Funny Faces and Haircuts:The Princess and The Duck-First Trip*3/9 Earning Our Ears

[Chef_Skinner]

DW is exactly right. I knew that she wasn't feeling well, and with her being so tired, it was definitely a much needed rest that she required. And as much as I wanted to rest as well, she ushered DS and I out of the room as quickly as she could.

It was DW's suggestion that we use the coupon that we received for a free 30 minutes of speedboat when purchasing 60 mins. I took DS and headed on down to the beach and then over to the dock where all the boats were located. DS was a bit hesitant, but after building up the excitment a bit as I told him how fun it would be, he was all for it.

We received our receipt and after walking down to the docks, we were seated inside our own little personal speedboat and ready to take on the waves. LOL Let me tell you, this boat has a top speed of like 10 mph, and if you are looking for a thrilling ride, this certainly is not it. Although, if you are in the mood for a nice and relaxing boat ride to catch in the sites you might not otherwise see...well then by all means you should take this opportunity.

As we pulled away from the docks, I began speeding away from the WL and heading towards the campgrounds, as I slowed the boat down so that we could look around at the scenery, I asked DS how he was enjoying the ride. When I got no answer, I realized that he was enjoying it either quite well as it put him to sleep...or that it was quite boring...but either way I was on my own.

I sped around the lake, visiting the MK, the CR, GF, and once again returned to the WL. I made two laps around the lake, and let me tell you, riding in a boat that isn't going all that fast and having no one to talk to...well it can make someone batty, and it certainly was for me.

I returned to the WL after my second lap, hoping that I had utilized the 90 mins I had paid for, and found that I had only been gone a whopping 45! LOL Oh well, I wasn't about to get strapped back in, and especially since I had to wake up DS and pull him from the boat he was so tired.

We returned to the room, finding DD and DW asleep, but trying to be as quiet as possible, but as it turned out, it wasn't quiet enough. DW stated how DD had just fallen asleep, and she did not want DS around to wake her up. She suggested I take DS down to the pool and swim with him for awhile. After spending 45 mins in a very hot boat in the middle of the lake, going swimming was the very last thing I wanted to do...but I knew that DW and DD needede their rest as well. I took DS by the hand and we headed out to the pool.

The water was refreshing as the Sun was ablaze that afternoon, but being out in it wasn't all that much fun for me at the moment. DS wanted to ride down the little water slide as he saw a few of the other kids enjoying it, so I helped him find the entrance and up the stairs he went. He came down the first time with such a smile on his face, that I forgot all about the Sun and how hot I was and was in the moment with him. I helped him out of the water and watched him speed back to the stairs..and then down again he came.

Time and time again he went down, on his bottom, on his back, and a few times on his tummy...which we were told by the lifegaurd that he should not do. I know the reason for this, but I won't share it as it might make some of you cringe. After about 45 mins or so, I was ready to go back up to the room and I didn't care if DW and DD were still sleeping or not. I needed a break.

As we got back to the room, DW apologizedfor kicking us out. LOL Oh well, at least her and DD got the rest that they needed and we were raring to go for our evening...and what an adventure that turned out to be.

 

[lexmas]

Just found your trip report yesterday! I read it all in one day! I love it! Can't wait to read more!

 

[zeferjen]

More more more!

 

[PrncessA]

Welcome! The next update is almost done!!!

 

[KatiJ]

I'm loving your report! My son will be almost 4 when we go in March and my daughter was 2 in December, so it is really fun to hear what kids those exact ages like to do! Can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[Cynsational]

All afternoon, your trip report kept me motivated to clean. I would clean for 20 minutes or so and then take a break to read a section of the report. If I'm ever going to finish cleaning, I'll need more to read!

 

[lisabor]

I just came across your trip report and read the whole thing through this morning. I had no idea it was still a work in progress and now I am suoer anxious to read the rest as soon as you have time to post!!

Thanks so much for sharing all the details of your wonderful trip. It is making me so excited for our first time to Disney this fall

Lisa

 

[PrncessA]

When DD woke up I MADE myself pull myself out of bed. The bad news was that I felt awful, like I had a horrible case of the flu, but the good news was that my toe that had killed me for days was magically perfect. I mean it didn’t hurt at ALL, it was weird almost! By the time DH and DS came back they were not as rested as DD and me for some reason, I did feel guilty. Since we were still on our “day off” we were headed to DTD. DH had no idea what to expect and neither did I. Take the advice of so many people on the Dis I assumed that a day off was the right plan for our family, you live and you learn.

