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

[kmedina]

I missed the Leave a Legacy update!

Love the PP pics in front of the lit up tree! So pretty! I really hope that we'll be able to go for the holidays one of these years.

My MiL has one of the stones at MK. She asks every trip if we visited it, but it's such a pain to find it that we rarely do.

Sending prayers and positive thoughts to you and your husband's family.

You must have posted this one seconds before I posted my most recent segment. I did not even see it until a few minutes ago when I opened my email. It is funny that I missed your response to the update that you missed. Oh well, we both finally caught each other's writing.

It really was a great time to be there, and the weather was mostly lovely. I hope you go around the holidays too.

I seriously doubt we will visit ours every trip too. It is not worth it to give up so much time. On the trip before this one, it took less than 10 minutes to find.

Thank you. He really is a great man, so I appreciate anyone who says a prayer for him.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Thats what I call a true shopper, I would of gave up long before that. I have only been to the world once and the longest I waited for a bus was ten minutes.

I hate that , the slightest bit of wind or rain keeps rides from running. Nice to hear that your DH is paitient. Hope is grandfather is better. But I will keep him in my prayers. Cant wait to hear more.

 

[kmedina]

Thats what I call a true shopper, I would of gave up long before that. I have only been to the world once and the longest I waited for a bus was ten minutes.

I hate that , the slightest bit of wind or rain keeps rides from running. Nice to hear that your DH is paitient. Hope is grandfather is better. But I will keep him in my prayers. Cant wait to hear more.

Spring Break has me very busy, so I will not get another update in until Monday. Just logged in quickly to respond to Jo.

Crap is usually the shopper of the family. DS and I love shopping but we usually pick out what we like and wait forever on DH. We have mostly bad luck with Disney transportation. Our longest wait was over an hour leaving HS after Fantasmic, but that was the trip before this one. We waited almost that long for our cruise ride to pick us up to take us to Port Canaveral and longer than that for them to pick us up on the return. One was their fault. The other was ours. I will explain when I get there.

Crap is VERY patient. He once waited a half an hour on hold for me to hang up with a patient and take his call. I knew he was holding. Why did he not hang up and wait for me to call him back? Grandpa opened his eyes tonight, but his fever is still there. Hopefully, he will recover soon. Thanks for the prayers.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Spring Break has me very busy, so I will not get another update in until Monday. Just logged in quickly to respond to Jo.

Crap is usually the shopper of the family. DS and I love shopping but we usually pick out what we like and wait forever on DH. We have mostly bad luck with Disney transportation. Our longest wait was over an hour leaving HS after Fantasmic, but that was the trip before this one. We waited almost that long for our cruise ride to pick us up to take us to Port Canaveral and longer than that for them to pick us up on the return. One was their fault. The other was ours. I will explain when I get there.

Crap is VERY patient. He once waited a half an hour on hold for me to hang up with a patient and take his call. I knew he was holding. Why did he not hang up and wait for me to call him back? Grandpa opened his eyes tonight, but his fever is still there. Hopefully, he will recover soon. Thanks for the prayers.

Wow, I guess WDW must have gotten alot busier since we went. I am glad his grandfather is a little better. I will continue the prayers.

 

[kmedina]

Thank you.

 

[kmedina]

We got to the bus stop for Fort Wilderness and were not surprised that we waited a while for a bus to come. It was standing room only when we boarded, but we finally made it. I found half a seat and squeezed into it with the boys. Crap stood with the heavy stroller. Have I mentioned how much I love him? When you’ve already waited a long time for a bus, who knows when the next one will come around. I worried that I would have to stand with Connor and Xander this trip but am happy to report that it never happened. On the previous trip, I had to stand with Xander a couple of times. It was almost three, but a nice teenage boy gave up his seat. There was one ride where I lost my balance, and we both almost fell over. We had to transfer to an internal bus once we arrived. Most of the people on the bus did not make the transfer, so we all had seats for that one. It also arrived right after we got to the bus stop, which was nice.

