A whole new World... UPDATED with Animal Kingdom Day

[ndloewen]

Yay!! So excited to read more!!!!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Yippppeeeee!!!! I'm so excited for you guys I have tears in my eyes!! I LOVE the picture of Lydia on the plane winking!!!! Too cute!!!

I was reading another wish trip report, the village and all the things they do for the kids sound so wonderful!! It really touches my heart!!

Anyway, I can't wait to read more!!

Oh BTW, you mentioned Tobias arching his back on the plane. That's my biggest fear with Ryan! He arches like crazy and rocks back and forth really hard when he gets restless in him high chair!!! YIKES!!! Our flight down is around his nap time so I'm really hoping he'll sleep!

 

[mom2lilnick]

Love it! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[maroo]

Awesome first installment!!

I am so excited to hear more!

Lydia looks so cute in her princess outfit. How sweet. Sounds magical already!

 

[Tinka_Belle]

I'm so happy that the outfits were waiting for you when you got there. I was a little worried that they wouldn't get there in time. Lydia looks so pretty in lavender and Tobias looks so comfy in his outfit too.

 

[Khalana]

Thanks everyone!!!

I tried posting the next installment last night but my internet was being stupid, so here it is:

I'm sorry I haven't updated earlier but I've had the PDD (post Disney depression as someone, can't remember who now, coined on the Wish Trippers unite thread) and we just all got sick and it's been busy with trying to get everything ready for Christmas. I'm happy I did a lot before our trip becasue this week is going by fast!

Where was I? Oh, yes:

Day 2!

We woke about pretty early, especially considering the kids hadn't gone to bed until ten but we were all ready for our fun day. In our original plan it was supposed to be Universal Studios day but we decided we'd rather do Downtown Disney in the morning and then enjoy the Village in the afternoon after the kids (let's face it: all of us!) napped. We had delicious breakfast in the Gingerbread house. It was REALLY good! It has been hard going back to toast every morning... They had pancakes, waffles, eggs, meat (bacon, sausage or ham), biscuits and gravy, cereal, toast, lots of fruit, yogurt and porridge EVERY morning!! Yummy!! After breakfast we had to try the carousel again, of course! It was just so magical sitting there, hearing that beautiful music and going round and round. Very soothing. We got a late start after all these activities and the usual scramble to get everything ready and get into the car. But we got there! I think we only drove wrong once! The first place (and really the only) we went was World of Disney. It is HUGE!!!!! It was confusing just navigating that place! Lydia saw the Princess statues outside and had to pose, of course (which as you will see, she will be less and less inclined to do as the week progresses... ).

We did some shopping (mainly bought a Belle dress for Lydia's cousin who LOVES Belle) and walked around a bit. Michael ended up taking Tobias outside as he gets impatient if the stroller doesn't keep moving every second. It was pretty hot that day (if we knew we were coming home to minus 40 I think we would have enjoyed it more!!! ) and we got some McD for the kids and sat in the shade wacthing (or more like listened to as we were too far away to have a good view) a cute dance show with kids on the stage there. There were this very little boy and girl doing the You Got a Friend In Me song and they were SOOO cute! While Michael kept feeding the kids I wandered off trying to find the Mickey Mart or something like that where I'd heard they had under $10 stuff. But I couldn't find it! It didn't help that I knew I had to get back quickly. After the kids ate it was after lunchtime and we decided to head back, knowing they'd be ready for a nap pretty soon. When we got to our villa I put Tobias down in the kids' room and then put Lydia in the adult bed and layed down with her. After telling her to be quiet, oh, about 50 times (!! ) she fell asleep and I rested too.

Here is a picture of Lydia as she was waking up from her nap. Notice the cool Mickey she is holding.

When the kids got up we went to explore the Village some more. I'm sure we went on the Magical Carousel again as this now had become a favourite place. We also checked out the Castle of Miracles which is really cool. They have this magical forest inside with a slide and a spot where you can hear all these bees, but Lydia was totally terrified of the bees! Dh claims my great fear of them has rubbed off.... So every time we walked past some bushes with flowers in them we had to tell her the bees were asleep or she'd freak out.

Afterwards (or maybe before?? My memories fail me...) we went to the Ice Cream Palace for some ice cream (well, for us adults anyways, the kids had the sprinkles ) and lo and behold someone is calling Lydia's name: it was Amber and her whole family! Those kids are even cuter in real life than in pictures!!! It was really nice to meet another diser and Wish Tripper irl.

