2/3 of the Whirlwind Trippers... May 4-7 *FINISHED 6/2*

[GADISNEYGIRL]

2/3 of the Whirlwind Trippers Take a Friend

Cast:

Me: Rhonda/Mommy, 32, 30ish trips to the World. Favorite things: watching Wesley do HIS favorite things…eating, especially at Epcot… and just being there. There’s nothing like it.

DS: Wesley, 4, 13th trip to the World. Favorite things: ALL OF IT! No, really, that’s what he says. But from what I can tell, his true favorites are PhilharMagic, seeing characters, the parades, seeing characters, BTMRR, seeing characters, Figment, seeing characters, Spaceship Earth, seeing characters, Mexico (hey, don’t judge!!), seeing characters. Did I mention that he likes the characters? Especially the princess type. And in particular, Princess Aurora. It only makes sense, as he IS Prince Phillip. (What were we thinking, naming him Wesley??) AND, he takes after his Dad. They both like the “hotties”.

Friend: Kim, 34, 1st trip (just 1 day, I think) was when she was 7. There was MK. That’s it. 2nd trip she spent about 4 hours at Epcot. That’s it. So this is her 3rd actual trip. Kind of. I like to think of it as her first “REAL” trip. She and I go way back. 15 years or so. Had a class together our first quarter of college. Became really good friends our junior year in college. Became best friends our senior year of college. I convinced her to move to Atlanta with me when we graduated, and that’s when her mother stopped speaking to me. But really, that’s another story for another time. Strange thing is, when I married Mark, her mother started speaking to me once more. She likes him. What’s HE got that I don’t have? But perhaps we’d better leave that and move on…

DH: Mark/Daddy, 34…no, he wasn’t on this trip. But he is still part of the cast. And he really, really WANTED to be on this trip. So I kept his Guest of Honor badge on my park bag, and we took him everywhere we went. I thought it was sweet. He thought it wasn’t quite the same as being there. Huh. Maybe he’s right. His favorite things are watching Wesley, being there, and seeing the hotties. In fact, he gave Wesley a mission: Go see Ariel and tell her hello from me!

Friend: MJ, age not to be revealed… a friend who has “connections” and helped create something magical for us~long distance. Thank you, thank you, thank you, MJ, we love you and your family!! You ARE the Queen!!!

Friend: SNAP, age not to be revealed… a friend we met up with while there. Hi SNAP!!

Pre-Trip:

We’re legendary. Among our small circle of friends, that is. At least, the ones that we can actually speak to about our Disney addiction. You know how it is, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, living vicariously through the trip reports of other people. There are some people you can tell that sort of thing to, and other people that you can’t. Those other people… They look at you funny. They speak in whispers when you’re around. You’re pretty certain that you hear the words “committed”, “certifiably nuts”, “therapy”. We know a lot of those people. So we don’t talk to them anymore. About Disney, anyway. Which means that our small circle is even smaller.

BUT!! Among those we can actually speak to about Disney, we are legendary. And they all want to go WITH us!! As in, will we be their tour guide? How ‘bout that?? We’ve already had one successful “tour guide” trip… that would be the one in February: The Whirlwind Trippers Take Their Friends. That was the title of my trip report, anyway. Don’t remember what Mark titled his. So after we returned from that trip, and I emailed pictures and a trip report to our very tiny circle of friends who don’t mind our Disney obsession, my friend Kim starts a conversation with me.

Seems she would like to take our annual “girls weekend” trip to WDW~which I must say is a much more exciting destination than we normally have. What would I think of that?? Wowza!!! What would I think of that?? I would think that I could never get Mark to agree to me going to Disney without him. I did a girls’ weekend last fall, with another friend… but we didn’t actually go into the parks. But now… NOW… we are AP Holders. And a girls’ only trip, going into the parks… that was another beast entirely. After some discussion about how he could tag along, and “take care” of Wesley… and more discussion about how that would entail getting an additional hotel room… he graciously agreed that it would be okay for us to have our girls’ weekend.