Our destination was the sleigh rides. We had done the carriage ride before and enjoyed it very much. Since our reservation was not until 5:30pm, we had a short wait. Julie was our driver’s name, and she offered to take a picture of our family before we started. The carriage rides start at 5:30pm, and we were happy with our start time. It allowed us to see some of the sites while there was still light outside. Then, we saw the Christmas lights too as it got dark outside. There were so many people hanging out around their campers. We saw a lot of visitors cooking and hanging out.

Around 5:30, Julie was ready to take us out. She offered to turn on Christmas music, which we agreed to. As she took us through, she explained that the guests put out their own decorations, and it gets really competitive each year. It makes for some amazing sites. Cast members usually plan their route around the better sites and adjust them as people come and go. Many people are there for weeks or months at a time, and one resident has been there for over two years. As beautiful as it is to take a carriage ride through Fort Wilderness, the sleigh rides are so much better. You get to see the beautiful setting to Christmas decorations while enjoying Christmas music. I could go on and on about how much we loved it, but I will just share a lot of pictures here instead. Crap got some candid shots that really show how much we enjoyed it.

The ride was over just before 6pm. We got a few blurry pictures in front of the Christmas tree then headed over to Mickey’s Backyard Barbeque.

The line was pretty long by the time we arrived, since dinner started at 6:30pm. It looked like we just missed the chance to see some characters. They left shortly after we arrived, but we knew we would see them inside the show. The line did not open up until about 10 minutes before the start time. Even though we were quite a bit back, we were still seated before 6:30pm. The gentleman who seated us asked if we were a party of four. That sentence will come back into play a couple days later. I informed him that we were, but we needed to sit at the end of the table. When Connor woke up from his nap, we wanted to transfer him to a high chair. Connor did wake up just before we started eating. He never ate a thing the entire time we were at DisneyWorld as he was exclusively being breastfed. We just ordered the high chairs, so he had a place to sit. Some meals he only sat in them for a few minutes, and other meals where he sat in them a bit longer. This was one that did not last long, but he sure looked cute it in while it lasted.

Connor nursed almost the entire time we were there. Xander really enjoyed the atmosphere. He loved watching the show and seeing the characters dance. The food was not great, but he was able to find things to eat. For dessert, he ate the chocolate off two different Mickey Bars. He is not fond of ice cream, so I usually share the chocolate with him whenever I buy them for myself. Since he wastes all of the ice cream, I never buy them for him. They were included with the price of the meal (two meal credits), so he was very happy to get two of his own. We were seated a bit away from the stage, which was good. It seemed to be really crowded around the stage.

There was an inconsiderate lady behind me. Her son was probably about two or three years old. He had no interest in dancing with the characters, but she was unwilling to accept it. She kept getting up over and over again to force him into dancing. The seating at this venue is picnic tables. Every time she got up, she bumped into me. I tolerated it for as long as I could. About the tenth time she did it, she forced Connor’s head right into the table (since he was still nursing). My husband was on the opposite side of the table, and switched seats with me. No one on his side did anything similar, so I should have moved sooner. I did not want to offend her by moving, but she did not even notice or care anyway. She did not even take the hint and continued to bump into my husband after I moved.


Xander was not interested in dancing with the characters either. Neither DH nor I are the type to push our kids, so we all just sat back and watched the dancing. After we were done eating and had watched a decent amount of the show, we decided to leave. Xander said he wanted to dance first. He just did not want to dance with any of the characters. Goofy was the character dancing the closest to us. Once Goofy left, Xander made his way out to the dance floor. We got a couple of blurry pictures of his whirl, and he felt ready to go. Other than the obnoxious lady, it was cool. I am glad we did it. The food was traditional barbeque foods. It was not good, but I have had worse. If we do return, I may forgo using dining plan credits to pay for it. It was not worth two credits a person, and we did not even get a receipt. That statement will also play out again in a couple of days.

We headed over to the dock and waited a while for the boat to come.

 

[ronnmel]

How rude and inconsiderate of that woman to keep bumping into you. I'm pretty small, so it has often happend to me at clubs. My friends will just switch place with me too.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the sleigh ride and BBQ. Looks like fun.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Some people dont take the time to look behind them and see if they are intruding on their space. I can accept if it happens and they apologize. But if they keep doing it over and over , I would say something. I havent eaten at alot of the restaurants, but I have heard the barbque was not that great.

