Can We Do Magic Now? A 2016 TR Adventure. *Complete and DL Paris TR Link Added

[Steppesister]

Then they look like one of those 3 pack of highlighters

Honestly, they could have taken him to Disney without us and he would have been just as happy.

I'd say to this.... LET IT HAPPEN! Some of my most treasured memories are from my Grandma and I going by ourselves when I was a very young child.

My parents aren’t big on PDA, so it was sweet seeing them hold hands at Disney. They’ve been married 33 years.

Awwww....

Now that I’m in Germany and far away from extended family, this memory means a lot more to me.

Oh, how I get this. So much!

Her first pair of ears!!!

So unreasonable…

Totally!

 

[khertz]

That's awesome! And a trip to Seattle sounds fun. You guys are so well traveled, I'm jealous! (I've been working on Alex to go to Italy next spring, because I'm still so jealous of your amazing ABD trip!)

You absolutely have to do Italy while you over there! It would be criminal to be so close and not do it!! And then I can live vicariously through you. lol

 

[amazingact21]

I'd say to this.... LET IT HAPPEN! Some of my most treasured memories are from my Grandma and I going by ourselves when I was a very young child.

Oh, how I get this. So much!

Alex and I have grand plans of when we get back to the states. We are going to ditch the kiddos and take a few days at Disney to ourselves. The way I see it, everyone wins in that situation.
I really miss those family dinners, but I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to see the world.

You absolutely have to do Italy while you over there! It would be criminal to be so close and not do it!! And then I can live vicariously through you. lol

We might or might not have a Rome trip in the works for early March. My in-laws are coming over for a few weeks to visit, and I suggested we all take a trip somewhere. I guess my father and mother in-law love Rome, and my sister in-law was already planning on going there after she came to our house, so the only logical thing to do was vacation there together. Flights are relatively cheap within Europe, and since there's a large group of us, we are just going to rent an apartment. I cannot wait! I also have a friend that's living in Italy (she's military, as well) and she offered to let us stay with her if we want to go again, so I imagine another trip will happen at some point.

 

[amazingact21]

February 29th, 2016:

When planning for this trip, I was pretty sure Disney was going to hold a 24 hour party on Leap Day, like they did 4 years ago. I wanted to start the trip at the Magic Kingdom, but I was afraid of the crowds that were possible with the party, so instead I planned an Epcot morning with an open evening.

That meant I had Test Track, early Flower and Garden displays, and a surprise Behind the Seeds tour with my dad to look forward to on our first official Disney day. It was going to be spectacular!


I woke up at midnight feeling a little off. I attributed it to the bad dinner at Earl, though, and brushed it off.


By 1 a.m., though, I was hit with the awful stomach bug.

Catching that horrendous thing is terrible enough, catching it on your Disney vacation. In a Pop Century room. Just downright cruel.


The silver lining to it was that it wasn’t the worst one I’d ever experienced, and everybody else stayed asleep. Evie woke up twice to eat; I was able to feed her, and Alex woke up long enough to put her back in her Pack and Play each time.

My parents and Landon woke up around 7 o’clock, and we all had to take a step back and figure out what the heck we were going to do. Obviously, I was down for the count and wasn’t going anywhere. Which also meant Evie was staying in the room since I was her food source. Because I was pretty weak and tired, I was nervous about caring for her by myself, so Alex agreed to hang out with me and be the primary parent in charge.

But what about Landon?


That’s when my mom and dad offered to take him off our hands for a few hours. They suggested they take him to Epcot by themselves.

This was a big favor from my parents. You see, Landon isn’t the easiest child to deal with. He’s got his quirks, he’s very particular, and he can exhaust even the hardiest of adults. And add to that the cold he was still fighting and we all knew he’d be a handful.

For about half an hour, I worried about what to do. I didn’t want Landon to wear down my parents, but I also did not want to deprive Landon of his Disney time just because I was sick. So, finally, I agreed and Alex organized a diaper bag for them.


They stayed out until about 1 o’clock, and from what my mom told me, they had a terrific time.


