Boozing, Bloody and Broke 6-10 through 6-17 2011

[DisneyScraps]

We are a family that visits Disney as often as possible. Sometimes it's lavish sometimes it's budget but we never seem to notice the difference.

This one was budget.

I am Lisa like so many of you Disney obsessed. I have been more than 30 times I have lost count. I have been on just about every kind of trip there is. I have been solo, with a baby, with an annoying MIL, on a honeymoon, trip where everyone got sick, one with a friend. We have stayed on site, off site for us Disney is a constant changing experience.

Traveling with me on this trip is my daughter Gracie, this is her 19th trip. She wants to be a CM when she grows up. I tell her that is fine. As soon as she graduates from MIT she can do what she wants

We are snarky, we are fun, we are drinkers. That might be part of why we are fun

Here we are at the AKL on our last family trip in 2009

The third member of our group is my DBF Jay. This is his second trip to Disney despite living in Florida twice and California for a number of years. When we met he made fun of me and my Disney obsession. He is more of a Vegas kind of guy.....not any more!

This is Jay after riding RRC for the first time.

I knew that I was leaving on June 10th. We were not sure if Jay was going to be able to join us until about 10 days before. My plans changed form an off site to the Pop Century. Restaurant plans changed several times. I started booking things 5 days before we left

I know, I know!

Here is the thing about us. We are fortunate enough to go often so we don't usually have anything we must do except have a great time. So if we can't get a certain restaurant (Cali Grill) it is not a big deal.

The first day Friday morning found me taking my daughter to her last day of school. I had to tell her about half a dozen times that YES did DID have to go. I had a lot to do and I figured she would be happier watching movies at school.

My schedule then had me working out at the Y.

That didn't happen.

What I did do was watch an episode of Real Housewives. It's a guilty obsession.

Jay walked in a 9:30 I didn't expect him until around 11:00. I still had to go to the grocery store, they had been out of the bread we like for sandwiches the day before. Then I needed to make sandwiches, pack the cool and then pack the car. I wanted to be on the road by 11:00.

I went to the grocery store, got what I needed. Stopped by Grace's school on the way home and picked her up. She was thrilled to leave early.

Got home and made sandwiches. Everyone likes something different so they were made to order and I wrote on the ziplock who's sandwich it was so make it easier.

We packed the cooler, the car. I had a lot of stuff I was worried it would not all fit. Gracie did need a little room in the backseat and my car is small to begin with. I had stacked everything we were taking next to the door and Jay packed it all. After the car was completely packed Gracie walkes up to the car with her bag....I almost forgot all her clothes She also had a lot of stuff for the backseat, we had to have some serious compromise on how much she could bring.

She wedged herself in the backseat and miraculously found places to stash all her stuff.

We were on the road by 11:30.

Once we were out of the driveway Gracie got to look in her Disney Backpack. The backpack is a big part of the trip for her. It started when she was 3. I had found a toddler sized backpack and filled it each day with little dollar store type toys to keep her busy in restaurants and for waiting in line. It worked like a charm on that trip. I never again left the house without a backpack for her. That kept her happy through her childhood. Each time we would take a trip I would get her a new backpack and fill it with things to keep her busy, it was always new crayons, coloring book, stickers. I would include a ziplock of treats and candy. That kept me sane when flights were delayed, it ket her happy on the long rides when we drove.

Over the years it has evolved. I stopped buying a new backpack a few years ago. We found a really nice Princess backpack on wheels at TDS and it's the one we use now. This time especially I found it a little harder to pack. She has really grown out of all the Princess stuff you can find at Michaels or the Dollar Store. i filled it with magazines (American Girl and Highlights) puzzle books, some AG craft books Mad Libs and a blank notebook. We had been in Washington over Spring Break and she kept a journal of that trip. She planned to do one for tis trip too and I thought it would be awesome to add in her comments to this trip report.

The past thing I added was cool candy. I tried to find some candy that she never gets. She doesn't eat a lot of it. I went to the Party Store for that. They seems to have a good selection.

The backpack had been packed for a few days and was prominently displayed in the living room to tease her. She does not get to look inside it until we are officially on the way.

Here is Gracie in 2009 with THE BACKPACK

About 20 minutes into the drive my GPS went senile. Lost satellites. lost everything. Great.