I love the decorations at FW. The carriage ride looked like fun.

 

[kmedina]

How rude and inconsiderate of that woman to keep bumping into you. I'm pretty small, so it has often happend to me at clubs. My friends will just switch place with me too.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the sleigh ride and BBQ. Looks like fun.

People just need to be more careful or at least apologize when they mess up. Consideration for others is in short supply sometimes. Sorry that happens to you. I am not even small, and it happened 10 times before I moved.

They were both a lot of fun. I would do the carriage ride again in a heartbeat.

Some people dont take the time to look behind them and see if they are intruding on their space. I can accept if it happens and they apologize. But if they keep doing it over and over , I would say something. I havent eaten at alot of the restaurants, but I have heard the barbque was not that great.

I love the decorations at FW. The carriage ride looked like fun.

That was exactly my issue. Between me and my husband, she bumped into us about 15 times. There is no way she did not notice. She is just a person who does not apologize for intruding or care about anyone else's space. Looking back, I do not know why I cared about offending her. After the first few times she bumped me and failed to apologize, I should not have cared. If I would have moved sooner, she would not have pushed Connor's head into the table. Unfortunately, my back was to her, so I never saw the bump coming.

It was so fun and beautiful.

 

[kmedina]

The boat finally arrived, and we just barely made it on. It was one of the smaller boats. Crap had to stand again, because the stroller was too large. There were no seats big enough to hold it with all of the other guests. We really learned our lesson with that stroller, and will not bring it back to WDW. Disneyland may be a different story, since everything is so close together. When the boat arrived at MK, we were surprised to see how long the line was to get a boat to the GF. We decided to take the monorail instead. It was down again, so that was not an option. Reluctantly, we got back in the line for the boat.

The first boat that arrived was a small one, so we did not make it on. I was getting nervous about the time, because my sister and five of her eight kids were meeting us at the dock of our hotel. She lives in Naples, Florida, so we do not see each other often. They made the 3.5 hour drive to spend the day at Universal and the evening with us before driving back the next morning. We were trying to get there between 8pm and 8:30pm, and it was already a bit after 8pm when the first boat left the dock. A larger boat came around a few minutes later, and we made it on board. Our room was in Building Seven of the Grand Floridian also known as Conch Key. The boat from the MK disembarks right outside our building. That was convenient, because Connor had another diaper blow out while we were on the boat similar to the one from Epcot.

We quickly ran up to our room, and changed his clothes. This also gave us a chance to put the monster stroller away. It was close to 8:30pm by then, so we rushed downstairs to the Captain’s Shipyard. That is the dock between our Building and Building Six. My sister and her kids were already waiting for us. For Xander’s birthday (still three days away at that point, but my sister could only come down on Saturday), we rented a private boat ride to watch Wishes. The show started at 10pm that evening, and the boat was scheduled to take us out around 9pm. I was told that we needed to check in sometime between 8pm and 9pm. No one was at the check in desk when we arrived, so I waited there for about 5-10 minutes. A lady finally came up.

She informed me that we were not on their docket. I booked exactly at the 180 day mark, so that statement made me very nervous. After a few minutes, she mentioned someone was probably coming from another home resort to take us out. They did not have information in their booth on the other resorts. Just as she said that, a decorated boat pulled up. It was Xander’s Captain. He was so excited when he saw it. “That is my birthday party,” he asked? “Yes, it is,” I replied. I wish we got a picture of that reaction, but the moment passed.

Policy dictated that everyone put on a life vest. My youngest and my sister’s youngest (age 3) were not happy about the life vests. Connor would not even let us put it on him. The Captain could not board us until we all had them on. I tried to nurse him first in the hopes that he would calm down and let us put it on. It was after 9pm, so we eventually just put it on him. He was unhappy about it. As soon as we boarded, he started crying. I tried to nurse him, but he was too large in his vest. The captain gave me permission to open it enough to nurse him. It was still mostly on him, but I nursed him until he fell asleep. Once he fell asleep, I put it all the way back on.

