Buh BAH bahp: A trip of Disney firsts with pics! - DAYS 3 & 4 COMPLETE!

[donaldsgal]

Our cast of characters:

DM – Carlene aka Mom– 56 years old, mother to Melissa and I, doting grandma to Hannah (DNiece). Her special qualities include doting on Hannah, demonstrating gracious flexibility to accommodate Disney touring at its best, doting on Hannah, being easily amused and sometimes not the sharpest tool in the drawer, doting on Hannah, being an awesome mom, and – lest I forget to mention it – doting on Hannah.

DSis – Missy or Miss – 33 years old, mom to Hannah. She is the DVC owner in the family. She generally behaves in a calm, cool, and collected manner and is very excited to be taking Hannah on her first-ever trip to Disney.

Me – Jenny aka Jen– 26 years old, aunt/“tia” to Hannah. I’m the official trip planner and over-analyzer of all things Disney. I LOVE going on vacation; it’s my hobby, really, and could there be a better one? Disclaimer: I’m long-winded, folks – I’ll do my best to keep it under 10,000 words per day (KIDDING!!!).

DNiece – Hannah – turned 1 on December 3. She’s pretty much got everyone wrapped around her tiny finger. She’s walking with help, is a happy and pleasant baby 90% of the time, and loves music, animals, dancing, and things that light up. We predict she and Disney will become fast friends! She’s got quite a temper though, so I’m sure there will be one or two times when this trip report may be temporarily unavailable due to the Emergency Drown-out System that her screams, er, cheers of delight, activates.

Additional appearances will be made by the K&B Clan – Karen, Brian, and their 4 kids: Emily, Noah, Halle, and Joel.

Pre-Trip Summary: This trip is the fourth attempt this year. The first 2 were rescheduled due to my start at a new job and not being allowed to take time off in March and then traveling to complete Hannah’s adoption in April. New travel dates were set for July while Melissa would be on FMLA maternity leave and Mom and I would be on school vacation (she’s a high school cook and I’m a school-based mental health counselor).

Since we’d now be taking an infant with us to Disney, we asked Mom to come along. To accommodate her desire for a relaxing, walk-taking, spending-time-doing-nothing-at-all vacation before heading to WDW for the 4th, we decided to spend a week at Hilton Head in a non-Disney condo beforehand. On our very first night, about two hours after we arrived, I was outside walking my dog, keeping my eyes peeled for danger after having read the not-so-reassuring pamphlet I found in our condo about all manner of menacing creatures/events lurking around every corner on the island – alligators, snakes, ticks, hurricanes, quicksand, poison-darts being shot at us by the natives, ROUS’s lurking in the fire swamp (oops… I accidentally wandered into The Princess Bride by accident…). Anyway, I heard a shout from Mom and went running in. Long, loooooong story short: she tripped on a braided area rug and, 4 hours later, we learned she had broken not one but BOTH shoulders in the fall! Seriously? Seriously!!! We stuck it out until Tuesday, when we packed up and headed home after much discussion on our part and MUCH pain on Mom’s. We called to cancel our DVC points, sure we’d lose them, but God in His goodness blessed us with a great CM who refunded them to us!

And that, ladies and gents, brings us to today: Mom spent about 12 weeks in physical therapy 3 times a week and finally returned to work full time in November. Since we could only use our points at non-DVC resorts, we are heading to Coronado Springs Dec 25-Jan 1. The Hispanic culture now has a special place in our hearts, so we’re looking forward to trying this resort. We also coordinated trips with friends we first met on the DCL boards and spent lots of time with on a DCL cruise September of 2005 (the K&B Clan), so off we head to see Mickey at Christmas! Try as we might, we couldn’t persuade Dad to join us – maybe next time!

I hope you enjoy this trip report. I’ve been inspired by Timon, timandlesley, and fizz13, and while I can’t guarantee I’ll be as entertaining or inspiring as they are, I hope you enjoy some magic along with us! After reading several trip reports to help me get an idea for what intrigues people about trip reports, I realized something. I hope this doesn’t come across as smug or anything, but I have a great family. My mom and sister are perhaps the easiest people to travel with. They don’t question my choices, they have input but let me do the bulk of the planning, and they appreciate the effort I put into it.

Here’s a list of where we’ll be eating: Flying Fish, Crystal Palace, Teppanyaki, Prime Time Café, Chef Mickey’s, Le Cellier, and Spoodles.

And one last explanation: Coming up with a catchy trip report title is perhaps one of the more intimidating aspects of writing this, you know. It’s got to be catchy enough so people will take the time to read it but not so great that it leaves people with unmet expectations after having done the reading. Anyways, I asked my sister what I should title it. Right on cue, Hannah looked at me and said, “Buh BAH bahp.” That’s a direct quote, inflection and stress-on-the-applicable-syllable-added. And that’s how the title of this report was born:

Buh BAH bahp: A trip of Disney firsts with pics!

Some Disney firsts to anticipate: staying at Coronado Springs and introducing Mom to the ecstasy of staying on-site, touring TGM’s way rather than commando-style, the Candlelight Processional, holiday decorations at the parks and resorts, the Spectacle of Dancing Lights, a Wishes cruise on the 30th to watch the special NYE fireworks (which they show on the 30th AND the 31st – lucky us!), Expedition Everest, and several new places to eat.