Florida is not hard to find. Once you get to 95 it's a straight boring shot. Follow the signs to South of The Border and just keep going. Problem was we were spending the weekend at my Sisters house in Florida before going to Disney and I didn't even know her address by heart. It was stored in the GPS. I sent a text to my Mom to get her address and I figured when we got to Florida we would use the cell phones for directions.

The drive was tedious why does it seems to take so long to get to Disney? I drove like I was in an Indy race, Jay drove like an old man. We took turns driving while the other played on the ipad. Gracie had her electronics and backpack. She kept herself busy. I didn't hear "are we there yet once" she knows better I would have stuck her in the trunk. We only had to stop for gas once. My car is not fancy but it's a hybrid and it gets downright sexy at the gas pump.

Somewhere in SC I saw it......here is where you imagine clouds clearing on a stormy day or angels appearing in heaven.

A sign for Starbucks!

We tend to challenge each other to see how few times we have to stop. Each stop is an admission of weakness! However on the entire trip thus far which at that pint was around 6 hours we had not stopped for a bathroom break. SO I throw it out there...Gracie do you need to stop? If she does it's on me and I don't take the hit for stopping. She did.

Of course when we pulled into the Starbucks everyone knew what I was doing. I took the teasing. Funny that everyone else wanted one too. Gracie got a double espresso. Gotta love a long car ride with a 10 year old hopped u on caffeine.

Of course not. Her Dad works for Starbucks so she ordered some frozen concoction like one of those coffee pros that want a drink with 15 different parts in it. Jay and I just drink black Iced Coffee. mmmmmmmm Starbucks has the best iced coffee.

While I was waiting in line the girl ahead of me was traveling with an elderly woman was struggling to pay. She had a handful of money and kept pulling out more and more. She handed the cashier and said "oops not one of the hundreds" and took it back and flashed a huge roll of hundred dollar bills. She found a small bill and paid. I though it was really dangerous for her to do that. We could have been dangerous people

When I told Jay about it he said "we should have rolled her and then we could eat at V&As ....see, snarky!

The rest of the drive was uneventful at some point the GPS woke up and guided us to my sister Dawn's house. We got there at 10:30 thanks to my driving like a bat outta you know where. We stayed up until 1am talking.

I was going to need the sleep, tomorrow there was blood!

 

[DisneyScraps]

Day 2

My internal body clock woke me at 7am.

I really hate when I can sleep in and I wake up anyway. Everyone else in the house was still sleeping. I got dressed to go running. I ran through Dawn’s neighborhood looking at all the gorgeous homes.

Oh I wish…….

Maybe not, because then I would have to clean those monstrosities!

I was surprised at how many people were up and out that early. It wasn’t hot and there was a light breeze that made it really pleasant.

I never run outside. That is going to haunt me later.

I am a treadmill runner. My neighborhood is boring I don’t need my neighbors to see me at my worst….grasping for that last breath. I wish I could tell you I was one of those cute running people.

It would make me a liar.

I am a sweaty, jiggly , oldish

You get the picture and I apologize for the visual.

When I got back Dawn and the kids were up.

Dawn made everyone eggs and toast.

This was ongoing joke with Dawn and myself. She hates to cook she has a kitchen I would die for. I love to cook; I have a kitchen smaller than an average office cubical. Isn’t that how it works? If we lived closer it would be kismet.

I feel bad when I stay with her because I know she feels the pressure of my being a cook. I don’t want it to be that!

Oh, did I mention she is also married to a CHEF.

Bless her heart!

Jay sauntered out and we all started to talk about what to do with the day Dawn suggested the beach but it’s a 2 hour drive. We live 45 minutes from the Outer Banks and an hour from Virginia Beach so driving that far after such a long drive the night before was not all that appealing to us. The kids suggested a water park. I wasn’t interested in this at all. I am not a water park type of girl. I have water issues stemming from childhood so I rarely swim.

Then Dawn suggested Downtown Disney. I LOVED this idea for obvious reasons. It was getting me to Disney a day early. The kids asked if they could get wet in the fountain…sure! It’s the cheap water park option! Same as the Monorail is the first ride!

I swear some of us could save the park tickets, take the kids on the monorail a few times, throw our arms up in the air like we are on a roller coaster, then DTD….they might buy it!