They rode the bus:




They grabbed some Photopass pictures in front of Spaceship Earth:







They spotted the Pluto meet and greet and hopped in line for Landon to have a turn:




My dad rode Mission: Space. Twice. While my mom took Landon on Spaceship Earth. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of the dark, though, and had a bit of a meltdown. Then, my parents took Landon on Living with the Land (I was extremely sad I didn’t get to experience this with my dad. That was the one attraction I knew he’d absolutely love, and he did.) and then they visited Nemo and his buds:




The aquarium is where they spent most of their morning. I was not surprised at all to hear that; both my dad and Landon love fish, and if the dolphins were out then my mom was content for a good long while.


When they walked back outside, my mom wandered around to show my dad some of the beauty of Flower and Garden.





And then headed to the Electric Umbrella for lunch. I told my mother it was just shameful she chose burgers over Sunshine Seasons, but I guess she was shooting for safe when it came to the boys. She knew my dad and Landon couldn’t find too much to complain about when they had burgers and chicken nuggets.


Evie, meanwhile, was chilling on the bed watching bad daytime tv with Alex while I slept:





After lunch, my mom and dad used the Fastpass I had booked everyone and met some friends at the character spot. Not going to lie, when my mom told me how great the character interactions went, and I logged on and saw the photographs, I got a little sad at missing it all. I handled me not getting any park time fine, but knowing I missed the opportunity to see my son so happy stunk.

The three of them met Mickey first:







Goofy was next, and he made sure to spend a lot of time with Landon. He even interacted with my dad, which I’m sure made him smile.







And last but not least was Minnie.



Hearing my mom tell me how Landon ran up to the characters and didn’t hesitate to give them big hugs was pretty bittersweet. The last time we were there, Landon was hesitant of the characters, and it wasn’t until our final morning that he warmed up to Pluto. But 7 months later and that fear was completely gone. It evaporated just as quickly as it appeared, and Alex and I had to miss it.

And my dad seemed so happy! I wouldn’t say my dad is an uptight guy, but he’s definitely not this overjoyous, loud, wear my emotions on my sleeve kind of guy, so I was just as shocked to see him smiling and giving the thumbs up as I was to see Landon hugging Pluto.


Dumb stomach bug…


My mother tried to grab some more Photopass pictures on the way out of the park, but I guess Landon’s cold was getting the better of him. He was pretty crabby.



And he insisted my dad carry him to the bus, which ended up tweaking his back later on in the trip.

Blegh.


As crummy as that day was for me, I tried my hardest to find the silver lining. I had to, otherwise I would have just sat in my room and cried and injustice of it all.
First up, Alex and I got a chance to spend the day with Evie.
One on one time with the second kid is never a bad thing. I’m sure she appreciated the break from her loud older brother and the chance to walk around Pop with her dad.


And most importantly, my mom and dad got to take Landon to a Disney park by themselves. Those two people love that boy more than anyone ever thought they would, and I know they appreciated every second they got him to themselves. They got to be the Nana and Papi and spoil him with a cookie, carrying him (because Landon would never dream of pulling that stunt on me or Alex) and getting to talk to him without Evie taking some of their attention.


I’m sure now that we are in Germany, both of them remember that day and are glad they were able to make such a special memory. It’s not every day a kid gets to go to Disney without their mom and dad!


So. Not all bad. Really, it was just me that drew the short end of the stick that day. Because even Alex got a little something that evening.

By dinnertime, I needed some soup and Gatorade, and Alex wanted something non-Pop food court to eat. (He’d already had 2 lunches and a breakfast there.) So, he took Landon and went to eat dinner at Animal Kingdom Lodge!





Why AKL?

Because Alex had been craving Zebra Domes for awhile, and he figured if he had to go out, he might as well stop at the Mara first. He actually ordered some with his dinner and bought another to keep in the room fridge for later.

Once dinner was over, the boys made a Walmart run, got the supplies I needed, then came back to the room to take Evie off my hands. Alex strapped both tots in the stroller and headed to food court to microwave my soup.




On the way back, they were able see the Star Wars fireworks happening at DHS.



