444 Days w/o my Magical Place ... but we are finally headed back *LIVE* Trip Report
- Thread starter Carterfam
- Start date
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It is coming up next! Thank you for reading !
At about 6am, I was wide awake and realized that the boys hadn't so much as made a peep. They didn't even have their usual 20-minute conversation at 5am! Since they were still sleeping soundly, I got up and got ready and went for a walk on the sleepy (and still cold!) boardwalk. I ate a chocolate chip croissant on a bench while I watched more motivated people than I work out, including a group of college-aged men doing serious team training of some sort. Mmmm .... chocolate chip breakfast.
I brought my dear husband a mug of coffee like the charming wife I am, which is saying a lot considering I didn't even have the first clue how much of this or that to put in it. I hate coffee. HATE it, and he doesn't actually drink it all that often. Thus, the dilemma. He drank it though, so it was either tolerable or he is just sweet. Both are possible.
As I was walking back to the room I saw a family with twin boys much older then ours having breakfast at a cafe. I realized how much I am looking forward to ALL of the memories we'll make on the trips to come, not just making a mad dash to ride Dumbo or experiencing Space Mountain for the first time, but just hanging out. Together.
I must admit, this was much more the speed of memory-making I had been anticipating when daydreaming about the current trip. ALL of our moods were improved when the boys didn't act like crazy babies!
So finally, after all of this about which I have rambled enough, we were ready to start our day We took a very nice stroll to the Studios, and got there about 20 minutes before the park opened. Cast Members everywhere were begging people to audition for the American Idol Experience, but this just wasn't going to be the trip for that sort of thing! Besides, we had a long-overdue date with Buzz and Woody!
After the opening sequence, it seemed the entire crowd was headed toward, Toy Story Mania. Still, thanks in large part to the remarkable set-up and efficiency on Disney's part (seriously -- SO impressed!), we had fastpasses in hand and were on after a 10-minute wait in the stand-by line. What a freaking awesome ride.
While waiting for our FP time to come up to ride again, we walked through the Journey into Narnia attraction. It was still early, so they let us go through with the stroller (shhh....) which was nice, since the boys needed a nap. They slept; I very much enjoyed the walk-through. I must admit I was a bit envious at the thought of the Pevensie children getting to shoot scenes all over the globe. Those are some seriously blessed little kiddos!
DH and I both took another spin on TSM (without the boys this time, as they continued napping), and I was - yet again - the more accurate of the two of us. (We'll leave it at that.)
When Ryder and Kyran woke up, we headed to Woody's Photo Shootin' Gallery. As is often the case, I'm impressed with the things Disney put in place to entertain us as we waited to meet Buzz and Woody. The boys loved this meet & greet despite being hungry and crabby. Thank you, Cheerios.
We headed to the Backlot Express for lunch in search of the Chicken Fingers I had talked myself into the day before, but it wouldn't open until 11:30. (Ridiculous). To pass the time, we wandered the Streets of America and enjoyed what seemed to be MUCH lighter crowds (throughout the whole park) than we had encountered on previous days! All this, to discover that the Chicken Fingers I so fondly remembered had been replaced by much less tasty Chicken Nuggets. They were still good, but it wasn't the magnificent experience I had been looking forward to. It was also here that Ryder got her first French fry! Poor Kyran is just too sleepy at all the wrong times, no?
After lunch we headed over to see how the waits were for Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. It had literally been years since I had ridden RNR between being there repeatedly when it was closed, then being pregnant. For this reason, it clearly took precedence... besides, the wait was only listed at 10 minutes!
True to form on this trip (one direction or another), the listed wait time was way off. I have no idea what happened, but we waited nearly 10 minutes to take off while sitting in our limo, and waited another 10 sitting in the limo before exiting. This was in addition to a line that, in and of itself, was about 20 minutes. So nearly an hour later, I rejoined DH and the boys and we realized we wouldn't be able to do TOT. DH rode RNR (much more quickly!) and we headed back to the hotel.
After a moment of sheer stupidity during which I was delusional and thought it would be wise to take the Disney busses, I eventually made it to Downtown Disney while DH and the boys napped in the room. I was determined to actually get to spend time here! Once I finally made it there, my time at DTD was enjoyable, productive, everything I needed it to be. I did well shopping, and then returned home to the happiest babies I could have asked for! We played for a little while and then got ready for dinner. We were meeting DH’s sister tonight in the France pavilion this evening afterwards. We had not seen her since our cruise in December so it would be nice to catch up with her.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner outside at the Big River Grille & Brewing Works, and cracked up as the boys (especially Kyran) stared everyone down that walked by on the Boardwalk. People-watch much? They also enjoyed the birds, when we were safe under the canopy and didn't have them swooping onto our heads!