We all got dressed and I Disneyfied myself. Dawn was leaving on a business trip the next day so she had a few errands to run. I had some DTD business so we agreed to go separately and meet up later. Gracie decided to stay and play with her cousins.

When we got to DTD of course there was no parking. We had to wait for someone to leave in order to get a spot. I had tickets from previous trips I needed to verify and wanted apply them to the tickets we needed for this trip.

The line was surprisingly long but we were in air conditioning and there were a lot of little BBB princesses running around so I was entertained. It felt so good to be back in Disney. When it was finally our turn I found out that I had a 4 day pass and the rest were all used. That really upset me. They were from a previous family trip that I paid for. I bought their tickets separately and absolutely told them not to use the room keys for admission. Each key should have had a one day pass on it. I guess I should not have been surprised with that group! We discussed the military ticket prices and this little snafu was going to cost me an additional $300. I had planned to get Military Park Hoppers with no plusses. That was when things started to change.

Jay mentioned that he wanted to go to a water park. WHAT!!!! We had not discussed a water park, I was not prepared for a water park. I had no beach towels; I had no juicy novel to read while I lounged, we didn’t have a small cooler for cold drinks. Gracie has been to Disney 19 times and it was only the last time with Jay we had ever been to a water park. Once was enough in my opinion.

That meant we either added more money to the tickets or give up park hopping. I like the idea of the challenge of not hopping but I didn’t have my Disney notebook with me and I could not remember what day we were eating where. I opted to not get the tickets then. I wanted to consult my notebook and then make a informed decision. I was in a foul mood at this point. I set a strict budget for this trip because of the upcoming trip we are taking this fall for the Food and Wine Festival. I wasn’t looking forward to making changes.

Jay wanted to go look at hats. He bought a pirate hat last trip and he was hoping to find something equally interesting. The World of Disney was packed and it as difficult finding a mirror. I started taking pictures of Jay so he could see what he looked like in each hat. He didn’t find anything he loved and it was only the first of many gift shops I knew we would be visiting so we decided to keep looking.

This was one of my favorites

It was time to go meet up with Dawn and the kids in front of Goofy’s Candy Company. As usual Dawn was late. I call it Dawn time. She was 45 minutes late for her wedding and no one that knew her well was surprised. I was sitting in Disney a day ahead of time so who cares but it was hot, hot HOT and I was starving.

When they finally arrived Dawn said the kids had been pin trading ever since they got out of the parking lot.

It’s started.

There is going to be a lot of pin trading this trip.

When the kids were 4 and 5 we took a family trip together, Dawn was not living in Florida at that time and I bought all 3 kids starter pin trading lanyards. Gracie is really into pin trading, she would rather do that than anything else. Tayla and JoeJoe were getting into that too. When I originally gave them the lanyards the kids were not really interested in it. Gracie was the only one that traded on that trip. Dawn told me that they go to DTD a lot because every time someone from back home visits they meet up with them there and every time the kids go to DTD they trade a little.

I was starving and we headed in the Earl of Sandwich. I love that place and we go at least once every trip. It’s one of the best counter meals in Disney because everything is so fresh. The line was the longest I have ever seen there, it stretched all the way into the gift shop that is attached. There were no tables available inside and we needed the air conditioning.

Dawn and Jay got into the line and I took the kids to scout for a table. It’s a fine line between hovering and waiting for a table. Too close it’s rude, not close enough and someone else would grab the table. It took a little while other people kept scooping the tables I was waiting for. I was not being aggressive enough but I didn’t want to be. However I was hungry and eating outside in the hot sun was less appealing so I stepped up my game a little. One large table was wrapping it up, I caught one of the diners eye. I knew I was getting that table! When they got up I said I hope we didn’t hover too much, the man laughed and said “that is how we got the table.”

I sat the kids down and went to help Jay and Dawn carry the food and fill drinks. Gracie and I shared a roast beef sandwich. I forget what it was called. I am still mourning that they removed the Beef & Bleu from the menu.

WHY Earl why??

I am not sure if the food in that place is just that outstanding or it’s good and it’s because we are eating in Disney. My sandwich was delicious and Tayla took the first bite of hers and pronounced it the best sandwich ever!

