A Jersey Family Returns to WDW for Jersey Week 2005 -- **Chapter 7 Now Up**

[agotta]

You got me hooked and now there is no more!! Keep um coming!

 

[kimwim8]

Where's the next installment??

We're considering going to Jersey Week next year.....I'll probably save my decision until I finish with your report!!!

 

[jsfein]

ooops ... see below

 

[jsfein]

I decided pretty early into our stay at POR that we had the worst room ever (WRE). Our building (Alligator Bayou Building 34) was in the upper western most corner of the property and our room was located on the side of the building furthest away from the pool and main hotel building. The walk to the pool was tiresome, the walk to the main hotel building where the restaurants were housed was even more tiresome, and the laundry room was too far away (I need to remember to get into my laundry obsession on this trip … I think I did laundry 5 out of 7 mornings during our stay. Can you say “ca-ching.”). When walking the POR pathways as we navigated our way to our ho-towel each day, DD regressed to using the term “uppy;” a term which we had not heard from her in the past year and so grated on our nerves during last year’s trip whenever she wanted to be carried. “Uppy” was a benchmark … we were just too far away from the hotel’s facilities to use and enjoy them as much as we would have liked. Actually, as I reflect, our room was the second WRE. We were located on the first floor. The “poor unfortunate souls” (bonus points for the Little Mermaid reference) who had our same room location but on the second floor walk-up of our building had it even worse. God only knows what reservation problems they presented at check-in to receive such a punishment. On our past trips, I was very particular about scouring these boards for the perfect room location, noting my room preference on my reservation notes, and faxing the resort with my preference shortly before check-in. I just didn’t have the energy this time around and paid the price. Do your homework people!!

POR was really not nearly as bad as I’m making it out to sound. I am, of course, familiar with the adage, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and recognize that POR has its admirers and that someone out there probably just loved my room location. I will probably one day return to POR, but next time around be more careful about the CM I get at check-in.

Okay, on with the story. Saturday morning and our first day is MGM. We chose MGM to start this vacation because of DS5’s obsession with Star Tours. He spent the past year talking only about Star Tours and how this had to be his first ride. DS5 is one of the least demanding kids you’ll ever meet and always takes a backseat (usually voluntarily) to DD (we all take a backseat to DD) and to his older brother, DS7. As the middle child, we need to sometimes go out of our way to make sure that DS5’s needs are met and today was going to be his day (or at least until his younger sister yanked the spotlight away from him once we were finished riding Star Tours).

We arrived at MGM a good ½ hour before the park opened because I needed to deal with our park admissions situation. I know that my trip reports tend to be overinclusive with details, so fast forward to the next paragraph if park admissions don’t rate high on your level of interest. I’ll try to keep this simple. From past trips, I had leftover park admissions to cover 3 out of 5 of us for the originally planned 2 days in Disney Parks and 1 day in Typhoon Lagoon. The cost of park admissions for the 2 of us that didn’t have leftovers from past trips was going to run me approximately $300 (kids 2 day MYW Plus 2 Option tickets). However, with the length of my Disney stay having doubled, a new plan was needed. So many different options were available. I already had the aforementioned leftover admissions from past trips. What to do, what to do. I start looking at the prices. Hmmmmm. A 4 day MYW PH with no expiration will run me around $250/adult. For just $30 more I can upgrade to 5 days. Sounds like a no brainer for just $30. But wait, it gets better. For just $14 more than that I can upgrade to 6 days. 6 days sound way better than 4 days. Well if you keep examining the park admission situation through my twisted sliding scale of logic, eventually you hit an end when you reach the 10 day MYW PH.

While I was pondering the park admission dilemma, DW and the kids started to get in line to enter MGM. When I met up with them in line, DW and I had the following exchange.

DW: “You did it, didn’t you?”

Me: “Did what?”

DW: “You bought 10 day parkhoppers. I know you did.”

Me: “Maybe.”

DW: “How much?”

Me: “Just enjoy your vacation.”

She shouldn’t have left me alone. I was weak. I had to have them. It was a $1,600 indiscretion on her part. But hey, guess who’s got extra park admissions burning in his pocket now. You just know I’m not waiting until Jersey Week 2006 to swipe my leftover 10 day parkhoppers through the turnstiles.

We are one of the first through the turnstiles and I make my plan with DW for me to rent a stroller. From past experience, I know that there is a mad rush to the stroller rental similar to the running of the bulls. But today there’s no mad rush. In fact, I’m the first person in line. I also know from past experience that the first person in the stroller rental line gets a free rental. I’m thinking to myself, “This is awesome. I may have just plunked down $1,600 on park admissions, but am about to get myself a free stroller rental." I can't wait to tell DW how I just saved us $16 -- a full 1% of what we just spent. Let the Disney magic start rolling my way. Then, to my horror, I have the following conversation with the stroller rental CM.

Me: “I’d like a double stroller please.” (Big smile on my face, waiting for the CM to reward me with a free rental.)

CM: “Is the rental just for today or do you want to rent for other days as well.”

Me: A little confused I respond, “I’m going to need a rental for 6 days actually.”

CM: “If you rent for all 6 days now you’ll save $9. Would you like to do so?”

Me: “Uh, okay I guess.”

CM: “That’ll be $98 please.”

