A Jersey Family in WDW During Jersey Week
- Thread starter jsfein
- Start date
Sunday, Oct. 31 Happy Halloween. We had been waiting for this day for nearly 6 months. This day had been hyped like no other in our household. At least several times a week for 2 months before our trip we discussed going to MNSSHP. It was all I and the kids talked about in the week or so before our trip. We had very high expectations for the party, probably too high expectations, and I hoped dearly that everyone had a fun time.
When I originally put together our touring schedule, I had slotted in Typhoon Lagoon for today, with MNSSHP at night. Except for the 1 childs AP, we had purchased 7 day park hoppers with 4 plusses, and figured we get some use out of the plusses at one of the water parks as my 6, 4 and 2 ½ year old were not quite ready for a night out on the town in Pleasure Island. I had to consider the following: (i) Typhoon Lagoon did not open until 10 am; (ii) I wanted to make sure the kids had a nap before MNSSHP; and (iii) I wanted to enter the party at the earliest time of 4 pm. With this schedule, wed only have 3 or so hours at Typhoon Lagoon and the kids would probably be completely wiped out. Time to hatch a new plan. This time I did a better job than Epcot the night before.
We started off with breakfast at the Kona Café and both DW and I ordered the tonga toast. I very much enjoy heavy foods and tonga toast seemed to be right up my alley. At the time, I remember liking the tonga toast, but not as much as I thought I would. DW and I both commented that we would probably not order it again. However, as I sit here today I have a craving for the stuff. I think next time we will split an order of tonga toast and an order of something else. Im not a coffee drinker, but DW commented that she liked the coffee at Captain Cooks more than the Kona coffee at Kona Café.
We decided to head to DTD this morning. The bus to DTD from the Poly on this day was a miss we waited at least 20-30 minutes for a bus to arrive. After keeping the kids relatively dry as they passed by the shooting water fountain area, we headed directly to Once Upon a Toy. Has anyone with a young child ever not stopped in front of Once Upon a Toy to take a picture with Buzz and Mr. Potato Head? 3 kids x 2 frozen characters = 6 photos. Without any prompting by me, DS 6 posed for his photo as follows. I was extremely proud.
While DS 6 helped DW fill up a box of Potato Head stuff, DS 4 ½, DD and I strolled around. Well, not exactly strolled around. To be more accurate, DS 4 ½ and DD ran amok while I tried to follow, hoping that they would not break into different directions. Many threats were made to buckle one of them into the stroller, but they were just having too much fun for my threats to be meaningful. They quickly located numerous toys they wanted for purchase and each settled on one thing. When DS 6 saw that his younger siblings each had a toy, he wanted one as well, but could not make a decision. I explained to him that there were many more stores for us to see and that he didnt need to decide right then. God bless him, at 6 years old my logic made sense to him and he agreed to wait. The other two would have gone ballistic at such a thought. As I think back, I was particularly touched by the number of unsolicited Thank yous and I Love Yous and Isnt this fun, Dad comments that DS 6 directed to me throughout our trip. DS 6 has always been Mr. Sensitivity and Emotion, but the fact that he was verbally expressing how much he was enjoying his vacation really meant a lot. In the 18 months since our last WDW trip, DS 6 had really done a lot of growing up. We hit a few more stores, spent quite a bit of time at the Lego store (where DS 6 picked out his toy), and needed lunch. We didnt have a PS anywhere and I had ruled out Rainforest where we had eaten on our last trip and plenty of times back in NJ. I had suggested McDs primarily for the kids, but DW shot that idea down. We ended up at the Earl of Sandwich. I ordered a few turkey and roast beef sandwiches without any toppings. DW and I thought the sandwiches were great, but the kids mostly picked at them.
One quick aside that shall serve as my Public Service Announcement (PSA) for my trip reports. For those of you like me that has a child that cries and carries on at the drop of a hat, you probably know that CMs are trained to give your distressed child a sticker. Apparently, Disney must have studies that show that a sticker turns a sad child happy. I cannot tell you the number of stickers CMs gave to DD during our trip. At The World of Disney, DDs internal alarm went off and she was reminded that it was 11 a.m. and had not yet had a melt down today. Immediately, stickers started showering upon her from CMs throughout the store. DD decided to decorate her bare legs with the aforesaid stickers as depicted here:
Now for the PSA. The adhesive glue on the back of these stickers leaves a sticky residue on the skin. When we peeled all of those stickers off of DDs legs, this residue was all over her and it would not wash off. Not in the bath tub, not in the pool, not at all. That residue remained a temporary fixture on DDs legs for at least one week. You are now warned. Use this information wisely.
We returned to the Poly and I'm reminded of another issue that is worth mentioning. Not only had the double stroller rental caused much conflict, but just as much conflict arose as to who got to push the button in the "elegator" (DD's term) and who got to place the key card in the room slot. Various schedules, rules and mediation sessions were required to address this very important aspect of our vacation.
A quick note on the Poly's housekeeping while I'm thinking of it. We were very pleased with housekeeping's services. The room was always clean and, but for one day of our trip when we returned and the room had not yet been cleaned, the room was cleaned early in the day. Perhaps we were spoiled by the WL where we received towel animals, cute poses with the kids toys, and other playful "gifts," our housekeepers did not do this. They had lots of stickers, however, and we found stickers placed on our towels everyday. In fact, when we first checked into the room we found stickers on the towels. We initially thought that the prior occupants had placed the stickers on the towels and we were concerned that the room wasn't completely clean. Next time we'll know better.
After a quick swim, DD was ready for a nap. The boys did not want to nap, but I insisted that they do so in order to be well rested for MNSSHP. With promises that when they awoke they could put on their costumes, all 3 kids fell asleep.
I had hoped to get in my report on MNSSHP here, but will do so in my next installment with more details than you probably desire, but hey, its my trip report.
When I originally put together our touring schedule, I had slotted in Typhoon Lagoon for today, with MNSSHP at night. Except for the 1 childs AP, we had purchased 7 day park hoppers with 4 plusses, and figured we get some use out of the plusses at one of the water parks as my 6, 4 and 2 ½ year old were not quite ready for a night out on the town in Pleasure Island. I had to consider the following: (i) Typhoon Lagoon did not open until 10 am; (ii) I wanted to make sure the kids had a nap before MNSSHP; and (iii) I wanted to enter the party at the earliest time of 4 pm. With this schedule, wed only have 3 or so hours at Typhoon Lagoon and the kids would probably be completely wiped out. Time to hatch a new plan. This time I did a better job than Epcot the night before.
We started off with breakfast at the Kona Café and both DW and I ordered the tonga toast. I very much enjoy heavy foods and tonga toast seemed to be right up my alley. At the time, I remember liking the tonga toast, but not as much as I thought I would. DW and I both commented that we would probably not order it again. However, as I sit here today I have a craving for the stuff. I think next time we will split an order of tonga toast and an order of something else. Im not a coffee drinker, but DW commented that she liked the coffee at Captain Cooks more than the Kona coffee at Kona Café.
We decided to head to DTD this morning. The bus to DTD from the Poly on this day was a miss we waited at least 20-30 minutes for a bus to arrive. After keeping the kids relatively dry as they passed by the shooting water fountain area, we headed directly to Once Upon a Toy. Has anyone with a young child ever not stopped in front of Once Upon a Toy to take a picture with Buzz and Mr. Potato Head? 3 kids x 2 frozen characters = 6 photos. Without any prompting by me, DS 6 posed for his photo as follows. I was extremely proud.
While DS 6 helped DW fill up a box of Potato Head stuff, DS 4 ½, DD and I strolled around. Well, not exactly strolled around. To be more accurate, DS 4 ½ and DD ran amok while I tried to follow, hoping that they would not break into different directions. Many threats were made to buckle one of them into the stroller, but they were just having too much fun for my threats to be meaningful. They quickly located numerous toys they wanted for purchase and each settled on one thing. When DS 6 saw that his younger siblings each had a toy, he wanted one as well, but could not make a decision. I explained to him that there were many more stores for us to see and that he didnt need to decide right then. God bless him, at 6 years old my logic made sense to him and he agreed to wait. The other two would have gone ballistic at such a thought. As I think back, I was particularly touched by the number of unsolicited Thank yous and I Love Yous and Isnt this fun, Dad comments that DS 6 directed to me throughout our trip. DS 6 has always been Mr. Sensitivity and Emotion, but the fact that he was verbally expressing how much he was enjoying his vacation really meant a lot. In the 18 months since our last WDW trip, DS 6 had really done a lot of growing up. We hit a few more stores, spent quite a bit of time at the Lego store (where DS 6 picked out his toy), and needed lunch. We didnt have a PS anywhere and I had ruled out Rainforest where we had eaten on our last trip and plenty of times back in NJ. I had suggested McDs primarily for the kids, but DW shot that idea down. We ended up at the Earl of Sandwich. I ordered a few turkey and roast beef sandwiches without any toppings. DW and I thought the sandwiches were great, but the kids mostly picked at them.
One quick aside that shall serve as my Public Service Announcement (PSA) for my trip reports. For those of you like me that has a child that cries and carries on at the drop of a hat, you probably know that CMs are trained to give your distressed child a sticker. Apparently, Disney must have studies that show that a sticker turns a sad child happy. I cannot tell you the number of stickers CMs gave to DD during our trip. At The World of Disney, DDs internal alarm went off and she was reminded that it was 11 a.m. and had not yet had a melt down today. Immediately, stickers started showering upon her from CMs throughout the store. DD decided to decorate her bare legs with the aforesaid stickers as depicted here:
Now for the PSA. The adhesive glue on the back of these stickers leaves a sticky residue on the skin. When we peeled all of those stickers off of DDs legs, this residue was all over her and it would not wash off. Not in the bath tub, not in the pool, not at all. That residue remained a temporary fixture on DDs legs for at least one week. You are now warned. Use this information wisely.
We returned to the Poly and I'm reminded of another issue that is worth mentioning. Not only had the double stroller rental caused much conflict, but just as much conflict arose as to who got to push the button in the "elegator" (DD's term) and who got to place the key card in the room slot. Various schedules, rules and mediation sessions were required to address this very important aspect of our vacation.
A quick note on the Poly's housekeeping while I'm thinking of it. We were very pleased with housekeeping's services. The room was always clean and, but for one day of our trip when we returned and the room had not yet been cleaned, the room was cleaned early in the day. Perhaps we were spoiled by the WL where we received towel animals, cute poses with the kids toys, and other playful "gifts," our housekeepers did not do this. They had lots of stickers, however, and we found stickers placed on our towels everyday. In fact, when we first checked into the room we found stickers on the towels. We initially thought that the prior occupants had placed the stickers on the towels and we were concerned that the room wasn't completely clean. Next time we'll know better.
After a quick swim, DD was ready for a nap. The boys did not want to nap, but I insisted that they do so in order to be well rested for MNSSHP. With promises that when they awoke they could put on their costumes, all 3 kids fell asleep.
I had hoped to get in my report on MNSSHP here, but will do so in my next installment with more details than you probably desire, but hey, its my trip report.
A product called "goo gone" works, as does (sometimes) fingernail polish remover (especially the kind with acetone). Just make sure you don't apply it to any open skin (stings like a bugger!).
I have one like your DD...she is now 12. The meltdowns stop but the attitude remains!! We call her "the queen of the glare".
I am really enjoying your reports, I hope that MNSSHP did not disappoint. Halloween is my favorite holiday (no baking, no cooking, no wrapping and lots of candy).
I have one like your DD...she is now 12. The meltdowns stop but the attitude remains!! We call her "the queen of the glare".
I am really enjoying your reports, I hope that MNSSHP did not disappoint. Halloween is my favorite holiday (no baking, no cooking, no wrapping and lots of candy).
DisneyMomx7
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2004
- Messages
- 12,436
And I thought my kids were the only ones to fight over who gets to press the elevator button. Thank you for writing a true, and refreshing account of what it's like to take three small children to Disney. We started out when ours were 2, 4 and 5. It must be great because we keep going back, but been there done that with the "princess meltdowns" and it's nice to know that we are not the only family whose kids are fighting over which stroller to ride in. Keep it coming!
anne60 -- I'm sure DW must have had nail polish remover with her considering we had canned string beans packed away. I guess we didn't think to try it. "The Queen of the Glare" is some title. My DD's name is Eva and she has self-proclaimed herself "Eva the Diva."
DisneyMomx7 -- I'm right down the road from you in Trenton where I work. Elevator and stroller fights were some of the nastiest of our trip. We too plan to keep going back. Glad to hear you are too.
DisneyMomx7 -- I'm right down the road from you in Trenton where I work. Elevator and stroller fights were some of the nastiest of our trip. We too plan to keep going back. Glad to hear you are too.
When we returned to the Poly after DTD we had a message that a package was waiting for us at the Front Desk. I had arranged for this package, but no one else knew what it was. I had ordered a Halloween basket through fellow Dis-er Feralpeg. I had hoped that the package would have been delivered by the Poly to our room and waiting for us when we returned from DTD, but it was not. I picked it up at the Front Desk and it looked great.
There was lots of candy which Feralpeg tailored to my specific requests. Also included were Nightmare Before Christmas pins which Feralpeg had added at my request for each child. The final touch was a card to the kids from Mickey Mouse in which Mickey told the kids how much he was looking forward to having them at his party that night. Feralpeg did a great job and you should consider her services if youre interested in a surprise basket for your guest room. One of the payment options accepted by Feralpeg was Paypal. I had just purchased my pins via Ebay and Paypal a week or two earlier and happily told her I had a Paypal account. How convenient. My second use already.
The primary reason why I ordered the Halloween basket was my concern about the trick or treating lines at MNSSHP. I had read some reports that the candy lines were longer than some of the attraction lines, and I really didnt want to spend our night waiting for candy. The Halloween basket was my insurance policy if the kids didnt take in a big haul of candy, we had the basket to fall back on and we knew that we could skip the candy lines. You would not believe the reaction from the boys when they saw the basket. I had to fight them off from attacking the basket, you figure. Nope, they wanted to know where their Gameboys were and basically ignored this magnificent basket. DW was curious as to where the basket had come. I speculated that maybe the Poly had sent it, but she had her doubts. It suddenly dawned on me where the WDW florists basket we received upon check-in had probably come from DW. I had not even considered DW as a suspect until then. Could it have been the Stick in the Mud?