So, Zebra Domes and fireworks, not a total Disney loss for Alex.


And what about my parents? I know you’re curious as to what they were up to that evening.

My mom took my dad to the Magic Kingdom.


Another little date night for my folks. Goodness, they were surprising me left and right.

I was downright shocked that my dad went into the park without a kid. That’s not like my father. He is firmly in the camp of Disney is just for kids.

But there he was. Right in the middle of Main St with my mom.

The two of them rode the Jungle Cruise and watched the Tiki Tiki Room and stayed for Wishes. And they got back to the room right about the time I was eating my soup.


So.

That was Monday.

1000% NOT the way I’d hoped or planned for it to go. But what could I do? A bug isn’t something you ever plan for, and it rarely hits at a convenient time. (Another first, though, this was the first time in the 8 years Alex and I had been together that he ever saw me sick. The last two bugs I got…he was deployed both times for it. What're the odds of that?)



We all fell asleep that evening wondering what Tuesday would bring. Would everyone make it to a park? Would the bug hit someone else?

Only time would tell.


Up Next…But it’s a Classic!

 

[rdkeim]

Ugh - sick at Disney! I'm sure that wasn't part of your travel plans. But, all in all, doesn't look like the day was a total bust. Hope you were able to continue on with your plans the next day!

 

[afwdwfan]

Stomach bugs are the worst. For many reasons, but the mental roulette game of who else gets it or who's next can be almost as bad as the actual bug itself. Almost.

I'm really glad to see that your dad seemed to be enjoying himself and opening himself up to the fun that Disney presents. I really hope that it can continue for him!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

So sorry you got sick in Disney. We plan so long and just want everything to be perfect. I'm hoping it was just a 24 hour bug and no one else got it.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

No fun first day of the trip!

 

[Steppesister]

Uuuuugh! Not fun. AT. ALL! I"m so sorry you struggled with that! I really hope things turn around for you.

 

[amazingact21]

Ugh - sick at Disney! I'm sure that wasn't part of your travel plans. But, all in all, doesn't look like the day was a total bust. Hope you were able to continue on with your plans the next day!

I definitely wasn't expecting to get sick on vacation! Completely threw me off my game. I was just glad that Landon still got to have a Disney park morning and my dad was able to ride one of his favorite attractions. (Mission:Space)

Stomach bugs are the worst. For many reasons, but the mental roulette game of who else gets it or who's next can be almost as bad as the actual bug itself. Almost.
I'm really glad to see that your dad seemed to be enjoying himself and opening himself up to the fun that Disney presents. I really hope that it can continue for him!

YES. This 1000%. The minute someone comes down with it you start psyching yourself out, especially because it's near impossible for a household to avoid it when a family member gets hit with it. I won't lie, I was REALLY glad I got it first. Knocked it out quick and didn't have to spend the rest of the week waiting for the inevitable nausea.
Because. Yep. I was kind enough to pass it on to somebody else this trip.

So sorry you got sick in Disney. We plan so long and just want everything to be perfect. I'm hoping it was just a 24 hour bug and no one else got it.

It was devastating to me to catch it, especially since I had such great memories of our Disney trip during that time last year. I just never expected that time of year to be anything but great. My only consolation was that it hit me at the very beginning and that by the end of the week Landon would have gotten over the worst of his cold and I would be back to 100%.

 

[amazingact21]

No fun first day of the trip!

I was so mad that I caught it, and I spent that whole evening waiting in fear that Evie would catch it since she'd spent all day with me.

Uuuuugh! Not fun. AT. ALL! I"m so sorry you struggled with that! I really hope things turn around for you.

I guess I was just really naive and never thought that I could get sick while at Disney. I don't know why I didn't, my degree is in education. I know quite well what happens when a bunch of kids are touching things, messing with food, etc.
The whole thing just made me look forward to the days when the kids are older and less likely to share all their germs with their friends. Because while the chances are still there of catching it, at least the odds aren't in the bug's favor by my daughter grabbing a toy out of her friend's mouth and shoving it in her own before I can cross the playroom to stop her.