But he didn’t really mean it. I mean, He DID mean it… he wanted me to go and have a girls’ weekend and enjoy myself and spend quality time with Kim… but he didn’t want me to get a chance to go to Disney and him have to stay home. I can understand. So now I think he’s plotting a way to do a guys weekend down there. And make ME stay home. Except that most of his friends fall into the category of “we don’t discuss Disney with them” so I’m thinking I’m safe. Plus, there is no way I would let him take Wesley down there with the GUYS, and then he’d have the guilt of knowing he’d left his Disney-loving child at home…which is much, much worse than the guilt of knowing you’d left your Disney-loving spouse at home. He even agreed (as usual) to be my Disney Planning Travel Agent. But I did have to suffer through lots of guilt-inducing comments. As a matter of fact, I still am.

Sometime in March Kim and I finally found some dates that would work for both of us. Mark called to make our AP rate reservation at a moderate resort. Hit a snag. There WAS no AP rate at a moderate. Or anywhere else. Well, maybe at Saratoga Springs. But it was a bit more than I was willing to spend for a weekend. So we tried a Florida Resident rate (Kim’s a FL resident). Same thing. Do you know what we finally ended up with? All Star Movies. For $110 a night. Yes, you read that right. It pained me. It still pains me. Do you realize that we only paid $110 a night for the WILDERNESS LODGE on our January trip? What can I say? Sometimes life treats you better than other times. This was one of those times.

There was also a Great Debate on whether or not Wesley was going on this “girls’ weekend”. The case against him was pretty obvious: he’s not a girl. And yet, I had a feeling that she would enjoy the whole trip a lot more if he was with us. AND, mommies have enough guilt without adding to it the whole leaving your Disney-loving child at home issue. So, he got to go.

Next item on the agenda: where to eat?? I sent Kim the link to the All Ears menus, and she sent me back her preferences. I chose days/times based on where we’d be when, and my travel agent took care of the rest. (Thanks, honey!!)

After that, all that was left was the waiting. The weekend prior, Wesley and I spent packing and braving Wal-Mart to get all the essentials (breakfast bars, sunscreen, water, drugs…) while Mark taught his Disney class at another church.

Monday and Tuesday proved to be very busy days at work. Wednesday, fortunately, was a bit slower. I arrived home about 4:30, and Kim arrived about 5. Yes, I did say she was a FL resident. But she drove to our house on Wednesday so that we could ride together. (Her decision.) Mark left for something at church. She and I started catching up. Wesley bounced around the house asking how long before we leave? At 7:30, I had the little angel in bed. At 9:30, the little angel was still awake. “Too excited to sleep”, probably. Mark got back home about 9:45. We had all planned on going to bed at 10. Didn’t happen. I don’t remember what time we all finally made it to bed, but I do know it was quite a while after that, that I was finally able to go to sleep. And then the #&%^#*&^ alarm went off at 5am.

 

[brandt79]

Yay Rhonda! Great start! Can't wait to hear the rest! (And I'll be surprised if Mark doesn't do his own trip report: 1/3 Whirlwind Tripper Left at Home!)

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Excellent beginning Rhonda! Can't wait to here about everything!

 

[AshClan]

Can't wait for the rest. Sounds like so much fun! I am loving the "tour guide" idea. I have plans to do the same with my sister in November.

Must say, though, I did feel kinda bad for Mark being left alone. He was lonely!! He did whine to us while you were gone, y'know.

Anyway, you and I need to chat about AP discounts. I'll send you a PM. Or should I send it to your "travel agent"? Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[fizz13]

So pleased to have another trippie from you guys, and i get to see more cut pic of Wesley with his favourite hotties. Poor Mark...ah well, like you said, bound to get his own back sooner or later. Check back for more soon,
Claire xx

 

[pongoperdigirl]

Yeaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!! Another report from Rhonda!!! I am already hooked And you haven't even left yet. I can't wait to hear more

 

[Master Gracie]

Great start. Looking forward to the next installment.

DW and myself are going on our second "tour guide" trip in September. Isn't it funny how we all enjoy that? I think we like to show off our knowledge. Sort of a vindication of our love of Disney.

"See," we say as we snag an outside table at Rose and Crown in perfect time for Illuminations, "if we were any less Disney-crazed, you'd be standing behind 3 rows of strollers now."

Oh, and when Mark wants to get that "Guys only" trip together, if all his friends forsake him, have him give me a ring....on the phone...not an actual ring.

