From the World of Adults to the World of Kids, Fifth Birthday Trip is Over!!

[Eeyore98]

My husband is private, so he will not allow me to use his real name in this report, especially since that is my real last name within my user name. For the purposes of this report, he has chosen a pseudonym. He chose his own "name," so I had nothing to do with it. His name will be Crapbag. I asked if I should use a pseudonym as well then, and call myself Princess Consuela Banana Hammock as an homage. Of course, I was teasing.

Love the Friends reference! You should tell your husband that Mike insisted Crap Bag was his full name..."first name Crap, last name Bag".

...the three of us that have email addresses emailed Figments to each other. Xander sent his to me, and here it what he made.

Aww...Xander's "gay dragon" (as Crap Bag called it) is adorable!

 

[kmedina]

So glad that Connor enjoyed his first ride!

I *think I tried all those beverages including the Beverly at the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta. I remember one AWFUL drink, that must be it!

I was too.

It probably was. Nothing tastes quite like the Beverly.

 

[kmedina]

Love the Friends reference! You should tell your husband that Mike insisted Crap Bag was his full name..."first name Crap, last name Bag".

Aww...Xander's "gay dragon" (as Crap Bag called it) is adorable!

I told him, and he said I told you to call me Crap Bag. He says I misunderstood him. If that is true, I wonder why he did not point that out when he told me I used the wrong bare(bear) and hale(hail).

I love Xander's "gay dragon" too. Crap loved it too when he read what it was, because it is so Xander.

 

[kmedina]

We headed over to Sunshine Seasons to get some snacks. Dinner was still a bit away, but we did not want to eat a full meal. The trip prior to this, we had a hard time at dinner when we had a full breakfast and lunch. Crap asked me to limit three full meals this trip, which I did. Most of our dinners were two credits, so it worked out nicely. The cast member who told us an Epcot bus was coming felt bad when she realized she was mistaken. Before we headed over to the cab, she gave DH a fastpass good for any ride. Soarin’ was the ride we decided to use it on.

Even though we did not technically get the fastpass ourselves, it still counts. That makes it fastpass number two. By the time we arrived, Connor was ready to nurse again. Crap got a rider swap pass for me and entered with Xander. Connor could not decide if he was hungry or tired and fell asleep shortly after he started nursing. Strollers are not allowed in this area, so I held him in my arms as he slept for what felt like a very long time on the cushioned benches just off to the right of the ride.

Xander loved it and wanted to ride again. He enjoys it as DCA as well but was 1/8” too short for it the last time we were at WDW. Connor woke up when Xander approached, because he could not sleep through Xander’s excited recap. Since he did not nurse much before he fell asleep, I knew I could not ride before nursing him again. I told DH that he could ride again with Xander if he wanted, but he declined. While I nursed Connor, Xander fell asleep. He never takes naps at home, but Disney wears him out.

Once Connor was done nursing, I decided to head over to the World Showcase. We saved the rider swap pass just in case we were able to return that day. I cannot even remember if they had return times like the fastpass, but I knew we would not likely return anyway. Since we were cruising this trip too, we did not have another day to see Epcot. Squeezing Future World and The World Showcase into one day is not an easy task.

We stopped by the Port of Entry to get passports for the boys. I also got an ornament for Connor’s first Christmas. After quickly attaching some of the stickers and putting their basic information in them, we were on our way. Before we actually hit any countries, we saw Duffy. Xander loves Mickey. He is his favorite character along with Handy Manny. Since Duffy is the Big Cheese’s teddy bear, we had to stop in for a visit. This was our first of many character stops this trip. Those stops coupled with the character meals we ate at made this trip a character palooza.

There was a little bit of a wait but nowhere near some we experienced that trip. Xander was excited while we waited. Thanks to his amazing preschool (I could write a whole thread on how much I love it); he read all the books to us as we went through the line. That was a cute touch in the queue, Disney.

Xander’s excitement dissipated a tad when it was time to meet Duffy. He could not find a place to stand where the sun was not in his eyes. This is the same kid who whines and asks me to drive down a different street when the sun is in his eyes while we are driving. Kids have no clue that a different street may not get us to the same destination. My only complaint is that they should do something to block out the sun. Connor does not care for the sun in his eyes either, but he is an easygoing baby. Here are the pictures even though the sun prevents them from being great.

A cute little side note about Xander is that he loves to draw, and probably draws better than I do. He received an autograph book in his Birthday basket. At breakfast that morning, one of the princesses tried to sign it. That is my art book he told her. Of course, we put it away after breakfast when we realized he was not going to let anyone sign it. This was his 7th Disney trip (2 WDW and 5 Dl). He never showed any interest in getting autographs. Long before he was born, Crap and I agreed we would only get them if and when the kids show interest. We’ll see if Connor ever does.