More in the next post:

 

[Khalana]

We headed over to the Gingerbreadhouse for yummy supper again! I can't remember what we had but I do remember it was good. Lydia got to have a cookie for dessert and she was so happy! There was one of the GKTW photographers around just then and she took these two pictures (it was soo cool how they did that, it was almost like photopass, just for free):

They told us at supper that they were having a secret Birthday Party for Mayor Clayton, the big Village bunny. I had already told Lydia about Mayor Clayton and showed her pictures and everything and she was SO excited about this birthday party (she loves birthday parties in general)! We decided we had time for a ride on the little train in the Amberville Train Station before the party started. GKTW is such an amazing place. They have volunteers running all these little things, like the carousel and the train, all day long just so that kids can go on them whenever they want to. It was really fun riding through the "jungle" in the dark. There's this cool tropical music and sounds coming from the Dino putt and so it really gives ambiance. Here's a bad picture of the train. Lydia just didn't have time to stand still for a second.

After our train ride we went to the theater where they showed a short animated movie about how Mayor Clayton's Birthday Party almost got ruined by the rain and how they befriended the crying raincloud. Lydia found the whole thing a tad scary. When we got back out onto the plaza there was music and dancing and birthday cake and balloons. We saw Amber and the family again and little Siennah was just TOO CUTE dancing along with the music!!! Then Mayor Clayton and Miss Merry arrived (his bunny girlfriend ) and Lydia was so excited she couldn't stay away from them... at all!! She was literally glued to one of them the WHOLE TIME! We had to try to distract her and tell that other kids needed a turn to dance with the bunnies too because she was a bunny hoger! Their biggest fan, I think. We were just giggling at her. She also has her very own style of dancing and um... it sort of reminds me of Elaine from Seinfeld if you ever saw that episode. She kind of bends her knees a lot and sways from side to side (no thumbs in the air but quite jerky! ). We call her our geek dancer! The whole thing just felt so magical to us, though. It was all about the kids and they had FUN!!! Here are a few shots of Lydia with her beloved bunnies:

Dosen't she look happy? It was incredible....

We ended the evening a bit late again but we got the kids in bed alot easier than the night before. They were more used to the place by now and didn't give us too much trouble. We watched a show together as usual after the kiddos were asleep and then we collapsed into bed as well, very happy.

The next day was our first park day and we couldn't wait!!!

 

[mom2lilnick]

Awwwww... I am loving it!

 

[maroo]

aww...aww...awww...

You have me crying. Again...

I miss GKTW SOOOOO much. And if it was -40 here, I would WALK back! I would freeze to death...but I would go back so fast!

I have the AIR CONDITIONING on at my house right now...it is so muggy and hot! Very odd.

I think I coined the "Post Wish Trip Disney Depression"...which is a much more serious diagnosis than the plain PDD. At least I thought I made it up.

lol

Loving every update! Love all of the pictures!!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Awwww!!!! Sounds like a great day!! Lydia is sooo darn cute! And I must admit, I was very excited to see her in her outfit!!

We always get sick when we come home! I don't know what it is! Maybe it's because there are too many germs in there and by the time you get home your running on empty! -40 surely won't help either

 

[Khalana]

Awwwww... I am loving it!

Thank you!

aww...aww...awww...

You have me crying. Again...

I miss GKTW SOOOOO much. And if it was -40 here, I would WALK back! I would freeze to death...but I would go back so fast!

I have the AIR CONDITIONING on at my house right now...it is so muggy and hot! Very odd.

I think I coined the "Post Wish Trip Disney Depression"...which is a much more serious diagnosis than the plain PDD. At least I thought I made it up.

lol

Loving every update! Love all of the pictures!!

I thought maybe it was you! I'm sorry I made you cry, I don't want to make you cry. Especially not if they are sad I'm-missing-GKTW tears!

I wish there was a way for me to walk back but I think it would take me the better part of a year and I'd probably not survive the trip. But it might be worth it.

I HATE minus 40 (we even had minus 49 one day!!!! )!!!! I would take hot and muggy any day!

Thanks about the update. It is fun to relive the memories through writing them.

Awwww!!!! Sounds like a great day!! Lydia is sooo darn cute! And I must admit, I was very excited to see her in her outfit!!

We always get sick when we come home! I don't know what it is! Maybe it's because there are too many germs in there and by the time you get home your running on empty! -40 surely won't help either

Yes, it was a fun day! And yes, wasn't she cute in that outfit? It just suited her so well. Her grins even match Mickey's!

 

[Khalana]

OH NO!!!! I just looked at my ticker and realized it started over!!!!! I wish..... Lydia's Wish is NOT coming true next year! I better go delete that right away...

 

[jessica52877]

Lydia has the prettiest red hair! I just LOVE it!

Sounds like a wonderful day at the village! I would bet that you could have a great time without ever leaving GKTW!

 

[llurgy]

Oh!!! I have been so remiss, I didnt realize that you had actually started your trip report, I cant have looked at my subscribed threads properly.