We leave for the airport in 12 hours.... see ya real soon!

 

[donaldsgal]

First things first: If you’d like to read our dining reviews, check out these three threads:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=16184127#post16184127
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=16184242#post16184242
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1312224

Day One: We landed!!!

We left for the airport Christmas Day at 10:20 AM, about 20 minutes later than we had hoped, and drove to the Akron/Canton airport. It was our first time flying out of this airport, and it wasn’t bad. It was a bumpy flight but we fared decently well. Our layover in Chicago was quick, and the flight to Orlando was very smooth – perhaps the smoothest flight I’ve had to date. Our flight landed in Orlando about 5:15 and we got to experience our first monorail ride of the trip. 

The lines for Magical Express to all the resorts were short upon our arrival, but apparently we arrived with a large number of other guests because within 10 minutes, all the lines were very long. I think we waited for about 30-40 minutes for a shuttle. Eventually, the bus arrived, and we were off! We got to Coronado Springs and waited about 10 minutes to check in. We upgraded our park hoppers to 6 day tickets instead of 4 and Melissa stayed behind to finish up that transaction. We got to the room and relaxed for a bit. We encountered the first of only 2 problems with our room: I noticed a very big cockroach on the wall and we, shall I say, took care of it.

Melissa and I left the room around 8 PM for our 9 PM ressies at Flying Fish. We very quickly got a bus to MGM (under 10 minute wait) and from there took a Friendship Ferry to the Swan and Dolphin. We got off at the S & D and walked over to the boardwalk for our reservations (took about 5 minutes). We had an enjoyable meal, but we were very tired from a full day of traveling – Melissa was falling asleep, and I still didn’t have much of a sense of taste. All that being said, the food was good and we were glad we tried this place. We hopped on a bus to Downtown Disney, and upon arriving there, got a bus quickly back to CSR (this is a reoccurring theme – virtually no waits for buses). Mom and Hannah had stayed in the room to rest. Mom ordered room service and had a good submarine sandwich. We went to bed by 11 and set a wake-up call for 6 AM.

Up next: Hannah’s first Disney ride, a Freudian slip, and the best attraction experience ever

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for posting. And so sorry to hear your mom fell and broke her shoulders. She had to be in a lot of pain.

I am going to move you to our regular TR Board.

 

[pooksma]

Great start! Looking forward to more.

 

[donaldsgal]

Disclaimer: I may not always put this many photos in my report; they aren't all related obviously to Disney, so I hope no one minds!

We set our alarm, as you recall, for 6 AM with the intention of being at the park at 6:45 AM. Um, yeah, you probably already realize that didn’t happen. Perhaps if we’d been staying at the Contemporary as the K&B clan had, that might be different. Alas, the best laid plans, as they say. We got to the bus stop and waited patiently, eagerly anticipating our first day.


This is Hannah, Missy, and our Mom waiting at the bus stop.

It was the first of many SHORT waits at a bus to/from Coronado Springs. We waiting maybe 5 minutes, but a bus arrived and we were off! With the transportation time to the parks, we didn’t arrive until 7:30 AM. The low crowd levels welcomed us and were a familiar sight (being seasoned September and October travelers).



I had a very detailed plan of what time we’d hit each attraction to help us see our favorites and get the heck outta dodge by 1 PM for an afternoon break. In order to get caught up with our schedule, we skipped the attractions we’d planned to do from 7 to 7:30 (Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear).

We headed straight to Fantasyland and hopped on Peter Pan’s Flight. Now, normally, this is a non-event. Don’t get me wrong – we really enjoy this ride, but it was especially momentous since it was Hannah’s first Disney ride. Ever. That’s worthy of a few photos, right?


We’re waiting in line to board the ships, and the excitement was apparent to anyone who watched us. Would Hannah like the ride? Would she clap her hands in exhilaration and bounce her feet as she does when she’s happy? Would she freak out and scream the entire ride? No one could say, but just by looking at us, you could tell SOMEONE was on the edge of her ship, er seat, to see her reaction.


We board the ships and fly off to Neverland. I got the pleasure of riding with Mom, while Missy and Hannah had their own special ride experience.


Hannah’s expression was pretty much the same as this on all subsequent rides. It was a good thing, though; she’s a very observant little gal, so she intently took it all in. She watched wide-eyed as we soared over London, chased Peter’s shadow across the moon, quaked as Captain Hook tried to do his worst, and rejoiced as Peter, Wendy, Michael, and John were victorious.

We rode Snow White with no shrieks of terror from anyone. I can understand how this ride scares kids old enough to know what’s going on. Next up was Winnie the Pooh. We rode in one honey pot and, again, Hannah enjoyed herself. We stopped off in the gift shop for a Kodak moment.



Notice the dark sky in the background. It was just beginning to sprinkle, so we headed across the path and took seats under the covered seating area near Ariel’s Grotto. Hannah enjoyed some breakfast, and I headed off to the Baby Care Center to purchase some wipes (which we’d forgotten in our semi-rush to get out the door that morning). I returned about 10 minutes later just in time for us to look at our schedule. We decided we’d ride it’s a small world since Hannah loves music. It was raining pretty steadily now, and only about 60 degrees, so it was decided we couldn’t go on without ponchos.



That’s a sure sign that I love my niece – it’s only the second time we’ve ridden this in our 5 trips, and having seen Hannah’s response to the first experience on this ride, I feel like I’m good to go for 5 more.