Me: “But I just spent $1,600 dollars to get in here today. I now have to prepay $98 to rent a stroller? I can buy a stroller for that amount. A pretty nice one too.” I didn’t actually say this part, but I was thinking it. There was also no free rental. I was told that practice is no longer followed. I have to admit, I was disappointed. I didn't bother telling DW about the $9 I had saved. It just didn't have the same luster as something free at WDW.

The double stroller, like the room key, was a source of major ******* in the early parts of this trip. (I will later explain how we solved this problem.) I knew that it would be. I don’t think it makes any difference how old the kids get. If we have the double stroller and one sibling rides, all three want to ride. It’s like death and taxes. Certain events in life are inevitable. I had tried, in vain, to prepare the boys for this in advance of the trip. I explained that only one of them would be able to ride in the stroller with DD when they got tired, but now that they were getting older they would be able to walk most of the time and would have to share the extra stroller seat. With as much bravado as a 7 and 5 year old can muster, they both assured me that strollers are for little kids and that they wouldn’t need a stroller on this trip. Yeah right. Upon catching a glimpse of the stroller, all three kids made a mad dash for the two empty seats. As the oldest, I held up DS7 and allowed the two younger ones to sit as we waited for the rope to drop. The entire walk to Star Tours, DS7 complained about how tired he was. Cue the orchestra.

When we arrived at Star Tours, DS7 and DS5 were a bundle of energy with excitement. DD was a bit unsure as we walked through the queue (last year she wasn’t tall enough to ride). Even with all of their excitement, DS7 and DS5 picked up on DD’s unease. By the time we were in the area for boarding, the boys were coaxing her, telling her how much fun the ride will be, etc. This continued all the way through strapping on our seat belts for the motion simulator. DD had me on one side and DS5 on the other. The ride started and DS5 began singing the Star Wars theme at the top of his lungs. This totally got DD into things. When the ride ended, DS5 asked DD whether she liked it. When she said yes, DS5 declared DD “the bravest 3 year old in Disney.” She was pretty darn pleased with her brother’s compliment.

Not only did we escape intergalactic flight without crashing and burning, we also narrowly escaped the Star Tours gift shop without any purchases, but did have to promise to return at a later date. We were next off to another much anticipated attraction, Muppets 3D. Muppets had not held any special place for my kids on prior trips. I, however, grew up watching the Muppets variety show and am a big fan. A few months earlier, I purchased the Muppets Season One DVD. The kids enjoy the DVD (especially the Mahna Mahna guy – if you are a fan of the Muppets you’ll know the reference) and were pretty psyched for Muppets 3D. The kids gave the Muppets a thumbs-up. Next up was the Great Movie Ride which was a first for us. That we got past the Alien segment without a psychological collapse by DS5 was a very good sign (see last year's trip report for examples of DS5's psychological collapses on attractions). DD is a big time Wizard of Oz fan (she had dressed as Dorothy a few days earlier for Halloween) and was quite excited to visit Munchkin Land and to sing along with Follow The Yellow Brick Road. Alright, I admit, I sang along too.

I’ll continue with the rest of MGM and our evening at Epcot in my next installment.

 

[toystoryduo]

A great trip report! I can't wait to read the rest!

 

[fabumouse]

I couldn't get past the introduction to express my envy. 3 and on ToT?? My DD4, a lover and student of martial arts and roller coasters, is completely freaked out by everything loud at Disney. Thunder Railroad is OK because it's in the light. The beginning of ToT would have ended our visit. LOL!

 

[fabumouse]

I'm dyin about your DD3! If my DD4 had older (hopefully more mature) siblings, at least we could all share the pain. Our dinners at WDW were all about the buffet for miss Lilo (yes, as in Stitch. LOL).

 

[czycropper]

I can't wait to read more.....PLEASE.....

 

[JawsCPA]

Great trip report. Keep the installments coming.

 

[jsfein]

Leading up to this trip, we had talked up the kids giving Tower of Terror a go. They were, of course, all talk while firmly planted in New Jersey in the months leading up to the trip. They assured us that they were riding everything this year. “I’m definitely riding Tower of Terror,” was the unanimous consensus among the kids as recent as that morning’s bus ride from POR to MGM. Not surprisingly, however, with the Hollywood Hotel looming a mere few hundred yards away, second thoughts quickly abounded. “I’m not riding,” replied DS5 and DD in concert. DS7 gave a very hesitant “I guess so” as his response.

Like all parents that know what’s best for their kids, I tried to cajole DS5 and DD into riding. “Its either Tower of Terror or Playhouse Disney. Which would you rather ride?” At ages 5 and 3, Playhouse Disney would not be out of the question for most kids, but my guys had outgrown Playhouse Disney on last year’s trip and had denounced a revisit well in advance. It didn’t work. The two young ones wouldn’t budge. In a last ditch attempt to get DS5 to give it a try, I changed the option to: “Its either Tower of Terror or The Little Mermaid. Do you want to go hear Ariel sing Part of Your World?” Part of Your World is DD’s favorite Disney song and I knew, as did DS5, that I had just hooked DD into The Little Mermaid. DS5 now had a dilemma. Either join DW & DD with Ursula & Co., or join the boys and test his nerves on Tower of Terror. I wasn’t going to physically drag DS5 onto the ride as some unfortunate kids are forced to do, but I was going to mess with the kids’ mind a little. DS5 was resolute. He didn’t want to see The Little Mermaid, but he didn’t want to enter into The Twilight Zone even more. DS7 and I departed on our own.

