Dakoda Turns 3 At Disney World! ~ May/June 2010 ~ FINISHED! 8/31 Post#72

[praisehisname]

Thanks for taking the time to explain; it makes perfect sense!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Thanks for taking the time to explain; it makes perfect sense!

You're welcome. I'm glad it made sense. Any other questions, feel free to ask!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Day 4, Part 2

We made it back to the hotel around 1:45 and everyone settled in for a nap. I think all the early mornings were starting to catch up with us, because we slept for almost 4 hours! Luckily, AK had evening EMH that day and we didn't have to worry about rushing to get to any ADR's. We grabbed dinner at the resort food court and headed back to the park.

We got there around 6:30 and went straight to Kilimanjaro Safari to use our FP’s. It turned out that we didn’t even need them because the wait time was only 5 minutes. We absolutely loved our evening safari. The animals were very active and we had the best guide ever. I wish that I could remember her name. Oh well. Here are some safari pictures.

This little giraffe was a camera hog. She kept grabbing my hand and saying “Cheese!”

Cute little toes

Darren and Dakoda after the safari.

We wanted to wait until after dark to ride EE, so we headed over to use our Dinosaur FP’s. I went first and then it was Darren’s turn. The kids and I explored the gift shop for a while, and then walked over to the photo screens to see Darren’s picture. It took it a while to come up, and then after we saw it I figured that he would be right out. Well, we waited….and waited….and waited. Finally, I got a text message from him that said, “Stuck!” I guess the ride had broken down just after the part where they take your picture. We ended up waiting for something like 45 minutes. It was crazy! He finally made it off the ride and we headed over to conquer Mt. Everest. Unfortunately, by the time we made it there, it had started to thunder and lightning, so they had to shut the ride down. By this time it was getting pretty late, so we decided to just call it a night and head back to the room before we got soaked again.

 

[jc040404]

Wow. I can't believe he was stuck so long! They just had them wait on the ride? I've kinda always wanted to get stuck and have to walk off a ride. I dunno why. I just thinkg it would be neat. We've only gotten help up a few times and I think it was mostly for slow loading then.

Too bad about Everest being down, too. Still looks like the safari was fun! I've only ever seen the lions sleeping!

Nice update!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Wow. I can't believe he was stuck so long! They just had them wait on the ride? I've kinda always wanted to get stuck and have to walk off a ride. I dunno why. I just thinkg it would be neat. We've only gotten help up a few times and I think it was mostly for slow loading then.

Too bad about Everest being down, too. Still looks like the safari was fun! I've only ever seen the lions sleeping!

Nice update!

I know! I kept thinking that would have them walk out, but they never did. It was weird!

I was really bummed about EE. I've heard it is AWESOME at night. We're going to try evening EMH again on our next trip, so maybe we will get to experience it then.

I know what you mean about the lions! They are usually sleeping when I see them, too. Our guide said that they're more active in the evenings. She told us the reason, but I don't remember what it was.

 

[praisehisname]

Wow, you really did need a nap! You had a great safari, but I'm so disappointed for you to not get to ride EE in the dark. I've heard it's awesome; I hope it works out for your next trip!

 

[Charlefours]

FOTLK is on my must do lists in AK! I really want to see as I never have before.

The picture of Sarah-Kate is just precious!! Love the picture from her 18 month birthday.

What a great nap, 4 hours long!! I sure hope I get lucky and DD take a nap. I think she may because of the heat, the excitement and being busy in the mornings. It would be ideal!!

Sorry EE did not work out, I hope you get to make it the next time. I would like to visit AK during evening EMH on some trip.

 

[that's nice]

Julia- I don't know why but if I let the page fully load my browser shuts down. I've restarted my computer, emptied the cashe, & deleted cookies. I had to stop this page from fully loading so I can post a response.

This has never happened before, so I'm not sure if there is something on the 1st page that my computer doesn't like.