Most of the pictures from the boat ride are blurry. Sorry about that. The Electrical Water Pageant went by. All of the kids ranging in age from 3 years (since Connor was out) to 19 years really enjoyed that. It got quite a reaction. In all of her trips to WDW, my sister said she had never seen it before. She really liked it too.

The Captain drove us around the Seven Seas Lagoon telling us stories about how the shoes wind up in trees and how Fort Wilderness used to have clean fishing water. It was cool information. My sister and I were also using that time to catch up. It had been almost two years since I had seen her.

Just before Wishes was about to start, she brought us close to the front of the MK and parked the boat in the middle of the water. There were so many boats around us. Our Captain piped in the music. We did the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise on a previous trip, and that was a lot of fun. This was by far better. We were able to spread out across the boat (which could probably seat more than the maximum capacity). It was very comfortable. That is the way to watch the show!

When the show was over, we returned to the dock. The captain offered us the leftover snacks on board, but we declined. I later regretted that, because we could have used that water on the cruise ship. The water we bought on ship was not to my tastes. After tipping her handsomely and returning our life jackets, we said our goodbyes to my sister and her kids. It will probably be about two years or more before we see them again. This truly was an amazing night. The show was amazing, and I had really missed my sister. Xander enjoyed playing with his cousins so much. I overheard him saying the following to them as he was saying his goodbyes, “Thanks for coming to my birthday party on a boat.” How adorable! I will never forget that.

 

[kmedina]

The private fireworks cruise was a hit, but we had a lot more planned. We had an 8am reservation for the Playhouse Disney Breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. Hollywood Studios was opening at 9am. Knowing our luck when it comes to buses, we got the bus stop early. After quite a long wait, a bus finally came around. The pre-opening line was quite long, and despite getting there a little early, we were at the back of it. Right at 8am, cast members started letting us in. Since most of the people were in front of us, I decided to stop and get some photo pass pictures. I was sad that we did not get any professional ones in the morning on our Epcot Day, and did not want to miss them at Hollywood Studios.

After pictures, we headed over to the restaurant. There were a lot of people waiting for tables. It was about 8:20am when we were seated. The characters came around. There is always a mini party where the kids get up and dance. This does not appeal to Xander, so he always watches the festivities from his chair. Just a reminder that Connor was nursing during the character pictures he is not in.

Xander likes Special Agent Oso and June from The Little Einsteins. He does not like Jake and The Neverland Pirates, because he is not fond of Captain Hook. Multiple times, he told me that Hook should not take things that do not belong to him. When Jake came around, I noticed that Xander would not even pay much attention to him. It was kind of funny. I reminded him after he left that it is Hook he dislikes, not Jake. We were done eating shortly after Jake left, but Xander was waiting on the final character.

Handy Manny is his absolute favorite. The best was saved for last. That made his day. Manny really made him light up, and there was a cute interaction between the two. Xander was talking to Manny about the show, and Manny seemed responsive. Sometimes Mickey is Xander’s favorite and other times Manny is his favorite. Right now, he claims it is Mickey.

It was around 9am by that point. Our plan was to get Fastpasses for Toy Story right at 9am. We had not seen our waiter in almost 10 minutes, so we could not get the check. I was about to leave Crap with the boys to go get them when I noticed Connor really needed a diaper change. By the time I returned from the restroom, it was after 9am. The waiter was still nowhere to be seen. Just as I was about to leave them, the waiter came by. Since it was already after 9am, we decided to head over there together once the check was settled. That way, we could also get a picture in front of the banner. There were no cast members there and kids were playing in there when we arrived, so we were not able to get one.

The line to get a Fastpass was like nothing I had ever seen before. Crap said we should still get one, but standing in a large line just to get a Fastpass is not anything I wanted to do. Even though Fastpass lets you bypass the main line, it still has a line of its own. That means you have to go through a line twice, and we would still have to come back later. It was only 9:15am, and the standby line was already 55 minutes. No thanks to both.