We headed to Big Thunder Mountain, where Mom and I rode on our own.



Okay, so not the most flattering shot, but I’m honestly the best photographer of the group, and we had about 1.4 seconds to get this picture before taking off on our mountainous adventure. I again had a good laugh as Mom, again, couldn’t quite recall how this ride worked. The last time Mom rode this, we were with my aunt Deb, her sister. Those two really enjoy each other’s company, and I tried to refresh her memory by reminding her that she and Deb had a jolly old time last time. She didn’t quite remember it – until I reminded her that it induced so much laughter for the two of them as they repeatedly popped out of their seats and experienced, some, well, bladder control issues. Mom had been a little nervous about riding this as she was afraid that she’d grip onto the seat in front of her and stiffen up her shoulders, potentially causing them some strain. She emerged successful and unscathed! Yeah!

Miss and I rode Splash with our ponchos on – a good idea, as the ride gods chose us for the front row and we got significantly splashed on. We stayed dry thanks to our ponchos! (You’ll hear about a less dry experience later on this trip….). Mom and Hannah took in Woody’s Round-up, which takes place right next to Splash on the downhill side of that hill on the way to Adventureland.



Mom ran into a wonderful CM who helped her keep her eyes out for us while letting Hannah enjoy the show. This CM gave Hannah some stickers, a birthday button (her birthday had been in early December), and even stood next to the stroller with Hannah so Mom could step back from the front row momentarily to look for us. We walked up just at that time, and Mom raved to us about the CM. Her name was Ann, and I believe, and she was from Ashland, Kentucky. We thought afterward to get a picture of Hannah with her, but by then she’d already walked off. Oh well – thanks Ann!

Next up was Adventureland to experience the new and improved Pirates. We enjoyed the updates. My mom couldn’t remember this ride from our last trip; specifically, she couldn’t recall if it was a “water ride” which, in Mom language, can be loosely translated as, “Are you girls trying to trick me into getting soaked?” As we approached the new Davy Jones effect, she let out a little “aaaahhhhhh” and ducked. She was shocked when she emerged dry as a bone and we had ourselves a good laugh at her innocence. We rode Jungle Cruise, before which I assumed what would be my regular role during the trip – officially stroller-parker.



We had a good skipper. We snapped a shot of Hannah looking cute



and hopped on board. This is one of our favorite rides as we love the corny jokes – almost as much as we enjoy watching the faces of those guests who don’t know going on what this ride is about. He had some new jokes we haven’t heard before, so it was a good time. After that, we headed to Haunted Mansion, where, again, Hannah fared well with no fear. We watched PhilHarmagic, which Mom loves. She’s a sucker for the shows. She continues to be amazed at how the characters in a 3-D show “can be right in front of me AND everyone else at the same time!” I love my mother for her innocent naivete – she’s a smart and strong woman, but she’s not always especially quick on the uptake. It just makes it so much more fun to experience a ride/show with her because her emotions totally come through as she takes it all in. It’s a hoot. Hannah napped during PhilHarmagic and didn’t even flinch as the noise level raised to extreme in the theater with the movie’s sound and the audience’s cheers of delight.

We opted to get some lunch at Columbia Harbour House. It hit the spot, and we were ready for our afternoon break. We passed through the castle to look in that gift shop for cels (my sister’s major purchase on most trips is a cel from one of the movies – she was on the look-out for one for Hannah’s room at home). After passing through the tunnel, we observed the ultimate pay-off of getting to the park at 7:30 AM:



Look at those crowds, folks! It was about noon. We opted to stay for the 12:30 Very Merry Christmas Parade, which turned out to be a mistake. We were all tired, and this parade is incredibly long! It lasted about 15 minutes longer than we thought it should. It kept feeling as if it would end, and there were several longer gaps between floats than we remember from other parades.



We got to the front of the park, only to be stuck in the flagpole area behind the ropes. We “got” to experience the last 5 floats again, and then we went for broke and pushed against the incoming crowds that had been water-logged in the depot area, unable to get into the park due to the ropes. We hopped a bus back to CSR – again, there was maybe one family in front of us, and about 3 or 4 lined up afterwards. We waited less than 5 minutes for a bus and off we went.

We got some afternoon shots of the view from outside our room:


it was quite lovely. We then crashed – all of us – for a 2 hour nap. It felt amazing!!!

We woke up about 4 and headed out the door by 4:15 to return to the MK for our evening reservations at Crystal Palace. We got a bus quickly and were to the MK by 5 PM. We caught the flag setting ceremony on our way in



and headed down Main Street USA to meet the K&B Clan for dinner. We checked in, and while we waited I got a dusk shot of the castle.



We really enjoyed the food here. Alas, Hannah was not so keen on the characters. She was fine, even when they stood 5 feet from here. But when they got to her, she freaked out. It was actually comical to watch – please don’t think us evil for laughing. Miss quickly scooped her up and saved her from the nasty characters. A funny habit Missy and I have is to “speak for” her. We do that for our pets as well. We engaged in a running dialog about Hannah’s inner monologue about this experience: “WHY is Mommy letting the giant stuffed animals try to eat me???” Okay, well I guess it was funnier if you were there.