Things that make sense for one family doesn’t always make sense for the next family. We learned that we loved the parks and that the MK was very relaxing for our family and we should just plan for MK day instead of a day off which seemed to wear us down more. We all cleaned up and got dressed to head out to DTD. Now I am not sure what made us call a taxi instead of taking a bus, honestly we should have taken a bus, but that is what we did.

The cab ride was SLOW and it took FOREVER to get there, it was the most expensive cab by far. We were dropped off here:

Not sure where that is because at that moment all I cared about was finding a restroom. We headed left into Pleasure Island and we felt like we had walked into a people oven! It was HOT and there was no shade. DH was grumpy, I was on a mission and the kids were hungry. Not a good combination! We finally found a restroom and DH found a table with an umbrella. By the time that I got back DH had made a decision, he hated DTD.

I tried to explain we were in Pleasure Island and it really isn’t open and busy till nightfall but he didn’t care. Total we only saw about a dozen people the entire time we were at PI. We were all very hungry but we were a while away from our ADR, the problem was we didn’t want to walk down to DTD just to walk back to PI to eat. I had assumed we would get dropped off near T-Rex and then we could walk up to PI when we needed. Again we should have taken the bus!

We decided to try and get into our ADR early. Out of all the ADR’s I let DH pick this one. He was adamant about eating here and when I tried to change it hurt his feelings so I kept it. I think it was mostly because he wanted Irish beer; we were headed to Raglan Road. When we walked in it was EMPTY in the foyer and I ask if we could get in early. The hostess seemed very surprised but said she could, SCORE! We parked the stroller and we were lead to a table secluded from everyone, which was fine we were starving we didn’t care.

Our waiter came and we ordered our drinks and appetizers. For the life of me I can’t remember what DH had for an appetizer but I am pretty sure I had the potato soup and it was pretty good. Since authentic food isn’t really our forte I was worried that stepping out of our comfort zone again would turn out bad, but I held hope. Before long we were joined by a few other tables and we didn’t feel like we were banished to Siberia alone, although it was hot enough. The high windows were streaming in the sun and it was HOT. Not to mention we had about a half a dozen other mini guests… the flies. They were everywhere and we spent a lot of time shooing them away. Bit of a turn off.

The food here was very slow and the kids were not taking it very well at all! They were grumpy! We even let them drink our pop to keep them happy! We ordered the kids mac and cheese and learned that it was a white sauce when we got it. They didn’t like it but ate a bit since they were hungry. DH got the Sheppard’s Pie and he loved it! I didn’t push my limits and ordered the Heavenly Ham which turned out to be what I know as “smoked pork chops” and I LOVED them. It was one of my favorite meals of the trip. It came with potatoes and cabbage and I love both of them! We paid our bill and we headed out into the fly free outdoors.

We were all in better moods with a bit of food in our stomach, although I was worried that the kids didn’t eat enough. I had a backup plan of stopping at McDonald’s if they got hungry and picking up “normal” food in the form of a burger and chicken nuggets. We headed toward DTD marketplace and came across this place:

The kids were curious about it and I thought about exploring the “build-a-dino” but it was packed! Plus we had another surprise for DS coming right up! A little bit of history here: Before our trip the kids LOVED watching (still do) the YouTube video of the “Wolf’s Dance Orlando”. DS’s favorite part was seeing the Lego dinosaur and he would wait the entire video for it and get so excited. Also when I bought my 2009 Unoffical Guide one of the front color photos is of the same dino and when it fell out (pretty quick) DS grabbed it and carried it around forever. We were really excited to bring him to see the real thing! And his reaction did not disappoint…

Before I could get a picture of him in front he discovered that there were millions of Legos just begging to be played with! I did manage to pull him away long enough for this:

We spent A LOT of time here. DS was in Lego HEAVEN! He built his car, raced it, built another car, raced it, built another car, raced it… it went on for a long time. DD was content as well and played with Legos as well as the small playground.