After dinner we went on a Treasure Hunt in Morocco and Japan, before it was time to meet up with Leslie. We had a wonderful evening with her, catching up, and just relaxing.
When we got back to the room, the four of us played and cuddled on the bed, and we talked and talked about future trips. After the boys went to sleep (easily, I might add) DH and I finished the night lamenting (a little bit) about how little time was left, and savoring the remaining minutes of another lovely day!
I brought my dear husband a mug of coffee like the charming wife I am, which is saying a lot considering I didn't even have the first clue how much of this or that to put in it. I hate coffee. HATE it, and he doesn't actually drink it all that often. Thus, the dilemma. He drank it though, so it was either tolerable or he is just sweet. Both are possible.
As I was walking back to the room I saw a family with twin boys much older then ours having breakfast at a cafe. I realized how much I am looking forward to ALL of the memories we'll make on the trips to come, not just making a mad dash to ride Dumbo or experiencing Space Mountain for the first time, but just hanging out. Together.
I must admit, this was much more the speed of memory-making I had been anticipating when daydreaming about the current trip. ALL of our moods were improved when the boys didn't act like crazy babies!
So finally, after all of this about which I have rambled enough, we were ready to start our day We took a very nice stroll to the Studios, and got there about 20 minutes before the park opened. Cast Members everywhere were begging people to audition for the American Idol Experience, but this just wasn't going to be the trip for that sort of thing! Besides, we had a long-overdue date with Buzz and Woody!
After the opening sequence, it seemed the entire crowd was headed toward, Toy Story Mania. Still, thanks in large part to the remarkable set-up and efficiency on Disney's part (seriously -- SO impressed!), we had fastpasses in hand and were on after a 10-minute wait in the stand-by line. What a freaking awesome ride.
While waiting for our FP time to come up to ride again, we walked through the Journey into Narnia attraction. It was still early, so they let us go through with the stroller (shhh....) which was nice, since the boys needed a nap. They slept; I very much enjoyed the walk-through. I must admit I was a bit envious at the thought of the Pevensie children getting to shoot scenes all over the globe. Those are some seriously blessed little kiddos!
DH and I both took another spin on TSM (without the boys this time, as they continued napping), and I was - yet again - the more accurate of the two of us. (We'll leave it at that.)
When Ryder and Kyran woke up, we headed to Woody's Photo Shootin' Gallery. As is often the case, I'm impressed with the things Disney put in place to entertain us as we waited to meet Buzz and Woody. The boys loved this meet & greet despite being hungry and crabby. Thank you, Cheerios.
We headed to the Backlot Express for lunch in search of the Chicken Fingers I had talked myself into the day before, but it wouldn't open until 11:30. (Ridiculous). To pass the time, we wandered the Streets of America and enjoyed what seemed to be MUCH lighter crowds (throughout the whole park) than we had encountered on previous days! All this, to discover that the Chicken Fingers I so fondly remembered had been replaced by much less tasty Chicken Nuggets. They were still good, but it wasn't the magnificent experience I had been looking forward to. It was also here that Ryder got her first French fry! Poor Kyran is just too sleepy at all the wrong times, no?
After lunch we headed over to see how the waits were for Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. It had literally been years since I had ridden RNR between being there repeatedly when it was closed, then being pregnant. For this reason, it clearly took precedence... besides, the wait was only listed at 10 minutes!
True to form on this trip (one direction or another), the listed wait time was way off. I have no idea what happened, but we waited nearly 10 minutes to take off while sitting in our limo, and waited another 10 sitting in the limo before exiting. This was in addition to a line that, in and of itself, was about 20 minutes. So nearly an hour later, I rejoined DH and the boys and we realized we wouldn't be able to do TOT. DH rode RNR (much more quickly!) and we headed back to the hotel.
After a moment of sheer stupidity during which I was delusional and thought it would be wise to take the Disney busses, I eventually made it to Downtown Disney while DH and the boys napped in the room. I was determined to actually get to spend time here! Once I finally made it there, my time at DTD was enjoyable, productive, everything I needed it to be. I did well shopping, and then returned home to the happiest babies I could have asked for! We played for a little while and then got ready for dinner. We were meeting DH’s sister tonight in the France pavilion this evening afterwards. We had not seen her since our cruise in December so it would be nice to catch up with her.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner outside at the Big River Grille & Brewing Works, and cracked up as the boys (especially Kyran) stared everyone down that walked by on the Boardwalk. People-watch much? They also enjoyed the birds, when we were safe under the canopy and didn't have them swooping onto our heads!