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Wow, you really did need a nap! You had a great safari, but I'm so disappointed for you to not get to ride EE in the dark. I've heard it's awesome; I hope it works out for your next trip!

I hope so, too!

FOTLK is on my must do lists in AK! I really want to see as I never have before.

You will LOVE FOTLK!!

The picture of Sarah-Kate is just precious!! Love the picture from her 18 month birthday.

Thanks!

What a great nap, 4 hours long!! I sure hope I get lucky and DD take a nap. I think she may because of the heat, the excitement and being busy in the mornings. It would be ideal!!

My DD is not a big napper, but she was that week! I hope Lilian naps for you some!

Sorry EE did not work out, I hope you get to make it the next time. I would like to visit AK during evening EMH on some trip.

I hope so, too!

Julia- I don't know why but if I let the page fully load my browser shuts down. I've restarted my computer, emptied the cashe, & deleted cookies. I had to stop this page from fully loading so I can post a response.

This has never happened before, so I'm not sure if there is something on the 1st page that my computer doesn't like.

That is so strange! I wonder if that is happening to anyone else...I will look into it. Maybe I should start a new thread?

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Day 5 – Tuesday, June 1

We slept in this morning and didn’t get up until 7 am. Around 8:40, this is what we saw.

Hello, beautiful.

A few minutes later, we were standing in line at bag check. The kids were in great moods.

Darren was, too. (Love the fake smile)

Ah, if only I could see this every morning.

After rope drop, we joined the other few hundred people rushing towards The Land pavilion. I ran ahead to get Soarin' fast passes while Darren and the kids hung back so as not to maim anyone with our large double stroller. I grabbed our FP's (with return times of 9:54 am) and met back up with them here.

This is our favorite breakfast spot at Epcot. It’s just so convenient after the Soarin’ rush, and the food is excellent. Darren and I both got the adult breakfast platter, and I also ordered a kids platter. After we had eaten our fill, we decided to check out Living With the Land. It was being refurbished on our last trip, so this was our first time experiencing it. It ended up being one of our favorite attractions. We live in the country and Darren comes from a long line of farmers, so anything agricultural interests him. When they mentioned the Behind the Seeds tour, he told me that he would really like to take that sometime, so I told him that we would have to take an adults-only trip soon. Here are a few pictures from the ride.

Creepy

Hidden Mickey!

Darren thought this was SO cool

Mickey-head pumpkin!

Okay, so that was more than a "few" pictures. Like I said, we really enjoyed this attraction!

Up next - The Seas with Nemo, Club Cool, and Le Cellier!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Day 5, Tuesday June 1, Part 2

After LWTL, our FP time had arrived, so we went Soarin’ Over California. I went first and then it was Darren’s turn. While we waited for him, I snapped a few pics of the kids. They were both getting a bit sleepy. It didn’t take long at all for Sarah Kate to give it up.

Dakoda was in a happy, playful mood, and I got some of my favorite shots of the trip.

When Darren came back, we decided to check out Circle of Life, another first for us. It was okay, but not one of our favorites.

Next we decided to visit The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Friends outside the attraction.

I tried to take some pictures inside the attraction, but I wasn't sure of the settings on my new camera, so they didn't really turn out.

After Nemo, we decided to skip out on Turtle Talk with Crush and headed over to check the wait times for Test Track and Mission Space.

Beautiful fountains!

On our way, we stopped here for some refreshments.

I thought it would be fun to sample some of the Coca-Cola products from other countries. One of which you may have heard of – the Beverly? Here are our Beverly pictures.

Darren

Dakoda

Sarah Kate

And finally, mine. And I have to say that it really pains me to post such a horrid picture of myself. But for you, dear readers, I will sacrifice my dignity, just this once.

Ick. I don’t think I’ll be sampling that again. Although I will probably trick my kids into trying it again.

We headed over to TT and the wait was quite long, so we grabbed fast passes and headed to Mission Space.