 

[natebenma]

Thank you for providing me with a good belly laugh. I didn't even notice my mother's bright shirt until you said something. Oh man...I made Alex stop studying and showed him that photo and asked, "What do they look like? A pack of highlighters, right?!" And then of course he asked who said that because he knew I couldn't come up with something that funny on my own.
That was gold.

Hilarious comment from Andy and then Alex's response:

Confession time. Before I begin this next update, I have to give a quick P.S.A. My husband has scolded me for not including this in the introduction and demanded I forewarn you all. So, here goes. This February trip was not good. Don’t get me wrong, it had its moments, and it’s because of those that I’m prefacing our April vacation with our Feb. experience. However, to put it bluntly, it was the worst Disney trip we have ever had, and I can’t even pretend to say I’m glad we did it. It was the stuff of nightmares.

OK, you have mentioned that the Feb trip was not good, but including a warning of things to come...

Now I am really scared!

*********************************************************************

Your arrival day certainly had its ups and downs!

Ha! I was wondering why you did not go under the arch when you got onto Disney property.

I have stayed at All Star Music and All Star Movies, but never POP. I always think I would like it at POP or AoA. The theming is just really good. Of course, that would involve dragging me away from the Beach or Yacht Club...

I remember your description of being directionally challenged from the Poly report. I get it. I soooo get it. I finally can find my way around by the end of a trip and then it goes way until the end of the next trip. Every.single.time!



But if it makes you feel any better, I think it makes perfect sense to get to the 70's area but going through the 60's.




So sorry to hear about Landon getting sick to start your trip on the wrong foot.

At least you were able to have some fun with family at DTD.

*****************************************************************

That stinks about being stuck in the room and feeling so horrible on your first full day.



And missing the great interactions with Landon, your parents and the characters.

We had a trip where I spent the day in the room at ASMu with my oldest son who was sick while my husband took Ben to Hollywood Studios. Where he was chosen for Jedi training. And after the show was brought for a picture with all of the Star Wars characters as part of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion. But that lead into our do-over trip the following year to the Beach Club. And the rest is history!

It sounds like it was kind of that way for you with the Feb trip and then April.




This is cool:



On the way back, they were able see the Star Wars fireworks happening at DHS.






So, Zebra Domes and fireworks, not a total Disney loss for Alex.

 

[natebenma]

Wonky DIS- Duplicate post

 

[khertz]

OH NO!! Stomach bugs invading a Disney trip is the stuff of nightmares. So sorry you had to spend your day sick in the room. It's probably a blessing that your dad came on this trip, because had he not, your mom may not have wanted to take Landon to the parks by herself. At least, despite the cruminess of being sick, they got some special one on one time with him.

Now just waiting to see who it struck next, because I'm sure it didn't begin & end with you. Those nasty bugs never do!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

So sorry you didn't get off to a great start
Being sick at Disney is never good but you have a great attitude in finding the positives to it all. Love Landon's selfie- he is one very cute little guy
Your mum and dad look like they're having the time of their lives and I love that you captured them holding hands
My parents were together over 60years ( married for 59) when my dad passed away and like yours didn't often go for PDA but every now and then I'd catch them holding hands and think how lucky they were to have that kind of love for each other after so many years and how lucky I was to have them as parents

 

[amazingact21]

OK, you have mentioned that the Feb trip was not good, but including a warning of things to come...

Now I am really scared!

Your arrival day certainly had its ups and downs!

This was one rollercoaster of a trip.

I have stayed at All Star Music and All Star Movies, but never POP. I always think I would like it at POP or AoA. The theming is just really good. Of course, that would involve dragging me away from the Beach or Yacht Club...

Pop isn't bad, but I think I've stayed there so many times that I'm burned out on the resort. Plus, going through a stomach bug there pretty much snuffed any desire to stay there again for a long while.

I remember your description of being directionally challenged from the Poly report. I get it. I soooo get it. I finally can find my way around by the end of a trip and then it goes way until the end of the next trip. Every.single.time!

Yep. And if you stay at the same resort next trip, you're constantly finding yourself going back to your old room.