Max pics... cont. next post....

 

[PrncessA]

Last pic...

It was getting very grey outside and threatening rain so we had to wrap it up so we could make it to World of Disney. We headed inside the Lego Store and DS HAD to pose with every Lego figure, lol.

I let DH and DS fill their cup full of Legos while I tried to keep DD calm that DS was getting something and she wasn’t yet. Then I had to pour out their cup and refill it myself to fit more in. MEN! When I refilled it with what they filled it with it was only half full, lol.

Finally we arrived at WoD and met some Princesses!

Wow this is a Disney Lover’s Dream Store! Everything you could ever want Disney was here it felt like. Unfourtunaltly the kids were already over shopping and were getting very grumpy. We hurried through not buying anything and headed outside to find it rainy and dark! Now I am sure that DTD is fun during the day or even on warm non-rainy nights when you know where you’re going. Unfortunately we were cold and wet and had no clue which way was which. We stopped and got the kids popcorn and headed off to find “Once Upon a Toy”.

We knew we wanted to visit here so DD could fill up a My Little Pony Box and DS could build a Lightsaber. Boy is this a store for the kids! Toys as far as the eye can see! First thing that was spotted was the Mr. Potato head boxes (boy are they tiny) and the kids went wild, weird since they have a ton of Mr. Potato head stuff at home and never was interested before. They were all about creating their Potato heads but I assumed it was just because it was one of the only toys available to play with. After a while (and a fight) we moved farther in the store and we found the Lightsaber station, “whoa” was the response from DS! He fell in love with Star Wars the year before and Santa had brought him a Lightsaber for Christmas, but Daddy had his eye on a double bladed one, lol.

DD and I made our way farther back and we finally found the MLP station, now we can talk about a small box! While DD played with a pony and pieces I managed to shove one or more of each item, a big pink plastic thing (which DD informed me was a bed) and a new Pink pony. I want to say that I managed 2 ponies but I am not sure, I will have to look. DD was VERY upset with me when I told her we had to leave the station and she couldn’t play with her Pony yet. We paid and found DH and DS with their double bladed Lightsaber and we were all ready to call it a night when we looked outside and it was still VERY wet. I promised one last stop and we would find the bus stop.

We found the Christmas store and started searching for the perfect ornament while the kids whined. They had popcorn and that usually kept them happy but they were done for the day! I picked up many packs of ornaments that I wanted but I didn’t think I had room to bring them home on the plane, next time I will have them shipped home. Finally we found a Mickey Head ornament with the four parks on it that we loved and was big enough to have the year wrote on it. We grabbed a red one (our tree is decorated with red and gold) and I went to pay. The kids were getting loud so DH headed outside to try and find cover and fresh air.

The line moved VERY slowly here and it took forever for the 2 people in front of me to get checked out. Eventually I paid and got our year painted on the back. I just love the ornament and this year while it was on our tree it would always catch my eye and make me smile remembering our vacation and the great times we had. It is my favorite ornament we own!

I found DH under an awning sitting on a bench talking to a little old man. They were talking like they had known each other for years and the kids seemed to have relaxed. The man’s wife arrived about the same time so DH said goodbye and we prepared to leave. But not before the art shop that was behind us… or the shop where you make your own ears. We finally made it to the bus stop and our bus pulled in almost immediately. We were all happy and relaxed that the day was closing and that made the night as a whole seem lots better.

Now this is where we left Disney World and entered the movie Speed! The bus was pretty full, but there was no one standing up and we all had the same thought. “Is this guy nuts?” I am not kidding you everyone on the bus was talking about it! Our bus driver was FLYING and we were passing cars like they were standing still. He would turn and everyone held on for dear life. It was scary at points, especially for someone who HATES driving. We were back at the WL in no time and we were VERY grateful. DH grabbed the stroller and DS and I was in charge of the shopping bags and DD.

DH and DS jumped out the back door and DD was in front of me. I had all the shopping bags in one hand and was holding DD’s hand with the other about to help her step down off the bus. All the sudden the bus doors start to close with DD in them!!! EVERYONE on the bus screamed “NO!!!!!” and I jerked DD back as hard as I could and managed to save her from being smashed in the door although it nearly sent me falling backward. The bus driver quickly reversed the doors opened and the ladies that were toward the front of the bus were giving him an ear full. I was stunned and wanted OFF the bus. DH was pretty mad but I just wanted to get back to the room.