I'm taken.

 

[alabamagirl]

I was so glad to see your trip report at the top of the boards, gives me something to look forward to at work. Ha, ha. I'm sure yall had a great time. Guess Kim is Troy State alumni also?

 

[Harmony272]

I have to say that my hubby's name is Wesley and he loves to look at the princess, and his FAVORITE is Aurora. hahaha

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Great beginning!

It was nice that Wesley got to go with you. Seeing Disney through the eye's of a child for a newbie is a great experience. My Disney lovin' kids would hate for me to go without them.

I loved how you explained the 'Love Disney vs Non-Disney" friends. That's so true. I also have to be careful what I say to people about our Disney trips. They all think I'm nuts.

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[nicolemarie]

Great start! Why haven't I been able to convince my honey of a trip back to the World? Could it be that it hasn't even been two months since we returned? But you guys do that all the time, right? I need some tips!!

Great report - looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip. Tell Mark to quit his whining.

 

[sheridac]

Yeah Rhonda, this was Mark crying in his Weiser.

More! More!

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

Day 1: Travel, Epcot, MK

The &#^$&# alarm went off. Oh, did I mention that already? You see, we are not morning people. If "morning” started about 9am, that would be perfectly fine with me. 5am should not exist, in my personal opinion. Especially not if I have to be out of bed at that time, and then have to drive 5 ½ hours. But I do make exceptions, for Disney World. So at 5am, I got out of bed and staggered to the kitchen to make coffee. Decaf. Don’t start on me with the “What’s the point” comments. I can no longer handle a lot of caffeine. Me, the one who used to drink a 12 cup pot of coffee every day before 11am. Now I drink decaf, and oddly enough, I don’t have headaches like I used to. So I made my decaf, poured myself a cup, and poured the rest in a travel mug. Then I made regular coffee for Kim. I guess she doesn’t have that headache issue. Showers all around, and a flurry of last minute packing. I had hoped that we could move Wesley from bed to car without waking him up. Deep down, I knew it would never happen, but a girl can dream, can’t she? At about 6am, Mark went in to kiss him goodbye, and up he got. WoooHooo, he’s going to Disney World! And as Stitch says, No sleeping! Well, now we don’t have to worry about getting him dressed at a rest area. You wanna know how well I’ve trained my son? We never even turned the light on in his room that morning. But when we got home Sunday night, I realized that he had made up his bed. In the dark. And did a smashing good job of it, too. Making his bed is one of his daily chores. One day, his wife will thank me.

Our goal was to be out of the house by 6:15 (all of us… Mark had an out of town meeting and had to be at the airport by 6:30). We were pretty close to leaving on time. We were only about 5 minutes behind Mark. We made a brief stop to fill the coolers with ice, and turned south onto I-75. Otherwise known as “The Road to Disney World”. That’s what Wesley calls it. With good reason, too. We only go south on 75 if we are going to my parents’ or to Disney. And we go to Disney more often. But please don’t tell them that. I stay in enough trouble with my mother as it is. THEY think he has only been to Disney 5 times. Sometimes it’s just easier (not to mention smarter) to let sleeping dogs lie, if you know what I mean. They’re among the OTHER people I was talking about earlier.

I should say here that Wesley is a very good traveler. In fact, he is just very good in general. Period. I can’t imagine taking a less-well-behaved child ANYWHERE, much less to Disney World. He has a whining tendency, but we’ve even come up with a way to deal with that. It’s called a No Whine Peppermint. Or whatever you like. A No Whine Gummy Bear. A No Whine Jelly Belly. Whatever floats your boat. But here’s the deal: once they have the No Whine Whatever…NO WHINING ALLOWED FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. If the whining starts, you say, “I’m sorry, I thought you had a No Whine Peppermint this morning!” Works for Wesley! We’ve actually tested it on other children, as well, and it worked for them, too. There you go, a bit of free parenting advice for you.

So Wesley is a good traveler. And also, you can bargain with him. That’s always a plus. So our bargain was: IF you take a nap before we get there, then we’ll stay til MK closes…IF you can behave yourself and not whine, etc. (He had a No Whine Peppermint about 6:10am.) Yeah…I’m like Cinderella’s stepmother… I said, “If”. The ride down was uneventful. At some point I finally convinced Wesley it was naptime, even though it was something like 9am. I always win. I *love* that!!