We will on the other hand get passports for the Epcot countries each trip until they tell us they no longer want them. It is cool to look back and see actual messages and their Kidcot creations. That said, we were finally ready to tour the countries and do the Kidcot stops. Dinner was right around the corner. Would we make it around the world during the sunlight hours to get well lit pictures in each country?

 

[shan23877]

Too bad you had to skip Soarin, but it was probably nice to sit and rest a bit.

Too funny that Xander fell asleep! Poor guy!

"This is my art book" Good for him! Strange creatures wanting to write in his book...

We've never stopped at the KidCot stops. We'll have to keep an eye out for them. Thinking about a KP mission too. Hopefully that plus princesses around the world will keep Maddie occupied while Mommy gets to look at all of the Flower and Garden stuff!

 

[dara00]

just catching up on your tr! I have a soon to be 5 yr old boy and I'd love to take him to DW or DL for his birthday! Actually my dream is a Disney Cruise!

 

[kmedina]

Too bad you had to skip Soarin, but it was probably nice to sit and rest a bit.

Too funny that Xander fell asleep! Poor guy!

"This is my art book" Good for him! Strange creatures wanting to write in his book...

We've never stopped at the KidCot stops. We'll have to keep an eye out for them. Thinking about a KP mission too. Hopefully that plus princesses around the world will keep Maddie occupied while Mommy gets to look at all of the Flower and Garden stuff!

It's okay. I like the ride, but it is not worth a long wait to me anyway. Even with a fastpass, they were gone quite a while.

It was quite funny. He was excitedly talking about the ride one second and out the next. I stopped trying to put him down for naps at home a while ago, because he does not sleep during the day.

He is very protective over some of his stuff. No one gets to touch his art until it is completed.

We love the Kidcot stops. The kids draw masks or on Bears and get stamps from each country. If you take the time to go into each country anyway, you may want to check it out. I hope to try Kimpossible some day when the kids are bigger. Maddie may be the perfect age to start next trip. Xander may have to do this with his Daddy while I take care of the younger kid(s) next trip. Yes, Maddie will be in princess heaven in Epcot. Most of the characters that were out that day were princesses.

just catching up on your tr! I have a soon to be 5 yr old boy and I'd love to take him to DW or DL for his birthday! Actually my dream is a Disney Cruise!

Xander loved the cruise more than WDW, so I think you should take one as soon as you are able. It is a very relaxing vacation compared to the parks. Disney cruises are expensive compared to other cruise lines. The best way to get a great deal is to book as far in advance as possible or book in October when they release the cruise dates for the following year. I booked ours almost 11 months in advance. A couple months before the trip, the same cruise had almost doubled in price. This was our first birthday trip to Disney, and it was a lot of fun. He would love any of those three options and how much Disney dotes on birthday celebrants.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Someimes sitting down, and just relaxing with the little one can do you both good. It will make it a little more relaxing for both of you.

 

[kmedina]

Someimes sitting down, and just relaxing with the little one can do you both good. It will make it a little more relaxing for both of you.

I could not agree more. The "sit on the bench and rest ride" is one of my favorites. That is a Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Akroyd) quote from MY Girl. My desire to move, move, move is sometimes overpowered by my desire to rest. Breast feeding gives you a great excuse to rest.

 

[kmedina]

Before we headed over to The World Showcase, we stopped to have the boy’s pictures taken with fun backgrounds. This is a tradition that we adhere to every time we go to a theme park. Xander picked his own background, the monorail. It was a perfect selection for him, because he is all about public transportation when we go. The monorail is his favorite too. He actually picked up another toy monorail set this trip with his spending money. Since it was his birthday trip, we gave him $150 to buy gifts. My Dad gave him $25, and my MIL gave him $100. My FIL gave him $50 after we got back, so we just put that into his Mutual Fund. We chose Cinderella’s castle for Xander. The store does not give electronic copies, so I took pictures of them with my phone to post them here.

Our adventures started in Mexico. We went to the first kidcot stop and collected the Boys’ keepsake. This year, they were using Duffy. How appropriate, since the boys just met him for the first time. Xander was very excited about that and wanted to sit and color him in. He remembered doing that last trip. Since dinner was approaching quickly, we did not have time to let him color his Duffy. I told him we would buy the Disney character crayons he wanted and do it later. That turned out to be a mistake, because they were $15. To this day, there are only two that remain unbroken. They only had markers out anyway. Markers and Xander do not mix very well. Well actually, they mix a little too well, since he always ends up covered in marker. It is important to me that we get a picture in each country of the boys and get their passports stamped. I handle the kidcot stops, while Crap takes the pictures.