We had had a LONG day and it seemed like NOT being in the parks and scheduling a full day was more exhausting for us than the Parks themselves. Not sure if it would have made a difference doing nothing that day, just taking the morning off the day before and doing nothing had exhausted us.

We made it upstairs and wound down a bit watching what little TV we could find (WDW should have a channel devoted to cartoons on their TV’s don’t ya think!!) before we all went to sleep very happily, unaware of the horrors the next day would bring!

Next up: People actually ENJOY this?

 

[lexmas]

Yay, an update (and a cliffhanger)! I've definately pondered taking the day off, but I suspect it wouldn't be right for us either.

We're thinking about either the lightsabres or legos for DS this year (he'll be almost 4). Is it all tiny legos with the cup? Maybe too small for him, but I'm not sure. He hasn't played with anything smaller than duplo yet, but I'm sure he'd love to. We've done the Mr. Potato head thing a few times, and loved it! Too funny that you had to re-pack the legos, I do that too! (Umm, with everything. Including luggage.)

DD will only be 17 months...too young for my little pony? LOL. I loved them as a kid!

Anyway, thanks for the tour of downtown disney! That driver sounds crazy. Glad your DD didn't get hurt!

Can't wait to find out what happens next!

 

[PrncessA]

Yay, an update (and a cliffhanger)! I've definately pondered taking the day off, but I suspect it wouldn't be right for us either.

We're thinking about either the lightsabres or legos for DS this year (he'll be almost 4). Is it all tiny legos with the cup? Maybe too small for him, but I'm not sure. He hasn't played with anything smaller than duplo yet, but I'm sure he'd love to. We've done the Mr. Potato head thing a few times, and loved it! Too funny that you had to re-pack the legos, I do that too! (Umm, with everything. Including luggage.)

DD will only be 17 months...too young for my little pony? LOL. I loved them as a kid!

Anyway, thanks for the tour of downtown disney! That driver sounds crazy. Glad your DD didn't get hurt!

Can't wait to find out what happens next!

Honestly I was a bit dissapointed in the Legos. The cup is very small and the most of the Legos are tiny. If you want the bigger pieces you take up so much room and it isn't worth it. I wish we would have done the Potato Head boxes since the kids have played with their Potato Heads ALOT since we returned. It will probably replace the Legos and the MLP and both of them can fill one up... I mean they will attempt and I will succeed, lol.

I was looking for the other Fill-your-own items, Pirate Treasure Chest and the Jewelry Box but all I found was the Treasure Chest at WoD store but it wouldn't have been fair to DD w/o the jewelry box.

 

[PrncessA]

I am trying to get the next update ready but the weather here is really kicking my butt! I barely pulled myself out of bed today with the horrible sinus pressure that won't go away!

 

[tigerdragon]

DS makes us go to the Lego store on every trip and my DH and I have become somewhat of an expert at getting a lot of Legos in those tiny containers. My DD will be almost 2 on our trip coming up and I think I might do the My Little Pony for her since DS always gets the Legos.

I can't wait for another update!

 

[lexmas]

waiting patiently! Hope you're feeling better!

 

[PrncessA]

Hopefully I will be able to work on the update tomorrow. I went to the doctor today and he doesn't think it is a sinus infection although we are treating it that way right now, he thinks I might be having migraines. Here's hopin' the antibiotics work and it isn't migraines!!!!

 

[PrncessA]

When we woke up the morning of Thursday September 15th there was a definite feeling of regret from both DH and I. This was our last full day at WDW and we were not ready to go yet! We had a full day planned today at the one park we had not visited yet, Animal Kingdom! I had scheduled our one AK day on an EMH day, forgetting or ignoring all the advice I had read in my books or online about the crowds on EMH day, surely it wasn’t that bad. When I woke up, although it still felt like my legs were made of lead, my throat felt much better and I didn’t really feel sick! Woohoo!

We woke the kids and found our new Tinkerbell surprises for the day before getting dressed and headin’ on out.