That stinks about being stuck in the room and feeling so horrible on your first full day.



And missing the great interactions with Landon, your parents and the characters.

We had a trip where I spent the day in the room at ASMu with my oldest son who was sick while my husband took Ben to Hollywood Studios. Where he was chosen for Jedi training. And after the show was brought for a picture with all of the Star Wars characters as part of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion. But that lead into our do-over trip the following year to the Beach Club. And the rest is history!

It sounds like it was kind of that way for you with the Feb trip and then April.

Oh no. That had to have been terrible! Ugh, my heart breaks for you a little bit. But like you said, it was because of that that you discovered the Beach Club, and I think everyone here knows what the BC means to you. So, silver lining. But I think we can both agree that spending the day in a Disney value room pretty much stinks!

OH NO!! Stomach bugs invading a Disney trip is the stuff of nightmares. So sorry you had to spend your day sick in the room. It's probably a blessing that your dad came on this trip, because had he not, your mom may not have wanted to take Landon to the parks by herself. At least, despite the cruminess of being sick, they got some special one on one time with him.

Now just waiting to see who it struck next, because I'm sure it didn't begin & end with you. Those nasty bugs never do!

That's very true. I don't know what would have happened had my dad not been there to help with Landon. And whether he admits it now or not, he loved that morning.

Spoken from a fellow mom who's fought the stomach bug battle herself! As Andy put it, it was stomach bug roulette from that point on.

So sorry you didn't get off to a great start
Being sick at Disney is never good but you have a great attitude in finding the positives to it all. Love Landon's selfie- he is one very cute little guy
Your mum and dad look like they're having the time of their lives and I love that you captured them holding hands
My parents were together over 60years ( married for 59) when my dad passed away and like yours didn't often go for PDA but every now and then I'd catch them holding hands and think how lucky they were to have that kind of love for each other after so many years and how lucky I was to have them as parents

60 years together...that's amazing. I love hearing stories like that. Makes my day. Alex and I tell each other all the time that we hope to be that couple walking around Disney proudly sporting a 50th Anniversary button. Of course, we still have a long way to go.
Sometimes, I think having parents that don't show a lot of P.D.A. makes it that much more special when you do catch them holding hands or showing affection. Goes to show how happy they are in that moment and how much they appreciate creating the memory with their partner.

 

[amazingact21]

Messed up post. I'll fix it later today!

 

[amazingact21]

Ever have one of those days where nothing goes as planned? Yeah, that was my day yesterday. We had me burning my fingertips with a hot glue gun, Evie falling out of a chair at childcare and busting her gums and teeth. There was the card reader not working at the store and coming home after a long day to find my little German oven hanging lopsided in its caddy. I am only too happy to put on some Epcot music and jump into the Disney universe for a short while.


March 1st, 2016 Part 1:

All right, all right! It was a new day, a new month, our second full Disney day. It had been well over 24 hours since I’d last been sick, I had kept a bowl of soup and some toast down, and my 4 month old had let me get a solid 6 hours of sleep.

We were good to go.


Wait.

How was everyone else faring?

When everybody began stirring and getting dressed, we kept shooting nervous glances at one another. Nobody’s stomach hurt, no signs of anyone needing to pay homage to the porcelain king, nothing but nervous optimism was floating around the adults.

Landon, on the other hand, was still fighting a hard battle with his cold. He had a small fever, but it went down pretty quick with some medicine, and he ate a small breakfast. Aside from being crabby and having a runny nose, he seemed to be good enough to get toted around in his stroller.

So did that mean what we thought it did?

YES!

We were all finally going to get to go to a park together!

Hallelujah, I was going to get in on all the fun AND Evie was going to finally be able to go to her first park.

Naturally, on a baby’s first Disney outing, a good Disney loving parent would trek them to the Magic Kingdom, right? Gotta get those castle shots.

Gotta take them on Small World.

Gotta put their ears on and let them travel around in a princess dress.


Well. That’s not where we were headed that morning. When I made Fastpasses and ADRs, I was going along with the assumption that all 6 of us would have experienced Epcot the day before. I had also already reserved us a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace later in the week.