Really, the ride down went pretty fast. And I was surprisingly awake. Which was a really good thing, since I was driving. Once I finished my decaf, I had my Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, and that was my caffeine fix. We had just one potty break. I was carefully monitoring Wesley’s liquid intake. We’ve learned our lesson. Wesley colored, played with his Leap Pad, and interrupted our conversations to tell us “great ideas” he’d had about things we needed to do when we got there. For instance: “You guys!! I’ve just had a GREAT IDEA! Let’s ride Splash Mountain, and we can show Ms Kim the Get Wet Part!” Ms Kim seemed less than thrilled at this prospect.

About 12, we arrived at All Star Movies. Excited, we all went inside to check in. And there was, possibly, the most UNmagical CM I’ve ever seen. I told her my name. She looked me up and said, You’re supposed to be in Sports. She said it as though I had come to the wrong hotel to check in. I double checked my travel agent’s notes. It definitely said All Star Movies. No, no, I explain. We’re in Movies. She picked up the phone and mumbled in it for a while. Then she put her hand over the receiver and mumbled to me, “You’re in Sports. You’ll get a 50% discount for one night.” That was pretty much our entire conversation. She did check us in there, wrote down the building/room number, etc, and said we could just go straight to the room, because it was ready. She also told us that our balance due was $55 and some change. This didn’t sound right, so I thought maybe I’d misheard, and they were giving us a 50% discount for the entire stay. I decided it would be much easier to go to ASSp, unload the car, and stop by the front desk on the way to the parks to sort things out. Perhaps the CM there would have better communication skills.

After driving around ASSp for a while, we finally found building 5. The signage wasn’t very good there, I didn’t think. There were NO signs directing you to building 5, until you got around all the other buildings (and I had no map for ASSp, only the one for ASMo), and drove through some areas that really appeared to me to be CM only type places. But we eventually found it. We were in one of the tennis buildings. I don’t play tennis. I know nothing about tennis. But I gotta say, that was one of THE quietest stays I’ve EVER had in a value resort.

Unloaded the car, got park-ready, and set off for Epcot. With a stop by ASSp front desk on the way. I left Kim and Wesley in the car, and went in. Fortunately, I got a much more communicative CM, and she told me that the $55 was NOT our balance due, but a credit. Okay, well, that made more sense. I asked again about a fridge in the room (non-communicative lady said one would be in our room when we arrived~it wasn’t). And she also gave me a new parking permit thing that said ASSp instead of ASMo on it. What happened was that they were overbooked. (Thanks, I had already figured that out for myself!) Mark said he read that some people were being upgraded to Saratoga Springs. We didn’t get so lucky, obviously! But we’re not complaining. Off to Epcot!!

This was a new thing for me: actually going into a park (or parks) on our first day. We usually arrive about midnight, and we go straight to bed. But now I was expected to contend with TWO parks, PLUS be a happy Mommy AND a totally with-it tour guide on 2 ½ hours of sleep. So now I know how all of you poor early-morning-flight people feel. Except that I had to drive for 5 ½ hours to get there. You just had to get on a plane. Well, you did have to make the trip from the airport to WDW property. I guess that counts for something.

First thing to do was exchange Kim’s voucher for a ticket. That was a very quick and painless process, so we moved on to the bag check, which isn’t always quick and painless~just depends on who you get. Sometimes they barely glance at your bag, other times they want you to take every carefully packed item out of the bag and then clear out in 3 seconds, while frantically stuffing all the no longer carefully packed items back in, at the same time trying to pull out your APs, push the stroller and shove your fingers into the finger reader. This first time, as I recall, was of the painless variety. At last we were in! By this time it was around 2pm, and I knew FPs for Soarin’ or Test Track probably would be out of the question, since we were leaving for the MK in just a couple of hours. I decided just to do what we could this day, and not rush around trying to ride everything.