As I have said before we were extremely lucky with getting nearly every ADR we wanted but the Tusker House was the elusive little bird and we were not able to get a Donald Breakfast. I had scheduled a Chef Mickey breakfast instead and when I had added the Chef Mickey Dinner I didn’t cancel this one since I knew the characters would be a hit. Since DD has slept through the dinner I was glad to have a second meal for her to meet Minnie Mouse (although at the Tusker House, Daisy would have been a huge hit I think), but we knew we were risking a lot since our last meal at CM had not treated DH or myself very well.

We headed down to the docks and were on a boat to the CR in no time, I can’t really remember if we stopped at Ft. Wilderness or not. Both kids were in fantastic moods and we were excited to see the main characters again, and hopefully DD would be happy as well since she was in a good mood.

We were checked in for our 8:10 ADR, had our photo taken and was seated pretty fast. We were seated pretty close to where we had sat the previous time and we headed up to find out what CM had for breakfast. Turns out they serve the same hash brown casserole for breakfast as well as dinner; needless to say we didn’t try it again. Other than that it was pretty much the same as all of the other breakfast buffets we went to, but not as good quality. The food seemed very greasy here more than the other buffets and I didn’t eat much other than fruit (which was very good). The kids ate quite a bit of fruit this morning as well, DD ate her weight in watermelon and was happy to do it, lol. DH wasn’t impressed either and didn’t eat as much as he usually does for breakfast.

But again the food is not what we came for (although it would have been a nice bonus); we were here for the characters! DS was a seasoned pro by this point and KNEW what and who was coming! We were sitting for a while before the first character made it to our table. Goofy was up first and I don’t think he had a good nights sleep before because he wasn’t very Goofy. In fact he didn’t actually seem very awake! Luckily DS didn’t seem to notice or mind and was happy to hug him and pose without much help from Goofy himself. DD wasn’t afraid of Goofy but she made no attempt to get near him and Goofy completely ignored her.

Next up was Mickey. Now I am not sure why DD isn’t in her seat in the photos, either I took her out so she could meet Mickey and she balked or we had run to the buffet or potty and DH was taking pictures. I don’t remember either way, lol. From the photos it seems like Mickey was a fast talker as well as we only have two pictures with him in them! So far the breakfast characters didn’t impress.

Next up was the Duck DS had been waiting for. He had his stuffed Donald with him again and was happy to “surprise” the Donald with him. This Donald wasn’t as animated as the nighttime Donald but he was worlds better than the previous characters that morning! I love the smile on DS’s face in these photos; he was so in love with Donald! I am so glad that he was able to experience this and believe in all the magic!

Before we knew it Pluto surprised us and stuck his head right between DD and DS! Luckily DD didn’t freak out and if I remember correctly she even petted his nose although we don’t have a photo of it. DS however jumped up and happily hugged Pluto. Since our last Pluto was so hyper that we barely got a photo of him it was nice to have a toned down Pluto that DS at least got to hug this time!

Next up was some good ole napkin twirling where DS again wondered why there was no parade, lol!

Last but not least we were visited by Minnie herself and I let DD down and hoped for the best….

Score! Although she looks a bit shy a she was very happy to see Minnie and give her a hug!

We were finished eating and had seen everyone we came to see, it was time to pack up and head out. We paid our bill and headed downstairs to find the bus stop to AK. When we walked outside we were shocked at how warm it was already and added ourselves to the throng of waiting people at the AK bus stop. This should have been a warning sign to us but we didn’t pay any attention. Buses came and went for all the other parks but it took FOREVER for a bus to show up heading to the AK. By that time there was more than a bus full waiting. We were on in the first wave and took 3 seats with DD on my lap and DS in between us. The bus filled up but no one was standing, yet. Then the bus driver opened the doors again and let another 100 people in. It was PACKED and DD was NOT happy to be sitting on my lap.

I tried to get her to make friends with the other little girl about her age sitting on her mom’s lap next to us but she would not stop crying. Again this should have been a sign! We finally headed out of the CR packed on the bus like sardines and next thing we knew we were pulling into another resort bus stop to pick up more people! (GF or Ploy I don’t remember) Luckily only a couple people got on but it was HOT and LOUD and very crowded on the bus. Neither of the kids liked it at all and DD would not stop crying and even DS who had been VERY go-with-the-flow the entire trip was crying and saying he wanted off the bus. It was the worst transportation of the entire trip!