We headed back to the front of the park. There were some characters out in the front of the park. I asked Xander which one he wanted to see. He chose Piglet. Even though the wait was long (or what I thought was long at the time), I agreed. It was worth every second we waited, because the kids really enjoyed the visit with him.

I wanted to get some more PhotoPass pictures closer to the hat, so we stopped there next. DH was complaining that we already got some, but they are different.

Our must list for this park was pretty small. Xander rode the Hollywood Tower of Terror at Disneyland, and made it clear to us that he had no interest to ride it at WDW. My husband and I had seen and rode everything we wanted to at some point in the past. As long as we saw Disney Junior, went to the drawing academy, watched Fantasmic, rode Star Tours, rode Toy Story (hopefully later in the day), ate at Mama Melrose’s and saw the Osbourne lights, we were cool with anything else. I decided I would allow Xander to pick things to do for the day as long as we were able to fit in all of our musts. Surprisingly, he never asked to go to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground set despite spending a lot of happy hours there last trip. This is my favorite park, so I could easily spend multiple days there if I could.

I asked Xander what he wanted to do next. He wanted to see the Disney Junior show. We headed over there. The last time we saw the show, it was almost exactly the same. Mickey and the gang are trying to plan a surprise party for Minnie. They use stories to get inspiration. Previously, they used stories from Handy Manny, The Little Einsteins and My Friends Tigger and Pooh. This time, Tigger and Pooh were replaced by Jake and The Neverland Pirates. Xander really dislikes Hook as previously mentioned, so I was unsure how he would do. The change did not seem to bother him at all. Despite the fact that he never got up to dance with most of the other kids, he really enjoyed watching the show.

Connor was asleep when the show first started. He fell asleep while we were waiting in line for the show to open. During the show, he woke up. We were happy to see him awake and enjoying the show. Xander watched the show for the first time when he was four months old, and did not respond to it as well as Connor did at five months. Both of the boys liked the show very much. Since we only had one day at this park, we declined Xander’s request to see it another time. We wanted him to pick things to do, but knew there was a lot of new things he could try.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Gotta love the diaper changes at the wrong time.

The boat was a cool idea, I loved the sign. What a great surprise for him. I am glad you got to see your sister and her kids. How did you like the GF? I love the firework pictures. Someday maybe you and DH can go out on the boat for a romantic night , all alone. Loving all the pics. Some lines are not worth waiting in.

 

[shan23877]

Shoot! I was 3 updates behind! Sorry!

The sleigh ride looks like a lot of fun. I love cheesey and over the top decorations (on other people's houses ).

We've thought about doing the Backyard BBQ, but we don't because the food doesn't sound like much for 2 credits. I am a little worried about what you'll have to go through in the future. I am guessing there was a credit mix-up?

The fireworks cruise sounds amazing! I am so glad that Xander enjoyed his birthday on the boat. That's great that your sister and his cousins were able to join you, and that you and your sister got to catch up some.

We're doing the Disney Junior breakfast on this trip. Maddie loves Jake, so I'm guessing that he'll be the highlight for her. She'd also like to catch the show, but she also wants to do VoLM and BatB so mom and dad might be showed out.

Hope that you're doing well! We're packing up the house all week, but all of our other commitments are taken care of (and we found a house!) so I should have a bit more Dis time this week.

 

[ronnmel]

I was wondering about the whole fireworks and babies thing. How did you introduce Connor to it? Was he bothered by the loud noises? Would it be better to just watch Wishes from say the Poly beach, instead of from inside the parks?

 

[dara00]

how fun that you did a private cruise! I really want to do the pirates and pals cruise for my ds's b.day but it doesn't look like I'm going to get my wish. the view from where your boat was looked great!

I love how Connor nurses all the time. And he looks so cute sound asleep at the Disney Jr. show! That is exciting that he woke up though and enjoyed it!

 

[kmedina]

Gotta love the diaper changes at the wrong time.

The boat was a cool idea, I loved the sign. What a great surprise for him. I am glad you got to see your sister and her kids. How did you like the GF? I love the firework pictures. Someday maybe you and DH can go out on the boat for a romantic night , all alone. Loving all the pics. Some lines are not worth waiting in.