The orange side had a wait time of 30 mins, but the green side was only 5. Darren wanted to ride orange, but I was fine with green, so I hopped in line. Let me tell you – when they say 5 mins, they apparently really mean 35. It took forever.

When I was finally finished with MS, we had to rush over to Canada for our 12:45 ADR at Le Cellier. I snapped this pic on our way over to World Showcase.

In retrospect, we probably should have just skipped this one. The kids were getting cranky and let’s face it – Le Cellier is not really a restaurant that you want your kids to act up in. But I had missed my reservation there last year and was determined not to do the same this time. We checked in and were quickly told that our table was ready. We went inside and when the hostess saw the children, she looked at me kind of funny and asked if we needed high chairs. I said yes, and she told me that it would be a few more minutes then. Oookay. We headed back outside into the blazing heat (there were no seats open in the lobby). A couple of minutes later, our table was ready (again). By this time, the kids were not in any sort of mood to sit patiently and quietly at a table. They just wanted to be loud and rowdy. Our waiter, bless his soul, tried everything he could to help. He brought them little spoons to play with and tried to get our food out quickly. They were just over it. Sarah Kate, in particular, was being very cranky, which was extremely out of character. Normally she is a perfect angel as long as there is food in front of her, but she was just not happy. We ate as quickly as we could and got out of there. (So quickly, in fact, that I don't even remember what we ordered.)

When we got outside, I started to put Sarah Kate into her stroller and noticed that she had something all over her leg. I figured it was something from our meal, so I asked Darren to hand me the baby wipes while I checked to see if it had gotten on me while I carried her. Of course, it had – it was all down the side of my shirt. Great! I checked to see how much of it was on her and found that she was pretty much covered from the waist down. It was about then that I began to notice the smell. Let’s just say that it was not something from lunch that was now covering her (and me!), but perhaps something from a previous meal.

Darren handed me some wipes so that I could clean myself up while he changed her. I told him not to do it in the stroller because I didn’t want to get the mess on it, so he decided to head back inside the restaurant to find a bathroom. (Now, the rest of this story is hearsay from him because I stayed outside with Dakoda.)

So here goes Darren, holding a poop-covered, diaper-clad, extremely stinky baby out in front of him, and he just goes charging into this fancy restaurant looking for a bathroom. The hostess looks at him in alarm and asks if she can help him, and he asks which way to the restroom. She points towards the back of the restaurant and says, “Um, it’s all the way…back…there.” Her voice fades off at the end as she realizes what is going on and that he is now going to have to carry this stinky, screaming baby through a restaurant full of hungry diners. He hurries towards where she had pointed and finds the men’s room. Of course, when he gets in there, he quickly realizes that there is no changing table. So he lays that poor, screaming child down on the ice cold sink and cleans her up as best he can. He gets her dressed (thank goodness I had packed extra clothes!) and meets me back outside.

Meanwhile, I had been trying to clean myself up as best I could, but there was just no getting rid of the smell or the stain that now ran all the way down the side of my coral-colored shirt. We decided that our only option was for me to buy a new shirt, so we headed to Mouse Gear. (Why didn’t we just decide to call it a morning and head back to the hotel for a nap? I don’t know.) It took me probably longer than it should have to pick out a shirt. Of course this didn’t happen on a day when I was wearing khaki shorts, or my black or brown skirts; no, it happened on the day when I was wearing pink plaid shorts. Kind of hard to match, and I didn’t want to invest in a whole new outfit. I ended up finding a pink Minnie Mouse shirt that matched quite well.

When we left the store, we decided to go ahead and use our Test Track FP’s. Afterwards, the sky was starting to look a bit dodgy, so we went inside Innoventions. It was very crowded and there wasn’t much in there to interest the kids, so we didn’t stay long. It was raining when we came out, so we decided to ride Spaceship Earth. There was not a very long wait. Here are a few pics of the kids while we were waiting.