I am truely sorry that everyone seems to have PWTDD We are still in the enviable position of looking forward but we will be joining the unhappy leagues soon I fear.
Loving your trip report so far, Lydia looks like she is have an absolute blast, the carousal is going to be one of Becca's favorites too, she has already told us she is going to go on it loads and loads EVERY day.
So, you are just about to embark on your first day in the park....... Im a'eatin' popcorn and sat here all expectantly

Mandy

 

[Khalana]

Lydia has the prettiest red hair! I just LOVE it!

Sounds like a wonderful day at the village! I would bet that you could have a great time without ever leaving GKTW!

Thanks, Jessica! I love her hair too, but it isn't really red, just a bit strawberry blonde but it does look like it's red in pictures for some reason.

Oh!!! I have been so remiss, I didnt realize that you had actually started your trip report, I cant have looked at my subscribed threads properly.

I am truely sorry that everyone seems to have PWTDD We are still in the enviable position of looking forward but we will be joining the unhappy leagues soon I fear.
Loving your trip report so far, Lydia looks like she is have an absolute blast, the carousal is going to be one of Becca's favorites too, she has already told us she is going to go on it loads and loads EVERY day.
So, you are just about to embark on your first day in the park....... Im a'eatin' popcorn and sat here all expectantly

Mandy

I haven't gotten very far yet, but it's a coming.

Yes, PWTDD can hit you pretty hard, I think. But we're feeling better now and lucky for us Lydia is young enough that she easily readjusts. She still talks about it though.
Becca will LOVE the carousel!!!! I can't wait to see pictures of her on it! Tell her that she has to ride the pig at least once for Lydia, okay? Lydia loved that pig and would say "the pig is doing it!" (without anyone knowing exactly what the pig was doing ).

Here is some while you wait for the rest!

 

[kimmylaj]

yep i am loving your report and cant wait for more, the kids look adorable

 

[llurgy]

Thanks, Jessica! I love her hair too, but it isn't really red, just a bit strawberry blonde but it does look like it's red in pictures for some reason.



I haven't gotten very far yet, but it's a coming.

Yes, PWTDD can hit you pretty hard, I think. But we're feeling better now and lucky for us Lydia is young enough that she easily readjusts. She still talks about it though.
Becca will LOVE the carousel!!!! I can't wait to see pictures of her on it! Tell her that she has to ride the pig at least once for Lydia, okay? Lydia loved that pig and would say "the pig is doing it!" (without anyone knowing exactly what the pig was doing ).

Here is some while you wait for the rest!

I will make sure Becca rides the pig

Becca is going to be terrible when this is all over. She is at an age where she is old enough to understand that this trip is probably a once in a lifetime thing. She has never looked forward to something so exciting ever before in her life and when we come home she is going to have PWTDD big time.

We have just found out that she will not be able to ride the horses whilst there....we arrive too late on the Wednesday and leave too early on the Tuesday, she was really looking forward to the horses and we dont want to tell her that its a 'no-go'.

We need........NEED more trip report

 

[Khalana]

I'm sorry I've been holding out, life just happens sometimes.

Well, where were we.....? Yes, our first parkday!

We got up earlier and got ready a lot quicker on Sunday morning. We ate another delicious breakfast at the Gingerbread house (we just loved eating such awesome food every morning, we're pretty much just cereal and toast people at home). Then we scrambled into the car and got ready to drive to Universal Islands of Adventure. Both kids were wearing the Cat in the Hat outfits I had made them.

Here they are in the car:

When we got there and figured out how to park (I think they told us to park in the handicapped area when we showed them pass), we got out and it was FREEZING COLD!!! Brrrrrrrr! Poor Lydia was wearing only a very thin shirt but I had brought her Dora jacket (of course it was bright pink and didn't exactly match her red, white and black outfit....
She wore that and a blanket around her all the way until we got into the park. Walking through those walkways was sooo cold! It felt like the wind was intensified in there. We totally went illegal and walked on the moving sidewalks with our strollers until a worker kindly pointed out the signs for us. I guess there's probably a good reason but it was so far to walk, lol, and we were in a hurry to get there. As we walked into the park it was almost empty. It was really weird. I guess the locals thougt it was too cold too and it was low season.


Here we are (don't the kids look excited they got the sun in they're eyes):

The first thing we did was go straight to Seuss Landing since this was our main destination in this park. But of course we had to take time for a potty break and a diaper change first.

When we got there we actually had some trouble finding the entrances to the car-seuss-el, lol! We tried two times going up where you enter the playground area. But finally we found it and got into the line. We showed the lady that worked there our pass and it obviously wasn't her best day because she didn't have a smile for us at all and seemed almost annoyed. Oh, well. Actually pretty much every person we met that day (except for in the restaurant!) were quite grumpy and rude. The Whos were nice, though (even if the do look a bit freaky ). They bent down and talked to Lydia a bit (it was cute because her name was on her shirt so they called her Lydia) and they tried to put some tinsel on her but she would have none of that.
Lydia was soooo cold on the carousel ride, she was shivering and blue around the mouth! Poor baby! But it was starting to get a bit warmer. We thougth the ride was fun but in all honesty the carousel at the GKTW is a lot nicer and the kids can go again and again and the volunteers really interact with the kids and obiously enjoy what they're doing.