Nonetheless, dinner was enjoyable. Mom got a picture of her favorite character, and she was much less frightened than Hannah had been:



We had a neat experience during this meal. While we were eating, I noticed a man come up and start talking to my mom. Soon she got up and walked to his table. As it turns out, we were dining next to a family who had also adopted a daughter from Guatemala, and he told my mom, “As soon as I saw her, I knew she had to be Guatemalan.” We took Hannah over and got her picture with this gentleman’s three girls – all adopted. It was a neat moment to be united in this bond of adoption and get to experience that:



(the girl in the middle is Guatemalan).

After dinner, we headed to ride some of the smaller rides with the K&B Clan: Magic Carpets of Aladdin, where I rode shotgun with Halle and Joel, the two youngest of the K&B Clan, and Miss and Hannah were our guests. Mom rode with two ladies she didn’t know, and she said they told her they didn’t realize the carpet move up and down and high to low, so they stayed down all the time as they were afraid! As we waited in line, we got some more cute shots of the little tyke:



She was fascinated with this DVC lanyard all trip. Anytime she cried, we whipped this baby out and immediately shut the floodgates on the temper tantrum. Now that really IS Disney magic, folks!

She recently started giving kisses, so got one of her showing her tia some love:



Next up we rode Jungle Cruise again. Everyone, this was THE BEST ride experience we’ve ever had. Sure, riding any ride is always fun – Splash is always exhilarating, Tower of Terror is exciting as you anticipate the next drop, etc. But the skipper on this ride was OUTSTANDING! Her name was Amanda, and she did an awesome job of incorporating the standard jokes with some great zingers of her own. We were laughing so hard we were crying.



We headed off to ride Big Thunder again. Mom and Hannah waited for us, and I got to ride with Halle. It was a good ride – we’d never ridden it in the dark, so that was a fun experience. Afterwards, we experienced the aforementioned Freudian slip. Several of us had to go to the bathroom, and Miss made her way back to the group before some of the others. While standing near the entrance to Splash, we were discussing the fact that their family was able to upgrade their plane tickets to first class for part of the trip from California. Brian returns from the bathroom, and without missing a beat, my sister says to him, “So I heard you were successful.” A moment of silence, then a burst of laughter from the rest of us. Brian’s face was priceless – keep in mind we’d only met them last year and this was really the first long stretch of time we’d spent with them. He was shocked, and Missy’s face turned bright red. It was hilarious. And she subsequently said, “PLEASE don’t put that in your trip report!” And ladies and gents, that pretty much ensured its inclusion.

Afterwards, we walked through Adventureland to catch Holiday Wishes from the bridge connecting Adventureland to the Castle Hub. We enjoyed them but not as much as regular Wishes. We said goodnight to the K&B Clan and returned to our hotel for a good night’s rest. Hannah had a hard time getting to sleep that night, but we all finally shut our eyes to the world around 11. We set our alarm for 5:30 the next morning, hoping to meet our goal to get to the park by 15 minutes prior to opening.

The worst or least fun parts of the day for everyone were as follows:
Mom – the rain
Missy – the rain
Me – not getting to the park “on time”

The best parts of the day were:
Mom – seeing PhilHarmagic and the really nice CM at Woody’s Round-Up
Missy – the 2nd Jungle Cruise ride with Amanda
Me – the 2nd Jungle Cruise ride with Amanda

Up Next: Day Three – Mom meets Soarin’, Bathroom Trouble, & Singers, Acrobats, and a Christmas Carol

 

[donaldsgal]

We arose today and got to the bus stop around 7:15. We were sleepy from our first full day of touring, but we were looking forward to Epcot.