After dinner we went on a Treasure Hunt in Morocco and Japan, before it was time to meet up with Leslie. We had a wonderful evening with her, catching up, and just relaxing.
When we got back to the room, the four of us played and cuddled on the bed, and we talked and talked about future trips. After the boys went to sleep (easily, I might add) DH and I finished the night lamenting (a little bit) about how little time was left, and savoring the remaining minutes of another lovely day!
With only two days left, and still so many things we could do, we deemed most of this day for Magic Kingdom, and it was a doable (albeit not simple) trip without transferring out of the stroller.
We woke up, got ready to take on the day. DH took the car and drove to the Magic Kingdom, while I headed with the boys (so they could nap) to the International Gateway and through the park to the exit. After a quick visit to Espresso Coffee and Pastries, I was finally able to get a fork and enjoy my chocolate Mickey Cake enjoy my chocolate Mickey Cake from the Boardwalk Bakery (breakfast keeps getting less healthy by the day . ). It was spectacular, even half-melted! We exited the park as most people were just heading in, and the boys napped almost the whole way. This is why I decided to take the long way,
After a quick dart into the Emporium where I finally found a shirt I had been trying to track down in the right size, we met up with DH in Fantasyland. We picked up a Fastpass for Peter Pan and rode Dumbo. Afterward, it was already nearing lunch time! We ate in Pinocchios Village Haus, despite it not being our favorite (by any stretch of the imagination), because it was right there and it was time to eat. It actually was better than we had remembered! After lunch, we rode and enjoyed Peter Panit Flight, though I cant for the life of me understand why the lines are always as long as they are. I like it, but its certainly not my favorite dark ride, and yet EVERY time the lines are significantly longer than the rest.
We skipped to Adventureland (not letrally) to see about the Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise, but the lines had already gotten pretty long. There was not wait for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, so we rode those instead. Let me just say forget DVC! This might be Disneys best kept secret! Im not about to replace anything on my list of my favorite rides, but they are WAY cooler than Dumbo, for all the hype the elephant gets!
The boys were getting quite sleepy at this point, right on schedule of course, so we put them back in the stroller, and headed to the car. We transferred the boys to their car, and headed to the Wide World of Sports complex for a Braves Game!
At the Wide World of Sports, we were thrilled that we purchased our tickets in advance the line to buy them was insane! Instead, we spent the time before the game soaking up the atmosphere and, of course shopping. I got an adorable shirt and a pin. I couldnt believe I was FINALLY at Braves Spring training! We had yet to make it work during our trips, so as soon as we booked this trip I knew it was going to happen this time!
The boys had a good time playing on the lawn, until it was just too hot they were too sleepy from a less-than-sufficient catnap. We tried moving back to the stands for the remaining innings, but nothing worked to chill them out. In my opinion, Im stilled owed a Spring Training game!
We left the stadium for the Wide World of Sports Café, so as to stay in proximity for the duration. The Braves beat the Mets in extra innings 7-6.
We headed back to our room, the boys falling asleep in the car of course, and they must have been tired because they slept over 2 hours.
After the boys finally woke up, we quickly changed them and then headed out to make our dinner reservations Mama Melroses in the Studios. We enjoyed the meal at Mama Melroses, we each decided to try an appetizer, which was a mistake because our entrée selections we huge! It was a lot of food for my little tummy, I had forgotten! During dinner we planned (very loosely) our next several trips (you have to , you know, with DVC and APs! Or at least, we justify it as such . ).
After dinner, we ALL headed to DTD. Via car. Together. We picked up Create Your Own treats at Goofys to enjoy later (YUM!) looked for some good books that we didnt already own, and picked out our last 2 pins (the Ryder & Kyrans first!).
The boys went down like angels in the evening, and DH and I set back to packing (what we could do quietly, and in the somewhat dark room). Despite the first day feeling long enough for ANY vacation, our last day had come and we were absolutely not ready to return home!
We woke up, got ready to take on the day. DH took the car and drove to the Magic Kingdom, while I headed with the boys (so they could nap) to the International Gateway and through the park to the exit. After a quick visit to Espresso Coffee and Pastries, I was finally able to get a fork and enjoy my chocolate Mickey Cake enjoy my chocolate Mickey Cake from the Boardwalk Bakery (breakfast keeps getting less healthy by the day . ). It was spectacular, even half-melted! We exited the park as most people were just heading in, and the boys napped almost the whole way. This is why I decided to take the long way,
After a quick dart into the Emporium where I finally found a shirt I had been trying to track down in the right size, we met up with DH in Fantasyland. We picked up a Fastpass for Peter Pan and rode Dumbo. Afterward, it was already nearing lunch time! We ate in Pinocchios Village Haus, despite it not being our favorite (by any stretch of the imagination), because it was right there and it was time to eat. It actually was better than we had remembered! After lunch, we rode and enjoyed Peter Panit Flight, though I cant for the life of me understand why the lines are always as long as they are. I like it, but its certainly not my favorite dark ride, and yet EVERY time the lines are significantly longer than the rest.