Time now for costumes. DS 6 and DS 4 ½ went the Justice League route as Flash and Batman, respectively. DD, of course, had to be a Princess and went with Cinderella. Heres where another Stick in the Mud story comes into play. Leading up to this trip, I absolutely, positively wanted DW and I to go in costume. She showed no real interest, but listened to my various ideas, the leading one being Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. I knew there would be other Jack and Sallys at the party, but the kids love the movie so it would be a hit with them. After checking the Disney Store website I made (another) executive decision as to our costumes Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. I made this decision about 1 month before Halloween, with the movie due out the week after Halloween. DW frowned and said, No ones going to know who we are. At the 5 week mark before the party she may have been correct, but the Disney machine had not yet been turned on. I knew that the movie would be promoted like crazy in the upcoming weeks. I ordered the costumes. When they arrived, I immediately tried mine own and the kids went crazy and immediately felt the need to put their costumes on too. Now, my build is very similar to that of Mr. Incredible and the costume fit snugly. As for Mrs. Incredible a/k/a Elastigirl a/k/a Stick in the Mud, she wasnt too thrilled with the fit of her costume. DW immediately observed that in these long sleeve, full length costumes, we would bake in the FL heat. She had a point there and I had read many Dis-ers caution against this. But the costume was so cool I didnt want to give it up. And there wasnt much time left to find different costumes. Very, very reluctantly we returned Mr. and Mrs. Incredible to a Disney Store, and picked up this years Disney Store Halloween t-shirts. I was crushed. The 10 minutes I had spent in costume as Mr. Incredible had left its mark and I felt like his kindred spirit. Similar to the incognito life Mr. Incredible was forced to live in the Superhero Relocation Program (Ive seen the movie), I too would go to MNSSHP incognito as well. I had accessorized my Disney Store t-shirt with a blinking lights Mickey Sorcerers hat that I picked up at MGM earlier in our trip. I felt that I was at least in partial costume.
Costumed and ready to go, we took the boat over to MK slightly before 4 pm and entered the MK gates just after 4 pm. I couldnt help but notice the looks of envy on the faces of those guests leaving the MK as they saw us entering in costume and receiving those prized MNSSHP bracelets. We were definitely some of the first to enter for the party as we did not see too many people around us in costume. I had read on DIS that strollers were free at MK for the party. Relying on this information, we left the umbrella stroller behind. Thank you DIS the information was correct and we received 2 double strollers for no charge. A $30 savings about ¼ of the cost of the MNSSHP tickets recouped. Cinderella had her own coach (double stroller) for the ball (Halloween party) and was tickled pink.
This was Day 4 of our vacation, we had visited the other 3 Disney parks, and had been viewing the Castle from the Poly and passing MK on the Monorail for several days, but had not yet stepped inside. We were overdue. It is hard to put into words that feeling when you walk down Main Street for the first time on your vacation, no matter how many times youve walked down Main Street in the past. The feeling grabbed the kids as well as they kept pointing to the Castle and to all the sights, sounds and smells around us.
Buzz had been the boys favorite attraction last year and we headed straight to it. We walked on and DS 6 wanted to ride again. While DS 6 and I rode again, DW returned to the stroller to find a note from a NJ family we knew which said, "See you at Dinner." How they found our stroller in all of MK is beyond me. But for DW running into the mother of this other family at a store in NJ a few weeks before our trip and learning that not only would our families be in Disney the same week but that we would be at MNSSHP and Liberty Tree Tavern on the same date and time, bumping into this family at MK would have been completely unplanned. Remember, the ENTIRE State of NJ was in WDW this week. We squeezed in a ride on the tea cups and carousel and a Merlin Sword in the Stone show before our 5:15 PS at Liberty Tree Tavern.
This was probably my favorite dinner of the entire trip. Upon arrival, we found the other NJ family and spent time chatting as we both waited for our tables. It wasnt too long before we were seated. When our waiter took our drink order, he asked whether our kids wanted their drinks in the souveneir cups with the glowing ice cubes that were pointed out to us at the table next to ours. I had planned on getting the glowing ice cubes for the kids at some point on this trip what better time than Halloween. The novelty faded quickly for them. Oh well. DD needed to go potty and I took her. Heres another restaurant (in addition to Chef Mickeys) where the bathrooms are not conveniently located. You have to walk up a flight or two of stairs to find a bathroom with a single urinal and a single toilet. With the effort of getting children in and out of their costumes to use the bathroom, a line had formed at the Mens room, but was not as long as the Womens room line. Of course, DD had an accident before I could get her into the toilet, but her costume was still intact.
I found the food to be much better than I expected. Aside from the flank steak which was too dry and the ham which I didnt care to eat, everything else was very yummy. DW wasnt feeling well during this meal and didnt eat too much. I felt obligated to eat for both of us and so I did. When the apple cobbler came out for dessert, I could barely touch it but tasted enough and thought it also very good. Unlike our dinner at Chef Mickeys a few nights earlier, the boys really had fun with the characters at this meal, who, as you probably all know, were also dressed in costumes. In the span of a few minutes, we had a highlight reel of 3 events.
The first highlight was Plutos visit to our table. Upon seeing Flash and Batman, Pluto ran to the table next to ours, grabbed someones autograph book, and indicated that he wanted the boys autographs. They could not have been happier. The boys decided that Pluto could join the Justice League for the evening and bestowed upon him the title of Super Pluto. They were really having a great time.
The next highlight (or lowlight depending on your perspective) came a few moments later when Minnie Mouse visited our table. DD, who was sitting away from the characters next to DW and I, decided that she wanted to give Minnie a hug. This was a big deal, a major breakthrough. However, she didnt want to go to Minnie, but to have Minnie come to her. In order to accomplish this, DW had to get out of her seat and have Minnie take her place. Youre probably expecting that DD bursted into tears when Minnie approached. Wrong. Somehow, as DW was getting up to give Minnie her seat, DW tripped Minnie and Minnie began to fall. Before Minnie hit the ground she caught herself on an empty nearby chair. I think Minnie hurt her leg as she took quite some time getting back to her feet and quickly left our table without giving DD her hug or before I could give her my business card. Immediately, DD accused DW of hurting Minnie Mouse and was very upset with DW. We had much fun teasing DW about this the rest of our trip, especially whenever we saw Minnie.
The last highlight involved DS 4 1/2. My boys have a history of being unable to remain in their seats during a meal. They half-stand, half-sit, they circle their seats, they do just about everything but stay seated. Towards the end of the meal, DS 4 ½ had tilted his chair back such that the front legs of the chair were off the ground, while his feet were touching the back of the chair and his hands rested on the table. Naturally, the chair fell backwards from under him and he fell face first to the ground and on top of the chair. It seemed like every table around us watched this occur and everyone stopped what they were doing. DS 4 ½ got up laughing. I pronounced loud enough for everyone to hear, "Batman's okay!!" Thank goodness for that superhero costume. DW and I looked at each other with a knowing look that we were lucky that the night had not just been cut short with an emergency room visit.
We finished dinner around 6:45 and werent sure if we needed to head to Tomorrow Land until the start of the party at 7:00. We decided to stay put and strolled through Frontier Land. It was deserted. I cant imagine ever being in the MK again and not seeing anyone else in the area. We ventured towards Adventure Land and seeing that Aladdins Carpets was operating we delved in. Again, I followed a tip on DIS to have your MNSSHP photo taken in Adventure Land and we waited just a few minutes for our photo. The photo arrived at our home before we returned from our trip and came out great. We rode Jungle Cruise (not as good at night, IMHO) and Aladdin, and hit a couple of candy lines. No POC despite the fact that the boys were superheros tonight. The 8 pm parade was to start shortly and we staked out a spot in Frontier Land. The boys knew about the Headless Horseman and were eager to see him. Although the Headless Horseman passed by very quickly, the boys seemed to be satisfied. It took another 15 minutes until the parade reached us and was quite enjoyable. I really liked the gravediggers that performed with shovels and scraped the shovels against the pavement causing sparks to flare out a nice effect. Contrary to reports that fastpass was not open on other MNSSHP nights, fastpass was available tonight and I had grabbed a Pooh fastpass before the parade. We rode Pooh and then caught Philharmagic during the fireworks. Although DD did fine with the fireworks from the Poly, we werent sure how she would handle them in MK. Philharmagic was empty there couldnt have been more than 30 or 40 people. This was our first time and we loved it!! The boys could not help but try reaching out for each 3-D effect. Thankfully, with the empty theater no one was seated in front of us or the boys would have been grabbing heads. The boys and I rode Peter Pan while DW and DD rode Dumbo. We then trick or treated for a while. By now it was around 10:30 and the kids were still doing pretty well. Our plan was to keep going as long as the kids were holding up okay. We headed into Toontown and found a pretty short line for face painting. By 11 pm, Flash had a tiger face, Batman had a snake face, and Cinderella (who had taken off the Cinderella costume earlier in the evening) had a Minnie face (in honor of her injured comrade). The face painting was free and would have cost at least $30 another ¼ our tickets recouped.
We went into the Judges tent to see which characters were around to meet. DW and DD stayed behind to meet some Princesses. On last years trip, the boys rode Goofys Barnstormer and vowed never to do so again. I told them that we could also wait to meet the Princesses or take a ride on Barnstormer. I knew that it was very late and they werent thinking clearly, and my evil plan got them onto Barnstormer. DS 6 loved it this time and wanted to immediately ride again. DS 4 ½ was not nearly as pleased. We met up with DW and DD and they took DS 6 for another ride, while DS 4 ½ and I went to meet Mickey where there was no line. We decided to call it a night and hit the trick or treating spots in Toontown. We hit the mother load. By the handfuls, the CMs were getting rid of whatever candy they had left (which appeared to be a considerable amount). They stuffed every trick or treating bag we had completely full. Other CMs were handing out JoJos Circus stickers and gave us a stack of stickers 3 inches thick. Before we hit the exits, DD had fallen asleep in her stroller. Outside of the exits, more CMs were handing out candy also by the handfuls. The value of the candy we received easily recouped the other ½ of the cost of the MNSSHP tickets. I read some posts that a few minutes after we must have left, CMs were actually giving cases of candy to guests. Good thing I ordered that Halloween Basket, huh?
MNSSHP was a resounding success. Theres so much that I havent even touched on that made the night so unique all of the characters that were out, the Halloween decorations, the costumes (notably, we did not see any Mr. & Mrs. Incredibles), etc. Even though it was a sold out event, we were not at all bothered by any crowds and walked on to just about every attraction. And Disney gave things out for FREE stroller rentals, face painting, candy, the photos mailed back home, etc. No question about it tonight was the highlight of our trip. I should mention that the idea of putting my MNSSHP tickets up for sale on Ebay had been considered. 2 weeks before our trip, 2 Adult and 2 Children tickets (just what I had) sold for something like $900 -- a considerable chunk of change. I'm so glad that I didn't pursue this.
I have some photos from MNSSHP I will share when I have a chance to link to them later today.
There was lots of candy which Feralpeg tailored to my specific requests. Also included were Nightmare Before Christmas pins which Feralpeg had added at my request for each child. The final touch was a card to the kids from Mickey Mouse in which Mickey told the kids how much he was looking forward to having them at his party that night. Feralpeg did a great job and you should consider her services if youre interested in a surprise basket for your guest room. One of the payment options accepted by Feralpeg was Paypal. I had just purchased my pins via Ebay and Paypal a week or two earlier and happily told her I had a Paypal account. How convenient. My second use already.
The primary reason why I ordered the Halloween basket was my concern about the trick or treating lines at MNSSHP. I had read some reports that the candy lines were longer than some of the attraction lines, and I really didnt want to spend our night waiting for candy. The Halloween basket was my insurance policy if the kids didnt take in a big haul of candy, we had the basket to fall back on and we knew that we could skip the candy lines. You would not believe the reaction from the boys when they saw the basket. I had to fight them off from attacking the basket, you figure. Nope, they wanted to know where their Gameboys were and basically ignored this magnificent basket. DW was curious as to where the basket had come. I speculated that maybe the Poly had sent it, but she had her doubts. It suddenly dawned on me where the WDW florists basket we received upon check-in had probably come from DW. I had not even considered DW as a suspect until then. Could it have been the Stick in the Mud?
Time now for costumes. DS 6 and DS 4 ½ went the Justice League route as Flash and Batman, respectively. DD, of course, had to be a Princess and went with Cinderella. Heres where another Stick in the Mud story comes into play. Leading up to this trip, I absolutely, positively wanted DW and I to go in costume. She showed no real interest, but listened to my various ideas, the leading one being Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. I knew there would be other Jack and Sallys at the party, but the kids love the movie so it would be a hit with them. After checking the Disney Store website I made (another) executive decision as to our costumes Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. I made this decision about 1 month before Halloween, with the movie due out the week after Halloween. DW frowned and said, No ones going to know who we are. At the 5 week mark before the party she may have been correct, but the Disney machine had not yet been turned on. I knew that the movie would be promoted like crazy in the upcoming weeks. I ordered the costumes. When they arrived, I immediately tried mine own and the kids went crazy and immediately felt the need to put their costumes on too. Now, my build is very similar to that of Mr. Incredible and the costume fit snugly. As for Mrs. Incredible a/k/a Elastigirl a/k/a Stick in the Mud, she wasnt too thrilled with the fit of her costume. DW immediately observed that in these long sleeve, full length costumes, we would bake in the FL heat. She had a point there and I had read many Dis-ers caution against this. But the costume was so cool I didnt want to give it up. And there wasnt much time left to find different costumes. Very, very reluctantly we returned Mr. and Mrs. Incredible to a Disney Store, and picked up this years Disney Store Halloween t-shirts. I was crushed. The 10 minutes I had spent in costume as Mr. Incredible had left its mark and I felt like his kindred spirit. Similar to the incognito life Mr. Incredible was forced to live in the Superhero Relocation Program (Ive seen the movie), I too would go to MNSSHP incognito as well. I had accessorized my Disney Store t-shirt with a blinking lights Mickey Sorcerers hat that I picked up at MGM earlier in our trip. I felt that I was at least in partial costume.