We were finishing and someone just came up to use and asked if they cold have the table when we were through. No hovering needed. I am not sure what the right way to do this is.

We headed outside and the kids wanted to get wet in the fountain. We call it dancing water. Gracie wore her bathing suit but Tayla and JoeJoe were in regular clothes. Not sure what happened there. All three kids jumped in and the adults attempted to find a sliver of shade. That was a theme with me during the entire trip.

I loved watching the really little kids get surprised by the water.

I am showing you this picture because the kids on each side of Gracie was so stinking cute!

Neither Dawn nor I brought towels. Awwww I was never going to get the Mother of the Year award anyway. We just sat the kids in the sun and they were dry in no time.

We headed into the pin store to look at what was new. I was shocked that there we no pin traders at the tables outside. I asked a CM and they said they stopped it. I can understand why. Some of them were downright rude.

Gracie has been dying to trade with the pros for years and tried a few years ago. Only one would trade anything with her. She just wanted to have a trade she didn’t care what she got back but most of them would not even talk to her. I thought that seemed a little heartless. Surely not the Disney attitude! I asked the CM if they did organized trading anywhere but she didn’t know. That was a blow to Gracie she had a limited edition pin that she wanted to trade for hopefully another one in that set. She finally had something decent to trade but no one to trade with.

Now that we got getting wet and pins out of the way the kids were popping out of their skin to get to Goofy’s Candy Company. This used to be the best deal in Disney. You get a cookie, pretzel rods, a gingerbread man or some other things and they cover it with chocolate, add sprinkles, mini m&ms and a bevy of other toppings. You used to be able to get everything. Now they allow you one topping without an extra charge.

Watching the kids watch their treats being made was quite entertaining. You could feel them salivating.

We headed outside and sat on the wall near Goofy’s so the kids could dive in. Gracie got the pretzel rods, JoeJoe and Tayla got gingerbread men. I would have gone into sugar shock if I had eaten one. We didn’t let them eat too much of it and the kids decided to save the rest for breakfast the next day. That was never going to happen and Gracie knew it but we played along.

Little Miss Matched was right behind us and luckily Gracie was so engrossed by her treat that she failed to notice. I was in Disney in November and discovered that store. I went a little overboard with the socks and Gracie embraced that entire mismatched socks thing but took it to another level. I had to set some ground rules, they socks don’t have to match but they can’t be radically different. She now calls the little white cotton socks she used to wear, boring loser socks. She would have gone nuts in there. Dawn took Tayla in and there was sone kind of a fight over a backpack and Dawn was really upset with Tayla.

We needed a diversion so we decided to head to the Lego store. One the way I noticed that the pin board in the pin store was open. We rushed over. They usually only have it open for a short period of time. Gracie was hopping up and down she was so excited. She spotted a few pins that were limited edition from a set that she had and there were a ton of lanyard pins which is what she collects. It’s a 2 trade per person so she gave Jay and I pins to trade for her. Dawn got 2 from Tayla and JoeJoe. The line seemed to move really slowly but finally it was the kids turn. They just stood there mouths agape. Once all the trading was finished the kids did a little trading amongst themselves.

This was my first trip since they new Lego store was finished. Gracie has a ton of Legos but really stopped playing with then. I was happy I didn’t have to drop and arm and a leg in that store. The kids played with the Legos outside while the adults discussed what to do next. I was tired, Dawn was tired, Jay was tired. We decided to leave.

Surprisingly the kids didn’t care. They just wanted to be together. Gracie of course opted to drive with Dawn. I offered everyone cold drinks, I had a cooler in the car so they met us at my car and I hooked them up for the ride home.

When we got back to Dawn’s house everyone kind of hung out for a while. I really enjoyed having the time with Dawn. The kids were quietly playing.

WHAT quietly playing. Something was going on. Turns out they were trying to make a fort in JoeJoe’s room. Those kids take fort building quite seriously, one of the 3 is going to be architect I am sure of it.

Dawn suggested a place for dinner. She said it was a fun loud place where the kids could play Frisbee or volleyball and it was the only place she could think of that would not be full of retired people. Sounded good to me.

Next time.....dinner and a bloody child

 

[IdesOmarch]

Found your trip report, the pictures were great, your daughter is adorable. My daughter is 4. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[reyasmommy]

Great pictures and fun trip report.... Keep up the good work!