While I absolutely cherish the family time we have together at WDW, the moments that are most memorable to me is the one on one time I had with each of my kids. For me and DS7, this was the first such moment of this vacation that stands out in my mind. With DS5, our special moments were mostly spent swimming and playing at the ho-towel pool. With DD, our special bonding was mostly spent in the bathrooms. DD would only go to the bathroom with me on this trip (DD and DW have a love-hate relationship at WDW, and bathrooms were an area that DD inexplicably rejected DW) and her bathroom visits were numerous and frequent. DD and I became expert at knowing which bathrooms had paper tissue toilet seat covers, which had automatic or manual flushers, which had sink and soap dispensers at kid height, and which had nearby water fountains. I don’t know whether there exists a review of the WDW bathrooms in Frommer’s or The Unofficial Guide, but DD and I are now fully capable of serving this potentially underserved market.

As DS7 and I make our way to ToT, I’m hoping there’s no wait. The last thing DS7 needs is time to think too much about the ride. DS7 is our deep thinker. I know that he can easily psyche himself out of riding if he has the time to let his imagination run wild. The posted wait is 20 minutes. Not a good sign, but we proceed. We get into the library for the pre-show with Rod Serling within a few minutes of entering the hotel. DS7 starts to lose his nerve once in the library. He mutters, “I’m really scared. I don’t think I want to do this.” Clutching my arm, DS7 survives the movie and its time to move on to wait in line for our turn in the elevator. The wait here is about 10 minutes and is about 10 minutes too long for DS7. DS7 is not the type of kid to throw caution to the wind. His mind is racing and the tears are not far off. A couple standing in line in front of us also sense his impending breakdown and try to jump in with some additional reassurance. DS7 doesn’t acknowledge them. I’m pretty sure that at this point DS7 was evaluating his possible escape routes. DS7 has a history of making a break for it when his nerves get the better of him (this happened 2 years earlier at the Haunted Mansion). I immediately start scanning the area for his potential escape route in case he makes a break for it and I need to beat him to the pass. I also started making promises of a purchase in the ToT gift shop (things were getting pretty desperate). DS7 somehow willed himself to get on that elevator. I’m pretty sure he kept his eyes shut tight the entire ride, but he did it. He didn’t love it, but he did it. I know its just a theme park ride, but I was proud of him. More importantly, DS7 was proud of himself. He indicated that he wasn’t ready to ride again right now. I told him, “That’s okay because now we’re going on the Rock ‘N Roller Coaster.”

DS7 had also not experienced RnR. He loves riding the mountains at MK, but had not yet experienced anything like RnR. As we walk over and get into line, DS7 is still a bit on edge from ToT and shoots off question after question trying to get a feel for the comparison between the two rides. I love this ride and I’m pleased to report that DS7 now does too. When our limo pulled to a stop, he exclaimed, “That was totally awesome.” DS7 survived ToT. He was exhilarated by RnR. Although I didn’t get a picture of DS7 when he exited RnR, that smile from ear to ear is etched in my memory.

DW and the gang caught up with us outside RnR. The stroller continued to be an issue and I carried DD on my shoulders as we trooped over to Primetime with the boys riding shotgun. I don’t know how much DD weighs, but knew that our stroller dilemma needed a resolution soon because my back would not hold up with her up on my shoulders for the entire week. Lunch at Primetime was a disappointment. Two years ago we had a great dinner at Primetime. Last year we passed on Primetime in favor of SciFi Diner. Primetime was back in the rotation this year, but it was a bust. The reasons: our server and my milkshake. Like Whispering Canyon Café, I personally find the food at Primetime to be mediocre, but I like to eat there because of the overall dining experience. You hope for the best that your server will offer that special “Leave it to Beaver” experience, but ours did not. She just wasn’t any fun. And then there was my milkshake. DW and I decided to order a couple of appetizers and split an entrée. Thinking that this might not be enough food for me, I ordered a peanut butter and jelly milkshake – sure to fill me up. DW made a face of disgust at my milkshake order. Sometimes you just need something different from vanilla or chocolate. First, everyone’s drinks come out, but not my PBJ shake. Next, our appetizers arrive, but no milkshake. Then, the kids food and our shared entrée (chicken pot pie – I wouldn’t recommend it). Still no milkshake. As I’m taking my last bites of lunch, I question the waitress (Aunt something or other) as to its whereabouts. Now she decides to start playing her part, chastising me for being rude in her kitchen, telling me that I have forgotten my manners, and that I won’t get my shake until I finish all of my food. I wasn’t in the mood. I had really wanted the shake, but now that we were just about done with lunch I wanted to get back into the park. I told her to forget the milkshake. She apparently had been saving her act in the early part of the meal for this little confrontation. She carried on the schtick with announcing to all the diners in our area that now I didn’t want my milkshake after complaining about not receiving it. Someone finally brought the milkshake over with no explanation or apology. I didn’t want to drink it out of spite, but it was calling my name. And it was soooo good. In fact, it was the only thing I enjoyed during the meal. DD drank it with me and we finished that milkshake in no time at all. Its crazy what you remember and what you forget from vacations, significant events, even entire decades in your lives, but I expect that the memory of the PBJ milkshake is something that I won’t forget from this vacation.