We again waited for virtually no time at all. We drove to Epcot and arrived at about 8 AM to long lines to get through the queue. The plan was to have been there at – you guessed it! – 7:45, but it’s just quite challenging to make that happen. Surprisingly, most people were waiting in the first line they got to, which was exceedingly long. We hopped a few lines over, and voila! We waited about 3 minutes and were in. I (quickly) led the way to Soarin’, eager with anticipation to introduce Mom to this amazing attraction. We arrived and got FASTPASSes – they were for 12:15! I was shocked by this, but I made some mental calculations about how to make this work in our schedule. Mom and I got in the standby line and waited. The wait was listed as 40 minutes; we got about halfway up the queue to the beautiful pictures of the waterfall and desert and called Missy to remind her to get a Parent Swap pass for later. We found out that the K&B clan had just entered the line, so we went back to wait with them. The wait was truly only about 25 minutes or so, and soon enough we were at the front of the line. We talked with a CM named Jason from Michigan who gave us a hard time about #1 ranked OSU and explained how the Dream FASTPASSes work. He said that the first group of people at Spaceship Earth that morning had the ride stopped and everyone in line got the Dream FP. He said it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time. They do that for one attraction each park each day, and after that they don’t do it again (not always at opening). It was a good piece of information.
We got farther up the line and requested the front row. I rode in between Mom and Halle. I LOVE THIS RIDE!!!! I find it a different kind of Disney experience – it’s sooooo relaxing. Fun, for sure, but I always leave feeling like I’ve just left a spa. I don’t know how else to explain it, but it keeps me coming back for more. Mom enjoyed it but didn’t say much. I found out later that she was nervous about it and when she doesn’t know what to expect from a ride, she closes her eyes. She missed part of it and just didn’t totally relax during the attraction. Miss took Hannah to see Circle of Life with Timon and Pumba, and she said it was fun to do a show with just the two of them. We came out and headed to Test Track. We rode this ride – another 40 minute posted wait that turned out to be about 20. We had a good time, and Mom and Hannah waited for us at the Electric Umbrella.
After this, we headed to Spaceship Earth, which is a favorite of ours, especially Missy. After this, we returned to Electric Umbrella to meet up with Mom and Hannah. We had a temporary diversion back to the Planet Earth from the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow when Brian asked my professional opinion on how to proceed with an extended family crisis (I’m a mental health counselor). It made me sad to realize that dysfunctional behavior rears its ugly head in every family, but luckily we were at Disney so we focused our attention on resuming our fun. We went to see The Living Seas with Nemo (Mom, Miss, Halle, Hannah and I) and really enjoyed it! It was Mom’s favorite ride that day. I enjoyed it, but the voices of the main characters were just different enough that I kept thinking, Awww, I wish the actors from the movie could have provided the voices for the ride. The posted wait was 40 minutes, but we probably waited about 20-25. The line moved quickly and when we were done, we ended up opposite the queue for Turtle Talk. We had planned to see this, but by this time it was 11:15 and we wanted to beat the lunch rush. We opted for food and headed to Sunshine Seasons for lunch. A-MAZING! We went to the soup and salad station, and I thought that the soup was incredible. We rested and sort of watched in awe the crowd level gradually surge while we were there. While we waited, we made a game out of watching the standby line wait time for Soarin’ go up and down – 180 minutes, 200 minutes, 220 minutes, 200 minutes…. It was time to use our FP’s from earlier, and we had overheard that the FP wait time was an hour also. This was not acceptable to us - there were too many other things we wanted to do - so we went up to ask. We heard that Soarin’ was temporarily only running one theater but a manager encouraged us to return at any time that day and use our FP’s, which would be good all day. That was good news, so we headed off to World Showcase.

We caught the World Showcase Players at the UK Pavilion doing a show of A Christmas Carol. It was quite good. I’d been hoping to catch this as Missy really enjoys British lit/comedy. Even the little guys, Joel and Noah, enjoyed the show.

We had a bit of a hiccup in the midst of the magic, though. I turned around to look for Mom, and Miss said that she’d gone to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she returned and didn’t walk up to us. Miss went to talk to her and Mom was crying. I beckoned for Miss and she came over and told me that when Mom had gone to the bathroom she had used a handicap stall. (Due to having broken both her shoulders this summer, she takes longer to use the bathroom and fix her clothes afterwards.) A woman was with an older guest who was in a wheelchair and went and stood directly outside the stall. After a few minutes, the woman said, “Well, I guess we’ll have to use another stall since someone else is in there and doesn’t need it!” Mom came out and the woman gave her a hard time, telling her it’s inconsiderate to use a handicap stall when it isn’t needed. My mother is sooooo non-confrontational, and she always gives people the benefit of the doubt. She felt really shaken that a stranger would yell at her, and she walked out feeling embarrassed and humiliated. It was on its way to ruining her morning. This was the first negative guest experience we'd ever had (short of the typical things, like having the back of your seat kicked in the middle of a show or having people cut in line), so I was bummed. I had to go to the bathroom, and Mom saw me walking in that direction and stopped me. “Jen, don’t do anything.” I told her I was just going to the bathroom. I was. I had no intention of doing anything. However, I got to the bathroom and saw a woman who was with an older woman in a wheelchair. I walked past and my heart was pounding. I wanted to defend my mother, to explain that not all handicaps are visible, to tell the woman that my mom wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing someone else just for the sake of it but honestly can’t redress herself in a smaller stall. I checked my heart for a second; I wanted to make sure that if I spoke up it would be for the right reasons, not to “put her in her place.” I turned around and walked up to the woman. I asked her if she was the woman who yelled at my mother. She looked at me and blinked for a second. I stood and waited for her to answer me and she finally said, “Well, no, I didn’t YELL at her…” I said, “I just wanted you to know that what you said really hurt her feelings and she left here crying.” She said, “Let me explain” and I interrupted her, saying, “I don’t need you to explain. I just wanted to tell you to watch what you say and speak nicely to people in the future.” She started to say something else, and I said, “That’s all I need to say to you. Happy Holidays.” I walked away and looking back, I'm glad I said something. I didn’t want to ruin this woman’s vacation or even her day. I kept my voice calm and in my opinion wasn’t mean; I just wanted her to know that she can’t just tear into someone based on an assumption. I left the bathroom and told my sister what I did and asked if she thought what I said was mean or inappropriate. She didn’t, so that was that. I wasn’t going to tell my mom anything about it, but as we walked over to Canada and the pavilions beyond, she was still downhearted and embarrassed. I put my arm around her and explained what I did. She got teary-eyed and said, “I just didn’t like her thinking I didn’t need that bathroom. I hate it that I need it, but I do.” She's an independent gal, and the broken bones this summer made life really challenging, physically and emotionally. Had that woman just asked Mom directly if she had really needed that stall, Mom could have explained it without feeling attacked/ashamed and the whole unpleasant mess could have been avoided. I firmly believe in being honest and direct with others, even strangers, because it avoids hidden anger or fake kindness and just gets to the point. That isn't how it happened, and that's okay; it just meant we had to work harder to retain the magic. And we did.