 

[Becc1]

Loving your report so far, your DD is beautiful. Can't wait to read more!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

This is a fun TR. Keep up the good posts.

 

[ddstratton]

I am loving your trip report. Great pictures. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

 

[DisneyScraps]

We took an inventory of Gracie's pins, this is what she got at DTD. This kid was BUSY!

On the way there I kept seeing these signs.

Which made me think, if you go there are you considered a scumbag? It seems like they really want them there.

The restaurant was called JJ Flats I believe. I was expecting a long wait. It was a Saturday night! They sat us right away. We wanted to be inside with the air conditioning but asked for a table where we could see outside so we could watch the kids. The table they sat us at overlooked the very busy deck bar.

We are bar people and that looked like a great bar. I had a moment of wishing I was just adults!

We ordered and the kids went out to play. When I say kids I mean Gracie and JoeJoe. Tayla mini adult that she is opted to stay with the adults. I could see Gracie and JoeJoe they were climbing in the lifeguard chair they had outside and jumping off into the sand. I call that “monkeys on crack” behavior. When the food arrived we dispatched Tayla to get the kids. The only problem with being right next to the bar was the kids actually had to walk through the bar to get outside. The crowd was getting pretty rowdy. There was dancing and people grinding, one woman climbed up on a table. Gracie’s jaw was dragging on the ground. She knows that Jay and I go to bars on the weekend and this was the only bar she has seen so I am guessing she thinks that is what I do on the weekends!

Hardly!

I am the one UNDER the table!

Dinner was fine I couldn’t tell you much about it. The kids went back out to play while Dawn and I finished our wine. This time Tayla went with them.

A few minutes later Tayla come back with frantic look and tells me Gracie is hurt. I panic. My kid is not one to complain about being hurt. She comes home with killer bruises and when asked will say something cavalier like I fell out of a tree! There is very little that will make her stop playing, I am seeing them jumping off that lifeguard chair

I rush out to see her standing in the sand holding one foot up.

Blood!

I tell Tayla to go back to the table and tell Jay to get the first aid kit out of my car.

See! This is why I have first aid kits in both our car and the truck. It’s why I have one in the house, I have a small one in the backpack. It’s for times like this. Jay can make fun of me all he wants but when you need a first aid kit you usually really need it. At this point the place was so crowded I thought it was easier to get the first aid kit than to find someone in charge to get supplies.

I pick my 80 pound child up and carry her to some deck chairs right in the middle of some of the more “colorful” people. She wasn’t crying she was just worried she was going to get in trouble.

Kids!

At this point I ask her what happened. She was jumping out of the Lifeguard chair and she caught her foot on A NAIL…. Was it rusty? She didn’t know, Blood was flowing and her foot was covered with sand. Tayla was back with the first aid kit and told me that there was a foot washing station nearby. She got on one side of Gracie and I got on the other side and she hopped on one foot. Once it was washed I got a better look at it. It was a cut about 2 inches long, it was deep but didn’t look deep enough for stitches. I was going to clean and bandage it and see how much she bled that would tell me if she needed a stitch or two.

I get a little selfish here.

Disney…oh it’s all walking!

Then I think…..nail. Oh that is going to need a tetanus shot.

One of the more “colorful” guys on the side of her starts telling her how she is going to need a shot. Her eyes fill up with tears now. Someone on the other side of her was not as “colorful” and realized that was going on and told her that the shot will not hurt. At this point I am bandaging her foot and wishing the people would just leave her alone. We had a small crowd gathering around us.

Curiously……no Dawn, no Jay. I asked them….my kid is bleeding you don’t think I need a little help?

They know me well and knew that I had it handled.

I want to the table to let them know that it was ok but Gracie might need a tetanus shot. I had no idea when her last shot was. Dawn, I swear in a straight face said “call your Doctors office and have them check her records” It’s a Saturday night….she said someone at the answering service will be able to get her doctor. I almost laughed out loud. We live in a small town. We see a country doctor. You know what their answering message says? “If you have an emergency, go to the emergency room” There was no way I was getting that information before Monday morning.

I know the doctor socially and his wife and I are somewhat friends and I was thinking of calling him at home but I really believe in boundaries. I was working the debate in my head….kid versus bugging someone at home when I should not. But it’s my CHILD….