We skipped to Adventureland (not letrally) to see about the Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise, but the lines had already gotten pretty long. There was not wait for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, so we rode those instead. Let me just say forget DVC! This might be Disneys best kept secret! Im not about to replace anything on my list of my favorite rides, but they are WAY cooler than Dumbo, for all the hype the elephant gets!
The boys were getting quite sleepy at this point, right on schedule of course, so we put them back in the stroller, and headed to the car. We transferred the boys to their car, and headed to the Wide World of Sports complex for a Braves Game!
At the Wide World of Sports, we were thrilled that we purchased our tickets in advance the line to buy them was insane! Instead, we spent the time before the game soaking up the atmosphere and, of course shopping. I got an adorable shirt and a pin. I couldnt believe I was FINALLY at Braves Spring training! We had yet to make it work during our trips, so as soon as we booked this trip I knew it was going to happen this time!
The boys had a good time playing on the lawn, until it was just too hot they were too sleepy from a less-than-sufficient catnap. We tried moving back to the stands for the remaining innings, but nothing worked to chill them out. In my opinion, Im stilled owed a Spring Training game!
We left the stadium for the Wide World of Sports Café, so as to stay in proximity for the duration. The Braves beat the Mets in extra innings 7-6.
We headed back to our room, the boys falling asleep in the car of course, and they must have been tired because they slept over 2 hours.
After the boys finally woke up, we quickly changed them and then headed out to make our dinner reservations Mama Melroses in the Studios. We enjoyed the meal at Mama Melroses, we each decided to try an appetizer, which was a mistake because our entrée selections we huge! It was a lot of food for my little tummy, I had forgotten! During dinner we planned (very loosely) our next several trips (you have to , you know, with DVC and APs! Or at least, we justify it as such . ).
After dinner, we ALL headed to DTD. Via car. Together. We picked up Create Your Own treats at Goofys to enjoy later (YUM!) looked for some good books that we didnt already own, and picked out our last 2 pins (the Ryder & Kyrans first!).
The boys went down like angels in the evening, and DH and I set back to packing (what we could do quietly, and in the somewhat dark room). Despite the first day feeling long enough for ANY vacation, our last day had come and we were absolutely not ready to return home!
Departure Day
After we woke up, though I;m not at all sure of the time, we finished packing any last minute things that were still out. We finished our treats from Goofys, returned the stroller to the appropriate station and headed out of the room for one final time. Before leaving the resort, we bought some taffy for my family (which I had already done once, but couldnt resist eating!), refilled our mug and called for the car. We drove to Epcot, for the first time other than the race morning.
We had planned to get our free Disney Visa 5×7 until we were reminded that the Members-Only Meet and Greet didnt start until 1:30pm, so instead we rode Speceship Earth. DH has only ridden once (and not at all since the refurb), so he was due. I was glad to see, as I had assumed when I rode during a soft opening in December 2007, that they finally use your picture in the future. I was very impressed to see that you could send greetings, etc with the future you had chosen, especially considering ours were hysterical. The ride obviously uses the face finder technology that is all of our cameras and photo software now, which means as Im sure you know it isnt perfect. Throw two faces in very close proximity (as we each had the boys in front carriers), and its really confused. DH and I looked fine, but every time you saw Ryder and Kyran they had a chin (at the very least) growing out of their head. Fabulous!
We walked through Innoventions, then headed to the Land pavilion and rode Living with the Land (which DH and I both admittedly love!) and had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. The boys were starting to get very crabby, which we knew would happen without a stroller or hotel room (and therefore without a nap). We prayed it wouldnt be repeat of Day 1, and were thankful they had slept until later than 4:30am at least! (It was also during lunch that Ryder started signing the word more, appropriately! See Epcot is educational!)
To our (pleasant) surprise, the boys fell asleep immediately upon getting back into the carriers! We walked around the park a bit in search of something useful on which to spend our snack credits, but hardly anything was open that wasnt ice cream. Since we had planned to grab snacks for our journey home, that was not going to work. Instead, we transferred the boys to the car and headed to Pop Centure to use the credits up there. Since the boys were still asleep in the car, I spent my time in the resort and bought a few things that werent on the list. You know, just because they needed to sleep longer. Eventually though, it was time to head to the airport!