Costumed and ready to go, we took the boat over to MK slightly before 4 pm and entered the MK gates just after 4 pm. I couldnt help but notice the looks of envy on the faces of those guests leaving the MK as they saw us entering in costume and receiving those prized MNSSHP bracelets. We were definitely some of the first to enter for the party as we did not see too many people around us in costume. I had read on DIS that strollers were free at MK for the party. Relying on this information, we left the umbrella stroller behind. Thank you DIS the information was correct and we received 2 double strollers for no charge. A $30 savings about ¼ of the cost of the MNSSHP tickets recouped. Cinderella had her own coach (double stroller) for the ball (Halloween party) and was tickled pink.
This was Day 4 of our vacation, we had visited the other 3 Disney parks, and had been viewing the Castle from the Poly and passing MK on the Monorail for several days, but had not yet stepped inside. We were overdue. It is hard to put into words that feeling when you walk down Main Street for the first time on your vacation, no matter how many times youve walked down Main Street in the past. The feeling grabbed the kids as well as they kept pointing to the Castle and to all the sights, sounds and smells around us.
Buzz had been the boys favorite attraction last year and we headed straight to it. We walked on and DS 6 wanted to ride again. While DS 6 and I rode again, DW returned to the stroller to find a note from a NJ family we knew which said, "See you at Dinner." How they found our stroller in all of MK is beyond me. But for DW running into the mother of this other family at a store in NJ a few weeks before our trip and learning that not only would our families be in Disney the same week but that we would be at MNSSHP and Liberty Tree Tavern on the same date and time, bumping into this family at MK would have been completely unplanned. Remember, the ENTIRE State of NJ was in WDW this week. We squeezed in a ride on the tea cups and carousel and a Merlin Sword in the Stone show before our 5:15 PS at Liberty Tree Tavern.
This was probably my favorite dinner of the entire trip. Upon arrival, we found the other NJ family and spent time chatting as we both waited for our tables. It wasnt too long before we were seated. When our waiter took our drink order, he asked whether our kids wanted their drinks in the souveneir cups with the glowing ice cubes that were pointed out to us at the table next to ours. I had planned on getting the glowing ice cubes for the kids at some point on this trip what better time than Halloween. The novelty faded quickly for them. Oh well. DD needed to go potty and I took her. Heres another restaurant (in addition to Chef Mickeys) where the bathrooms are not conveniently located. You have to walk up a flight or two of stairs to find a bathroom with a single urinal and a single toilet. With the effort of getting children in and out of their costumes to use the bathroom, a line had formed at the Mens room, but was not as long as the Womens room line. Of course, DD had an accident before I could get her into the toilet, but her costume was still intact.
I found the food to be much better than I expected. Aside from the flank steak which was too dry and the ham which I didnt care to eat, everything else was very yummy. DW wasnt feeling well during this meal and didnt eat too much. I felt obligated to eat for both of us and so I did. When the apple cobbler came out for dessert, I could barely touch it but tasted enough and thought it also very good. Unlike our dinner at Chef Mickeys a few nights earlier, the boys really had fun with the characters at this meal, who, as you probably all know, were also dressed in costumes. In the span of a few minutes, we had a highlight reel of 3 events.
The first highlight was Plutos visit to our table. Upon seeing Flash and Batman, Pluto ran to the table next to ours, grabbed someones autograph book, and indicated that he wanted the boys autographs. They could not have been happier. The boys decided that Pluto could join the Justice League for the evening and bestowed upon him the title of Super Pluto. They were really having a great time.
The next highlight (or lowlight depending on your perspective) came a few moments later when Minnie Mouse visited our table. DD, who was sitting away from the characters next to DW and I, decided that she wanted to give Minnie a hug. This was a big deal, a major breakthrough. However, she didnt want to go to Minnie, but to have Minnie come to her. In order to accomplish this, DW had to get out of her seat and have Minnie take her place. Youre probably expecting that DD bursted into tears when Minnie approached. Wrong. Somehow, as DW was getting up to give Minnie her seat, DW tripped Minnie and Minnie began to fall. Before Minnie hit the ground she caught herself on an empty nearby chair. I think Minnie hurt her leg as she took quite some time getting back to her feet and quickly left our table without giving DD her hug or before I could give her my business card. Immediately, DD accused DW of hurting Minnie Mouse and was very upset with DW. We had much fun teasing DW about this the rest of our trip, especially whenever we saw Minnie.
The last highlight involved DS 4 1/2. My boys have a history of being unable to remain in their seats during a meal. They half-stand, half-sit, they circle their seats, they do just about everything but stay seated. Towards the end of the meal, DS 4 ½ had tilted his chair back such that the front legs of the chair were off the ground, while his feet were touching the back of the chair and his hands rested on the table. Naturally, the chair fell backwards from under him and he fell face first to the ground and on top of the chair. It seemed like every table around us watched this occur and everyone stopped what they were doing. DS 4 ½ got up laughing. I pronounced loud enough for everyone to hear, "Batman's okay!!" Thank goodness for that superhero costume. DW and I looked at each other with a knowing look that we were lucky that the night had not just been cut short with an emergency room visit.
We finished dinner around 6:45 and werent sure if we needed to head to Tomorrow Land until the start of the party at 7:00. We decided to stay put and strolled through Frontier Land. It was deserted. I cant imagine ever being in the MK again and not seeing anyone else in the area. We ventured towards Adventure Land and seeing that Aladdins Carpets was operating we delved in. Again, I followed a tip on DIS to have your MNSSHP photo taken in Adventure Land and we waited just a few minutes for our photo. The photo arrived at our home before we returned from our trip and came out great. We rode Jungle Cruise (not as good at night, IMHO) and Aladdin, and hit a couple of candy lines. No POC despite the fact that the boys were superheros tonight. The 8 pm parade was to start shortly and we staked out a spot in Frontier Land. The boys knew about the Headless Horseman and were eager to see him. Although the Headless Horseman passed by very quickly, the boys seemed to be satisfied. It took another 15 minutes until the parade reached us and was quite enjoyable. I really liked the gravediggers that performed with shovels and scraped the shovels against the pavement causing sparks to flare out a nice effect. Contrary to reports that fastpass was not open on other MNSSHP nights, fastpass was available tonight and I had grabbed a Pooh fastpass before the parade. We rode Pooh and then caught Philharmagic during the fireworks. Although DD did fine with the fireworks from the Poly, we werent sure how she would handle them in MK. Philharmagic was empty there couldnt have been more than 30 or 40 people. This was our first time and we loved it!! The boys could not help but try reaching out for each 3-D effect. Thankfully, with the empty theater no one was seated in front of us or the boys would have been grabbing heads. The boys and I rode Peter Pan while DW and DD rode Dumbo. We then trick or treated for a while. By now it was around 10:30 and the kids were still doing pretty well. Our plan was to keep going as long as the kids were holding up okay. We headed into Toontown and found a pretty short line for face painting. By 11 pm, Flash had a tiger face, Batman had a snake face, and Cinderella (who had taken off the Cinderella costume earlier in the evening) had a Minnie face (in honor of her injured comrade). The face painting was free and would have cost at least $30 another ¼ our tickets recouped.
We went into the Judges tent to see which characters were around to meet. DW and DD stayed behind to meet some Princesses. On last years trip, the boys rode Goofys Barnstormer and vowed never to do so again. I told them that we could also wait to meet the Princesses or take a ride on Barnstormer. I knew that it was very late and they werent thinking clearly, and my evil plan got them onto Barnstormer. DS 6 loved it this time and wanted to immediately ride again. DS 4 ½ was not nearly as pleased. We met up with DW and DD and they took DS 6 for another ride, while DS 4 ½ and I went to meet Mickey where there was no line. We decided to call it a night and hit the trick or treating spots in Toontown. We hit the mother load. By the handfuls, the CMs were getting rid of whatever candy they had left (which appeared to be a considerable amount). They stuffed every trick or treating bag we had completely full. Other CMs were handing out JoJos Circus stickers and gave us a stack of stickers 3 inches thick. Before we hit the exits, DD had fallen asleep in her stroller. Outside of the exits, more CMs were handing out candy also by the handfuls. The value of the candy we received easily recouped the other ½ of the cost of the MNSSHP tickets. I read some posts that a few minutes after we must have left, CMs were actually giving cases of candy to guests. Good thing I ordered that Halloween Basket, huh?
MNSSHP was a resounding success. Theres so much that I havent even touched on that made the night so unique all of the characters that were out, the Halloween decorations, the costumes (notably, we did not see any Mr. & Mrs. Incredibles), etc. Even though it was a sold out event, we were not at all bothered by any crowds and walked on to just about every attraction. And Disney gave things out for FREE stroller rentals, face painting, candy, the photos mailed back home, etc. No question about it tonight was the highlight of our trip. I should mention that the idea of putting my MNSSHP tickets up for sale on Ebay had been considered. 2 weeks before our trip, 2 Adult and 2 Children tickets (just what I had) sold for something like $900 -- a considerable chunk of change. I'm so glad that I didn't pursue this.
I have some photos from MNSSHP I will share when I have a chance to link to them later today.
Halloween Basket by Feralpeg:
A Disney Princess:
Two Super Heros and a Super Dog:
Painted Faces:
http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu...9f2f76d8874c465/f6368419.jpg&caption=.avi0162
A Disney Princess:
Two Super Heros and a Super Dog:
Painted Faces:
http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu...9f2f76d8874c465/f6368419.jpg&caption=.avi0162
As I knew the prior nights MNSSHP would be a late night, we planned on today being a quiet day without any parks. I had to wake everyone up earlier than I would have liked because the boys were going on the Pirates Cruise this morning and needed to arrive at the GF at 9 am. Had we been staying anywhere other than a Monorail resort, we would have needed to get going even earlier
thank you again Poly. I grabbed some breakfast for the boys from Captain Cooks to go and we headed over to GF. We felt like a couple of country bumpkins pouring into the GF lobby with our breakfast bag. We found some kids tables and a t.v. showing a Donald Duck cartoon. As the boys ate their breakfast, I took in the beauty of the GF lobby. I havent stayed at the GF and therefore cannot make an informed judgment, but from the couple of times Ive passed through, Ive concluded that we wouldnt be as happy staying at the GF as other resorts. I just dont find it as welcoming as the Poly and WL. While Im a long ways away from taking a non-kids trip to WDW, I would imagine that GF may be high on my list of places to try then.
If any of you are unfamiliar with the Pirates Cruise, go back and read the report of Janet2ks DD who provided a blow by blow of the entire Cruise. I was thankful for this report because I learned very little about the Cruise from the boys. Briefly, upon checking-in each child is given a Pirates bandana with Mickey ears. They are then paired off, given some instructions about listening, and off to their boat. There was really a wide variety in ages, starting with my DS 4 ½ at the young end and others that looked to be at least 11 or 12. As the Pirates Cruise departed, the parents collectively jumped for joy, patted each other on the back and wished each other an enjoyable 2 hours of quiet time. I kid you not.
Of course, I did not fall into the class of parents that were about to relax and unwind. As much as I tried to pass DD off as a 4 year old (the minimum age to be a Pirate), she was classified as a Princess and remained in the care of her loyal servants. I originally had a PS for 1900 Park Fare for breakfast for DW, DD and I, but since DD and characters were not mixing well, I changed the breakfast PS to the Grand Floridian Café. I had a surprise planned for this breakfast and needed to be alone when I checked in and pawned DD off to DW. DD was not at all happy about this and started shrieking. I was at the check-in area of the Grand Floridian Café working out the details of my surprise, and heard DD screaming in the background. I had ordered a Cinderellas chocolate slipper for dessert, but it was supposed to be waiting for us at 1900 Park Fare, not the Grand Floridian Café. The check-in person called a manager and it took the manager a good 10 minutes to arrive. I explained the situation, that it was a surprise, and to please alert my server to bring it out as a surprise. I followed the cries to the GF lobby and found DD with a handful of stickers DDs collection was ever increasing. We waited at least 20 minutes for our table and when we were finally seated the server immediately asked, Would you like me to bring out your dessert with your meal or after your meal? Dessert, what dessert? I responded. Obviously my instructions had not reached our server. The server had a bewildered look on her face and I told her to please bring it out after we ate. I was then obligated to spill the beans to DW before the slipper arrived. The slipper was presented to DD and she was quite interested in it. It wasnt long before DW and I dug in and it was delicious. Considering the presentation and how good it tasted, I thought the slipper was a good value. Heres a picture.
We strolled the grounds of the GF, happened to bump into the family with the child that was my former client, and just barely made it to the marina in time to greet the returning pirates as they were loudly singing, Yo Ho Ho, A Pirates Life For Me. Pressing the boys for details of their 2 hour adventure proved impossible as they were too interested in the share of treasure they received from the booty. When asked whether they wanted to do the Pirates Cruise again on our next trip, they both enthusiastically said yes. I took that as a measure that the Pirates Cruise was a success.
As we entered the Polys GCH from the Monorail, DS 4 ½ needed a bathroom. The others went ahead to the room to change into their bathing suits. After DS 4 ½ took care of business, he and I headed down to the Front Desk to pick up our Hoop Dee Doo Review tickets for later in the week. I had tried picking up these tickets twice earlier, but the lines at the Front Desk were too darn long. There was a shorter line now and I figured what better time than the present. Of course, DS 4 ½ would not stand with me in line and was keeping himself occupied around the waterfall in the GCH. I was on line for about 5 minutes when DS 4 ½ announced he needed to go to the bathroom. Isnt that where we just came from, I responded. I was next in line, had invested 5 minutes, and had several people in line behind me now. I asked DS 4 ½ to wait just a few more minutes. When I next looked at DS 4 ½ a few moments later he was standing perfectly still with a blank look on his face. I immediately said, Youre not doing what I think youre doing, are you? The blank look remained and no response. Oh no I thought. I jumped off the line and dragged him into the GCH bathroom. Holding back tears and with his voice cracking he wimpered, I told you I needed to go. I couldnt hold it in. Unfortunately for me, DS 4 ½s accident was of a different nature than DDs comparatively easier to clean bladder problems. Ahhhh, the pleasure of being a parent. I felt terrible for the mess we left in the bathroom. I wisked a half-naked DS 4 ½ through the GCH to our Longhouse. As we entered our room, DW began to ask where wed been for the last 25 minutes until she saw her half-naked son in front of her. I got our HDDR tickets later that day.