The bus stopped again at Blizzard Beach and although the bus was PACKED with people only a couple people got off. I had a bad feeling that AK was going to be a very busy park that day! I have to also say that some people can be so rude, even at DW. A couple (the lady who was sitting beside me) had laid their double stroller in the second doorway to get it out of the way while the bus was moving, the husband had picked it up out of the way when we stopped at the second resort. He had made his way toward the front of the bus to comfort one of their kids (on the lap of grandma) so when the bus stopped at BB he didn’t make it back in time to be in front of the couple of people getting off. He was however yelling something to the effect of “I’m coming to get my stroller!! Just a second!” He jumped out the front door and ran to the back one to grab it. He was very fast I have to admit but in the few seconds between the door opening and him getting there the stroller was stepped on by more than one person and then another person started to pick it up and shove it out of the bus on the ground! I understand being in a hurry but WOW how rude. The guy was there to partially catch his stroller being pushed out of the bus. I felt very bad for this couple because we ourselves were struggling with the crowd with our own stroller.

During the very LONG transit from the CR to AK this is what happened to DS:

We knew waking him up was not going to be fun. At this point we should have read the cards fully but we were hoping that things would get better INSIDE the park. We woke DS up and unloaded at the CR bus stop and walked miles to the front gate. It was very crowded even at this point.

After we made it in I decided I wanted to confirm our ADR at the Rainforest Café for an early dinner. When we rounded the corner we found DiVine:
The kids were grumpy and I was in a hurry to get to the RFC so I left DH to take pictures and that is the only one he got, lol. He didn’t see what was so special until I explained it to him later; he was also a bit stressed from the bus ride and the kids.

Cont. next post....

 

[PrncessA]

After I got back we headed further into the AK. I knew right then that the AK was not our sort of park. It made me personally feel a little claustrophobic and boxed in. I had been looking forward to the Tree of Life but unlike the Castle, Spaceship Earth and even Mickey’s hat I wasn’t moved at all. It was a bit disappointing for me since I was looking forward to it! I don’t know if it was the rough bus ride that did it or the crowds or even that AK just wasn’t our type of vibe but we weren’t feelin’ it.

We headed back to get FP’s for the safari and realized we had NO plan for the day at all and unlike DHS or MK where winging it had did fine for us AK was WAY spread out and we needed some sort of plan. We headed toward the opposite side of the park and along the way DS at least had a few moments of fun while DD slept.

Our plan was to hit Dinoland and DH and DS were going to ride Dinosaur. DS was VERY excited about this ride since he LOVES dinosaurs and we had let him watch the ride on YouTube and while I found it a bit scary for him, he was VERY into how COOL it was, lol. It was VERY hot out and for some reason it took is a long time to find the ride, I think we thought the entrance was around the Triceratops-Spin and we looked at the map several times before realizing we were wrong, lol. By the time we got there I was ready for a nice long sit on a bench, which they have many of on the walkway up to Dinosaur, but they were ALL taken. I parked myself next to a bench up against the stone wall and waited for the people to vacate before I grabbed it for myself.

I had told DH that I would be waiting for him on one of the benches and I had no intention of moving when I sat down. I left plenty of room on the other end of the bench and it was soon occupied by a lady with her granddaughter in a stroller about DD’s age. She didn’t attempt to talk to me so I kept quiet and enjoyed people watching. Honestly out of all the parks this park seemed to have more stressed people. I saw A LOT of grumpy kids and grumpy adults and quite a few people who were having disagreements, I had a feeling the heat and the crowd was affecting other people like it was us!

While I was waiting the other lady’s daughter and husband found her and I learned they had just ridden Dinosaur and the daughter was NOT impressed. I have to say she was very rude to her mom and dad while she was telling them what “she” was going to do next. The mom was trying to explain that she wanted to find some air-conditioning and the daughter was telling her she didn’t care what she wanted she was going to ride Everest and that was that. They started arguing and I felt very uncomfortable being so close to them during the argument so I decided to head into the exit of the ride since I didn’t think DS and DH had exited yet.