My family has a knack for doing things at the wrong time. Crap is the King of that. I will be at the front door juggling the diaper bag, Connor in his carseat, the mail, Xander's school bag, the keys, grocery or takeout bags and he calls my cell phone. He never calls just once either, because I do not always hear it.

We loved the boat. I hope to do it again someday. The GF was nice. DH liked it so much that he wants that to be our hotel. On top of the fact that I'd like to try some of the others, I just think the prices are too expensive to stay there every time. Even in the cheapest room, it was more than I've ever spent on a hotel night in my life x7. We are still paying off that vacation, since DH did not get a bonus that we were planning on. It was our dream to stay there, and I feel like we checked it off our list. That said, I would love to stay there again some day.

Shoot! I was 3 updates behind! Sorry!

The sleigh ride looks like a lot of fun. I love cheesey and over the top decorations (on other people's houses ).

We've thought about doing the Backyard BBQ, but we don't because the food doesn't sound like much for 2 credits. I am a little worried about what you'll have to go through in the future. I am guessing there was a credit mix-up?

The fireworks cruise sounds amazing! I am so glad that Xander enjoyed his birthday on the boat. That's great that your sister and his cousins were able to join you, and that you and your sister got to catch up some.

We're doing the Disney Junior breakfast on this trip. Maddie loves Jake, so I'm guessing that he'll be the highlight for her. She'd also like to catch the show, but she also wants to do VoLM and BatB so mom and dad might be showed out.

Hope that you're doing well! We're packing up the house all week, but all of our other commitments are taken care of (and we found a house!) so I should have a bit more Dis time this week.

It's okay. I cannot log in at times either. No rush when you read them. You are so sweet, but the apology is unecessary.

I know what you mean about the decorations on other people's houses. We always do ours modestly, but I love seeing over the top ones.

I agree that the barbeque was not worth two credits. Not only was the food not great, but the prices do not justify the credits either. The meal cost less than $50 a person, I think. Methinks you are smart and already figured out what happened when we did not get a receipt.

The cruise was a lot of fun. I was going to log in yesterday, but the same sister who joined us on the boat called me and needed me for over two hours. It was nice seeing her. She is busier than I am, so I love when she has time to commiserate.

Maddie will enjoy the breakfast. I have a feeling based on what I've read about her that she will be one of the kids who gets up to dance. The show is cute. If you do not have time to catch it this trip, it will probably be the exact same show on your next trip. Except for one small change, it has been the same since Xander was a baby (and probably even before that).

I am so glad that everything is working out for you time wise. You got a house, sold the other one all before you leave for Disney. That is wonderful. We are all right. DH officially got his time off request for Disneyland approved two days ago. Now, I can start planning and book the hotel room. It feels strange that I have not done anything yet. He only asked for two days, so it will be a short trip.

I was wondering about the whole fireworks and babies thing. How did you introduce Connor to it? Was he bothered by the loud noises? Would it be better to just watch Wishes from say the Poly beach, instead of from inside the parks?

Connor's first fireworks show was the night before at Illuminations. Mostly, he nursed through it. He enjoyed the few that he saw. His face lit up each time he was actually paying attention. We have been to shows where the fireworks seemed louder. It is probably because Disney pipes them in with the music so well that they do not seem that loud to me (even when watching up close).

Xander watched fireworks for the first time at four months and also did well. I never noticed either of them react negatively to the fireworks or the sounds. Every baby is different though. Connor slept through the entire show when we were on the boat. You can watch them from the Poly Beach if that makes you more comfortable. If your baby does not react too loud noises, then she may be okay watching them up close. It really is hard to say. I would go for it.

how fun that you did a private cruise! I really want to do the pirates and pals cruise for my ds's b.day but it doesn't look like I'm going to get my wish. the view from where your boat was looked great!

I love how Connor nurses all the time. And he looks so cute sound asleep at the Disney Jr. show! That is exciting that he woke up though and enjoyed it!