After a family swim, I asked the boys if they wanted to go for a ride in a sea raycer. DS 4 ½ was stoked and, to my surprise, DS 6 took a pass. Before DW could get some photos of DS 4 ½ and me in the sea raycer, DD had an accident and they needed to depart. What is with my kids?!? I thought that from the sea raycer, Id be able to get some good video, so I took the camcorder with us. It was quite difficult to maneuver the camcorder and the sea raycer since the sea raycer speed lever required use of my right hand which was also needed for the camcorder. Additionally, the glare from the water made it impossible for me to view the LCD screen, so I put the camcorder back in its case. Not a moment later we hit a wave nose first (I dont know a bow from a stern) and got soaked. After making sure DS 4 ½ was still in the boat, I reached for the camcorder case which was pretty wet. Oh no I thought. Have I lost all the video from this trip? Will I be without a camcorder for the rest of the trip? Will I need to replace this camcorder with a new camcorder that wrote directly to DVD? Maybe not all was lost. Investigating the damage would have to wait until we were back on land. About 20 minutes out, DS 4 ½ began to fall asleep in the boat and didnt look so good. Maybe he was getting sea sick or he was just exhausted from the night before. We headed back in and I got DS 4 ½ in bed for some rest. DD was already napping. The camcorder appeared to be out of commission. It powered on (which I took as a good sign), but displayed an error message number. Of course, the manual was in NJ and the number was meaningless to me. I put the camcorder out on the balcony and hoped that the FL sun would work some magic.
Tonight was our big dinner for DWs birthday (which was actually one week later, but we were celebrating it tonight). Dinner was at the California Grill and it was a Wishes night. I had DWs birthday noted on our PS notes. The boys were to go to the Neverland Club, and DD was coming with us (too young for the Neverland Club). When DS 4 ½ woke up from his nap, he wasnt quite himself and was clearly not feeling 100%. We asked him what he wanted to do and he was certain that he wanted the Neverland Club. We brought the boys over and received our beeper. This place was way cool. The theming was, as indicated by the name, of Peter Pan. There was a small arcade, Play Stations, a huge movie screen, computers, arts & crafts, buffet dinner and more. We werent sure whether the boys would be clingy when we left, especially DS 4 ½ not feeling well, but they made themselves busy immediately and we departed a bit uneasy with our decision to leave DS 4 ½.
When we arrived at the Contemporary, we were 30 minutes early for our PS. However, DWs best friend (DWF) had arrived at the Contemporary earlier that day for the start of her vacation so we caught up with her. DWF is, of course, from NJ and, naturally, was in WDW for Jersey Week. A quick aside about DWF. DWF decided to visit WDW no more than 5 weeks earlier. While DWF is very dear to me, she is one of those people (and she would agree) that needs to have her hands held and everything planned for her by others. Who better than a Disney obsessed junkie like me. Our vacation plans had long been finalized and DWFs trip gave me something new to plan. And plan I did air transportation, ground transportation, resort ressies, park passes, restaurant PSs I did it all and did so gladly as I enjoy doing this. After all of DWFs plans were finalized, she advised that in addition to her, her grandma and her son (4 years old), her father had just decided to join them on their trip. Plan again I did to add that 4th person into all of her vacation plans. DWF made it to the Contemporary on time and as planned which was a pleasant surprise. It would not have at all been unusual if she had missed her flight. However, true to form, DWFs father had not made the trip that day because he was ill and hoped to get on a flight the next day, and DWF lost her stroller in the airport. All was well with the world.
Not 5 minutes after we met up with DWF, the beeper started beeping. We called the Neverland Club and was advised that DS 4 ½ was not feeling well and wanted to be picked up. Missing out on California Grill was disappointing as it would have been our first time. When DW went to the podium to advise that we had to cancel the CM commented, Oh, I see its your birthday. DW, DD and I were about to head to the Monorail when it dawned on me that all 3 of us werent needed to pick up DS 4 ½. I knew that DWF was to eat dinner at Chef Mickeys shortly (I had made the PS), and had an extra seat available with her father having not made the trip. I suggested that DW and DD join DWF for dinner. I knew that DW wasnt crazy about our Chef Mickeys dinner earlier in the week, but it gave her a chance to spend the night with DWF, plus DD has a crush on DWFs son. They stayed behind.
When I got to the Neverland Club, I found DS 4 ½ sitting quietly by himself. In his time of need, where was his big brother? Playing in the arcade with another child that he had met. While DS 4 ½ obviously wasnt feeling well, I suspected that also contributing to his cry for help was DS 6s apparent abandonment of him. I asked DS 6 whether he wanted to stay in the Neverland Club or return to the room with us. No response as he played the Spider Man arcade game. I asked again. No response. DS 4 ½ and I left, and I called DW to tell her to pick DS 6 up when she returned to the Poly if he had not turned into a zombie.
DS 4 ½ and I made the best of it back in our room. I was starving and ordered us some room service. The cheeseburger was really very good. I gave the wait person a good tip and he said that when we were done I should call room service and he would come to clean up. I did so and a different person from room service showed up so I felt obligated to tip him as well. The next morning I happened to review my receipt for the room service and saw that a gratuity was automatically included. Room service made out like bandits that night. As we ate our food, Wishes started. Instead of watching Wishes with DW from the California Grill, DS 4 ½ and I watched from our room while eating burgers and pizza. Such is life with young children you make your best laid plans and then modify them as needed. Although this was not quite the moment I had planned for tonight, similar to the memorable night DD and I had shared also watching fireworks together from the room, doing so one-on-one with DS 4 ½ tonight was equally as special. I am told that when DW and the others returned, they found me asleep with DS 4 ½ in bed awake watching television.
The night ended with uncertainty as to whether DS 4 ½ would be able to venture out the next day and how we might need to rearrange our plans if DS 4 ½ were really sick.
If any of you are unfamiliar with the Pirates Cruise, go back and read the report of Janet2ks DD who provided a blow by blow of the entire Cruise. I was thankful for this report because I learned very little about the Cruise from the boys. Briefly, upon checking-in each child is given a Pirates bandana with Mickey ears. They are then paired off, given some instructions about listening, and off to their boat. There was really a wide variety in ages, starting with my DS 4 ½ at the young end and others that looked to be at least 11 or 12. As the Pirates Cruise departed, the parents collectively jumped for joy, patted each other on the back and wished each other an enjoyable 2 hours of quiet time. I kid you not.
Of course, I did not fall into the class of parents that were about to relax and unwind. As much as I tried to pass DD off as a 4 year old (the minimum age to be a Pirate), she was classified as a Princess and remained in the care of her loyal servants. I originally had a PS for 1900 Park Fare for breakfast for DW, DD and I, but since DD and characters were not mixing well, I changed the breakfast PS to the Grand Floridian Café. I had a surprise planned for this breakfast and needed to be alone when I checked in and pawned DD off to DW. DD was not at all happy about this and started shrieking. I was at the check-in area of the Grand Floridian Café working out the details of my surprise, and heard DD screaming in the background. I had ordered a Cinderellas chocolate slipper for dessert, but it was supposed to be waiting for us at 1900 Park Fare, not the Grand Floridian Café. The check-in person called a manager and it took the manager a good 10 minutes to arrive. I explained the situation, that it was a surprise, and to please alert my server to bring it out as a surprise. I followed the cries to the GF lobby and found DD with a handful of stickers DDs collection was ever increasing. We waited at least 20 minutes for our table and when we were finally seated the server immediately asked, Would you like me to bring out your dessert with your meal or after your meal? Dessert, what dessert? I responded. Obviously my instructions had not reached our server. The server had a bewildered look on her face and I told her to please bring it out after we ate. I was then obligated to spill the beans to DW before the slipper arrived. The slipper was presented to DD and she was quite interested in it. It wasnt long before DW and I dug in and it was delicious. Considering the presentation and how good it tasted, I thought the slipper was a good value. Heres a picture.
We strolled the grounds of the GF, happened to bump into the family with the child that was my former client, and just barely made it to the marina in time to greet the returning pirates as they were loudly singing, Yo Ho Ho, A Pirates Life For Me. Pressing the boys for details of their 2 hour adventure proved impossible as they were too interested in the share of treasure they received from the booty. When asked whether they wanted to do the Pirates Cruise again on our next trip, they both enthusiastically said yes. I took that as a measure that the Pirates Cruise was a success.
As we entered the Polys GCH from the Monorail, DS 4 ½ needed a bathroom. The others went ahead to the room to change into their bathing suits. After DS 4 ½ took care of business, he and I headed down to the Front Desk to pick up our Hoop Dee Doo Review tickets for later in the week. I had tried picking up these tickets twice earlier, but the lines at the Front Desk were too darn long. There was a shorter line now and I figured what better time than the present. Of course, DS 4 ½ would not stand with me in line and was keeping himself occupied around the waterfall in the GCH. I was on line for about 5 minutes when DS 4 ½ announced he needed to go to the bathroom. Isnt that where we just came from, I responded. I was next in line, had invested 5 minutes, and had several people in line behind me now. I asked DS 4 ½ to wait just a few more minutes. When I next looked at DS 4 ½ a few moments later he was standing perfectly still with a blank look on his face. I immediately said, Youre not doing what I think youre doing, are you? The blank look remained and no response. Oh no I thought. I jumped off the line and dragged him into the GCH bathroom. Holding back tears and with his voice cracking he wimpered, I told you I needed to go. I couldnt hold it in. Unfortunately for me, DS 4 ½s accident was of a different nature than DDs comparatively easier to clean bladder problems. Ahhhh, the pleasure of being a parent. I felt terrible for the mess we left in the bathroom. I wisked a half-naked DS 4 ½ through the GCH to our Longhouse. As we entered our room, DW began to ask where wed been for the last 25 minutes until she saw her half-naked son in front of her. I got our HDDR tickets later that day.
After a family swim, I asked the boys if they wanted to go for a ride in a sea raycer. DS 4 ½ was stoked and, to my surprise, DS 6 took a pass. Before DW could get some photos of DS 4 ½ and me in the sea raycer, DD had an accident and they needed to depart. What is with my kids?!? I thought that from the sea raycer, Id be able to get some good video, so I took the camcorder with us. It was quite difficult to maneuver the camcorder and the sea raycer since the sea raycer speed lever required use of my right hand which was also needed for the camcorder. Additionally, the glare from the water made it impossible for me to view the LCD screen, so I put the camcorder back in its case. Not a moment later we hit a wave nose first (I dont know a bow from a stern) and got soaked. After making sure DS 4 ½ was still in the boat, I reached for the camcorder case which was pretty wet. Oh no I thought. Have I lost all the video from this trip? Will I be without a camcorder for the rest of the trip? Will I need to replace this camcorder with a new camcorder that wrote directly to DVD? Maybe not all was lost. Investigating the damage would have to wait until we were back on land. About 20 minutes out, DS 4 ½ began to fall asleep in the boat and didnt look so good. Maybe he was getting sea sick or he was just exhausted from the night before. We headed back in and I got DS 4 ½ in bed for some rest. DD was already napping. The camcorder appeared to be out of commission. It powered on (which I took as a good sign), but displayed an error message number. Of course, the manual was in NJ and the number was meaningless to me. I put the camcorder out on the balcony and hoped that the FL sun would work some magic.
Tonight was our big dinner for DWs birthday (which was actually one week later, but we were celebrating it tonight). Dinner was at the California Grill and it was a Wishes night. I had DWs birthday noted on our PS notes. The boys were to go to the Neverland Club, and DD was coming with us (too young for the Neverland Club). When DS 4 ½ woke up from his nap, he wasnt quite himself and was clearly not feeling 100%. We asked him what he wanted to do and he was certain that he wanted the Neverland Club. We brought the boys over and received our beeper. This place was way cool. The theming was, as indicated by the name, of Peter Pan. There was a small arcade, Play Stations, a huge movie screen, computers, arts & crafts, buffet dinner and more. We werent sure whether the boys would be clingy when we left, especially DS 4 ½ not feeling well, but they made themselves busy immediately and we departed a bit uneasy with our decision to leave DS 4 ½.
When we arrived at the Contemporary, we were 30 minutes early for our PS. However, DWs best friend (DWF) had arrived at the Contemporary earlier that day for the start of her vacation so we caught up with her. DWF is, of course, from NJ and, naturally, was in WDW for Jersey Week. A quick aside about DWF. DWF decided to visit WDW no more than 5 weeks earlier. While DWF is very dear to me, she is one of those people (and she would agree) that needs to have her hands held and everything planned for her by others. Who better than a Disney obsessed junkie like me. Our vacation plans had long been finalized and DWFs trip gave me something new to plan. And plan I did air transportation, ground transportation, resort ressies, park passes, restaurant PSs I did it all and did so gladly as I enjoy doing this. After all of DWFs plans were finalized, she advised that in addition to her, her grandma and her son (4 years old), her father had just decided to join them on their trip. Plan again I did to add that 4th person into all of her vacation plans. DWF made it to the Contemporary on time and as planned which was a pleasant surprise. It would not have at all been unusual if she had missed her flight. However, true to form, DWFs father had not made the trip that day because he was ill and hoped to get on a flight the next day, and DWF lost her stroller in the airport. All was well with the world.
Not 5 minutes after we met up with DWF, the beeper started beeping. We called the Neverland Club and was advised that DS 4 ½ was not feeling well and wanted to be picked up. Missing out on California Grill was disappointing as it would have been our first time. When DW went to the podium to advise that we had to cancel the CM commented, Oh, I see its your birthday. DW, DD and I were about to head to the Monorail when it dawned on me that all 3 of us werent needed to pick up DS 4 ½. I knew that DWF was to eat dinner at Chef Mickeys shortly (I had made the PS), and had an extra seat available with her father having not made the trip. I suggested that DW and DD join DWF for dinner. I knew that DW wasnt crazy about our Chef Mickeys dinner earlier in the week, but it gave her a chance to spend the night with DWF, plus DD has a crush on DWFs son. They stayed behind.
When I got to the Neverland Club, I found DS 4 ½ sitting quietly by himself. In his time of need, where was his big brother? Playing in the arcade with another child that he had met. While DS 4 ½ obviously wasnt feeling well, I suspected that also contributing to his cry for help was DS 6s apparent abandonment of him. I asked DS 6 whether he wanted to stay in the Neverland Club or return to the room with us. No response as he played the Spider Man arcade game. I asked again. No response. DS 4 ½ and I left, and I called DW to tell her to pick DS 6 up when she returned to the Poly if he had not turned into a zombie.