Oddly enough, they look like they were in great moods, don't they? They really weren't.

When the ride was over, we decided to head back to the hotel (finally). Thankfully, the rain had stopped, so we didn’t get wet.

When we arrived back at the hotel, I wasn’t tired, so I decided to head down to the pool. I took Sarah Kate with me since she had napped earlier that morning and wasn’t ready to go down for another yet. Here are a couple of pics of my bathing beauty.

We played at the pool for 45 minutes or so, and then she started getting hot and cranky, so we headed back to the room, where we joined Darren and Dakoda in a nap.

Up next: Illuminations and evening EMH at Epcot!

 

[jc040404]

OMG! Your diaper troubles have to be one of my biggest fears when we're out and about! How awful for everyone. I can't imagine running through everyone eating holding her out like that. Eek!!

Love the Beverly pics!! We've yet to try that stuff. What is it that's so bad about it? All the icky face pics have me scared of it!!

Those were some BIG updates! Can't wait to see more!!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

OMG! Your diaper troubles have to be one of my biggest fears when we're out and about! How awful for everyone. I can't imagine running through everyone eating holding her out like that. Eek!!

It was awful!!! She is bad to leak out of her diapers, but it has NEVER been that bad, before or since. Guess we just got "lucky" that day!

Love the Beverly pics!! We've yet to try that stuff. What is it that's so bad about it? All the icky face pics have me scared of it!!

Those were some BIG updates! Can't wait to see more!!

It just has a very distinctive taste (and aftertaste). I should have another update (or two) sometime today!

 

[Charlefours]

I'm looking forward to seeing Living with the Land again. We enjoyed it on our last trip--we love to garden!! When did they refurb it?

Cute photos of the kids! I love that Dakoda is so cheerful for you!

Goodness, what an ordeal with the diaper and Le Cellier!! You think they would have never seen cranky kids in there before.

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

I'm looking forward to seeing Living with the Land again. We enjoyed it on our last trip--we love to garden!! When did they refurb it?

It was under refurbishment when we were there Sept/Oct '09.

Cute photos of the kids! I love that Dakoda is so cheerful for you!

Thanks! He is usually not that cooperative. I just got lucky!

Goodness, what an ordeal with the diaper and Le Cellier!! You think they would have never seen cranky kids in there before.

It was bad. Very bad. So bad that DH has no desire to return. Oh well, I recently discovered that you can order pretzel bread and a cup of soup to go, so I'm good!

 

[MRYPPNS]

I'll be back to get caught up!

 

[Charlefours]

It was under refurbishment when we were there Sept/Oct '09.


Thanks! He is usually not that cooperative. I just got lucky!


It was bad. Very bad. So bad that DH has no desire to return. Oh well, I recently discovered that you can order pretzel bread and a cup of soup to go, so I'm good!

Hmm, I will be interested in seeing Living with the Land definitely now! I liked it before and would like to see the updates.

I didn't know you could get the pretzel bread to go...hmmm

 

[racefanof88]

Hey Julia . I finally made it over, and I have to say I am loving your report . First let me say I am glad, in a not happy way, that my family is not the only ones who have had the diaper disasters . Oh the stories I could tell..... I HAD TO buy a couple of new outfits at Mouse Gears for Dallas when he was little .

Did you like All Star Sports? We are staying there next weekend when we go and that is the only All Star resort we haven't stayed in yet.

I'm looking forward to more .

 

[MRYPPNS]

How to Enjoy Disney World with a Reluctant Husband, Autistic Preschooler, and Drama Queen Toddler

Since you're not using this....can I have it???? Sounds like my family

 

[KathyRN137]

Despite the few bumps in the road I think you're doing great!

I really admire all the moms who tackle The World with little ones... I admit I was a wuss and didn't take my kids to Disney until they were out of diapers!!

Looking forward to more!


Kathy