We loved the cruise, and the view. The Pirates and Pals Cruise is a lot of fun in a different way. It was the best thing we did on the previous trip. Patch, the Captain, tells a bunch of jokes and really intereacts with the crowd. Xander slept through most of it, but Crap and I really enjoyed it. We took him to the Pirates League right before we did it, so he was all decked out like a pirate. I would suggest that for his birthday if he likes getting his face painted.

Xander does not like getting his face painted, so he cried through almost half of the time at The Pirate's League. He does not want to do it ever again. Hopefully, it works out next time if not this time. You will love it.

Connor does nurse on demand (which is often). He is usually awake a lot at home but got a lot of sleep at Disney. I wish he got more rest at home, but Xander is a very loud kid. It is really hard for him to sleep during the daytime. At least, he got some good sleep at Disney. We were happy that he was still awake enough to enjoy a lot of other things too. He is such a happy baby, and we love seeing him enjoy himself.

 

[kmedina]

After Disney Junior, we got Fastpasses for The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This was our first Fastpass of the day, and our third of the trip. Xander wanted to go to “drawing school” next. I’ve never met a kid who loves to draw more than Xander does. This kid draws on anything and everything he finds. He loves drawing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse more than anything else. I have literally seen hundreds of his clubhouse drawings. The ones in person are better than the ones done on the computer, but here is one from the computer.

If we leave an important paper lying around, he will find it and draw on it. Crap is an excellent artist, and Xander takes after his Daddy in that. I was not blessed with an ounce of right brained talent, so I cannot draw. We go to the drawing academy for Xander, but Crap really enjoys it as well. My drawings are always a hot mess, but at least my men enjoy themselves. The next class was going to take a while, so I decided to get in line for Mickey. We ended up missing the next class, because the line took longer than I thought it would. It was worth it though, because we had a lot of fun with Mickey. Connor was just staring at him non-stop trying to figure him out. Every time I look at the photos, I laugh.

Since we missed the next class anyway, I decided to get in line to see Pooh. We took a couple of pictures in the cue, and I am glad we did. The PhotoPass photographer only took one picture of us for some reason. Xander gave Pooh hugs right after our group shot, but he did not take any pictures of it.

After seeing Pooh, we sat in front of the class and waited for it. I did not want to miss it again. There was a long funny mirror there that was making Connor literally laugh out loud. This was a hit with people walking by. They kept stopping by telling me how cute he was. The Baby Human says kids do not recognize their reflection until they are older (I forgot the exact age), so he must have thought another baby was there playing with him. Unfortunately, Crap did not take any pictures of it.


We all sat down, and there was a debate going on about who the class should draw. The last class we took, the teacher did not give an option. Crap learned how to draw Pluto in that class, and still draws him very well to this day. I forgot everything I learned the moment I walked out, not that my original looked like Pluto. Xander’s was pretty good for his age. After a few minutes, the class was in a deadlock. The teacher decided to teach us how to draw two different characters, Dopey and Happy.

Very soon after I started drawing Happy, Connor was ready to nurse. I was already messing up the drawing anyway, so I am sure it would not have looked right if I had finished. There were benches behind the drawing stools. Crap and Xander finished theirs, while I nursed Connor on the bench. He was not done nursing when the class finished, so I finished nursing him outside the class. Xander’s drawing was good for his age, and Crap’s looked like a Disney artist drew it.

After Connor finished nursing, I insisted we watch The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Our Fastpass was about to expire. The show was about to start, so the Fastpass was kind of pointless. At least we got one, since we were unable to get a Toy Story one. The Little Mermaid and The Lion King are my favorite Disney cartoons, so I love watching the show. Xander enjoyed it on a previous trip too, but Connor slept through most of it.

Xander wanted to meet Buzz and Woody. I figured that would also be a good chance to check the Toy Story stand by line and finally get Fastpasses without standing in a long line. It was just after noon. The Fastpasses were gone, and the standby line was 80 minutes. Crap went and got Fastpasses for Star Tours instead. There was a 40 minute wait to meet Buzz and Woody. I was not psyched about a 40 minute wait but figured it was half of 80. Strollers were not allowed in the line, so a CM suggested one of us stay in line and the other stay outside with the baby. Xander decided to stay out with his Dad and Connor, so he did not have to wait for the long either. Since I had to get Connor after going through the line anyway, I decided to allow Xander to stay outside with his Dad.