We stopped first at Character Connection. Saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale and Donald. We still take pictures, even though we have probably 100 pictures of Wesley with each of those characters. You know, “Wesley with Mickey in his blue shirt! Wesley with Mickey in his striped shirt! Wesley with Mickey in his green shirt!” Then it was on to Figment. Which I detest. But we did spot 3 hidden Mickeys that we’d not seen before!! I just think they could do so much more with that ride…anyone agree?

We also did the FREE Disney Visa Picture thing. I love that FREE stuff. We saw Mickey, Pluto and Donald. Anyone remember when it used to be (according to legend) that Mickey only appeared at ONE place at a time? So, if he was out at Disneyland, he WASN’T out at Disney World. Now, he’s right across the walkway from himself. How times change. (And it makes it a lot more difficult to keep the whole character charade going.) This was one of the best character experiences we’ve had for this special photographic opportunity. Mickey and Donald were both really into it. Pluto was ready for a nap, I think. But Donald was hilarious! Often I feel that Donald doesn’t really do his (her?) character justice. Donald is seldom calm. Donald is never serene. Donald is, typically, in a “state”. Donald throws lots of fits. Why don’t you ever see THAT Donald in the parks? Do they think he would scare away the guests? This Donald did not disappoint me. First, he looked at Wesley’s hat~the one that has been signed by the Fab Five. Apparently he missed seeing his signature on there. He began having a small fit, until I pointed out where he had signed (Donald Duck #1). He calmed down a little, and gave Wesley a hug. Next, he inspected Wesley’s pins. He expressed his displeasure that there were no Donald pins. Then he checked out Wesley’s sticker collection pasted to the stroller tray. These are ALL Mickey. What can we say? He got them all at Disney World. They don’t give out many Donald stickers. Donald jumped up and down and waved his arms around and I think would’ve even thrown things, had there been anything to throw. Finally. A REAL Donald! Not wanting to have to stand in line at the camera center on our way out, I thought it would be better to stop in there before we trekked to the World Showcase. Had about a ten minute wait, and got our FREE picture. With a REAL Donald. Life’s good, isn’t it?

Wesley desperately wanted to ride Spaceship Earth, but it wasn’t operating. I do believe that is the first time I have ever been to Epcot and NOT ridden Spaceship Earth. I’ve also never seen it non-operational. Weird, huh?

None of us had had lunch yet, so I gave Wesley an Uncrustables sandwich on our way to World Showcase. Kim and I were going to get something during our wanderings. We paused in UK to take pictures with Mary Poppins, Pooh and Tigger. In France, we got Aurora and Belle (and Beast) to sign Wesley’s princess book (we’ve been so many times… we have had t-shirts, sweatshirts, and various books signed). Pictures and kisses, and we kept going. We finally stopped in China and had eggrolls. Either I was REALLY hungry, or they were REALLY good. Maybe both. In Norway, like the good Maelstromers that we are, we rode Maelstrom. Without a fast pass. But the wait was only about 15 minutes. I can live with that. And then it was El Rio Del Tiempo. Yep, one of Wesley’s favorites.

Time to go to MK! We had to be there that evening, because it was the only night for SpectroMagic and Wishes during our stay. We got to the parking lot around 6. And I was reminded of the advantage of going deluxe: monorail or boat transportation to MK, thereby bypassing the TTC parking lot, and the trams. Wesley has a large stroller. It’s the same stroller we’ve had since he was born. He likes his stroller. WE like his stroller. Except when we have to fold it up and lug it onto a tram without physically maiming anyone. Wesley weighs about 38 lbs. The stroller weighs about 70 lbs. Probably not, really, but that’s what it felt like. Kim got to pretend to be me and hold Wesley’s hand. I had to pretend to be Mark and get that freakin’ stroller on the tram. I’ve realized something: I’m glad I’m ME!!

Well, I survived the stroller/tram situation part 1, although I did nearly give Wesley a concussion trying to get the blinkin’ thing on the tram. And remember, we’ll have to do it again at the end of the night. So my goal became: keep Wesley awake at all costs at the end of the night. I do NOT want to have to pull a sleeping child out of there, and figure out how to haul him AND the stroller onto the tram. Kim would likely not be much help there. Not being a mommy yet, herself, her upper arm strength just isn’t what mine is. But even I have my limits. I recover from the traumatic tram experience and get back in a Disney frame of mind.