Before leaving MGM, we caught Indiana Jones. The kids really enjoyed this show last year. This year they were bored by it. I’m thinking that Indy may have to become an every other year attraction. Surprisingly, I found a number of attractions to fit into this category on this trip – there were things we skipped from last year and other things I made a mental note to skip next time around. Is this a sign of too many visits in too short a period of time? Nah, that’s heresy. I’ll just think of it as “diversification” – a nice, politically correct word. Back to the ho-towel for a swim and we were off to Epcot.

Epcot and my family don’t seem to mesh well. Every visit we make to Epcot has been problematic for one reason or another. We returned to Epcot this night a bit wary of what to expect, but the evening went pleasantly well. We picked up a double stroller and rode Spaceship Earth – a first for my kids. Part of our problem at Epcot is our poor selection of first attractions for the kids – Universe of Energy caused significant mental damage to DS5 on a past trip. Test Track caused emotional distress to both boys on a prior occasion as well. Spaceship Earth was a good start. DD even declared it her favorite ride (but I don’t believe her). Figment and HISTA also fared well for us this evening. Before heading over to World Showcase for dinner, we picked up a souvenir bucket of popcorn. We bought the souvenir not for the plastic bucket, but because we needed the large size. We returned to NJ with souvenir buckets, cups, plates, and other miscellaneous stuff. These oversized plastic pieces of crap are big and take up too much room in our kitchen cabinets. Has anyone thought of anything useful to do with this stuff other than dumping it in with the recyclables?

We headed to Mexico where we had a reservation for dinner. This was a Saturday night during the Food and Wine Festival. The World Showcase was packed. Now, I understand that WDW is not just for families like mine with young children. There are plenty of families with older children and adult travelers with no children as well. But I just don’t understand why the FWF turns into a scene from Animal House on Saturdays at 6:30 pm. While the FWF offers a different and unique experience to try the foods, wine and beer of various nationalities, I don’t understand why groups of so many 20 somethings are interested in getting loaded (and I mean loaded) on overpriced beers from around the world at such an early hour in the evening. And if you haven’t been to FWF on a Saturday night, believe me when I tell you it gets rowdy and rather non-WDW like. Imagine a bunch of guys wearing Viking Helmets (the ones with the horns sticking out the sides that are sold in Norway) chugging beers while relieving themselves at the urinal in the bathrooms. (DD and I will have to remember to include a special FWF section in our “Guide to WDW’s bathrooms.”) I guess I’ve just turned into a curmudgeon as I have moved into my mid 30s.

Anyway, the area around the San Angel Inn is packed and people without reservations are being turned away. I’m not sure whether they were a mariachi band, but there was a musical performance underway outside the San Angel Inn which the kids enjoyed as we waited for our table. The large souvenir bucket of popcorn did little to satisfy the hunger of the 5 of us and we’re pretty ravenous by the time we get to our table. The service sucked and the food wasn’t much better. Like Primetime, I had enjoyed San Angel Inn on a prior visit. DW was also disappointed with the restaurant. We rode the boat ride in Mexico and took off. The World Showcase was too darn crowded to hit other countries or to stick around for Illuminations. For us, a pretty good visit to Epcot even with the mediocre dinner. Back to the hotel and some much needed sleep. Tonight’s dreams were of the piscatorial variety – dolphins, seals and Shamu.

 

[teentoddlermom]

Another great installment! We were at Epcot that night too. Sorry about the service at both your meals. That really is a disappointment.
For some reason, I thought my fear of heights would be a problem, so for years I waited while everyone else rode Tower of Terror. This year I decided to give it a try and am really mad at myself for skipping it all those times! ToT is great, it just makes me laugh so much, it is good therapy! I really encourage all to try it. It the most fun I've had since I was a kid!

 

[czycropper]

You should be proud of your DS7 - my DD was 6 when we went in 2004 and she came out of RnR being carried by DH and crying, my bad mother report is that I'm thinking to myself "oh, darn -now I'm not going to get to ride it" since I stay with my DD4 and I was hoping that DD6 would want to ride it twice, oh, well

Can't wait to hear about Shamu

We leave in less than 24 hours

 

[jsfein]

You should be proud of your DS7 - my DD was 6 when we went in 2004 and she came out of RnR being carried by DH and crying, my bad mother report is that I'm thinking to myself "oh, darn -now I'm not going to get to ride it" since I stay with my DD4 and I was hoping that DD6 would want to ride it twice, oh, well

Can't wait to hear about Shamu

We leave in less than 24 hours

How awesome for you. My day at Seaworld probably won't make it to the boards in the next 24 hours. If you plan on visiting Seaworld and have any questions, fire away or send me a pm. Have a great trip!!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[jsfein]

Sunday was our day to visit Seaworld. This was the first time in our 3 years of travel to WDW that we were visiting a non-Disney park. I felt unclean. It was as if I was betraying the Mouse. I couldn’t bring myself to ask the POR hotel desk for driving directions to Seaworld. I was too ashamed to mention such a sacrilege word in as a holy place as a WDW resort. I had to send DW on this task. My treachery appeared to have very significant consequences. The Spirits of DISNEY descended upon us. For those unacquainted with this spirit, it stands for:

Disney
Insists
Spending
Nearly
Everything
You own at Disney or you will be sorry.

