Hooray for Hollywood! Im ready to start singing now. But before I delight you all with my splendiferous, melodious voice (ha, ha) I backtrack to the beginning.
Or rather, to the evening. Id intended to start this chapter with May 29, the second day of our trip, but it occurred to me that when we got back to our room we had a rather charming display and a few new friends waiting for us.
Alright, I'm totally taking the centering the photos thing from creativeamanda. I love that on your trip report, and I'm doing it here!
Now, I have to tell you that when Nemo saw Squirts crib, he was pretty upset. Mousekeeping may not have realized we had more than one kiddo in the room, and they took all of Nemos lovies, and mixed them with Squirts, and well, lets just say Nemo was not to pleased to see his brother getting all his lovies!
The blow was softened a little bit by seeing this:
His pillow pet, properly situated.
However, I made sure to rectify that situation for the following evening, leaving no doubt as to the fact that there were two kiddos.
And, for further fun, before we even get to talking about Disneys Hollywood Studios and strong with the force
we are, I must include incriminating photos of my brood. As their mother and the woman who carried them for a collective 18 months, I feel it is my duty, nay, my right to take such photos. One never knows when future girlfriends / fiancées / wives may need to see such things.
In all honesty, this is pretty much a standard with me on trips. You have to take pictures of the exhausted kiddos. Its just too dang cute. I remember when Nemo was a baby and he used to sleep with his little diapered patoot straight up in the air, legs folded under. My girlfriend and I would always use those types of photos at the finish of our scrapbooks, because they are, quite literally, the end.
That was a fun digression, wasnt it?
So we slept in a bit this morning, being that it was our first day of vacation.
Even though there was a Force
to be reckoned with.
Oddly enough, its nothing to do with Star Wars weekends that threw a proverbial wrench into our plans (No
), but rather something a little more of the Pixar persuasion. More on that later.
We had reservations for an early lunch at the Brown Derby, and headed off to Hollywood Studios really looking forward to this meal. The first sit down of the trip. The Brown Derby. One of my favorites.
By the time we got to the park, we were pretty early on our reservation time.
Early enough to stop and take these photos.
And the obligatory
whaddya mean hes sleeping
(A little digression. Nemo calls that baseball cap his Mimi hat. It actually belonged to my mother, and is one of a few Disney polo hats she had. Nemo loves that hat so much, and wears it a lot. I'm so glad I could give him something tangible to help him feel close to her when he needs it.)
Now this shot is particularly funny because the first time we took Nemo to Disney World, he was about eight months old. And every time we would arrive at a park, he would be asleep. Nemo was my stroller baby. He LOVED his stroller. Honestly, he loved the stroller so much, he talked about how he would manage without one on this trip. This was his first trip as a big boy without a stroller, and he did awesome. There were a couple of times where he needed to sit for a moment, but Im jumping ahead.
Anyway, point being, Nemo was my stroller baby.
Does anyone see where this is going?
See that picture of Squirt sleeping in the stroller? I want you to pay attention to that. Hold it in your mind. Ponder it a bit.
Here, just in case
Alright, you remember that for later, kay?
So, with sleeping baby in tow, I headed to the Brown Derby to see if we could check in early. Nana was getting her
ECV, and MJS was running to get fast passes for Star Tours and to check the situation with Toy Story Mania. You know, I will never forget the sight of MJS, with Nemo on his back, running towards Star Wars land.
So cute.
Now, Im telling you. Star Tours was our priority on this day. Wed never participated in a Star Wars weekend, we know DHS would be crazy, and we were determined to be able to say wed done it once. This was the right age for Nemo, and I knew MJS would love it.
I also knew it was a holiday weekend. And I knew about Toy Story Mania. I am no fool. I am a card carrying
well, you know what I mean
member of the DIS boards. But when my husband caught up with me at the Brown Derby to tell me, I was STILL shocked.
I could NOT believe it.
He got fast passes for Star Tours, no problem. And then he thought hed check wait times and fast pass return times on TSM. Not because you can piggyback fast passes like that, but just because it was worth taking a look.
And I am not joking when I tell you that the fast pass return time at 1050 in the morning was a full TWELVE HOURS LATER.
Im sorry.
I know.
But forgive me for a moment.
Its ridiculous.
Really?
Really?
For a ride that I wasnt sure that I even wanted to go on because my last memory of it was so Mom-specific, and so freakin awesome, I just wasnt sure that I could do it.
But let me tell you. Nemo wanted to go on TSM. And talked about it. At length. Before we even went on the trip.
So this would be the ultimate turning point
though I didnt know it yet
of our trip. The point where every decision then hinged on this simple fact. There was no way to possibly do Toy Story Mania and Star Tours in the same day. Because there was no way that we could keep the kids up that late. Right? Right?
And even if we could, by the time we could get fast passes, since wed already gotten Star Tours ones, theyd be gone, given that they were already a TWELVE HOUR window, and almost at park closing time. By the time wed waited the appropriate
what is it
two hours later you can get a fast pass or something
they were indeed gone, but Im jumping ahead.
This all means that our other alternative was to wait in a 2+ hour line. With a ten month old. Who by the way, has recently started moonlighting as Houdini. I kid you not. Crawls out of exersaucers, high chairs with the greatest of ease.
And Im also telling you
I dont do 2+ hour lines. I dont. Never mind the kids.
Which then leads to everything that follows from here on out. How do you make the commando and the casual work? How do you get your child on that coveted ride?
And how glad are you that you decided to park hop?
Next Chapter
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