DS 4 ½ and I made the best of it back in our room. I was starving and ordered us some room service. The cheeseburger was really very good. I gave the wait person a good tip and he said that when we were done I should call room service and he would come to clean up. I did so and a different person from room service showed up so I felt obligated to tip him as well. The next morning I happened to review my receipt for the room service and saw that a gratuity was automatically included. Room service made out like bandits that night. As we ate our food, Wishes started. Instead of watching Wishes with DW from the California Grill, DS 4 ½ and I watched from our room while eating burgers and pizza. Such is life with young children you make your best laid plans and then modify them as needed. Although this was not quite the moment I had planned for tonight, similar to the memorable night DD and I had shared also watching fireworks together from the room, doing so one-on-one with DS 4 ½ tonight was equally as special. I am told that when DW and the others returned, they found me asleep with DS 4 ½ in bed awake watching television.
The night ended with uncertainty as to whether DS 4 ½ would be able to venture out the next day and how we might need to rearrange our plans if DS 4 ½ were really sick.
DisneyMomx7
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2004
- Messages
- 12,436
Thanks for the updates. Maybe all Jersey families are alike. I wanted to tell you though that GF may seem not as Disney friendly when you're visiting there, but it really is very child friendly and you do really get the feel of Disney. We have three small children and the only places I would stay right now would be GF (our favorite) or Poly because of monorail access to MK. If you every go in July to GF and see three kids fighting over pressing the elevator buttons - they'll be mine!
Day 6. DS 4 ½ wakes up well and is roaring to go. Our contingent plans for DW or I to stay behind with a sick kid remain contingent plans. MK is on our agenda for today and we arrive about 20 minutes before park opening. While waiting to get through the turnstiles, we get a call from DWs best friend (DWF) who is supposed to meet us at the gates at opening. Shes just leaving the Contemporary now and we give instructions to meet us by the stroller rental. Were a little unsure whether DWF will find her way to MK from the Contemporary (you and I know how easy it is, but you dont know DWF) and she didnt get as an early of a start as we had hoped. When we go to enter, the first park pass cannot be read, then the second, third and fourth passes also cannot be read. ***?? A CM whisks our passes away and we are asked to wait. And we wait and wait and wait. Im stationed at the turnstiles closest to the stroller rentals and see masses of people gathering where I would have been front and center. After about 15 minutes and just before the park is to open our new set of passes are returned to us. I wish they would have just let us enter and accompany the CM to guest services. The passes were again demagnetized. I just dont get it. Im not keeping anything in my pocket that might affect the park passes. Yet again, this will not be the last time our park passes are an issue.
We just make it inside to see the opening ceremony (kids again up on shoulders). DW and DD head to the stroller rental, while boys and I wait over by Tonys. And we wait and wait and wait. 9:05 turns into 9:10, 9:10 turns into 9:15. As much as I tried not to be a commando on this trip and, for the most part, suppressed my commando tendencies, its in my blood. If Im going to bother arriving at opening, I want to make the most of my time in the park. At 9:15 DW and DD finally show up with the strollers (weve rented 2 doubles to accommodate my 3 kids and DWFs son). 15 minutes of MK fun lost on a stroller line drats!! But wait, theres still no sign of DWF. Minutes, valuable minutes are passing by and we are doing nothing but standing in front of Tonys. Our calls to DWFs cell phone go unanswered. The commando in me cannot be suppressed any longer. I rather curtly tell DW, Im going on in with the kids. Are you with us or not? I havent mentioned that DD has been even more difficult to deal with this morning than on any other day yet and DW is undoubtedly thinking she may be better off letting us go ahead without her. As Ive now missed 25 minutes of MK standing around, my ability to think clearly is so compromised that Im willing to plow ahead with all 3 kids on my own. Crazy idea now that I reflect upon it. Just as DW is leaving one last message for DWF, DWF appears. No time for hugs and long hellos, lets go!!! I grab one of the double strollers and leave them in my dust. Im bounding down Main Street like a mad man and am thinking to myself that maybe I should buckle the kids into the stroller. Just as Im approaching the turn for Tomorrowland, I see the Main Street photographers and realize that we need to get a Castle photo taken. As much as I dont want to stop, this is an important stop. We pose with our camera and the CMs camera. We wait while DWF poses with her camera and the CMs camera. Those photos better come out good.
As were approaching Buzz, I spot Stitch. My kids have already passed on every character so I know that Im not in for a delay. However, theres DWFs son and his autograph book. I make as if Stitch isnt there and that 20 kids are lined up against a wall for no particular reason and beeline to the stroller parking. We all make it without stopping. I score particularly well on Buzz and am in a much better mood. Amazing what a laser cannon can do for ones spirits. As we avoided the Speedway at MNSSHP, theres no passing by it again. I ride with DS 4 ½ and DD. After a struggle between DS 4 ½ and DD for control of the steering wheel, were on our way with DS 4 ½ at the helm. I let DS 4 ½ drive the entire length of the course and disembark from our racing car with a herniated disc and concussion. That car hits the guiding track pretty violently if you dont steer it and our entire ride was one crash after another against the guiding track. DS 4 ½ couldnt have been more pleased with his driving skills. I then ride the tea cups with all 4 kids what fun.
We spend the next couple of hours hitting Fantasyland, except for Dumbo which none of the kids express an interest in (THANK YOU!!). We have a major break down with my kids when DWFs son gets one of those oversized lollipops in the Pooh gift shop. Theres no explaining to my kids that its DWFs son first day in the parks, first time ever in MK, and that they have been getting gifts and treats for a week now. The only way to resolve this situation is to buy each of my guys their own lollipops and I cave in. I thought about buying a fourth lollipop for myself, but resisted the urge. While in Fantasyland, we catch Merlin and the Sword in the Stone. Having seen the show earlier at MNSSHP, I position the 3 boys as close to the front of the show as possible. Merlin grabs that stick thing he uses to choose his participants and you guess it Im picked. With my kids in the audience, Im fit to put on a pretty good show. I struggle mightily to remove the sword, but like every adult before me, it doesnt budge. Im regulated to the role of Bodyguard and put on my best Bodyguard pose while another child (not one of ours) easily removes the sword out of the stone. As I proudly return to my family as the newly anointed Bodyguard, Im met with cries of Lets go see the Donald Duck movie (Philarmagic) and DWs comment that I wore a shirt that had stains. My 15 minutes is very short lived.
We squeeze in Cinderellas Surprise Celebration before lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. I know that its been said before about the Plaza Restaurant and its true this place is underrated. Its a great alternative to counter service, without the prices you find at every other sit-down restaurant in MK. The kids want to sit together, but with our 2 tables spaced pretty far apart, parental supervision is required. I volunteer in order to give DW some time with DWF and DWFs grandma. I had a blast at lunch with all 4 kids. They were very silly together and entertained themselves with lots of bathroom humor. Of course, I encouraged most of their joking. I had the reuben which was very good, and the kids ordered the mini burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Finally, something other than chicken nuggets and french fries or mac and cheese.
After lunch, we did Adventureland (still no POC). After finishing Adventureland I was sent ahead to get Fastpasses for Splash. We had skipped Splash last year with the kids so young and I hadnt ridden it in 5 years. To my dismay, Splash was down, so I grabbed passes for BTMR. When the gang caught up with me, they decided that BTMR was too roller coaster like for the kids and DWFs grandma. I wanted to ride and asked DS 6 what he wanted to do. DS 6 wanted to go. I couldnt have been happier. The rest of them went off to see the Country Bears while DS 6 and I hit BTMR. The next closest thing DS 6 had ever ridden was Goofys Barnstormer. He wasnt in the least bit nervous and loved, loved, loved BTMR. I was beaming. A new world of Disney attractions had just been opened for us. He wanted to ride again and we had 5 more Fastpasses. However, I didnt want to keep the others waiting and gave the Fastpasses to a very grateful family. With BTMR under his belt, what would be next?
We arrived at the Country Bears just as the 3 pm parade was starting. We found the strollers and there was no sign of our group. As we had arrived late to the parade, the sidewalk was four or five deep and DS 6 couldnt see a thing. DS 6 and all 55 pounds of him went up on my shoulders for the entire parade. This was the first time for us seeing this parade and we enjoyed it. However, I wished that the floats could have moved a little faster as the weight of DS 6 on my shoulders for 15+ minutes was taking its toll. The rest of the gang had caught the end of the parade after they got out of the Country Bears.
We decide to head out of the park and stop off for our photos. DS 4 1/2 and DD are out of control while waiting. We're in the Tony's waiting area and they are jumping off of furniture, standing in front of the Lady & The Tramp movie blocking the view of other kids, and god knows what else they were doing. DW returns with news that our photos didn't come out good (grrrrrr), but that DWF is still deciding what to do with hers. I advise DW that I must leave now with DS 4 1/2 and DD and do so. As we walk out, DS 4 1/2 jumps from the top of the stairs outside the photo center to the ground below. Instead of landing on his feet, he lands on his right leg scraping the ground. As he is screaming and crying, I drag him and his sister out to the Monorail. Its not until we're on the Monorail that I notice the blood streaming down DS 4 1/2's leg. He scraped himself really bad. I felt terrible that I hadn't addressed his leg while still in MK. Back in our room, a couple of bandaids seem to appease him. He still has the scar today nearly 3 weeks later.
Tonight we were supposed to go to Epcot with DWF to eat at Teppanyaki and watch Illuminations. Im indifferent towards Japanese hibachi having had it many times back home, but the kids have never had it and I figured that they would get a kick out of the chefs performance. However, DWF calls to tell us that they plan on going back to MK tonight. Tonights a Wishes night at MK so Im not too adverse to returning to MK, but I know that well end up eating counter service as opposed to something much nicer at Teppanyaki. We head into MK after all and end up at Cosmic Rays. Weve eaten at Cosmic Rays before and find this meal not up to par. Maybe its the missing lounge lizard thingy or just that Id prefer to be eating in Epcot. Oh, by the way, DWF never shows. They decide to spend the night at the Contemporary.
DS 6 announces that he wants to ride Space Mountain. This time Im the one whos stoked. Like Splash, its been 5 years since Ive ridden Space. As DS 6 and I head to Space, the others go to the Speedway. DS 6 is in awe of the out of this world theming as we head through Space. When its our time to board, we are offered the first car. DS 6 decides that he will be better off in the second seat and not the first. Before we know it, were shot off and have returned from our journey. DS 6 proclaims this to be his favorite ride. Im ecstatic. Im in that same place as when DS 6 took his first steps, boarded the bus on his first day of Kindergarten, and lost his first tooth. Is it normal to have this reaction for a roller coaster? Theres a certain swagger in DS 6s step as we catch up with the others. We board the Transit Authority and DS 6 proudly describes Space to his brother and sister as the Transit Authority passes through Space. DS 4 ½ is in awe. We head over to the Tommorowland bridge and grab a spot for Wishes. The bridge is not very crowded. This is our first time viewing Wishes and we are all very impressed. We had a good spot to catch Tinkerbelles flight and a clear view of the fireworks. Lots of oooohs and aaaahs from DD. Topping off a very fun evening is a night time swim for me and the boys.
We just make it inside to see the opening ceremony (kids again up on shoulders). DW and DD head to the stroller rental, while boys and I wait over by Tonys. And we wait and wait and wait. 9:05 turns into 9:10, 9:10 turns into 9:15. As much as I tried not to be a commando on this trip and, for the most part, suppressed my commando tendencies, its in my blood. If Im going to bother arriving at opening, I want to make the most of my time in the park. At 9:15 DW and DD finally show up with the strollers (weve rented 2 doubles to accommodate my 3 kids and DWFs son). 15 minutes of MK fun lost on a stroller line drats!! But wait, theres still no sign of DWF. Minutes, valuable minutes are passing by and we are doing nothing but standing in front of Tonys. Our calls to DWFs cell phone go unanswered. The commando in me cannot be suppressed any longer. I rather curtly tell DW, Im going on in with the kids. Are you with us or not? I havent mentioned that DD has been even more difficult to deal with this morning than on any other day yet and DW is undoubtedly thinking she may be better off letting us go ahead without her. As Ive now missed 25 minutes of MK standing around, my ability to think clearly is so compromised that Im willing to plow ahead with all 3 kids on my own. Crazy idea now that I reflect upon it. Just as DW is leaving one last message for DWF, DWF appears. No time for hugs and long hellos, lets go!!! I grab one of the double strollers and leave them in my dust. Im bounding down Main Street like a mad man and am thinking to myself that maybe I should buckle the kids into the stroller. Just as Im approaching the turn for Tomorrowland, I see the Main Street photographers and realize that we need to get a Castle photo taken. As much as I dont want to stop, this is an important stop. We pose with our camera and the CMs camera. We wait while DWF poses with her camera and the CMs camera. Those photos better come out good.
As were approaching Buzz, I spot Stitch. My kids have already passed on every character so I know that Im not in for a delay. However, theres DWFs son and his autograph book. I make as if Stitch isnt there and that 20 kids are lined up against a wall for no particular reason and beeline to the stroller parking. We all make it without stopping. I score particularly well on Buzz and am in a much better mood. Amazing what a laser cannon can do for ones spirits. As we avoided the Speedway at MNSSHP, theres no passing by it again. I ride with DS 4 ½ and DD. After a struggle between DS 4 ½ and DD for control of the steering wheel, were on our way with DS 4 ½ at the helm. I let DS 4 ½ drive the entire length of the course and disembark from our racing car with a herniated disc and concussion. That car hits the guiding track pretty violently if you dont steer it and our entire ride was one crash after another against the guiding track. DS 4 ½ couldnt have been more pleased with his driving skills. I then ride the tea cups with all 4 kids what fun.