We had violated this most holy spirit. An evil presence descended upon us and settled inside DD. The spirit bent DD’s will in such a way to cause her to kick, fight and scream her way through our day. We somehow managed not to feed DD to the sharks before departing Seaworld. We had to keep reminding ourselves that it wasn’t DD’s fault. We were to blame for being so unfaithful to the House of Mouse. We repented by not leaving Disney property again until our vacation ended.

The evil spirit was clever and we didn’t detect its presence immediately. For instance, DD didn’t like the clothes DW picked out for her that morning and the first fight of the day unfolded. But this happened every morning. The evil spirit was hiding in the shadows. Next, DD didn’t like the way DW put her hair up. The next battle of wills played out. Again, this was another daily occurrence. The evil spirit was lurking, just waiting to reveal itself. At breakfast, DD whined and then screamed until I permitted her to hold her own breakfast plate and drink while we waited on line to pay. As her Mickey pancakes and chocolate milk teetered on the edge of falling to the ground, the evil spirit snickered but still didn’t show its face. This was also part of DD’s regular breakfast routine.

Unfamiliar with how long it would take us to drive from POR to Seaworld, we left at 8 am in advance of Seaworld’s 9 am opening. It took about nine minutes to make the drive. It dawned on me that we may be a little early for the park’s opening. I expected to be like the Griswalds being the only car in the parking lot of Wallyworld from the classic Vacation movie and parking hundreds of yards away from the entrance in order to have an advantage getting out of the parking lot at the end of the day. On arrival, a number of cars were already lined up at the entrance gates. We weren’t the only early birds.

After entering Seaworld, we lined up to get our free second day admissions within 7 days. I think this is a standard practice at Seaworld and a nice idea. We didn’t return to Seaworld again, but this was primarily due to the evil spirit thing. I tried to get some photos of the kids, but DD refused to participate in the photo session. I grabbed a double stroller and when I returned to DW and the kids, DD was relentlessly chasing her brothers with the boys yelling at her to stop. This led me on a chase of DD to sit her in the stroller. As I’m running after DD, it dawned on me that the entire park had suddenly become very quiet, except for DD’s shrieking. A little embarrassed I realized that the National Anthem was playing and that DD and I were directly under the American Flag and the center of everyone’s attention. The playing of the National Anthem was a nice way to open the park, but I wished that DD and I had been a bit more discrete about showing our family colors to the Seaworld audience.

Part and parcel with my much relaxed Category 4 out 10 commando mode on this trip, I had done very little research concerning Seaworld. I had not even looked at an on-line map of the park. I knew that there were 2 rides so, with the assistance of the park map (which I naturally put DW in charge of since my gender does not allow for the use of maps), we headed there first. As we were meandering through the pathways, I was quite impressed with the landscaping and look of the park. We finally arrived at Journey Into Atlantis. DS5 made the height cut, DD didn’t. More crying ensued, but the boys and I took off for the ride. Sorry DW. We walked right onto a flume. I had no idea what to expect and this turned out to be a bit of a “thrill” ride -- DS5’s first of the trip. The ride was part flume, part roller coaster. DS7 and I thought it was pretty cool and would have rode a second time, but DS5 was a bit unsure of the experience. He declared that maybe we would ride again later. By the way, do not sit in the front row of the boat unless you want to get totally soaked. Thankfully, we occupied the third row and were spared. None of the kids made the height cut at Kraken so we skipped it.

We had some time to kill before the first shows started and had no idea where to go or what to do. We ended up first in the penguin exhibit. I guess if you have a thing for penguins it was pretty cool. I was the first of the family to head for the exit. Enough said there. I knew that feeding the dolphins was supposed to be a must-do at Seaworld so we headed to the dolphin tank. I spent $15 on dead fish so that each kid would have their own tray for feeding. I pulled out the camcorder for the first time all trip only to find that the battery was dead. Drats. It was very crowded, but I got a picture of the kids holding up their dead fish with dolphins in the background … priceless. 4 dead fish a piece didn’t last too long, and within minutes we were on the next line of the day … the sink/soap line to wash up. It was now that the evil spirit finally reared its ugly head.

The line to wash up was long and slow. When we finally made it to the front of the line we learned that only one of the soap dispensers actually had soap which was the cause of the back-up. The boys washed up quickly. DD, on the other hand, decided on this to be the moment of the trip when all heck would break loose. She refused to wash. DW wouldn’t accept her refusal. Game on. The ultimate battle of wills had begun. For you Texas Hold ‘Em fans out there, both DD and DW were “all in.” DD wouldn’t move to the sink. DW wouldn’t allow DD to leave without washing. The boys and I slowly inched ourselves away from the area. DW first tried reasoning with DD. Then pleaded with DD. I’m pretty sure she then threatened DD with some horrible fish borne illness from her unclean hands. The line behind DW and DD had turned mob-like. I never did find out the outcome of this stand-off. After several minutes, the boys and I left for safer ground. DW and DD caught up, but were not speaking to each other. Ahhhh, the pleasure of a family vacation.