The Garmin took us I-4 to the airport (and reminded me how much I hate that road). We got to the airport with time to spare, talked with my mom, and whent in to check the luggage while DH returned the car. Check-in was smooth again (seriously, people just must not be able to be rude to the boys, because we ALWAYS have jerks at MCO!), and we were at our gate long enough to grab a drink for the plane and get ready to board.
The boys didnt sleep on the way home, but they were very well-behaved. Ryder entertained the drunk guy next to me by spending 20 minutes tearing up a napkin and putting it (very deliberately) into cups, the back of the chair in front of us, etc.
We waited forever and a night at LAX (as per usual) for our luggage, but were eventually home safe and sound. The boys fell back to sleep very quickly after sleeping the whole ride home, and slept wonderfully in the familiarity of their cribs.
For the first few days after the trip, it was an interesting dichotomy of emotions. I suffered the usual post-Disney funk, but also enjoyed regaining some semblance of control over the boys' routine.
This one ends here, though you know it's always just another episode for us. I am so blessed to have a husband who enjoys the magic of WDW as much as I do, and now we are both blessed tremendously more so with the addition of our handsome sons to accompany us on future ones
The next adventure starts October 3, 2010 .
After we woke up, though I;m not at all sure of the time, we finished packing any last minute things that were still out. We finished our treats from Goofys, returned the stroller to the appropriate station and headed out of the room for one final time. Before leaving the resort, we bought some taffy for my family (which I had already done once, but couldnt resist eating!), refilled our mug and called for the car. We drove to Epcot, for the first time other than the race morning.
We had planned to get our free Disney Visa 5×7 until we were reminded that the Members-Only Meet and Greet didnt start until 1:30pm, so instead we rode Speceship Earth. DH has only ridden once (and not at all since the refurb), so he was due. I was glad to see, as I had assumed when I rode during a soft opening in December 2007, that they finally use your picture in the future. I was very impressed to see that you could send greetings, etc with the future you had chosen, especially considering ours were hysterical. The ride obviously uses the face finder technology that is all of our cameras and photo software now, which means as Im sure you know it isnt perfect. Throw two faces in very close proximity (as we each had the boys in front carriers), and its really confused. DH and I looked fine, but every time you saw Ryder and Kyran they had a chin (at the very least) growing out of their head. Fabulous!
We walked through Innoventions, then headed to the Land pavilion and rode Living with the Land (which DH and I both admittedly love!) and had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. The boys were starting to get very crabby, which we knew would happen without a stroller or hotel room (and therefore without a nap). We prayed it wouldnt be repeat of Day 1, and were thankful they had slept until later than 4:30am at least! (It was also during lunch that Ryder started signing the word more, appropriately! See Epcot is educational!)
To our (pleasant) surprise, the boys fell asleep immediately upon getting back into the carriers! We walked around the park a bit in search of something useful on which to spend our snack credits, but hardly anything was open that wasnt ice cream. Since we had planned to grab snacks for our journey home, that was not going to work. Instead, we transferred the boys to the car and headed to Pop Centure to use the credits up there. Since the boys were still asleep in the car, I spent my time in the resort and bought a few things that werent on the list. You know, just because they needed to sleep longer. Eventually though, it was time to head to the airport!
The Garmin took us I-4 to the airport (and reminded me how much I hate that road). We got to the airport with time to spare, talked with my mom, and whent in to check the luggage while DH returned the car. Check-in was smooth again (seriously, people just must not be able to be rude to the boys, because we ALWAYS have jerks at MCO!), and we were at our gate long enough to grab a drink for the plane and get ready to board.
The boys didnt sleep on the way home, but they were very well-behaved. Ryder entertained the drunk guy next to me by spending 20 minutes tearing up a napkin and putting it (very deliberately) into cups, the back of the chair in front of us, etc.
We waited forever and a night at LAX (as per usual) for our luggage, but were eventually home safe and sound. The boys fell back to sleep very quickly after sleeping the whole ride home, and slept wonderfully in the familiarity of their cribs.
For the first few days after the trip, it was an interesting dichotomy of emotions. I suffered the usual post-Disney funk, but also enjoyed regaining some semblance of control over the boys' routine.
This one ends here, though you know it's always just another episode for us. I am so blessed to have a husband who enjoys the magic of WDW as much as I do, and now we are both blessed tremendously more so with the addition of our handsome sons to accompany us on future ones
The next adventure starts October 3, 2010 .
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