We paused for a quick shot on the bridge to France (where someone accidentlly cut off some foreheads )

and made our way to the America Pavilion. We were fortunate to see the Voices of Liberty – great show! The songs were great, and it was a nice moment to just got lullabyed by the a capella singing.



Halle and Hannah danced



and Hannah enjoyed whatever she thought was so hilarious.



We saw the American Adventure, and I thought it was just okay. We got a fun picture of Karen at the entrance to the lobby area with two other CM’s, both named Karen.



Like I said, not my favorite attraction, but it’s another I can say I’ve done! We left AA and headed to China, where I had hoped to catch the Dragon Legend Acrobats. We saw them briefly during our 2001 land/sea trip, and I had hoped to see their entire show. They were incredible! Those kids are extremely talented. One girl rode a unicycle and tossed bowls onto her head by pedaling with one foot and using the other to balance the bowls and then kick them up and onto her head. Her finale was doing 6 bowls at once, then tossing a final smaller bowl into them. I think she had about 15 or 20 bowls on her head by the end. Then two of the girls, who appeared to be twins, did some acrobatic moves/contortionism by balancing on one hand on a stool and doing their stunts upside down. Awesome. Last but not least were the group of boys who did tumbling and jump-rope stunts.



After this, we said goodbye to the K&B clan and started to make our way to our VERY early dinner at 3:45 at Teppanyaki, a regular stop on all our visits. We had a friendly waitress, chef, and table companions.

Hannah enjoyed her cup of milk and did some performing of her own for the table:


Look ma – no hands!

Unfortunately, I started to feel rather ill just before dinner (no, it wasn't the food!). I made it through dinner, but I was really feeling miserable by the end. This would be tricky as we were scheduled to do the Candlelight Processional this evening. We were making our way back to Soarin’ to use our FPs from before. I finally asked Mom and Miss if we could stop at Guest Relations and see about changing to another night. I just wasn’t sure I could make it another 4 hours in the park. Miss went on to GR while I plodded along behind with Mom for company. We got to GR to meet up with Miss, who had been working with a great CM named Irvine from Miami, FL to move our package to the next night. He was exceedingly helpful and really made our night. We went back to the room and rested. Hannah did some dancing (she stands like this and bounces her rear end up and down – it’s very cute)



and we watched a Lifetime movie. We went to bed early, grateful we wouldn’t have to miss CP, and set our alarms for 5:30 again, with great hopes of actually getting TO a park at 7:45.

Least favorites of the day were:
Mom – Me being sick
Missy – Me being sick (isn’t my family great?)
Me – being sick

Favorites of the day were:
Mom – Riding Nemo
Missy – Seeing Circle of Life solo with Hannah
Me – doing so many “out-of-the-way” things like the World Showcase Players, VoL, and the acrobats; it really opened up a lot of the magic of WS

Next Up: Day Three – Candlelight Processional and A Whirlwind Tour of Resort Decorations

 

[SueM in MN]

I just wanted to say I am sorry for what happened to your mom in the bathroom and think that you handled things very well. Most people who need to use that stall because of a wheelchair understand that there are people without wheelchairs who need to use it too. Depending on the bathroom, some of the handicapped stalls are 2 stalls wide, but don't stick out any farther than a regular stall; so sometimes the only 'clue' from outside the stall that says it isn't a 'regular' stall is that the door opens out instead of in. Sometimes people don't notice that and even use the handicapped stall without noticing.

 

[donaldsgal]

Thanks, Sue, for your perspective. I want to be respectful to others who need this stall (or any handicap-accessible accomodation), so it's good to be aware. I appreciate your encouragement that I wasn't mean. AND, it's nice to know someone is reading.

 

[tinawv]

What great pictures; Hannah is so adorable. I am so sorry your mother had to experience the rudeness of the woman in the restroom. Some people open their mouths before they think. I also think that it was gallant of you to take up for your mother. Hopefully, it will keep someone else from experiencing what your mom went through.

Looking forward to your next post.

 

[donaldsgal]

You’ll never believe what happened today – we MADE IT TO ROPE DROP! Yes, folks, the unthinkable actually took place. I was so proud of us!  Go us!

Okay, celebrating complete. On with the trip report.

We arrived to the park and got just around the corner onto Sunset Blvd to enjoy a couple of Italian and German movie producers entertaining us. They reviewed the rules, specifically reminding us to be good WDW guest and avoid stampeding to ToT and RnRC. We obliged. We walked briskly down Sunset Blvd to that lovely sight at the end of the street – the fabulous Tower of Terror!

Mom opted to wait with Hannah while Miss, Brian, Noah, Emily, and I grabbed FASTPASSes for ToT. We asked mom to get us the Parent Swap Pass for this attraction and RnRC as well. We got in line and got on rather quickly – maybe a 10 minute wait, as opposed to the 40 minute wait listed in the queue. By the way, pretty amazing that the wait was so long so quickly, huh? We rode it and loved it. We were in the back row, and we usually request the first. We still had a blast. I love the random drop sequence – as Forrest would say, “You never know what you’re gonna git.”