We hit the sting ray feeding tank next. More money for more dead fish. DS7 absolutely loved feeding the sting rays. It was very cool how they would swim up and grab the fish right out of his fingers. DS5 attempted to feed the sting rays, but lost his nerve whenever one approached his fingers and he released the fish. DD tossed her fish over the edge of the tank. When it was time to wash, DW just left me in charge. DD didn’t wash. The spirit was too powerful. I didn’t have the energy to take her on. DD smelled like dead fish the rest of the day. Does that make us bad parents?

We spent most of the rest of the day catching the various shows. There was one show DW really wanted to see and one show I really wanted to avoid – the Pet Show. I don’t know why I wanted to avoid the Pet Show. I had never seen it and may have actually enjoyed it, but I figured Seaworld was about seeing fish, not cats and dogs. Whenever DW mentioned that the Pet Show was about to start, thankfully another show with fish was also about to start. I somehow managed to avoid the Pet Show all day.

As for the shows, Clyde and Seymour was probably the most entertaining for the kids. A live commercial for Fuji film was worked into the middle of the show which was pretty annoying. The dolphin show was a bit too much performance art for my taste, but still quite good. I forget the name of it, but there was also a performance art like circus which I actually liked quite a bit.

Then there was the centerpiece show at Seaworld – Shamu. I was entertained by some tangential aspects of the show, but was generally disappointed. The tangential entertaining aspects included the pre-show for Shamu which is well done. If you haven’t been, there is a huge projection screen in the center of the theater which is used for trivia games and live shots of people in the audience during the wait for the show to start. This helped the time pass quickly. At the start of the show, members of the military were asked to stand and received very generous applause from the audience. This was really, really nice. Two thumbs up for Seaworld. The Shamu show itself was like a water park ride. I would have thought that the so-called experts could have thought of something more entertaining than using killer whales to splash water on thousands of people, but basically that’s all that happens. And you get warned again and again that if you are seated in a splash zone that YOU WILL GET WET. We were seated in a splash zone. When DS5 heard all the warnings, he freaked. DS5 was desperate to get out of the splash zone then and there. DS7 didn’t want to leave the splash zone. I volunteered to leave the splash zone with DS5 seeing no reason to be soaked for the remainder of the day. DD had a hard time deciding whether to torture, I mean give me or DW the pleasure of her company. DD decided to join me. The splashing started. Kids started crying. Parents were cursing that their cameras and camcorders were getting wet. C’mon people. You couldn’t have been warned anymore that your kids would get wet and to keep your electronic equipment protected. This was entertaining. Really entertaining. People were soaked head to toe running for the exits. Shamu kept circling the arena. The water kept flying. When DW and DS7 caught up I couldn’t believe it. They were completely dry. The seas had apparently parted by their seats.

We killed some time until 4 pm – our time for Dinner with Shamu. This was the most anticipated event of our trip. I had made reservations to Dine with Shamu months earlier and had talked up this dinner for weeks in advance. Lots of tables are stretched out around the perimeter of one of the rear killer whale tanks and dinner is served buffet style. Things looked good early on. We were seated in the center of the of the tank right next to the buffet line. The buffet line was long and the food rather unappetizing. But we generously filled our plates anyway. As the show started to begin, the kids asked for more food. I returned to the buffet, missing the introduction of the show. Then DS5 needed the bathroom. This was an extended visit if you get my drift. The show was proceeding when we returned and then DD immediately needed the bathroom. Another extended visit was needed. What was in the food at this place. Do I need to say what happened next? Upon my return, DS7 needed the bathroom. Another extended visit … a trifecta. There must have been a full moon. When I returned from the third bathroom visit, the show had just ended and DD was soaked. I had missed the whale’s jump, dive and splash. When I made the Shamu reservations, I mentioned that it was DW’s birthday. The waitress discretely told me at the beginning of dinner that a cupcake would be brought out for DW. The cupcake turned out to be a chocolate muffin. It was a nice little surprise, but not too tasty. Dinner with Shamu didn’t receive high marks from the jsfein family.

As we exited Dinner with Shamu, the usual 100 yard dash to the double stroller ensued. DD crashed and burned on her way to the stroller and took a nasty dive on the cement pavement. The day had been very trying with DD and this was the last thing we and she needed. I picked DD up and prayed for no blood. Like most kids, DD’s scrapes and cuts become all the more severe upon the sight of blood. The blood appeared. DD saw it. I braced for the ensuing meltdown. I waited and waited. It didn’t come. The evil spirit finally showed us some mercy. We cleaned DD up, applied a bandaid, hit another attraction, and left Seaworld.

We drove to DTD and did some shopping. The Lego store is the boys absolute favorite. Some very cool new Lego designs were on display since last year’s trip. DD concluded the night by peeing herself. I said a silent prayer that this was not the start of another trifecta – the trifecta of a pee accident, a poop accident and vomiting. This was a trifecta which the kids accomplished on last year’s trip. This trifecta did not need to be repeated. That night our dreams were of mountains. We were finally really returning to Disney.

 

[anne60]

I love your reports, and your stories of DD truly bring me back to when my third was that age. I would love to tell you things get better.....that the attitude will dissipate...that the daily battles will stop......I would be lying through my teeth..... however, the good news is you never have to worry about her not standing up for herself, or just "going along with the crowd", and, as mine gets older, that is worth all the battles over handwashing!