Here are the pictures from Mexico.

Here are the pictures from Norway.

Here are the pictures from China.

Connor decided it was time for a nap after that. Xander actually slept through a lot of it on the previous trip too. We just carried on, because the sleeping pictures through the World Showcase as starting to become a tradition. Here is a picture of them with the Toy Solider.

The next country was Germany. I have German on both my maternal and paternal side, so it is my largest mix. I really love the food and culture, so it’s almost like I can tell that hundreds of years ago some of my family lived there.

We saw a Photopass photographer when we entered Italy. Since we preordered the Photopass CD, we wanted to get some shots. After we got some family shots, the photographer tried to get some very old school Italian style pictures of Xander. He was tired, but he did a pretty good job. This photographer wanted to have some fun with us too. The photographer told us that Italy was a lover’s country, so we should take romantic pictures. It is hard to take those type of pictures when you have to leave your kids somewhat unattended, but we did the best we could. After all of the excitement, it looks like Crap forgot to get a picture at the kidcot stop. Crap did get a blurry picture of a squirrel. I have a great squirrel story that I hope I remember to share from our Animal Kingdom day.

Our first stop when we entered America was to see Santa. I really wanted Xander to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. I knew we would still see him at home. Xander has seen the same Santa at a mall in our home city, since he was a newborn. How often would we be at Epcot near Christmas time while the boys were still young? He never noticed that the princesses kept looking different, so I hoped he would notice that Santa looked different either. This was Connor’s first visit with Santa, and you can tell from the pictures that he did well. It really looks like Xander and Santa were deep in conversation. He got everything he wanted for Christmas, so the conversation must have gone well. Crap forgot to get pictures in the American Pavilion and the kidcot stop there.

We were having dinner in the Japanese Pavilion, so we saved Japan until last. That made Morocco our next stop. Time was really running short now, so we started to separate at this point. I went to the kidcot stops by myself while Crap stayed with the boys and took their pictures. Here is the one from Morocco.

Here is the picture from France.

Here is the picture from England.

Here is the picture from Canada.

We arrived back in Japan. There was no one at the stop for a while, but I waited patiently. Someone finally arrived. This is one of the few countries where they write the names of your children in their language, so it is one of my favorite stops. Our dinner reservation was for 5:40pm, and I arrived at the podium right on time. It was so perfectly timed that I knew every decision we made until that point was the right one. Here is the picture of the boys. We’ll pick up at dinner next time.

 

[ronnmel]

I love all the countries and kidcot pictures. And that photopass photographer did a great job with Xander and you guys. Seems like you had a fun time!

 

[kmedina]

I love all the countries and kidcot pictures. And that photopass photographer did a great job with Xander and you guys. Seems like you had a fun time!

Thanks. We really did have a great time even though it was a little rushed.

 

[shan23877]

Wow! You guys got some really great pictures, I especially love the "old school" and family ones in Italy, and the Santa pics. Connor did great!

What a cool tradition to get a photo in every country. We may have to steal the idea! I'd love to do that with Mads!

The PP guy at HS wanted DH and I to do some kissy photos, but it is hard to do when you're trying to watch your kid! I'm not neurotic, but I'm well aware of stranger danger.

I know that Sharpie is a sponsor, but why oh why are those the only markers out at the Kidcot stops? I'm not cheap, but I sure don't want marker all over Maddie's nicer clothes (and I'm not going to dress her in play clothes at Disney!)

I can't believe that those crayons were $15!! Yikes!

When I saw the last photo and read the last line, I misread it at first.

I saw a picture of the boys alone in the stroller, and read "we'll pick them up after dinner"

I didn't think that you'd leave them there for an hour, so I re-read it.

 

[kmedina]

Wow! You guys got some really great pictures, I especially love the "old school" and family ones in Italy, and the Santa pics. Connor did great!

What a cool tradition to get a photo in every country. We may have to steal the idea! I'd love to do that with Mads!

The PP guy at HS wanted DH and I to do some kissy photos, but it is hard to do when you're trying to watch your kid! I'm not neurotic, but I'm well aware of stranger danger.

I know that Sharpie is a sponsor, but why oh why are those the only markers out at the Kidcot stops? I'm not cheap, but I sure don't want marker all over Maddie's nicer clothes (and I'm not going to dress her in play clothes at Disney!)