Remember that.
It’s important.

So, I didn’t necessarily want to change our plans completely to rush over to someplace I knew I was going to get photographs in before the crowds rushed in. Enough crud had gotten messed up already, I wanted to stick to my plans!

Okie dokie, then. Where did this mean we were headed?


Hold up, hold up, have to spend twelve minutes putting the kids in the stroller after completing our bus ride.


Ah, there we are.


At:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

I know, I know, you might think I was a little crazy for making Animal Kingdom Evie’s first park, but I actually didn’t mind. I love Animal Kingdom. I think I love it more than anyone else in my entire family. It might be the hottest park, but it’s one of the prettiest and easiest to kill time in.

That’s my opinion, at least. I’m at the point in my life where I knew there was a chance I could visit a lot of the World Showcase countries in real life, and I spend most of my time in the MK riding attractions, so Animal Kingdom is one of the few parks I could walk into with zero plans and do absolutely nothing in it and still have a fantastic time.

And I think that is a trait that is often overlooked with families vacationing at WDW, and that’s a shame.

Besides, I would love for Evie to grow up and develop a special love for AK and animals. Her and I could take a girl’s trip where we spend a morning gorilla gazing and dinosaur dashing. (I think I’ve been reading too many Dr. Seuss books to Landon.)


The first order of business after getting the kiddos settled into their seats was to grab a few Photopass pictures.

I needed solid proof that we were all together!


Even if the evidence had us all looking into the sun and me holding onto the stroller handle for dear life.

Is it obvious I thought the world was ending just the day before? Or that I hadn’t had any solid sustenance since dinner on Sunday?

Not my finest day for photos, but I took one for the team.


Alex was in charge of toting around our diaper bag for the parks, which provided the rest of us with plenty of amusement.

Nothing like a grown 6 foot man sporting a miniscule Cars backpack to entertain you first thing in the morning…




We all went through the tapstiles and bag check and then promptly stopped because we had all forgotten to put sunscreen on earlier.


See, despite feeling like my stomach was going to start munching on my kidneys for protein, I was really excited to be in a park. I was at Disney. I was in my zone.


Let’s go!


We headed…


Right to another Photopass spot.


This was our “Adult daughter won’t stop leaning on me and is going to cause a domino effect here in a second” shot. Sorry, Dad.




And this is our “Nana can’t stop thinking about how if she catches that goshdarn stomach bug she’s going to have to start telling people she only has sons from now on” shot.



And then there was our “thrilled child” shot:



Even the 4 month old was in cohoots with the 2 year old.

Whatever. We had photographic evidence. We were all there.


And we were going to have the happ, happ, happiest Animal Kingdom day we possibly could!



Because of our 3 Fastpass limit, I wasn’t able to get a pass to meet Mickey and Minnie at their meet and greet location, and because Landon did so well with them the day before I wanted to see his reaction for myself. So, I rushed us all over to the building with the intention of everyone hopping in the standby line. However, my dad was feeling like this was a bit repetitive.

“We just saw them yesterday, why do we have to do it again today?”

“Because this will be Evie’s first time.”

“And?”

I knew my dad wouldn’t be completely thrilled with the plan, but I was a little confused as to why he was fighting it as bad as he was. And then he not so casually dropped a question that revealed the answer to me.

“Hey, wasn’t that the Bug Show we saw last time we were here?” he was pointing in the direction we had just walked.

“Yep, It’s Tough to be a Bug.”

“Man, that was a fun show. Why don’t we go do that? I loved that thing.”

“I’m afraid it’ll scare the kids, Dad.”

“But it’s a classic!”


Sure.

I did not have the heart to tell my dad that guests were not, in fact, making the mad rope drop dash to the Tree of Life to see the 3D show. Maybe back in 2001…when he last experienced it there was. But as far as crowds go, I could have bet good money on there being a longer line for Mickey than there was for Flik. (Not even meet and greet Flik. We were talking Projection Screen Flik.)