 

[fizz13]

Oh boy I felt your pain on this day, sound like an excerpt from my trip You did a brilliant job considering certain stresses and I'm sure now the Disney Gods are pacified, things are gonna get better, right?...RIGHT?...

Claire xx

 

[tiggerfan6]

Looking forward to more!!!
You're a great story teller!

 

[rlduvall]

More, more. Quit enjoying Thanksgiving and get to typing on that computer. I love your trip reports and appreciate your honesty. I thought my family was the only one that sometimes fussed as Disney; even though we truly love each other. I have laughed out loud so many times.

 

[jsfein]

We had been in Orlando from Friday to Sunday and had not yet ventured into Magic Kingdom. Monday was devoted to MK – both day and night. We arrived at the turnstiles just moments before the park’s opening show. With the 2 younger kids on our shoulders, we had a really good view. DD was up on DW’s shoulders and I watched the opening show through DD’s eyes which lit up when she saw Minnie (sorry Mickey) and company. DD was smiling, waving, and bopping to the music. The Seaworld evil spirit from the day earlier appeared to have departed.

My first walk down Main Street is always one of my favorite moments of a WDW vacation and today didn’t disappoint. My smile was as wide as DS7’s when he had exited Rock ‘n Rollercoaster two days earlier. I always want to watch the kids’ expressions when we take that first walk down Main Street, but I never seem to find the opportunity. With 2 kids being pushed in a stroller in front of me, one up on my shoulders, and my own personal wonder of the Main St. atmosphere, I failed to pull out the camera or camcorder. There’s no question that I’m as much a kid at heart as my own children. DW knows it and allows me those few minutes walking up Main Street to savor and take everything in. As many times as I walk up and down Main Street each vacation, I can always recall that first walk. I know, I know … this is getting sappy.

We shot over to our traditional first ride at MK – Buzz Lightyear. The boys rode alone in the car in front of us and, of course, compared scores with me at the ride’s end. Although I kicked their butts by hundreds of thousands of points, I conceded defeat and they gave each other high-fives. It won’t be much longer before they started kicking my butt at Buzz. I think I may need to gloat a little in the next couple of years while I still can.

Whereas I had been in awe of DS7 at MGM days earlier when he rode ToT and RnR for the first time, today was DS5’s day to shine. The boys and I headed over to Space Mountain. With much apprehension, he walked over to the measuring stick and, with some coaching, stood up nice and tall with chin pointed upwards. He just made it. I think he would have been just as happy if he hadn’t made the cut and had to sit Space out due to his nerves. DS7 was bounding with excitement and pointed out every little detail to DS5 as we took the long walk to the loading area for the ride. DS7’s enthusiasm was contagious and DS5 soon also pointed to the cool theming (“Look, it’s the Milky Way,” he exclaimed) and talked up a storm. Space was a huge success. DS5 paid it his ultimate compliment when he declared, “That was even better than Star Tours.” He wanted to immediately ride again, but DW and DD were waiting and we moved on. One mountain down, two to go. I knew the other two mountains would be a piece of cake for DS5 after Space. Little did I know, but the two other mountains were also a piece of cake for DD. Too bad she didn’t make the height requirement at Space because she definitely would have rode it.

For the first time in our travels to WDW we had mechanical problems with attractions. Goofy’s Barnstormer went down while we were in line, and then Splash Mountain right before lunch. DD had made the height cut at Splash and I was disappointed that she and DS5 didn’t get the opportunity to take their first rides on Splash that morning. It was around noon and the kids were tiring quickly. We left the inoperable Splash and headed for lunch at The Plaza Restaurant. I really like The Plaza quite a bit. Today, however, we weren’t seated for a good 35 minutes after our reservation time. DD fell asleep in my arms while we were waiting which at least made the delay tolerable without her nagging, but I wasn’t happy about the wait and contemplated more than once blowing off The Plaza for some hotdogs at Casey’s. We eventually were seated and we weren’t disappointed. I had the reuben which The Plaza does well. The Plaza also has really nice kid offerings. DS7 had grilled chicken tenders with white rice (a huge hit with all three kids), DS5 had mini cheeseburgers, and DD had a Mickey shaped turkey sandwich which she thought was very cool. We splurged and had ice cream sundaes for dessert. One of the Main Street characters (forget her name) made an appearance and was entertaining. Aside from the wait, this was the best lunch of the trip. The Plaza is on my must-do list.

Before departing MK, we had fastpassed Jungle Cruise. Jungle Cruise is probably my favorite attraction at MK … not so much for the cheesy mechanical animals, but for the performance of the Tour Guide. I really enjoy the variation you get from Tour Guide to Tour Guide and find that you can get a very different Jungle Cruise experience each time you ride. Our Tour Guide this afternoon was painfully bad. As a result, Jungle Cruise was on our must ride again list. Between the problems at Goofy’s Barnstormer and Splash, the wait at The Plaza, and my disappointment with the Jungle Cruise, our daytime visit to MK was not as “magical” as I might have hoped. No need to pity us, however, because our evening visit to MK was as perfect as any visit we’ve had at MK.