What should be our first MK attraction?? PhilharMagic, of course! When we do PhilharMagic, it’s really two shows in one. The show itself, which is very, very good, and one of our favorites. And then there’s the Wesley side show. He is really into the 3-D thing. He gets me jewels (from Ariel), that sort of thing. And at the end, he IS Maestro Mickey. He tends to have multiple Disney personalities. Strangely, I’m not concerned. And even more strangely, I have them, too. More on that later.

Next we rode Snow White. Even at this time of day, no line. It’s the whole issue of scaring small children. For whatever reason, my small child has never been really bothered by it. In fact, he’s even offered to cover his princess’ (that would be Colleen, if you don’t know who Colleen is, you really need to check out my previous trip reports) eyes on that ride, if she is scared while riding it.

We got in line for Peter Pan. Said it was a 40 minute wait. We waited 30 minutes, and were not even halfway through the line. So we decided to try Small World instead. I asked Wesley before we crossed over there if he needed to use the bathroom. No, Mommy, I’m fine. The wait was about 5 minutes. At about 4 minutes, he decided he needed to use the bathroom. Well, at least he didn’t wait til we were ON the ride. So we hopped over the boat, went to the bathroom, and THEN rode Small World.

By then, our eggrolls were gone, so we decided we’d better get some dinner. Pecos Bills, here we come! I love that cheese sauce on my fries. So I try to eat the (somewhat healthier) chicken wrap to make up for it. Does it count if I pull out ¾ of the lettuce? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Still, it’s gotta be better for you the double cheeseburger, right? By the time we were done, it was time to get a spot for SpectroMagic. We ended up right across from the Diamond Horseshoe Revue.

Wesley almost always gets great interaction during the parades, and this was no exception. Three very special things happened. Several of the characters waved at him, as usual, including Ariel (he yelled, Hi Ariel!, for Daddy). But when Cinderella and Prince Charming rode by, Cindy nearly fell out of her coach! She was smiling, waving, blowing him kisses, even told Prince Charming to look at him (I don’t think we knew her, so he must’ve just been really cute or something. Since the two characters that we normally get the LEAST interaction from, anywhere, are Mickey and Cinderella, this was quite special indeed! Next, Captain Hook came over to “fight” with him. Very cool! And then the most magical of all: Peter Pan. (Peter Pan is another of Wesley’s alter egos.) Peter came right up to him and asked if Wesley would like to “blow out” his lights…change them from green to white. He pointed to a spot on his shoulder and said, “Blow right here!” Poof! His lights magically changed from green to white!! Awesome moment for Wesley! (Peter also said how nice it was to see Wesley AGAIN… they always get points in my book if they remember they’ve seen Wesley before!) I’m not sure Wesley even saw the rest of the parade. He was too excited about changing Peter’s lights!

After the parade, the very nice gentleman and his wife who had been standing next to us showed me the pictures he’d taken of Wesley during the parade. He said it had made the parade magical for them, to see Wesley “light up” (oooh, good one, for SpectroMagic, don’t you think??) at seeing the characters. Another really neat Disney moment!!

Wesley had been begging to ride Haunted Mansion, and without checking my watch, I thought we’d have enough time before Wishes. But just after Wesley did his “hitchhiking ghost” imitation for the CMs at the entrance, and just as we were about to get in line, they made the announcement that Wishes would be starting in 5 minutes.

5 minutes!! Are you kidding me?!? And here we are in Liberty Square, when we want to be in Tomorrowland!!! Put on your jogging shoes, Kim, time to run, girlfriend!! We raced through Fantasyland and down the slope to the Tomorrowland Terrace so that we could see Tink fly. Score!! Not sure it would have been worth it if one of us had ended up having a heart attack, though. After Wishes, we joined the masses on Main Street, and finally were able to cross over to the Emporium for a bit of late night shopping.