My dad called us all party poopers for not jumping on board his Bug’s Life enthusiasm train and told us to go ahead with our character meet. He was going to the show by himself.

The whole conversation was sort of hilarious because of how random it was. My dad was just shocked that nobody else in the group wasn’t excited about the show. He was standing there trying to sell us on it, and us three adults were acting like he was offering us up free bottles of the Beverly.

It was just wasn’t going to happen.


So, my dad went off to do his thing (which he ended up loving to pieces) while my mom, Alex, and I got the kids in line. The posted wait was 10 minutes, but we quickly realized it was a big lie. We stood and stood for close to 15 minutes without budging.






Poor, poor Landon was so ambivalent to it all. He just wanted to be held. I tried my hardest to tough the wait out, but I was getting really hot and needed a break, so I chickened out and my mom followed.


About the time the two of us had retrieved our stroller from where it was parked and found a seat in the shade, Alex rejoined us with both kids. Landon had gotten squirmy, and the line still hadn’t moved. So he bowed out, too.

And no sooner did we get the kids back in their seats and gave Landon some water then my dad reappeared.


Time to move on to our first Fastpass of the morning.





This was my first time seeing Animal Kingdom under all the construction, and I was a little surprised at how extensive it was. There were quite a few walls blocking normal pathways and lots of behind the scenes noise escaping into the park. Makes me really grateful that Avator land should be opening next year and the “under refurb” look will disappear.

Except maybe in the Rivers of Light area.

Is that show ever going to happen?


As much as I wanted to ride Everest, it wasn’t going to be happening that morning. I’ve done some foolish things in my younger years, but I like to think I’m a tad bit older and wiser now. At least, I was smart enough that morning to know going on a roller coaster on a completely empty stomach and still suffering from a teensy bit of dehydration would be terrible. A perfect recipe for disaster.

So instead my mom and I got Rider Swaps for the men and went and found some free spots near the gift shop to sit and wait. Landon could see the cars drop from the top of the mountain, and he got a huge kick out of watching them fall.




My dad rode once with Alex, but when he went to use the Rider Swap my dad opted out. He said the ride messed up his back, but we later came to think it was Landon’s piggybacking from the day before that did the trick.

Landon and my mom continued to chat and ride watch:



That’s how it usually is with them. I’ll come into a room and Landon will be doing something that has my mom in stitches. The fun relationship of a grandparent and their grandkid…


When Alex had finished his second turn on Everest, my group made their way very slowly across the park, watching some of the inhabitants as we strolled.



And letting Landon get pictures with some of the Lion Guard characters we came across.




I won’t say we were the merriest band in the park that morning. What with me still recovering, my dad’s back hurting, and Landon battling his cold we were a little worse for the wear. However, we were all trying our best. And we were appreciating the ability to spend the time together. Anything was better than nothing by that point.

And my dear husband, he tried his hardest to take some pictures as we walked. I was too tired to mess with the camera, and he knew how much I love capturing photos on the trip. (I have a serious problem. I’m incapable of coming home without at least a couple thousand shots. Yeesh!)

So, bless his heart, he tried his best to grab some.





I appreciated his attempt.



Up Next…Food Would be Good

 

[natebenma]

Oh my!!!

I love the descriptions of your photos- the stories behind the pictures.



Also, adorable diaper backpack. That made me smile, too.

I'm glad you were all able to be together at a park, but mutiny already on the first attraction(s)? Yikes.

BTW- Animal Kingdom was my boys' first park, too on a very short trip to Disney with friends (1/2 day AK, day at SeaWorld, 1 day MK/EP)

 

[Gracefulskinny]

The whole conversation was sort of hilarious because of how random it was. My dad was just shocked that nobody else in the group wasn’t excited about the show. He was standing there trying to sell us on it, and us three adults were acting like he was offering us up free bottles of the Beverly.

So, my dad went off to do his thing (which he ended up loving to pieces)

Well to each their own I suppose.

Except maybe in the Rivers of Light area.

Is that show ever going to happen?

I wouldn't hold your breath on that one.

So, bless his heart, he tried his best to grab some.