A little over 40 minutes later, I reached the front of the line. I called DH inside and was surprised to find both boys asleep. Xander really wanted to meet them, but I only like to wake the kids when absolutely necessary. Buzz and Woody had a lot of fun with my sleeping babies.

DH says that Xander fell asleep almost right after I entered the line. No wonder he did not want to get in line with me. The poor kid must have been exhausted. That was his second middle of the day nap, since we arrived at Disney. He never takes them at home, and was taking them on Park Days at Disney. It looks like the parks wear him out. Since the boys were still asleep, we decided to watch another show. Crap vetoed the Muppet Babies show, since he is not fond of it. We decided to watch American Idol.

Xander woke up just as the show was about to start, so we went in and watched. I told him that he met Buzz and Woody, but slept through it. He laughed when he saw the pictures. All three of the contestants were good, but number three was by far the best. Connor was squirming in my arms, so I had a hard time hitting my button. Just as I freed my arm enough to vote for her, Xander hit my button and voted for number two. He did not use his own button, so I tried to use his to make it right. Voting ended right before I could hit it. Number three still won the popular vote despite our little error, so all things were right.

Crap often forgot (probably on purpose) he had the camera, so I apologize for the lack of pictures. Our Fast pass window was about to open up, so we found a table near the line. I started nursing Connor. As soon as the window opened, Crap and Xander went to join the Rebellion. This was Fastpass number four of the trip. Connor was not done nursing, so I finished before I took Xander back on the ride. There was still some time before our late lunch reservation, so we sat at the table for a few minutes after the ride was over. About 25 minutes before the reservation time, we headed over to the restaurant.

 

[shan23877]

Sounds like a nice day at DHS so far! I'd love to try the Animation class, but I'm also a hopeless artist and DH is worse, so we usually skip it. Someday we'll end up there because Maddie loves to draw though. Xander's drawing is really good!

Those character shots are great. I love the ones of Connor trying to figure out what the heck is looking at him!

Those Buzz and Woody lines can get crazy! I'd heard horror stories about the princess and Rapunzel meets, but we waited longer for Buzz and Woody than either of those. Those pictures are priceless though.

Did you guys enjoy American Idol? We'd like to do it someday, but I'm always so afraid that we'll spend a ton of time waiting for and watching a show that we might not enjoy when we could be doing other stuff.

Can't wait to hear more about you day!

 

[Maestra99]

Hi there! I'm joining in and I've enjoyed your TR so far! I'm enjoying reading about a nursing mom's adventures at WDW. We're taking our DS in October (will be 14 months) and I'm not sure if we'll still be nursing (if we are, I'm sure it will be far less frequently), but if we are it's nice to see it can be easily done in the parks. Of course with an older child it will not be so easy! That picture of the boys sleeping with Buzz & Woody is one of the cutest things ever! I'm glad Xander thought it was funny instead of being bummed that he slept through it.

Looking forward to the next installment!

Sounds like a nice day at DHS so far! I'd love to try the Animation class, but I'm also a hopeless artist and DH is worse, so we usually skip it. Someday we'll end up there because Maddie loves to draw though. Xander's drawing is really good!

Did you guys enjoy American Idol? We'd like to do it someday, but I'm always so afraid that we'll spend a ton of time waiting for and watching a show that we might not enjoy when we could be doing other stuff.

Just wanted to say: I'm also a hopeless artist - seriously, desperately hopeless. But I tried the Animation class when I went on a solo trip and I absolutely loved it! It was so much fun and a unique experience. I turned right around and did it again! My drawings aren't great by any means, but you can at least kind of tell what character they are. It's more about the experience than the quality of the art. Give it a try and enjoy!

I also did AI that trip and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would! Then again, there was no wait when I went. I probably wouldn't do it again if there was a long wait.

 

[dara00]

that is sooo funny that the boys met Buzz and Woody while sleeping! My Zachary would not have just laughed at the photos, he would have insisted we meet them again. We got lucky on our trip and were first in line when they first opened, so that was good!