I can't believe that those crayons were $15!! Yikes!

When I saw the last photo and read the last line, I misread it at first.

I saw a picture of the boys alone in the stroller, and read "we'll pick them up after dinner"

I didn't think that you'd leave them there for an hour, so I re-read it.

We were happy with the pictures. Thanks.

Í think it is a great idea to steal it.

Exactly. I am not okay with taking my eyes off our kids in busy places. Xander has a bad habit of running off. We've had to run after him several times.

I did not know Sharpie was the sponsor. Makes sense now. It is strange that Disney and Sharpie thought it was a good idea for small kids to color with them though. There were a lot of kids covered in marker, and even so called washable marker is hard to remove. He is not allowed to play with markers, because he is so messy with them. Ironically, it was just earlier this week that he snuck into washable markers. The markers were a birthday gift, and he knows he is only allowed to play with them with supervision. His brother's stationary walker was his canvas. The clothes he was wearing were ruined, and the walker was ruined. After a couple showers, he still has some marker remnants on his body. Markers really should only be for older kids and responsible younger kids (not all kids Disney).

Xander is rough, so I never should have bought them when I saw they were $15. Lesson learned.

I was laughing so much at your comment that Crap asked what was so funny. Good thing you re-read it.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I love the pictures with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The kids did excellent. I wish they had a stroller like that when my children were small. Yikes! $15.00 dollars for crayons? Were they filled with gold?

This is a great trip report. I love seeing all the countries there at epcot. You and your DH make a nice couple

 

[kmedina]

I love the pictures with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The kids did excellent. I wish they had a stroller like that when my children were small. Yikes! $15.00 dollars for crayons? Were they filled with gold?

This is a great trip report. I love seeing all the countries there at epcot. You and your DH make a nice couple

I love the Santa pictures. The stroller was awesome in the parks but was a huge hassle to travel with. The crayons had Disney shaped characters at the top.

Thank you on both accounts.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

Just got caught up with you TR. DH, DS, and I were down there at the same time as you guys. Our DS is about 3 weeks younger than Connor. We're planning on taking our little one to DL for his 1st birthday in July, can't wait to see Cars Land!

P.S I think liking the Beverly has to be a guy thing, DH will only drink that one when we go to Club Cool.

 

[kmedina]

Just got caught up with you TR. DH, DS, and I were down there at the same time as you guys. Our DS is about 3 weeks younger than Conner. We're planning on taking our little one to DL for his 1st birthday in July, can't wait to see Cars Land!

P.S I think liking the Beverly has to be a guy thing, DH will only drink that one when we go to Club Cool.

That's neat. I wonder if we saw you pass by at all. Carsland is going to be awesome. It is a great first birthday plan, IMO. That's so true about the Beverly. I do not know a single female who likes it.

 

[kmedina]

Sorry it has been a while, since my last update. We’ve had so much going on over here. My doctor’s appointment was Tuesday, but he did not give me a referral. He said I would need to see the OB first. I did get a lab slip to test some levels, which I did not complete until this morning. As soon as I know more, I will share.

I will do another update tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, I just want to share some pictures from my birthday dinner. We went to the Top of the World Restaurant at the Stratosphere. It was the first time I’d ever dined there. This restaurant opened when I was in high school, and I’ve wanted to eat there ever since. What a lovely restaurant. The food was amazing, and the ambiance was even better. It is a revolving restaurant over 800 feet from the ground that allows you to view the entire city during a 120 minute spin. A few years back, they started allowing people to repel from the top of the building. When the room spun around to that point, it was fun to watch.

Sorry I did not take any pictures of the food. We started with carpaccio, which was good. I had Caesar salad, while he had lobster bisque soup. Mine was really good. Crap said his was the best he’d ever had. My husband and I both had medium filets with Au Gratin Potatoes and Mac and Cheese. All three rated very well with both of us. DH had the suggested cabernet to accompany his meal, which he claimed was perfectly paired. The desserts were very small, which was wonderful at the end of a filling meal. I had a molten chocolate cake, and DH had a sorbet. We both enjoyed them.

The photo of me and Crap was purchased from Cashman Photo from a nice lady who walked around the dining room taking pictures.

My iPhone took these photos of the views.

Crap’s iPhone with the assistance of an app took this modified photo of the view.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

That's neat. I wonder if we saw you pass by at all. Carsland is going to be awesome. It is a great first birthday plan, IMO. That's so true about the Beverly. I do not know a single female who likes it.

If you saw a man with Jessica Rabbit tattoos on his legs, that would be my family.