Up next was RnRC. The same group of us opted to repeat ride this as well. I love that blast-off.  By this time, we were able to get more FPs for RnRC, so we did. We headed back down to The Great Movie Ride and rode this with the rest of the K&B Clan – Karen, Joel, and Halle. We don’t do this one often, and we had a good ride. Hannah was enamored with it. Afterwards, we headed to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Before getting in line, Halle, Hannah and I took a break



while Karen took Joel to get pics with Chicken Little and the mallard character (can’t remember her name….) Mom and Miss saw our CM from The Great Movie Ride walk by and started clapping. Michael, the CM, looked over at us with a smirk. He said, “Thanks, uh, I walk all the time.” It was a very improvisational response that thrilled my mom (as I said in the pre-trip report, she’s a sucker for the little things).

We got in after about 15 minutes. I was next to a little girl who was very displeased to be in the theater (she cried and buried her head into mom for most of it). Hannah slept through it but we enjoyed the ambiance.

Afterwards, I headed back down to ToT with Mom for her first ride this trip. We got into the library where they show the video and the CM working there was really into his part. He was creepy in a fun way. He got very close to people as he talked and enjoyed creeping out one woman in particular. He approached me and got about 6 inches from my face. He asked me what my name was without blinking, and I told him Jenny. He said, “Is that it?” I told him my last name, and then he sort of snapped out of it briefly and announced to the room, “This is Jenny Beck, everyone!” It was pretty funny. We got to the ride vehicle and got the front row – yeah! Mom was a little worried because her seatbelt was somewhat loose, and she was rather jumpy throughout the ride. We got to the part where the doors open and she screamed – half in delight, half in terror – just the right amount for this ride. We had a great drop sequence this time – all the way, all the way down, all the way up, halfway down, where the doors opened and the elevator shimmied and shook and we saw the ghostly figures beckoning us to join them, then shot all the way up, then fell down, then settled in as our elevator transported us back to our dimension. We got off and Mom was smiling. She said she was lifted completely out of her seat and come down – hard – on top of the small hump between her and the woman next to her… ouch!

It must have been a pretty good time, though, as this picture might indicate:



This is one of my favorite shots of the entire trip!

After ToT, Mom and Miss went to ride Star Tours while Hannah and I walked around the backlots. I tried to find the ever-illusive Singin’ in the Rain umbrella on New York Street, but, alas, a CM informed me it had been taken down for a rehab. I’m not sure if she really meant rehab or just that it was taken down to accommodate the Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I got to see them all strung up, and it did look to be like a gazillion (that’s a very technical mathematical term, you know ). Unfortunately, we never made it back to see this spectacle this trip, and I don’t know if we’ll ever be back during this time of year.

I met Mom and Miss back up front near the Sorcerer’s Hat for our 11:30 ADRs at 50s Prime Time Café. The K&B clan again dined with us. We found out that Emily had lost her cell phone on RnRC. When they told a CM, the reaction was, apparently, “Sorry.” We had a great lunch – I LOVED everything about the food served to me. Our waiter was a good waiter but not terribly into the antics. He did threaten my mom that she’d have to eat her greens “for breakfast tomorrow” since she opted to try to cover them up with her chicken bones at that meal. The waiter advised Karen to go to Guest Services and fill out a description of the phone, the day it was lost, etc. because the rides are cleaned out nightly and there was a decent chance they’d find the phone. Emily was hoping they’d lose it forever as she wanted a nicer (and more expensive) phone.

After lunch, we said goodbye to the K&B Clan and began our whirlwind tour of the resort decorations. First stop was Wilderness Lodge. We wanted to minimize our bus transfers, so this was the only one we’d have to do. We went here and while it’s a lovely hotel, other than a huge Christmas tree in the lobby, there were no chocolate scenes (which were what we wanted to see). We went out back to admire (and drool over, in my case) the amazing pool area.

We got a family photo



and headed down to the boat launch. We waited about 20 minutes for a boat to take us to the Contemporary, so we took this opportunity for some Kodak moments. I got some of my favorite shots of Hannah of the whole trip here:



(I love the simple, childlike happiness that she has here)

and we played peek-a-boo for a little bit.



The boat arrived and we hopped on board. It was a nice ride over to the Contemporary, and as we approached, a monorail was gliding into the building.



We got on the monorail to the Polynesian, where we hoped to see the volcano Christmas scene. Again, no luck finding any chocolate creations. We boarded the monorail again and headed to the GF.

Finally, a big ole sugar creation!



This thing is massive and so cool! We’d been excited ever since seeing the Holidays Around the World on the Food Network. I love the details, even down to the small cartoons of the characters on the window panes. So thoroughly delightful to look at, and I bet it tastes good, too! We had to get a shot of what it takes to make this masterpiece



and Mom, being a cook, might be asked to conjure up a life-size gingerbread house of her own. (I sincerely doubt it! ) We added a bit more sugar to the scene by posing for a shot in front of it



and headed back to MK to transfer to a bus back to CSR. Again, with less than a 10 minute wait, we were on our way.

We had the Candlelight Processional tonight, so we didn’t have much time to relax. We wanted to take Hannah to the pool, so that we did. We had more fun than she did.



Pool time over, we went back to the room, showered, and headed back out the door to Epcot.

We got to the park about 5:50. We needed to talk to some Guest Relations people since we had originally been scheduled for the night before. Miss went ahead of us, and it was a good thing; apparently, at some point, my KTTW card stopped working. Mom and I had to wait so Miss went ahead and barreled through the crowds to get over to the America pavilion. This was a not fun part of the night for Mom. I had Hannah on me in an infant carrier, and I was really booking it to get through Future World and halfway around World Showcase. By the time we got there, Miss had just checked in. We were all appreciative of the seats. We were in the second section in center right. We were pretty close with a clear view.