We spend the next couple of hours hitting Fantasyland, except for Dumbo which none of the kids express an interest in (THANK YOU!!). We have a major break down with my kids when DWFs son gets one of those oversized lollipops in the Pooh gift shop. Theres no explaining to my kids that its DWFs son first day in the parks, first time ever in MK, and that they have been getting gifts and treats for a week now. The only way to resolve this situation is to buy each of my guys their own lollipops and I cave in. I thought about buying a fourth lollipop for myself, but resisted the urge. While in Fantasyland, we catch Merlin and the Sword in the Stone. Having seen the show earlier at MNSSHP, I position the 3 boys as close to the front of the show as possible. Merlin grabs that stick thing he uses to choose his participants and you guess it Im picked. With my kids in the audience, Im fit to put on a pretty good show. I struggle mightily to remove the sword, but like every adult before me, it doesnt budge. Im regulated to the role of Bodyguard and put on my best Bodyguard pose while another child (not one of ours) easily removes the sword out of the stone. As I proudly return to my family as the newly anointed Bodyguard, Im met with cries of Lets go see the Donald Duck movie (Philarmagic) and DWs comment that I wore a shirt that had stains. My 15 minutes is very short lived.
We squeeze in Cinderellas Surprise Celebration before lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. I know that its been said before about the Plaza Restaurant and its true this place is underrated. Its a great alternative to counter service, without the prices you find at every other sit-down restaurant in MK. The kids want to sit together, but with our 2 tables spaced pretty far apart, parental supervision is required. I volunteer in order to give DW some time with DWF and DWFs grandma. I had a blast at lunch with all 4 kids. They were very silly together and entertained themselves with lots of bathroom humor. Of course, I encouraged most of their joking. I had the reuben which was very good, and the kids ordered the mini burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Finally, something other than chicken nuggets and french fries or mac and cheese.
After lunch, we did Adventureland (still no POC). After finishing Adventureland I was sent ahead to get Fastpasses for Splash. We had skipped Splash last year with the kids so young and I hadnt ridden it in 5 years. To my dismay, Splash was down, so I grabbed passes for BTMR. When the gang caught up with me, they decided that BTMR was too roller coaster like for the kids and DWFs grandma. I wanted to ride and asked DS 6 what he wanted to do. DS 6 wanted to go. I couldnt have been happier. The rest of them went off to see the Country Bears while DS 6 and I hit BTMR. The next closest thing DS 6 had ever ridden was Goofys Barnstormer. He wasnt in the least bit nervous and loved, loved, loved BTMR. I was beaming. A new world of Disney attractions had just been opened for us. He wanted to ride again and we had 5 more Fastpasses. However, I didnt want to keep the others waiting and gave the Fastpasses to a very grateful family. With BTMR under his belt, what would be next?
We arrived at the Country Bears just as the 3 pm parade was starting. We found the strollers and there was no sign of our group. As we had arrived late to the parade, the sidewalk was four or five deep and DS 6 couldnt see a thing. DS 6 and all 55 pounds of him went up on my shoulders for the entire parade. This was the first time for us seeing this parade and we enjoyed it. However, I wished that the floats could have moved a little faster as the weight of DS 6 on my shoulders for 15+ minutes was taking its toll. The rest of the gang had caught the end of the parade after they got out of the Country Bears.
We decide to head out of the park and stop off for our photos. DS 4 1/2 and DD are out of control while waiting. We're in the Tony's waiting area and they are jumping off of furniture, standing in front of the Lady & The Tramp movie blocking the view of other kids, and god knows what else they were doing. DW returns with news that our photos didn't come out good (grrrrrr), but that DWF is still deciding what to do with hers. I advise DW that I must leave now with DS 4 1/2 and DD and do so. As we walk out, DS 4 1/2 jumps from the top of the stairs outside the photo center to the ground below. Instead of landing on his feet, he lands on his right leg scraping the ground. As he is screaming and crying, I drag him and his sister out to the Monorail. Its not until we're on the Monorail that I notice the blood streaming down DS 4 1/2's leg. He scraped himself really bad. I felt terrible that I hadn't addressed his leg while still in MK. Back in our room, a couple of bandaids seem to appease him. He still has the scar today nearly 3 weeks later.
Tonight we were supposed to go to Epcot with DWF to eat at Teppanyaki and watch Illuminations. Im indifferent towards Japanese hibachi having had it many times back home, but the kids have never had it and I figured that they would get a kick out of the chefs performance. However, DWF calls to tell us that they plan on going back to MK tonight. Tonights a Wishes night at MK so Im not too adverse to returning to MK, but I know that well end up eating counter service as opposed to something much nicer at Teppanyaki. We head into MK after all and end up at Cosmic Rays. Weve eaten at Cosmic Rays before and find this meal not up to par. Maybe its the missing lounge lizard thingy or just that Id prefer to be eating in Epcot. Oh, by the way, DWF never shows. They decide to spend the night at the Contemporary.
DS 6 announces that he wants to ride Space Mountain. This time Im the one whos stoked. Like Splash, its been 5 years since Ive ridden Space. As DS 6 and I head to Space, the others go to the Speedway. DS 6 is in awe of the out of this world theming as we head through Space. When its our time to board, we are offered the first car. DS 6 decides that he will be better off in the second seat and not the first. Before we know it, were shot off and have returned from our journey. DS 6 proclaims this to be his favorite ride. Im ecstatic. Im in that same place as when DS 6 took his first steps, boarded the bus on his first day of Kindergarten, and lost his first tooth. Is it normal to have this reaction for a roller coaster? Theres a certain swagger in DS 6s step as we catch up with the others. We board the Transit Authority and DS 6 proudly describes Space to his brother and sister as the Transit Authority passes through Space. DS 4 ½ is in awe. We head over to the Tommorowland bridge and grab a spot for Wishes. The bridge is not very crowded. This is our first time viewing Wishes and we are all very impressed. We had a good spot to catch Tinkerbelles flight and a clear view of the fireworks. Lots of oooohs and aaaahs from DD. Topping off a very fun evening is a night time swim for me and the boys.
Last year our vacation ended on the 7th Day. This years trip went 9 days, but the way Day 7 started we may have been better off had we ended the trip on this day. My day started very early with a couple of loads of laundry. DW was to get the kids out of bed and dressed so that we could grab breakfast and an early bus to MGM. The laundry took longer than I had planned and the kids werent ready when I returned to the room. I probably made (ok, I did) some comment to DW about the kids not being ready. Off to Captain Cooks with DW and I on something less than amicable terms. DS 4 ½ was not himself this morning (maybe he wasnt feeling well) and was doing a good job of imitating his overly dramatic younger sister. DS 6 was both today and throughout this vacation on his best behavior
he was the man. There may be something to waiting until the kids are at least 5 years old before doing a Disney vacation (at least with my kids). Who am I kidding
Im ready to go back today!!
By the time breakfast is over, DW, DS 4 ½, DD and I are on speaking terms with DS 6 only. Me to DS 6: Ask your mother if shes ready to go to the bus. DW to DS 6: Tell your father that well go to the bus when we go to the bus. You get the picture. When we first arrived on this trip, I observed what must have been other Day 7 families in the parks and at restaurants and wondered why they would let anything interfere with their limited time in Disney. The answer was now crystal clear they were Day 7 families. We too had been transformed. I searched my pockets for pixie dust to turn the situation around and my pockets were empty -- literally. Our park passes were nowhere to be found. Whereupon I told DS 6 to tell DW: Tell your mother that I need to run back up to the room. Ill meet you at the bus stop.
I run back up to the room and start searching all over. My search becomes more and more frantic as I check every drawer and tabletop without finding the park passes. My dilemma: Do I break down and call DWs cell phone to find out whether she grabbed the park passes? Doing so may be viewed as me holding out the olive branch and its too early in the day to hold out the olive branch. The chances that DS 6 answers DWs cell phone are remote. If I call Im going to have to speak to DW. At this point Ive got no choice but to call. In my most not-holding-out-the-olive-branch voice I ask DW if she has the park passes. No, is her response. At least she didnt put DS 6 on the phone to give me her one word response. Progress I thought. As my DD was fond of saying on this trip, Oh no, shoot. Except shoot wasnt the word that left my lips. Then it dawned on me where the park passes were and I let out another Oh no, shoot. Lo and behold, our park passes together with my remaining AK meal certificates had been washed, spinned, rinsed and dried in yesterdays shorts, and were totally unrecognizable. Yet another, Oh no, shoot.
I head over to the bus stop and DW asks (in a tone that I perceive as smug and not olive branch like) whether I found the passes. I too have a one word response to her question. Yes, I respond. In the present climate mentioning the condition in which I found the passes didnt seem advisable. Its already 9 am and MGM has opened (grrrrr!!) and we are waiting at the bus stop with a few hundred other Poly guests. The Disney transportation system must have known what sort of morning this NJ family was having and decided to add insult to injury. We wait 30 minutes or so for a bus and when it arrives the hundreds at the bus stop descend upon it. As there is no room for us on this bus, I see our options as (i) wait for the next MGM bus; (ii) find another way to get to the MGM; or (iii) call Song to find out whether they have availability for us to return to NJ today. After a round of eenie meenie mienie moe, option (ii) prevails and we start walking over to the TTC. As we approach the TTC, I tell DS 6, Tell your mother I need to stop by one of the ticket booths for a few minutes. After 15 minutes at the TTC and a few good laughs by the CM at my expense, I am reissued new passes (for the 3rd time). Before we hop on a bus at TTC to MGM, I take the kids into the TTC gift shop and buy them each a candy item of their choice. Yes its only 9:45 am, but candy is most definitely in order.
Once we arrive at MGM, our day quickly starts to improve. We head over to The Little Mermaid and are just in time for the next show. DS 4 ½ proclaims, I wasnt even scared. Ka-ching!! Then over to Playhouse Disney and we get right in. Ka-ching Ka-ching!! This will be the last time DS 6 endures this attraction. This was about the most he pouted all trip. I was also pouting, but trying not to show it. We then hear from DWF who has been in the park for 30 minutes, but hasnt hit any attractions yet because the waits are too long. Disney-rookie. We join up with DWF and head over to Star Tours. This time DS 4 ½ decides to ride because DWFs 4 year old is riding. They sit next to each other and have a blast. We baby swap DD and the boys get to ride again. DS 4 ½ wants to go a third time, but its time for our PS at SciFi. DW and DD ate here on last years trip, but the boys and I skipped it because of their fear caused by POC of entering any attraction, restaurant or bathroom where the lights were even so much as dimmed. I stuck to the basics, cheeseburger and chocolate shake, and was pleased. Im glad I ate at SciFi, but next time will return to my standby of the 50s Prime Time. DWFs grandmother picks up our tab as a thank you for all of my assistance in planning their trip. I was very grateful. Off to Muppetvision 3D after lunch. Im a big time Muppets afficiando and really enjoy the preshow. I also enjoy Muppetvision, but after seeing Philarmagic it is apparent that Muppetvision could benefit from todays technological advances. Last year I had the joy of supervising the kids in the Shrunk Playground today I pass that baton to DW. DD and I hang back in the Muppetvision gift shop, but I dont find any tee-shirts to my liking. The plan is to meet at Beauty & The Beast. DD and I head over early and grab some fastpasses for TT and RnR. Maybe Ill squeeze in a ride with DS 6 or solo. The kids are beat after Beauty and with 2 sets of fastpasses burning holes in my pocket, we head for the exits. I unload the fastpasses on a family on our way out. My second good deed with fastpasses this trip.
DS 4 ½s health is concerning us as he is really not himself, but we let him take a swim back at the Poly. We also spend some time in The Neverland Club (the arcade games are free during the day as well). Before we know it, its time to head out to HDDR (our first time). We boat it to MK and from MK boat it to Ft. Wilderness. When we stop at WL, I have an urge to blow off HDDR and just hang out in the WL lobby for the night. We did not set aside any time to visit the WL on this trip and regret not doing so. We check in at the HDDR and have a photo taken. This turns out to be the best family photo of our trip and we buy it. We also learn from a CM that the peacocks that hang out at Ft. Wilderness sleep high up in the branches of the trees. The boys have flashlights with them and, indeed, we see the peacocks sleeping up there. Bet you didnt know that. While waiting to get into the HDDR, DW bumps into someone she hasnt seen since highschool from NJ and we strike up a conversation with a family also waiting for HDDR also from NJ. Disney is a scary place to be during Jersey Week. I made the HDDR ressies late in the game and our table is on the Second Floor. Nonetheless, we are very pleased with our seats which are directly in front of the stage immediately next to the person who controls the spotlights. DD and the spotlight CM became fast friends. If you have ever been selected to participate in HDDR you probably know that you are provided with a photo of your on-stage performance. That photo is taken by the person who controls the spotlights and is printed out by her on a handheld printer. Throughout the evening, this very nice CM took several photos of DD and the boys and gave us the photos. DS 6 and DD really enjoyed the show. DS 6 appreciated much of the humor and DD appreciated the singing and dancing. DS 4 ½ was pretty quiet throughout. I thought the food was very good and way too plentiful. We had ordered sangria and when our glasses were empty the table next to us, who had received a pitcher of sangria, offered to refill our glasses. You guessed it they were from NJ too!! I knew from DIS to order the kids pizza and mac and cheese. When the tables around us saw what my kids had been served, they put in their orders too. After the plates had been cleared and the show restarted, DW and I notice that DS 4 ½ had a very, very small and neat pile of vomit on the table in front of him. He had done this so quietly that we hadnt even immediately noticed. DS 4 ½ said he was feeling fine and didnt want to leave. We cleaned up the best we could and finished out the show. I had originally promised the boys a night time swim tonight, but canceled the swim much to their disappointment on account of DS 4 ½. He was doing well the rest of the evening, but DW and I started again to make contingent plans for Day 8, our last full day at Disney.
By the time breakfast is over, DW, DS 4 ½, DD and I are on speaking terms with DS 6 only. Me to DS 6: Ask your mother if shes ready to go to the bus. DW to DS 6: Tell your father that well go to the bus when we go to the bus. You get the picture. When we first arrived on this trip, I observed what must have been other Day 7 families in the parks and at restaurants and wondered why they would let anything interfere with their limited time in Disney. The answer was now crystal clear they were Day 7 families. We too had been transformed. I searched my pockets for pixie dust to turn the situation around and my pockets were empty -- literally. Our park passes were nowhere to be found. Whereupon I told DS 6 to tell DW: Tell your mother that I need to run back up to the room. Ill meet you at the bus stop.