Dawn looks at me and says “OMG…..YOU are bleeding too and points to my leg.

Yup, blood all over my leg. It’s mine!

I vaguely remembering slamming my knee against the wooden deck chair when I was setting Gracie there. Like my daughter something has to be hanging off me before I complain about it.

With me it looked a lot worse than it was. I had blood from my knee to my ankle but when I cleaned it, there were to tiny cuts. No big whoop. Had I noticed it there would have been minimal blood.

What a group we were at this point.

We get Gracie back into the restaurant who is still freaked about the prospect of a shot.

Dawn is the voice of reason.

Is she caught up on her immunizations she asked me?

Of course! I might forget towels for DTD but I certainly pay good attention to her overall health! I am not Mother of the Year but I am at least a runner up!

So she said then I think her tetanus shout will be current. That made me remember my last tetanus shot….painful. Then I remembered a particularly painful immunization she got when she was 5. I was willing to drink the Koolaid and skip the trip to the emergency room.

We manage to leave the restaurant with no more drama.

Thankfully!

Gracie the injured still wants to drive with Dawn and the kids. I didn’t really love that I wanted to keep her close to me in case her foot fell off or something.

On the way to Dawn’s house Jay suggested we stop and get some wine. Dawn served us a glass of something that looked like wine but it tasted like, well I don’t know what. We are wine drinkers and we like good wine. So we thought that she might enjoy something different.

She kind if lives in a small town where isn’t a lot there. There is a Winn Dixie right near her house. We stop there. I needed to get some better bandaids too.

At this point it’s around 10pm. Let me tell you…the people of Wal-Mart have nothing over the people of Winn Dixie! I kind of marveled at the motley group assembled at the checkout.

We start to look at wine. There was a wine isle. That was expected. Unfortunately there were not wine friends there. None of our favorites . We go to a standby….good enough.

Here is where it gets funny. After the wine isle there was a random end cap with wine. Then another. We walked by the freezer section. Guess what we saw?

More wine.

Guess the people of Winn Dixie really like their wine.

Jay wandered off and that was when I saw it.

The scale.

I have not seen a scale like in in eons. It’s that old kid you step on and it just weights you, not weight to adjust. The kinds of scale you imagine would weight bags of grain.

It was right there in Winn Dixie

So……of course I did it.

Let me just say…….

That antique scale in Winn Dixie

WRONG

Impossible! I refuse to believe it.

I look guiltily around me to make sure Jay was not around. He would have LOVED to see that scale weight me.

WRONG

We get home. Pour the wine and the kinds want to play board games. We start with a modified game of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. Since we had a completed 5th Grader and 2 aspiring 5th Graders. It was a rousing game we did adults against the kids and it came down to the 5th grade question for the adults. Jay answered one way. Dawn and I agreed on the same answer.

Who are you siding with?

Jay…….always Jay. He is smarter than Dawn and I put together and we are not exactly dim light bulbs. He however excels at game shows. Should he get on Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Are You Smarter Than a 5th grader at the same time, We would finally retired to Florida in style!

We of course went democratic and went with Dawn and I

You can guess what happened.

We got the question WRONG, Jay was right to my chagrin!

The kids did pretty well but in the end But we proved that the adults are smarter than 5th graders and a 6th graders!

HA!

The teasing was thick at this point.

Back to the game closet. We started to call it Toys R Us.

The kids pulled out a game called Apples to Apples.

Now we amp it up!

If you have never played this game I highly recommend it. We had a blast playing it. We were 3 adults and 3 kids and it was wild group. After a few rounds Dawn's husband Joe came in.

I call him The Ghost. We hardly ever see him. He works long hours at a restaurant. In fact if you ever visit the Boston Lobster Feat on I drive you probably see him more than I do! He is the front manager and sometimes a chef!

The fun part about that was Jay had never met him. Joe is a character. He is straight out of Jersey Shore. Picture Paulie D in his 40's!

After a little chatting everyone was exhausted except the kids. We agreed that they could stay up as long as they were tucked in bed.

I fell asleep to their laughter.

Tomorrow....we check in and I get to see MY Castle again!

 

[DisneyScraps]

Thanks everyone i am working on the 3rd day today.

Lisa

 

[ZFamily5]

I'm in!