More to come!!!

 

[Khalana]

We of course had to take a picture of Lydia's outfit under the Cat in the Hat sign:

The next ride we went on was the Train in the Sky one (can't quite remember the whole name). It was really fun! I wrapped a blanket around Lydia to keep her warm and so she didn't shiver this time. You got an awesome view from up top there and it was so cool to go through the Circus McGurcus (??) Cafe and people were waving at us. After I went once with Lydia, Michael got to take her while I watched Tobias (he was too short). Me and Tobias bought some fudge on the way out in the conveniently located gift and candy shop. It was quite yummy but very sweet! I have to admit I didn't share with Tobias much, though I did save some for Michael (it was wasted, he didn't like it!). Michael really liked the ride too even if he really doesn't like heights (you sit pretty loosely in there). After snacking for a bit me and Tobias headed into the play area, If I Ran the Zoo. It has this cute storyteller voice reading part of the book by the entrance. Tobias enjoyed looking into the little windows along the way. We stayed away from the wet areas mostly because it was so cold. But Tobias was soo fascinated with the one that comes up out of the tub and starts spinning and spraying you with water. It was so funny! He'd be all tough and right by it but as soon as it started spraying him he would waddle away as fast as he could (which isn't too fast! ), arms waving with a very serious look on his face. And as soon as it went back down, he'd go right back! He was able to burn off some energy running around there.

Lydia and Michael met us there when they were done the ride. Lydia called the spinner "the dog". Not sure why...? I guess it looks a bit canine? She liked this cow looking thing too.

We were thinking about what to do next and realized it was pretty much lunchtime already and the kids were getting hungry.

So we decided to eat in the park and then see what we felt like doing afterwards. We had lunch at a really cool place called Confisco Grille. It was really, really yummy. Tobias had cheese pizza, Lydia had a burger, Michael had some sort of delicious sandwhich and I had a burger too. It was good and I think we could have all been full with only two orders. The waitress was really sweet and noticed Lydia's button. She gave her a free refill of chocolate milk and just chatted with us for a while. The restaurant has a really interesting decor and if you go there, take a close look at the ceiling, really neat even if it did feel like something was going to fall down on your head any moment.

After we were done eating we realized that the kids were getting a bit tired so we decided to just go back to GKTW. We knew we could have just as much fun there and that we could always come back on another trip. So we headed out and went back. It was so nice to lie down for a restfull nap in our peaceful house. Lydia was sleeping next to me in the big bed.

More yet!!!

 

[Khalana]

When we all got up again I took the kids to try to find Matthew's Boundless Playground. I actually had to go to the front desk to get a map. But we did find it eventually and the kids really enjoyed it. Tobias was of course just trying to escape through the front gate but Lydia had lots of fun. She met a family from NY and played with their kids, one girl and two boys. We also tried out the swings there and they were really cool. They are totally accessible and quite a neat concept. Tobias actually threw a huge fit when I finally had to take him out. I was so happily surprised that they even had volunteers in the playground and the sweet elederly couple helped me get the kids out of the swings (one of the swings got a bit stuck). Just another amazing GKTW thing. It was getting dark and so we went back towards our house. I'm pretty sure we went another few rounds on the carousel before supper.

After supper we went to the Ice Cream Palace (of course!). I took some pictures of the ice cream for anyone who's curious (like me ).

This is my yummy strawberry milkshake!

That night they were doing the Candy Land party at the playground. We had just been there and so decided that we didn't want to go back. Lydia wouldn't really have been able to follow along with the game anyways. So we headed home (I loved thinking of our house as home ) for a bath and an earlier bedtime.

But first, yes you guessed it: the carousel!!!

They made it so that Tobias could sit in the turtle on his own strapped into his stroller (as it is whellchair friendly).

He had this look on his face most of the time, and when the carousel stopped he's reach out his hand and go "Ah!Ah!Ah!", ordering it to go again.

I snapped these ones of all the beautiful Christmas lights they had up:

Back home, the kids enjoyed having a bath together and being all goofy.

Since we didn't ahve their usual bath toys I let them play with some spoons and some of the toys we got in our gift bag.

Michael had to go and pick up his parents at the airport that night and bring them to their hotel. Lydia was so excited to see them the next day!

The kids went to bed really easy and all was blissful.

We were all dreaming about the next day: DISNEY WORLD!!!!!