Just a slight aside about strollers. I’ve seen all the stroller-bashing posts about having your ankles banged and such. But I’ve gotta say, in MY experience, most of the ankle-banging is self-inflicted by the ankle-bangees. It’s crowded. There isn’t much breathing room. Those of us driving strollers are doing our best to keep away from your ankles. But if you suddenly stop in the middle of the walkway, and cause a people (and stroller) pile-up, this is not MY fault. Keep your ankles moving, and we won’t have a problem. The other thing is, apparently STROLLER=INVISIBILITY SHIELD. That could come in handy sometimes. But at Disney World, it is a distinct disadvantage. It’s as though all the non-stroller people have a not-so-secret conspiracy against anyone pushing a stroller: They have a stroller! Quick, form a tight barrier that they can’t break through! Perhaps I was a little more sensitive to this on this particular trip, because I was the primary stroller pusher. But I’d like to see all you non-stroller pushing people maneuver from one side of Main Street to the other immediately after Wishes while avoiding EVERY SINGLE stop-in-the-middle-of-the-street-just-cause-I-can-OR-let-me-walk-out-in-front-of-you-because-stroller=invisibility shield-and-of-course-I-didn’t-see-you-non-stroller-pushing-person. It takes great skill, folks. Great skill. I managed. But no thanks to EVERY SINGLE stop-in-the-middle-of-the-street-just-cause-I-can-OR-let-me-walk-out-in-front-of-you-because-stroller=invisibility shield-and-of-course-I-didn’t-see-you-non-stroller-pushing-person. Thank you. Now I feel better, having vented and all.

When we finished our Main Street shopping and I saw the monorail line, I decided it would be quicker to walk to the Contemporary and take the monorail from there. I was right. It WAS quicker. But we still had that darn tram to contend with. By now, Wesley is fading fast. I’m trying to think of all kinds of things to keep him talking. Anything. Just please, please don’t go to sleep til we’re in the car. I take him out of the stroller. Walking is slightly more assurance that he will not fall asleep before getting to the car. Kim again takes charge of Wesley, and I commandeer the stroller. Fold the monster up, get in the tram, ride to the car, unfold the monster (because it is FAR easier to push than to carry), then refold it to put in the trunk. Wesley had perked up a bit (I wasn’t complaining, because I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of carrying him from the car to our room, either), so we called Daddy, which woke him up even more. Back to the room around midnight, time for a bath, and we discovered our refrigerator had still not been delivered. But to their credit, they brought it in about 20 minutes, along with the additional towels we requested.

Tucked Wesley in bed, and he was asleep in about 1.7 minutes. Kim went soon after. Lucky me. I really WAS being Mark. I couldn’t go to sleep for the longest time.

Stay tuned…it gets REALLY magical for the next couple of days!!

 

[horsegirl]

Woohoo this sounds like fun Rhonda! Parenting and tourguide advice all rolled into one lil trippie! Love your outlook and your attitude!

Here's a naner maelstrom style baby.! Looking forward to more.

 

[FSUMARCHIEF]

Hey babe! Great report! I enjoyed reading it, even though I already knew what happened! Love you babe!

Me

 

[MOMOFMNM]

hi

and awesome!!!

where are the pics??????

huh???

where are they???

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

I just got an email from a friend of mine, who had just been to Disney in February with his family (wife~also a friend of mine~and a DIS contributor) and their 4 yr old daughter. Wife just had baby #2, a BOY, named WESLEY!!! WoooooHooooo! (Definitely not named after MY Wesley, but Howard is also a United Methodist Minister, and Wesley is a fairly common name among our offspring. Even though MY Wesley was named after Mark's grandfather, who wasn't even Methodist~til the very latter part of his life.) Congrats to Howard, Krystal and Kayla!! We love you guys! And it won't be long til you're taking Baby Wesley on Dumbo!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying your reports ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[tkd lisa]

Loving this report, just like all your other ones!

And I agree with you on "Real Donalds"! We got a great one a long time ago (back in 97). My DS was about 3 1/2 at the time, and Mickey was his fave. We ran into Mickey, Pluto and Donald at the EPCOT entrance, and no one was in there. DS ran up to Mickey, who pointed to his shirt and gave him a thumbs up. Donald "butted" in and was clearly upset because HE wanted to be on DS's shirt. So he started "fighting" Mickey. Pluto decided to defend his master, and it just went on from there. It was a wonderful time, and they were all just so into character that my DS still remembers it! Almost 10 years later.

 

[wdwr]

Can't wait for more on the latest Whirlwind Tripper report. When does SNAP make an appearance??? Just Can't Wait for MORE!