters. For most children, its the other way around. But because he is often shy when talking to people he doesnt know (which certainly isnt a BAD trait), he didnt like the face characters, because they would TALK to him expect him to TALK to them!
Wesleys Disney love runs DEEP. He has LOVED Disney since he was about 14 months old. That was about the time we moved to the church we currently serve, and there was a lot of stress in his life (moving is hard on EVERYONE, no matter the age!). He became fixated with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Before we had a Woody, Buzz or Jessie doll (we have all three now, along with Hamm, Rex, Slinky, and other assorted TS characters ), Wesley would SLEEP with the movie boxes. Hug them tight to his chest. When he was 17 months old, he fell and hit his head on the corner of our coffee table (which now resides in the attic). Had an overnight hospital stay to make sure there was no skull fracture (thankfully, there wasnt), and for observation. The ONLY thing that kept him calm was watching Toy Story. A friend brought us her copy, and we probably watched it 8 times while we were in the hospital~less than 24 hours. It was right after that incident that we decided it was time for his first trip to The World. (Thankfully, Woody, Buzz and Jessie couldnt talk!) So for a year or so, we focused primarily on the fur characters, and left all the little girls to the princess room.
After that year, his Toy Story phase kind of faded out. I must admit, I miss hearing that little baby voice talk in his crib (to the movie boxes) about Woo-wy and Buh. But now he was REALLY into Peter Pan. Unfortunately, we didnt have any great Peter Pan experiences. And Captain Hook kind of intimidated him. But that year, we took our first trip to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. And we fell in love with our first face character: Alice. (Although she turned out to be OUR Wendy!) We also had great, fabulous, wonderful interaction with Mary Poppins and Bert. (Also further detailed in a previous trip report.) That was in September. Around that same time, Sleeping Beauty also became a contender in the favorite movie category. We did both CRT and PSB that trip, but neither of them really seemed his thing. Didnt matter. Daddy enjoyed them both!
In December of that year, we were back. Sleeping Beauty had a slight edge over Peter Pan. We were THRILLED to find Prince Phillip and Aurora outside of the castle at the Christmas party, and we stood in a long line to meet them. Not that Wesley cared about the length of the line he was all about meeting Phillip and Aurora. It was later that night that we walked by the castle and saw the handler (or greeter, as they are called by CMs, I believe) standing outside alone. And thats how we discovered that Cindy, PC, Aurora and Phillip were inside. All alone. We took pictures with them individually, with both princesses giving him kisses, and with all of them. It was really, really cool.
That same trip, we had an incredible experience with Aurora at Epcot. We found her in France, again with no one around. And after a few moments of shyness, Wesley, our quiet, shy, reserved little boy, was talking a mile a minute to her, with his head in her lap and his feet stretched out on the wall. Uh-larious. What makes it even better is that Aurora had the hiccups! He had been to see Santa as Downtown Disney, and told him what he wanted for Christmas: a Diesel 10 (the bad guy from Thomas the Tank Engine), a kitchen and a sucker. He told Aurora all about seeing Santa, and what hed asked for. So Aurora asks him, if he gets his kitchen for Christmas, what will he cook for her? A hotdog. (His favorite food at the time.) A hotdog, says Aurora. Oh my prince, its all Ive ever wanted!! All the while trying to royally handle her hiccups. We saw Aurora again this past February, and she remembered Wesley as the hiccup boy. She even remembered that he was going to cook her a hotdog. Had she not had the hiccups, she likely wouldnt have remembered that encounter with Wesley. So call it accident, luck, fate, whatever We call it a magical memory. (BTW, Wesley did, indeed, get his kitchen. And he still loves to cook. What a prince... handsome AND he cooks. Did your DD see *that*, horsey??
His two favorite cookbooks are, of course, Disney cookbooks. He make a mean ~pretend~ Goofy's Birthday Cake!)There are many layers to the character experience. First, you have to have contact with them. For Wesley, his shyness has actually been an asset. He wants to see the character initially but when he actually gets to them, he gets shy. But once his turn is over, hes gained a little confidence, and wants to go back. Heres where were different from most everyone else: we allow him to see them again. Rather than rushing him off to another ride or another attraction, we let him get back in line. If he wants to see a character, well see the character. Going to see them more than once makes him a little more memorable. Especially since, lets face it, hes just darn cute! Another thing is, if you see the same character more than once, it helps if you recognize that youve seen them before. For instance I recognized the hiccuping Aurora this past February. Had I not mentioned the episode (which happened over a year before!), Im certain she wouldnt have recognized Wesley. So sometimes you have to help the magic along.
Other times, you get incredibly lucky, as we did with OUR Wendy SHE remembered HIM, without any prompting from us. (That was a first for us. And for the record, the times we saw her in February were, to that point, the ONLY special attention we had gotten from any character in the sense that she knew where we would be sitting for the afternoon parade, and asked some of her friends to be really nice to Wesley. And of course, now shes gone, so we dont have that in anymore.)
We have asked ourselves over and over why he gets such special attention. Why was HE picked to ride the Barnstormer with Goofy (which was one of his dreams), when there were so many other kids around? Why does Captain Hook always notice him during the parade? Why does Princess Aurora always ask him to dance? The truth is, we dont know. But we are grateful. You know, Disney rides are great. Disney shows are fabulous. But one on one interaction with characters is unbelievable. Special. Magical. The kind of things that stay with you forever. Commandos have fun. But they rarely find magic. We are there for the magic!
And I realize that I have said nothing about our day, per se. But this is important stuff.
Carpe diem!
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