I walked around and watched the photo screens for a sighting of DS and DH but nothing. Finally I figured I had missed them and headed back out to the benches when I saw DH walking toward me, not happy. Apparently I had just missed them finding me and they had walked around trying to find me in the heat while I was waiting for them in the gift shop… woops! The ride although DH wasn’t impressed (too bumpy) it was one of DS’s favorites and he managed to talk DH into buying him a foam Dinosaur as they exited.

Although DS claims that Goofy’s Barnstormer is his favorite, if you remind him of Dinosaur he will talk your head off for an hour about the ride and the bumps and the dinosaur and this and that. It is so adorable. Having kids of my own now I am completely convinced that either kids when I was a kid weren’t as smart as kids today or we were not given the credit we should have been. I can honestly say that my son is one of the smartest kids I have ever met and some of the questions he asks me blow my mind. He is so curious and has the memory of an elephant. He can name all planets already, something I didn’t learn until I was in the 4th grade!

Here are a few photos while they were in line:

We decided to head toward the Safari (can you tell that we not thinking straight, walking clear across the park again) and on the way we saw the entrance for “It’s Tough to Be a Bug”. The wait said 15 minutes so we headed on in when we finally came to the stroller parking DD was still asleep so I carried her the rest of the way. The wait was A LOT longer than 15 minutes I am positive and I am pretty sure we waited about 30 minutes or more. It was HOT and I was tired very quickly of holding a hot toddler as well. Luckily the theater was cooler and DD woke up right before the show started.

I had heard that it was potentially scary for kids but since our kids hadn’t been frightened of anything yet I wasn’t afraid that this would scare them, boy was I wrong. All I could think of the entire show was “What in the world was Disney thinking making this show?” DS quickly climbed into DH’s lap and for that I am glad since I am sure the effects on the seat would have freaked him out. The stink bug was disgusting and the part with the spiders dropping down from the ceiling was way too much for DD and she spent the rest of the show with her face hid on my chest. I saw quite a few families with smaller kids get up and leave during the show but we did stay, only to get poked in the back with a stinger that I was NOT ready for nor did I enjoy! DS didn’t get really frightened but he didn’t like the show either. Needless to say we did not enjoy the show and will NOT be seeing it again on our return trip!

After escaping the “Tree of Life” we headed toward the Safari again but we were all a bit hungry so we found a snack shop that had corn dog nuggets and after the girl FINALLY figured out how to use meal credits we finished our trek toward the safari. We parked outside of the Safari and munched on corn dog nuggets and chips before we headed over to use our FP’s. Even with the FP’s we still had about a 10-15 minute wait but we were excited about the Safari.

At home we buy a yearly membership to the WONDERFUL zoo right outside of Chicago. We go many many times a year and LOVE animals. DD is a huge animal lover (she adores monkeys) and we were excited to see animals from this prospective. Saying this in advance since we did not see many animals at all! Oh we spent a lot of time trying to show the kids the bit of animal that was not hidden behind a tree or WAY off in the distance or hiding behind a rock. We managed to see a couple of elephants and bits and pieces of other animals… we were not impressed. Seems the animals wanted out of the sun as much as we did that day! We will probably do the safari again but we will try to do it early in the morning or late in the evening.

We left the safari in plenty of time to get to Nemo about an hour before show time, we booked it across the park AGAIN (why we did this I still don’t know) and by the time we arrived about 45min-1hr before the next showing the line was HUGE!!! We parked the stroller and got in line and waited. About 10 minutes later a CM came and stopped about 20 people in front of us and said that anyone behind them would not get in; the line was already to capacity for the show.

We were all very hot and the kids were VERY grumpy! Since we were so close to Dinoland we jumped inside for spin on the TriceraTop Spin and there was surprisingly hardly any wait. Not sure why we chose different dinos though:

After we decided we needed to let the kids blow off a little steam. We headed over to the Boneyard and I took DD in while DH took DS to the potty before they joined us. I don’t have any pictures of DS because when he saw he could explore he was GONE. DD did stay on ground level and for that I was very happy. However DD need a diaper change badly and I didn’t want to hike to the bathroom a mile away (wouldn’t it have made sense to have one right there) like DH did with DS so I changed her in the stroller again, not fun.