After a swim at POR, we drove over to the Poly for dinner at O’Hana. We walked around Poly a little before dinner and reminisced about last year’s stay. When the kids saw the Volcano Pool, they drooled for a quick swim but we didn’t have swimwear nor would I have violated the no pool-hopping rules. DW on the other hand… well let’s just say that her pool-hopping scruples are not as stringent as mine. Once in the Great Ceremonial House, the kids did some pin trading and then we checked in at O’Hana and were seated with a minimal wait. We had been to O’Hana several times previously and tonight’s dinner may have been the best yet. We ordered the kids burgers and the like for dinner, but the boys were really into the food that came with the O’Hana dinner. I was very impressed by their willingness to try the different appetizers and meats. The kids, of course, participated in all the games, parades, etc. that O’Hana is known for. It was a real treat to sit back at the table with DW and soak in the kids as they played along with the festivities. Towards the end of the meal, the gentleman who emcees at O’Hana was singing a traditional Polynesian melody. After sharing the spotlight with dozens of children during all of the O’Hana activities, DD decided it was time to take center stage for herself and began to dance to the music. Dancing in front of others by herself is one of DD’s favorite activities and she was a hit. Guests at surrounding tables seemed to enjoy DD’s performance and she received applause. A curtsy and deep bow topped off her routine. DD has a knack for being the center of attention.

We then took our first monorail ride of the trip and the boys, of course, wanted to sit with the driver and renew their monorail licenses. No such luck. Once back in MK, we returned to Jungle Cruise and had one of the best Tour Guides we ever had, Justin. We learned later that night while talking to another CM that Justin is soon destined to don the Goofy costume. Catch him while you can folks, he was that good. His delivery was spot-on and much of his material new to us. He had DW and I totally hooked when we entered the cave (it was night and dark in there) and he began to sing the tune from the dark boat ride from the original Willy Wonka movie.

“There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing”

I don’t know if the reference went over the heads of the other riders or DW and I are just Willy Wonka fanatics, but we alone were rolling over with laughter. The kids and other riders were staring at us like we were nuts. I wanted to scream out: “So you get nothing! You lose! Good day sir!” (famous line from the movie), but held my tongue.

We spent the rest of the night walking onto everything with no waits (in part because we skipped the first Spectro parade). Pirates of the Carribean (major accomplishment for my boys who had tragic results on this ride two years ago and refused to ride it at all last year), Splash Mountain twice (declared awesome by DS5 and DD) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice (DS5’s glasses flew off his face on this ride, but somehow ended up wedged in his armpit and weren’t lost; DD also loved this) and an encore at Space Mountain. Wishes were, as always, spectacular. I love sitting next to the kids during Wishes and seeing their amazement at the fireworks and recognition of the music. Tonight, I had DD in my lap and DS7 had his arm wrapped around my neck (DW and DS5 had their own alone time). DS7 usually reserves such affection for DW, so I really cherished his show of affection towards me. We lined up for Stitch, but DS5 needed the bathroom just before we were admitted to the preshow. DW and DS5 didn’t get to ride and I am thankful for that. DS5 would have been freaked by Stitch. His imagination gets the best of him on the dark attractions. DD on the other hand was not at all phased. When I asked her how she liked it, she responded that it was her “favorite” except for “Stitch’s smelly burp.” We headed over to the front of Frontierland to grab a spot for the late Spectro parade. The park was nearly empty and we had no one sitting near us during the parade. I had only experienced MK like this once previously – on Halloween night last year for MNSSHP after we finished dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and just before MNSSHP officially started we were completely alone in Frontierland for about 10 minutes. Spectro is my favorite Disney parade and, as a result of our solitude, it felt like the parade was being performed just for us. Totally awesome!! Exhausted we made the trek back to the Poly for the car and then to POR.

It was nearly midnight when we all lumbered into bed. The kids fell asleep as their heads hit their pillows. But not 10 minutes later, DS5 woke in a coughing fit. Before we knew it, the coughing turned to vomiting. And then vomiting became projectile. He sprayed the bed he was sharing with DS7. DS5’s side of the bed was adjacent to DD’s trundle below. We observed the vomit fly towards the trundle bed, but didn’t see where it landed. DS5 managed to distribute his vomit all over the trundle bed, but thankfully somehow avoided any direct hits on his sister. The ensuing clean-up was messy as we stripped down all the sheets of the boys’ bed and DD’s trundle bed. DS7 and DD didn’t wake up during the madness and DS5 was sound asleep immediately after his eruption. When he woke the next morning, DS5 had no recollection of these events and did not believe us when we told him what happened. We put the soiled sheets outside our room and called housekeeping. When we woke the next morning, the dirty sheets were still outside our room. We hoped that the sheets wouldn’t bake in the Florida sun all day and still be waiting for us when we returned. I left a little something extra for housekeeping that morning. Well, the second leg of the nasty trifecta (pee, vomit, and poop) I hoped to avoid had come to fruition. Would my kids repeat last year’s nasty trifecta or spare us from such punishment? They still had 4 more days to play with. DS5’s performance had shifted the odds in favor of the Triple Crown (he was last year’s puker as well). I would do everything I could to prevent the kids from repeating this feat. I vowed to double my WDW bathroom efforts with the kids. Operation No Crap In Your Pants was deployed.