We read the program and took pics while we waited.



We heard some woman scuffle over “these seats are saved” / “you can’t save seats; is your name on them?” behind us and were glad our party was all there together so we could avoid a throw-down as the reserved section opened up. I was expecting a bigger theater and didn’t really find it crowded. Soon enough the show started. It was so good! I loved the trumpeters and the bright colors of the costumes/lighting.



The show was great. Marlee Matlin was our narrator, and the signer for the hearing-impaired was really into his delivery. The man who voiced the narration for Marlee, Jason, was a great reader. He got into it as much with his voice as Marlee did with her physical speech. I had to chuckle when the narration gave what I considered to be a worldly opinion of who Jesus was (didn't mention His divinity and holiness). But for Disney, a non-Christian company, they didn’t blaspheme Him and definitely gave him props for being a good guy, so I guess that's pretty good. I just believe He was a lot more than that. But anyhoo, the whole section of the narration that talked about His global impact was really neat; it went something like, “He affected more lives than all the kings and armies and rulers PUT TOGETHER” – I had to offer an “Amen” to that one!

The show ended and Mom was really glad we’d done it. We walked over to Yacht and Beach Club to check out their decorations – a neat carousel scene with 6 Hidden Mickeys (of which we could only locate about 5). We walked back to Epcot, and Mom and Miss got into line at Yorkshire County Fish Shop while I hunted with Hannah for a spot to watch IllumiNations. This is my second favorite show, only second to Wishes, and I’d heard that Holiday IllumiNations is even more spectacular. Mom and Miss got into line about 8:30; at about 9:25, they FINALLY made their way to me. We watched from between the UK and Canada pavilions. I love the part where the narrator blows out the lights in Epcot. The whole thing is amazing, and I really, really liked the extra oomph of the fireworks show set to “Let There Be Peace on Earth”. The finale was so loud that I felt it down to my stomach. It was great, and I was really glad we caught it. The mass exodus out of the park wasn’t so much fun, but we got to walk under the Lights of Winter on the way. We reached the bus stop and, you guessed it! We got on the first bus that showed up, along with only about another 30 people who were in line. We waited less than 15 minutes and were on our way “home”.

We fell into bed only after setting our alarm for 5:30 PM. Tomorrow Mom and Hannah would get a day off from the parks and Miss and I would return to her pre-baby days where we could go at full-speed ahead. Admittedly, this trip had been much more relaxing. The afternoon breaks were great; the last (and only other) time Mom had come with us, we were still in our pre-TourGuideMike days where the thought of taking an afternoon break, or any amount of time outside of the parks for that matter, was considered most illogical, as Mr. Spock might say. This time, we slowed down, and it was easier to do that knowing we’ll be back for 10 days in June.

Our least favorites of the day were:
Mom – walking “way too fast” to the America Pavilion for the CP
Miss – ditto that
Me – not getting to see more chocolate creations in the resorts; I guess I was just expecting more

And our favorites:
Mom – Candlelight Processional
Miss – Candlelight Processional
Me – Candlelight Processional (guess that means it was a hit!) and Holiday IllumiNations

Up Next: Day 4 – We shoulda worn the ponchos!

 

[OhMari]

I hope you come back and finish up your TR. Your pictures are great. How old is Hannah?

 

[vsimeone]

Day One: We landed!!!

We left for the airport Christmas Day at 10:20 AM, about 20 minutes later than we had hoped, and drove to the Akron/Canton airport.

I just happened upon your trip report and had to say "HI NEIGHBOR!"

We live about 5 miles from the CAK airport and we were also at CSR from 12/23-1/1. How did we miss you?

I'm looking forward to reading your report to see if you had as fantastic a time as we did. I hope you are staying warm these last couple of days!!!

 

[donaldsgal]

I hope you come back and finish up your TR. Your pictures are great. How old is Hannah?

I just happened upon your trip report and had to say "HI NEIGHBOR!"

We live about 5 miles from the CAK airport and we were also at CSR from 12/23-1/1. How did we miss you?

I'm looking forward to reading your report to see if you had as fantastic a time as we did. I hope you are staying warm these last couple of days!!!

Thanks for the encouraging words. I had given up on my TR because it seemed as if no one was reading it. It's nice to know people actually have read it. I tried to make it appealing and I wasn't getting any bites, so.... guess I'm having a pity party! Anyways, now that I know someone cares to hear the end, I'll try to get it done this weekend. It really means a whole lot to get your feedback.

 

[4kidsandadog]

Hey, *I'm* reading!

I didn't do a trip report, since our party was so split up all the time. And my brain is so sieve-like, I can't remember everything without taking notes.

Oh, and for anyone else reading, I'm the "K" in the K&B clan!

 

[donaldsgal]

Hey, *I'm* reading!

I didn't do a trip report, since our party was so split up all the time. And my brain is so sieve-like, I can't remember everything without taking notes.

Oh, and for anyone else reading, I'm the "K" in the K&B clan!

Karen, you awesome lady, you! You made my night by posting this! I hope to finish the TR this weekend, and even if it's just for you, it's worth it.