We sat and tried to cool down a bit while the kids played but it was still very hot. I was pumping DD full of water because I was terrified she would dehydrate and whenever I could get a glimpse of DS I made him drink as well. As we were sitting (melting is more like it) a lady came up to us and introduced herself, she recognized us from the WL (where they were staying too) and she told me about dig site at the top and that it was very cool up there and they had just spent an hour up there trying to cool down. We thanked her profusely and waited for DS to show himself before heading up to the dig site.

It wasn’t crowded at all and she was right it was a lot cooler but the kids weren’t allowed to take off their shoes and they didn’t like the feeling of the “pebbles” in their shoes. It was a no go for them and we were out of there in mere minutes. At this point we were finished and decided to head over to RFC and try to get in early for our ADR and then head back to the WL. On the way we stopped and let DD pick out a plush since DS got a Dinosaur and she chose a baby monkey. We exited the turnstiles and DH let the kids explore the patio outside while I went in to see if we could be seated early.

Now I take COMPLETE responsibility for this mistake as I am the one who made the ADR and KNEW the RFC was not on the dining plan. But for some reason I thought that it was only the DTD location that wasn’t on the plan and I SWORE the one at the AK was…. It isn’t. I headed back out to tell DH and ask if he wanted to eat there anyway and pay oop but he just wanted to go back the WL and eat there. The kids weren’t complaining that they were hungry so we decided we were through with the AK and headed out to find our bus home.

The kids were in very good moods as soon as we boarded the bus. The wonderfully air conditioned bus!

Now we were NOT the only people who were headed out of the AK early that day, nearly every bus stop had a line of exhausted looking people waiting for their bus as well. I was looking at my planner for the trip last week and saw that on the paper I printed out at Touring Plans.com it said to avoid AK that day, boy I wish I had listened to them! I don’t hold it all against the AK it’s self, I fully take responsibility for not planning the day properly attempting the day completely unprepared, plus the crowd level and the heat did not help!!!

Next up: No park… what to do with our last night at Disney!

 

[lexmas]

I was so excited to see an update! Hope this means you're feeling better!

So sorry AK didn't go well...it's one of our favorites. I bet it was the heat that made the safari so boring. The animals were smarter than everyone who came to the park that day, finding the shade.

Is there a reason you didn't go to Festival of the lion king? It's my favorite attraction at any park!

So disappointing to wait in the line for Nemo and then not be able to go. If it's any consolation, Nemo is cute, but there are better shows.

I know what you mean about It's tough to be a bug...what were they thinking? It gives me the heebie-jeebies and I'm not a small child! We haven't taken DS yet at WDW or Disneyland that's how against it I am!

I am so surprised your DS loved dinosaur! That ride is frightening! I'm so glad he did though, at least something good came of this park! (Side note: I was showing DS the planning video, and he was watching the part with Dinosaur...so they show like this huge scary T-Rex and he says, "I want to meet that T-Rex! He has sharp teeth! I want to give him a hug!" LOL. That dinosaur is vicious looking, and all my 3 year old wants to do is hug him. Smart.)

 

[topdog]

Hi there.

I am a little late to your TR but I made it.

I found your TR very refreshing compare to mine. I like how you explain the view from your kids on how they see the characters. It never even cross my mind the different between a normal face character compare to a full custom character.

You wrote so much, it took me a couple day to read through everything. I will try to comment as much as I can remember.

Your kids are very cute.

Good choice on your resort. WL is my favorite too.

DxDP is the bomb.

I know my trip was the opposite compare to yours but we are only 2 adults so we rode nothing but thrill ride. However, I can see how the Disney magic began when a couple of parents watching their kids or join their kids to ride the kiddy rides. I can now totally see from your view and how it meant to you. It was totally an eye opener for me.

You have a beautiful family. So glad to hear the trip was such a success even with a few bumps and stressful moment. In the end, it's all worth it.

I hope you have a magic ending with your trip. Now, I have to cross over to read your PTR.

 

[Cynsational]

My husband, my four year old daughter and I are going to Disney World for the very first time in a couple months. I'm new to the boards and I've really enjoyed reading your report and look forward to more!