I run back up to the room and start searching all over. My search becomes more and more frantic as I check every drawer and tabletop without finding the park passes. My dilemma: Do I break down and call DWs cell phone to find out whether she grabbed the park passes? Doing so may be viewed as me holding out the olive branch and its too early in the day to hold out the olive branch. The chances that DS 6 answers DWs cell phone are remote. If I call Im going to have to speak to DW. At this point Ive got no choice but to call. In my most not-holding-out-the-olive-branch voice I ask DW if she has the park passes. No, is her response. At least she didnt put DS 6 on the phone to give me her one word response. Progress I thought. As my DD was fond of saying on this trip, Oh no, shoot. Except shoot wasnt the word that left my lips. Then it dawned on me where the park passes were and I let out another Oh no, shoot. Lo and behold, our park passes together with my remaining AK meal certificates had been washed, spinned, rinsed and dried in yesterdays shorts, and were totally unrecognizable. Yet another, Oh no, shoot.
I head over to the bus stop and DW asks (in a tone that I perceive as smug and not olive branch like) whether I found the passes. I too have a one word response to her question. Yes, I respond. In the present climate mentioning the condition in which I found the passes didnt seem advisable. Its already 9 am and MGM has opened (grrrrr!!) and we are waiting at the bus stop with a few hundred other Poly guests. The Disney transportation system must have known what sort of morning this NJ family was having and decided to add insult to injury. We wait 30 minutes or so for a bus and when it arrives the hundreds at the bus stop descend upon it. As there is no room for us on this bus, I see our options as (i) wait for the next MGM bus; (ii) find another way to get to the MGM; or (iii) call Song to find out whether they have availability for us to return to NJ today. After a round of eenie meenie mienie moe, option (ii) prevails and we start walking over to the TTC. As we approach the TTC, I tell DS 6, Tell your mother I need to stop by one of the ticket booths for a few minutes. After 15 minutes at the TTC and a few good laughs by the CM at my expense, I am reissued new passes (for the 3rd time). Before we hop on a bus at TTC to MGM, I take the kids into the TTC gift shop and buy them each a candy item of their choice. Yes its only 9:45 am, but candy is most definitely in order.
Once we arrive at MGM, our day quickly starts to improve. We head over to The Little Mermaid and are just in time for the next show. DS 4 ½ proclaims, I wasnt even scared. Ka-ching!! Then over to Playhouse Disney and we get right in. Ka-ching Ka-ching!! This will be the last time DS 6 endures this attraction. This was about the most he pouted all trip. I was also pouting, but trying not to show it. We then hear from DWF who has been in the park for 30 minutes, but hasnt hit any attractions yet because the waits are too long. Disney-rookie. We join up with DWF and head over to Star Tours. This time DS 4 ½ decides to ride because DWFs 4 year old is riding. They sit next to each other and have a blast. We baby swap DD and the boys get to ride again. DS 4 ½ wants to go a third time, but its time for our PS at SciFi. DW and DD ate here on last years trip, but the boys and I skipped it because of their fear caused by POC of entering any attraction, restaurant or bathroom where the lights were even so much as dimmed. I stuck to the basics, cheeseburger and chocolate shake, and was pleased. Im glad I ate at SciFi, but next time will return to my standby of the 50s Prime Time. DWFs grandmother picks up our tab as a thank you for all of my assistance in planning their trip. I was very grateful. Off to Muppetvision 3D after lunch. Im a big time Muppets afficiando and really enjoy the preshow. I also enjoy Muppetvision, but after seeing Philarmagic it is apparent that Muppetvision could benefit from todays technological advances. Last year I had the joy of supervising the kids in the Shrunk Playground today I pass that baton to DW. DD and I hang back in the Muppetvision gift shop, but I dont find any tee-shirts to my liking. The plan is to meet at Beauty & The Beast. DD and I head over early and grab some fastpasses for TT and RnR. Maybe Ill squeeze in a ride with DS 6 or solo. The kids are beat after Beauty and with 2 sets of fastpasses burning holes in my pocket, we head for the exits. I unload the fastpasses on a family on our way out. My second good deed with fastpasses this trip.
DS 4 ½s health is concerning us as he is really not himself, but we let him take a swim back at the Poly. We also spend some time in The Neverland Club (the arcade games are free during the day as well). Before we know it, its time to head out to HDDR (our first time). We boat it to MK and from MK boat it to Ft. Wilderness. When we stop at WL, I have an urge to blow off HDDR and just hang out in the WL lobby for the night. We did not set aside any time to visit the WL on this trip and regret not doing so. We check in at the HDDR and have a photo taken. This turns out to be the best family photo of our trip and we buy it. We also learn from a CM that the peacocks that hang out at Ft. Wilderness sleep high up in the branches of the trees. The boys have flashlights with them and, indeed, we see the peacocks sleeping up there. Bet you didnt know that. While waiting to get into the HDDR, DW bumps into someone she hasnt seen since highschool from NJ and we strike up a conversation with a family also waiting for HDDR also from NJ. Disney is a scary place to be during Jersey Week. I made the HDDR ressies late in the game and our table is on the Second Floor. Nonetheless, we are very pleased with our seats which are directly in front of the stage immediately next to the person who controls the spotlights. DD and the spotlight CM became fast friends. If you have ever been selected to participate in HDDR you probably know that you are provided with a photo of your on-stage performance. That photo is taken by the person who controls the spotlights and is printed out by her on a handheld printer. Throughout the evening, this very nice CM took several photos of DD and the boys and gave us the photos. DS 6 and DD really enjoyed the show. DS 6 appreciated much of the humor and DD appreciated the singing and dancing. DS 4 ½ was pretty quiet throughout. I thought the food was very good and way too plentiful. We had ordered sangria and when our glasses were empty the table next to us, who had received a pitcher of sangria, offered to refill our glasses. You guessed it they were from NJ too!! I knew from DIS to order the kids pizza and mac and cheese. When the tables around us saw what my kids had been served, they put in their orders too. After the plates had been cleared and the show restarted, DW and I notice that DS 4 ½ had a very, very small and neat pile of vomit on the table in front of him. He had done this so quietly that we hadnt even immediately noticed. DS 4 ½ said he was feeling fine and didnt want to leave. We cleaned up the best we could and finished out the show. I had originally promised the boys a night time swim tonight, but canceled the swim much to their disappointment on account of DS 4 ½. He was doing well the rest of the evening, but DW and I started again to make contingent plans for Day 8, our last full day at Disney.
Day 8
our last full day at Disney. The pre-trip schedule had AK slotted in for the morning and MK for late afternoon/evening for Spectro and Wishes. As I indicated in one of my earlier reports, there were a few things I wanted to do at AK that we didnt get to on our earlier visit. We also had not seen much of Epcot on this trip and that was on my mind. Lastly, wed had such a great time at MK on both of our visits that a return to MK was high on our to-do list. Before going to bed, DW said, Maybe we should go to MK first, then AK, and then back to MK for Spectro and Wishes, and then to Epcot for Illuminations. Even without the kids, that would have been an aggressive and wishful thinking plan. With the kids, an impossibility. For some reason that I cant remember, we decided on MK to start our day. We then realized that its an MK early entry day.
We arrived at MK just before 8 am having skipped breakfast at the Poly. I know that we did Buzz (as usual) to start the day. DS 6 wanted to do Space (thats my boy) and this time I sent DW with him while I took the other two on the Transit Authority. When we met up, we learned that Space had a 20 or 30 minute wait, so they got fastpasses for later that morning. We headed into Fantasyland and saw something we hadnt seen our entire trip crowds and long waits for attractions. Pooh 30 minutes. Peter Pan 20 minutes. Philharmagic 20 minutes. We immediately started questioning whether we made a mistake coming to MK today. Its after 9 am and were all pretty hungry, but theres nothing to eat anywhere. At this hour there isnt an open concession stand to be found. Ive got money in my pocket (just a little bit left), but theres nowhere to spend any of it. With our stomachs growling, I grabbed 2 fastpasses for Peter Pan and headed over to Splash. The posted wait was 15 minutes. DW and DS 6 got in line. DS 4 ½, DD and I headed to the WDW Railroad. Our plan was to ride to Main Street, get some food at the bakery, and head back to Splash. When we arrived at the bakery, the line was way out the door. Is this the only game in town to grab something to eat in the morning? Theres no way the kids are going to tolerate this line, so we headed back to Splash empty handed. DS 6 loved Splash and he had now made a trifecta of the MK mountains. Im absolutely delighted. In Adventureland we found long waits for the Jungle Cruise and Aladdins Magic Carpets. We diverted into the Tiki Room. We then separated to use our fastpasses on Peter Pan and Space. I had much fun riding Peter Pan with the two younger kids. Weve still not eaten, so me and the younger kids have some ice cream at 10:30 am and meet up with DW and DS 6 by the teacups. We headed into Toontown next. DW wanted a family photo with Mickey
For those paying attention to this treatise of a trip report, in my Epilogue I stated:
If you enjoy stories about various bodily functions, including pee, poop, and vomit, injuries to children, other guests and characters, and have any interest about a Jersey family tackling WDW during Jersey Week, read on in the days to come.
Youve heard plenty about pee, poop and vomit, and the leg injuries to DS 4 ½ and Minnie Mouse. Its now time for my promised report on an injury to another guest. We headed to Mickeys house and were told the wait for a photo with Mickey was 15 minutes. The kids and I dont want to wait, but DW wants this photo. While in line, we learn that the family behind us is from NJ. We wait only about 7 or 8 minutes and are brought in. There is a family getting their picture taken with Mickey and one family in front of us waiting for their turn. We are standing alongside the metal poles (I think they are called stanchions) with the ropes attached that keep you in line. I am holding DD which implicitly means that DW is responsible for the boys. After a few moments, I look down and see DS 4 ½ has grabbed the rope attached to the stanchions and has pushed the rope to the ground causing the stanchions on either end of the rope to tilt into the air. I grabbed DS 4 ½ so that he is forced to release the rope before the stanchions tilt over and fall. The next thing I know there is a blood curling scream from the woman in line in front of us. Apparently, she had placed her foot unknowingly under the uplifted stanchion and when I grabbed DS 4 ½ the stanchion dropped back in place upon her foot ... in her open toed sandals. This woman carried on in similar fashion to DD. Shes hopping around on one foot with tears coming down her face. Mickey comes over and is at a loss as to what to do. We too dont know what to do. With the negative attention of this event, DS 4 ½ has become increasingly recalcitrant and completely unwilling to apologize to this poor woman. I try and try to get DS 4 ½ to at least show that he is sorry by offering this woman one of his pins. He wont budge. The next thing we know a CM escorts the woman through a door and out of the area presumably to sit down or get ice or something. Theres no point taking a photo with Mickey at this point. We presume that later that day Mickey and Minnie conferred and instituted some ban prohibiting my family from ever again entering MK for the protection of characters and other guests. We never did see the woman again. If this woman is you and you happen to be reading this, I hope that you were not seriously injured. If you were seriously injured, please be advised that this entire story is fictional and is not based on any true events and that we hereby object to you using anything contained herein in any future lawsuit.
As weve caused enough damage for one day, we left MK and returned to the Poly for lunch. DW and I decided that it would be insane to try to park hop at this point and we spent the afternoon at the Poly. It was early in the day and we practically had the Volcano pool to ourselves. The next decision is whether to spend the evening in MK for Spectro and Wishes, or head over to Epcot for Illuminations. As Spectro is my favorite parade, we opt for Spectro and make a tentative plan to leave after Spectro and head to Illuminations since we had seen Wishes earlier in the week. DD fell asleep in her stroller as we were entering MK. This gave DW an opportunity to do some shopping on Main Street while the boys and I headed to the Jungle Cruise to grab fastpasses. The boys and I then headed over to POC. There was just no getting them on this ride, but they had no problem with the POC gift shop where they picked up some swords. We strolled around the park for a while, rode Jungle Cruise and Snow White (with DD screaming to the Queen/Hag, go away meanie) and ate dinner at Columbia Harbor House. This was also as close as we got to HM on this trip. DW and DD grabbed us some front row seats for Spectro in Frontierland. Against the wishes of DW, I took the boys to the Shooting Arcade. Im an awful shot, but my boys didnt notice and we killed some time and some of the remaining dollars in my wallet. While waiting for Spectro to start, we chatted up a conversation with two more families from NJ. I also bought some popcorn in a large souvenir cup. DW inquired why we needed the souvenir cup. It was the only size popcorn large enough for the kids. Following Spectro, we decided that it would be too much to try to get over to Epcot so we headed towards the front of the Castle to find somewhere to watch Wishes. It was packed. Once we found a spot, DS 4 ½ started to cough uncontrollably. That souvenir popcorn container came in quite handy when the vomit then started spewing. We immediately left the park, missing both Wishes (boooo) and the post-Wishes crowds (yeahhh). Back at the Poly, DS 4 ½ proclaimed that he was feeling fine and the boys were eagerly awaiting their final night swim. I didnt have the heart to deprive DS 4 ½ of the pool on the last night of his vacation. How much damage could a night swim do to him? DW wasnt too pleased with my decision. I limited the swim to about 15 minutes and we returned to the room. That night, DS 4 ½ started coughing like a madman and it took him forever to fall asleep. I really hoped that the swim hadnt worsened his condition.
Coming up next, our return home and Prologue.
We arrived at MK just before 8 am having skipped breakfast at the Poly. I know that we did Buzz (as usual) to start the day. DS 6 wanted to do Space (thats my boy) and this time I sent DW with him while I took the other two on the Transit Authority. When we met up, we learned that Space had a 20 or 30 minute wait, so they got fastpasses for later that morning. We headed into Fantasyland and saw something we hadnt seen our entire trip crowds and long waits for attractions. Pooh 30 minutes. Peter Pan 20 minutes. Philharmagic 20 minutes. We immediately started questioning whether we made a mistake coming to MK today. Its after 9 am and were all pretty hungry, but theres nothing to eat anywhere. At this hour there isnt an open concession stand to be found. Ive got money in my pocket (just a little bit left), but theres nowhere to spend any of it. With our stomachs growling, I grabbed 2 fastpasses for Peter Pan and headed over to Splash. The posted wait was 15 minutes. DW and DS 6 got in line. DS 4 ½, DD and I headed to the WDW Railroad. Our plan was to ride to Main Street, get some food at the bakery, and head back to Splash. When we arrived at the bakery, the line was way out the door. Is this the only game in town to grab something to eat in the morning? Theres no way the kids are going to tolerate this line, so we headed back to Splash empty handed. DS 6 loved Splash and he had now made a trifecta of the MK mountains. Im absolutely delighted. In Adventureland we found long waits for the Jungle Cruise and Aladdins Magic Carpets. We diverted into the Tiki Room. We then separated to use our fastpasses on Peter Pan and Space. I had much fun riding Peter Pan with the two younger kids. Weve still not eaten, so me and the younger kids have some ice cream at 10:30 am and meet up with DW and DS 6 by the teacups. We headed into Toontown next. DW wanted a family photo with Mickey
For those paying attention to this treatise of a trip report, in my Epilogue I stated:
If you enjoy stories about various bodily functions, including pee, poop, and vomit, injuries to children, other guests and characters, and have any interest about a Jersey family tackling WDW during Jersey Week, read on in the days to come.
Youve heard plenty about pee, poop and vomit, and the leg injuries to DS 4 ½ and Minnie Mouse. Its now time for my promised report on an injury to another guest. We headed to Mickeys house and were told the wait for a photo with Mickey was 15 minutes. The kids and I dont want to wait, but DW wants this photo. While in line, we learn that the family behind us is from NJ. We wait only about 7 or 8 minutes and are brought in. There is a family getting their picture taken with Mickey and one family in front of us waiting for their turn. We are standing alongside the metal poles (I think they are called stanchions) with the ropes attached that keep you in line. I am holding DD which implicitly means that DW is responsible for the boys. After a few moments, I look down and see DS 4 ½ has grabbed the rope attached to the stanchions and has pushed the rope to the ground causing the stanchions on either end of the rope to tilt into the air. I grabbed DS 4 ½ so that he is forced to release the rope before the stanchions tilt over and fall. The next thing I know there is a blood curling scream from the woman in line in front of us. Apparently, she had placed her foot unknowingly under the uplifted stanchion and when I grabbed DS 4 ½ the stanchion dropped back in place upon her foot ... in her open toed sandals. This woman carried on in similar fashion to DD. Shes hopping around on one foot with tears coming down her face. Mickey comes over and is at a loss as to what to do. We too dont know what to do. With the negative attention of this event, DS 4 ½ has become increasingly recalcitrant and completely unwilling to apologize to this poor woman. I try and try to get DS 4 ½ to at least show that he is sorry by offering this woman one of his pins. He wont budge. The next thing we know a CM escorts the woman through a door and out of the area presumably to sit down or get ice or something. Theres no point taking a photo with Mickey at this point. We presume that later that day Mickey and Minnie conferred and instituted some ban prohibiting my family from ever again entering MK for the protection of characters and other guests. We never did see the woman again. If this woman is you and you happen to be reading this, I hope that you were not seriously injured. If you were seriously injured, please be advised that this entire story is fictional and is not based on any true events and that we hereby object to you using anything contained herein in any future lawsuit.
As weve caused enough damage for one day, we left MK and returned to the Poly for lunch. DW and I decided that it would be insane to try to park hop at this point and we spent the afternoon at the Poly. It was early in the day and we practically had the Volcano pool to ourselves. The next decision is whether to spend the evening in MK for Spectro and Wishes, or head over to Epcot for Illuminations. As Spectro is my favorite parade, we opt for Spectro and make a tentative plan to leave after Spectro and head to Illuminations since we had seen Wishes earlier in the week. DD fell asleep in her stroller as we were entering MK. This gave DW an opportunity to do some shopping on Main Street while the boys and I headed to the Jungle Cruise to grab fastpasses. The boys and I then headed over to POC. There was just no getting them on this ride, but they had no problem with the POC gift shop where they picked up some swords. We strolled around the park for a while, rode Jungle Cruise and Snow White (with DD screaming to the Queen/Hag, go away meanie) and ate dinner at Columbia Harbor House. This was also as close as we got to HM on this trip. DW and DD grabbed us some front row seats for Spectro in Frontierland. Against the wishes of DW, I took the boys to the Shooting Arcade. Im an awful shot, but my boys didnt notice and we killed some time and some of the remaining dollars in my wallet. While waiting for Spectro to start, we chatted up a conversation with two more families from NJ. I also bought some popcorn in a large souvenir cup. DW inquired why we needed the souvenir cup. It was the only size popcorn large enough for the kids. Following Spectro, we decided that it would be too much to try to get over to Epcot so we headed towards the front of the Castle to find somewhere to watch Wishes. It was packed. Once we found a spot, DS 4 ½ started to cough uncontrollably. That souvenir popcorn container came in quite handy when the vomit then started spewing. We immediately left the park, missing both Wishes (boooo) and the post-Wishes crowds (yeahhh). Back at the Poly, DS 4 ½ proclaimed that he was feeling fine and the boys were eagerly awaiting their final night swim. I didnt have the heart to deprive DS 4 ½ of the pool on the last night of his vacation. How much damage could a night swim do to him? DW wasnt too pleased with my decision. I limited the swim to about 15 minutes and we returned to the room. That night, DS 4 ½ started coughing like a madman and it took him forever to fall asleep. I really hoped that the swim hadnt worsened his condition.
Coming up next, our return home and Prologue.
Thanks so much for the laugh, I had tears and everything! I can just see your son standing there completely stone-faced as you try to get him to apologize to the toe-crushed woman. I can also see Mickey, miming his a** off, trying to get things back in order!
We waited until my youngest (the queen of the glare I mentioned earlier) was 7 before venturing to the "world". Mostly because neither my husband or I would have been able to maintain your perspective and would have been one of those "Day 7" families on day one. We had trouble navigating a day at the beach until she was five (she kept marching in right over her head, time and time again....)
We waited until my youngest (the queen of the glare I mentioned earlier) was 7 before venturing to the "world". Mostly because neither my husband or I would have been able to maintain your perspective and would have been one of those "Day 7" families on day one. We had trouble navigating a day at the beach until she was five (she kept marching in right over her head, time and time again....)
Left out of my previous installment, but worth mentioning because of its meaningfulness to me was a comment by DS 6 when we were waiting in line for our photo with Mickey before disaster struck. DS 6 said, We have to remember to thank Mickey Mouse for the Halloween Basket he sent to us. It was really nice of him. It had appeared to me at the time of the baskets arrival that DS 6 had barely taken notice. I was apparently mistaken. DS 6 did not cease to amaze me on this trip.
Day 9, sadly our last day at WDW. We had a PS for breakfast at OHana and debated whether to keep it as the kids had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards characters all week. As we had already done a breakfast at Kona Café and had more than enough from Captain Cooks, we decided to keep our OHana PS. As it turned out, we very much enjoyed the family style meal, with the kids eating a better breakfast today than on any other day of our stay. I think there were only 4 characters at this meal, Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale. We were visited by only one of the Chipmunks and Mickey. Our server seemed to notice our lack of characters and offered to bring Goofy over to our table, but we declined her offer. The boys participated in the parade around OHana and even had their picture taken with Stitch on our way out. We spent the next hour or so on the beach waiting for our towncar pick-up. We were able to hear Cinderellas Surprise Celebration from the beach and longed to be back in MK. We were all in long pants for our trip back to NJ and as we entered the Great Ceremonial House observed other guests similarly dressed. Unlike these other guests, our long pants were matched by our long faces that our trip was ending. Their long pants were accompanied by leis and bright faces as they had just checked-in.
We ran into a problem checking in our luggage at the airport. As a reminder, we had 3 suitcases 2 big ones for DW and the kids and a smaller one for me. Song advised us that our 2 big ones are too heavy. WHAT?!? They both weigh in at about 75 pounds (I told you those things were heavy) and there is a 50 pound maximum weight allowance. The other suitcase is at 30 pounds. We had no such problem with Song on our way down to Florida and are perplexed as to why the problem now. I knew that we received quite a bit of candy at MNSSHP, but 25 lbs. worth in each large suitcase? My argument to Song that I have purchased five seats so I should be entitled to 250 pounds worth of luggage does not prevail. We are told that our options are (i) to repack the suitcases so that each gets down to 50 pounds; (ii) to pay an additional luggage fee of $25 per bag that is overweight; or (iii) purchase a storage box from Song for $10 and pack the excess weight into the box. With three kids to tend to, paying the fee seems like the most painless option. However, DW decides to pursue option (i) and to repack the suitcases. Now, Im no math wiz, but if I presently have 180 pounds worth of luggage and the maximum Im allowed between my three suitcases is 150 pounds, DW is in for a long day of repacking. I left with the kids to find a bench. Dont ask me how, but DW somehow repacked the bags to Songs satisfaction and they were accepted. Good thing as we didnt have $50 left between us.
The flight back was not much fun. DS 4 ½ couldnt stop coughing the entire flight. DD was even more restless than on the trip to FL. There was a woman in her early 20s who had the unenviable seat next to DD and DW, and undoubtedly after 2 hours on a plane next to DD swore off ever having children of her own. We arrived safely and were off to my mothers for the dog and to spend the night. We finally returned to NJ the next day to find that a family of wasps had taken up residence in our home while we were away. Oh joy. The magic sure can disappear quickly.
Prologue
What a great trip we had and how I am already looking forward to the next one whenever that should be. Each of the kids individually and collectively left us with indelible memories that will not soon fade. Some caught in photo and on video; others not, but forever ingrained in our memory banks and hopefully theirs as well. Because of the costs involved in a trip to WDW, we unfortunately cannot take these trips as often as we would like. Because of our obligations at work and at home, we unfortunately also do not always have as much time for these trips as we would like. Because we cannot stop the children from getting older and growing up, we do not know for how much longer we will be able to enjoy seeing WDW through their precious eyes. But one thing is for certain. As long as the children want to return to WDW, we will find the time and will find the way. Their inquiry at the end of our vacation of, When can we come back, was all I needed to hear. We had done good and will do so again.
Until our next trip, I will fall back on these memories and maybe even pull out this trip report every now and then to reread. I took the time to write this trip report for the kids to one day read and reflect on. I can only hope that they too one day get to experience Disney through the eyes of their own children. There's just nothing else like it.
Day 9, sadly our last day at WDW. We had a PS for breakfast at OHana and debated whether to keep it as the kids had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards characters all week. As we had already done a breakfast at Kona Café and had more than enough from Captain Cooks, we decided to keep our OHana PS. As it turned out, we very much enjoyed the family style meal, with the kids eating a better breakfast today than on any other day of our stay. I think there were only 4 characters at this meal, Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale. We were visited by only one of the Chipmunks and Mickey. Our server seemed to notice our lack of characters and offered to bring Goofy over to our table, but we declined her offer. The boys participated in the parade around OHana and even had their picture taken with Stitch on our way out. We spent the next hour or so on the beach waiting for our towncar pick-up. We were able to hear Cinderellas Surprise Celebration from the beach and longed to be back in MK. We were all in long pants for our trip back to NJ and as we entered the Great Ceremonial House observed other guests similarly dressed. Unlike these other guests, our long pants were matched by our long faces that our trip was ending. Their long pants were accompanied by leis and bright faces as they had just checked-in.
We ran into a problem checking in our luggage at the airport. As a reminder, we had 3 suitcases 2 big ones for DW and the kids and a smaller one for me. Song advised us that our 2 big ones are too heavy. WHAT?!? They both weigh in at about 75 pounds (I told you those things were heavy) and there is a 50 pound maximum weight allowance. The other suitcase is at 30 pounds. We had no such problem with Song on our way down to Florida and are perplexed as to why the problem now. I knew that we received quite a bit of candy at MNSSHP, but 25 lbs. worth in each large suitcase? My argument to Song that I have purchased five seats so I should be entitled to 250 pounds worth of luggage does not prevail. We are told that our options are (i) to repack the suitcases so that each gets down to 50 pounds; (ii) to pay an additional luggage fee of $25 per bag that is overweight; or (iii) purchase a storage box from Song for $10 and pack the excess weight into the box. With three kids to tend to, paying the fee seems like the most painless option. However, DW decides to pursue option (i) and to repack the suitcases. Now, Im no math wiz, but if I presently have 180 pounds worth of luggage and the maximum Im allowed between my three suitcases is 150 pounds, DW is in for a long day of repacking. I left with the kids to find a bench. Dont ask me how, but DW somehow repacked the bags to Songs satisfaction and they were accepted. Good thing as we didnt have $50 left between us.
The flight back was not much fun. DS 4 ½ couldnt stop coughing the entire flight. DD was even more restless than on the trip to FL. There was a woman in her early 20s who had the unenviable seat next to DD and DW, and undoubtedly after 2 hours on a plane next to DD swore off ever having children of her own. We arrived safely and were off to my mothers for the dog and to spend the night. We finally returned to NJ the next day to find that a family of wasps had taken up residence in our home while we were away. Oh joy. The magic sure can disappear quickly.
Prologue
What a great trip we had and how I am already looking forward to the next one whenever that should be. Each of the kids individually and collectively left us with indelible memories that will not soon fade. Some caught in photo and on video; others not, but forever ingrained in our memory banks and hopefully theirs as well. Because of the costs involved in a trip to WDW, we unfortunately cannot take these trips as often as we would like. Because of our obligations at work and at home, we unfortunately also do not always have as much time for these trips as we would like. Because we cannot stop the children from getting older and growing up, we do not know for how much longer we will be able to enjoy seeing WDW through their precious eyes. But one thing is for certain. As long as the children want to return to WDW, we will find the time and will find the way. Their inquiry at the end of our vacation of, When can we come back, was all I needed to hear. We had done good and will do so again.
Until our next trip, I will fall back on these memories and maybe even pull out this trip report every now and then to reread. I took the time to write this trip report for the kids to one day read and reflect on. I can only hope that they too one day get to experience Disney through the eyes of their own children. There's just nothing else like it.
Alice28
DIS Veteran<br><font color=blue>I'm Doombah Fricki
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2002
- Messages
- 9,583
I just loved your report. Thank you so much for sharing- we have two boys and a girl on the way, and I hope to create a few WDW trips for them while they are still little! So far we have one under our belt with the kiddoes and a few DL trips. Like you said, it is hard with the cost involved, but oh so worth it! I could definitely relate to many stories you shared---
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That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE
