Have we really been planning this for 4 years???

[turkeymama]

*A bit of history in order to understand the significance of this trip*
Our story begins almost 14 years ago in Camp Lejeune, NC. BFF and I met while both of us worked at the local credit union. As strange as it sounds to some people, we bonded immediately and became best friends. We supported each other through our spouse’s deployments. Both of us were pregnant at the same time, although that was not planned. (We were later pregnant at the same time again with our second children, also unplanned.)

And then, her husband received orders for a base in California and they departed shortly after their first child was born. I was able to see the baby, and we had one last meal together before they left. It was such a depressing time for me. I had never lived on my own before marriage and I had certainly never been so far from home. She was my friend who helped me “grow up” in a sense.

We kept in touch, though, and a few years later, my husband left active duty and we moved home to Louisiana. Her family changed duty stations and moved to San Antonio, TX. It was close enough! We planned our first visit together since NC! We were over the moon with excitement! Many trips followed while she lived in Texas, and we made one trip to see them when they moved back to NC. Now they are further north near Washington DC. So far, schedules and finances have prevented us from traveling to see each other. Until now! And what better place to have a reunion than Disney!!!

Players:
Turkeymama (ME!): Mommy, teacher, softball coach, Disney fanatic and planner
DH: Daddy, former Marine, LSU fanatic, not the planner
DD (11): softball guru, ballerina, hip hop master, drama queen (also has severe dairy allergy)
DS (8): avid gamer, Lego architect, monster tamer, aka. The boy (autistic, but very high-functioning)

BFF: stay-at-home mom (busiest one I’ve ever seen), girl scout leader, Marine wife, Disney planner, Best friend ever!
BFFDH: Daddy, Marine, Star Wars freak, resident smarty pants
BFFDD (11): girl scout, soccer player, equestrian, princess at heart
DSGF (8)(Dear son’s Girl friend): girl scout, daddy’s girl, equestrian in training, princess all the way

Disney experience (for my people)
First trip October 2005
Second trip December 2006
Third trip December 2007
Fourth trip (adults only) March 2008
Fifth trip October 2008



The Itinerary:
For us:
6 nights/7days
Caribbean Beach Resort, arriving 6/11 and departing 6/17, preferred room with park hoppers and dining plan

The original plan was to arrive on 6/3 and stay 6 nights 7 days. BFF asked if we could put it off by one week if they could join us. I told her I would maintain our ressies until she booked her trip. 24 hours later, she calls me squealing with a booking number and new dates for my trip.

Sooo, I called Disney and the nice lady was more than happy to change my dates. The booking number is supposed to “link” our ressies so we can get rooms near each other at CBR? This is what I was told anyway.

We immediately began looking at park hours and extra magic hours for the week of our trip. We brainstormed to create a long list of table-service restaurants we would like to try, those we have dined at before, and which character meals we want. Once we narrowed that down, we coordinated those choices with extra magic hours. BFF called Disney Dining to book our Fantasmic Dinner Package while I went online to book the rest of our choices. I completed my task way before she finished hers. We got all the ADRs we wanted for the times we wanted. We have done well.

I am thrilled about heading back to Disney, and I am ecstatic to be going with my friend, but I am nervous about going in June. Although we are from Louisiana and are accustomed to heat and humidity, we are not accustomed to park touring in heat and humidity. Furthermore, I feel I must confess that I am a high-maintenance southern belle. I have had heat-related injuries in the past. Staying cool and taking breaks will be critical for our vacation to be a success.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 1, We travel!
We had every intention of getting up and being out the door by 5:00 a.m. This would have been perfect and allowed for a nice relaxing drive, except for the storms along the Gulf Coast. My stomach had other plans however. So we didn’t leave until almost 8:00 a.m. I honestly didn’t think we would be able to make up for the lost time, but we did. The little ones did well, but got very antsy once the sun went down. We stayed offsite at the Seralago motel just to get showers and a good night’s rest. It isn’t fancy, but it was clean. More importantly, the shower was hot and the beds were comfy. Very long day indeed.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 2, Check in to CBR
First park day! Woo hoo! I haven’t been to Walt Disney World since 2008 so I was more than a little excited to be here. On top of that, with best friend and family waiting on us at Old Port Royal, I was plum giddy! The kids couldn’t wait much longer. As usual, I was the first to wake up and get dressed. Having sympathy for DH, I let him sleep a little later since he drove the whole way from Louisiana in one day. The kids woke up, got dressed and waited not so patiently for DH. He is a slow mover in the mornings, so I have to admit it is difficult to be patient with him. It is even more difficult when BFF and family are waiting on us at Old Port Royal. Have I mentioned that already? Sorry, I thought it was worth repeating.

Finally, we checked out and made our way to CBR. DH drove while I navigated with the help of my trusty iPhone map app. The ensuing conversation went something like this:

Me: Okay dear, you are going to get back to West Irlo Bronson and take a left.
DH: Are you sure? It says to go the other way.
Me: Yes, but it also has you making a u-turn. May as well skip that step since you can turn left at this light.
DH: Okay (This was a half-truth, as I was certain he was not confident in my directions)
Me: Turn on International.
DH: Really? That doesn’t seem right. Are you sure?
Me: *sigh* Just keep going.

We checked in at the Custom House and made our way to Old Port Royal. Best friend was literally waiting outside the door! Yes, I realize I mentioned this earlier, but I was so excited. We have been trying to plan this trip for 4 years now.


We hopped on the bus to Hollywood Studios and headed straight to Toy Story Mania. The stand-by wait times jumped from 20 minutes to 30 minutes to 60 minutes almost instantly of course. We gathered our FP and jumped in line for stand-by. Our wait was significantly less than 60 minutes, although I can’t say for sure how long we waited. The kids wanted to pair up so they could ride together, which was fine by me. I could hear them laughing hysterically through the whole ride. This was a major accomplishment since I laughed hysterically through the whole ride as well. Gosh, my arm sure does get sore and tired on that ride!

Our group split so big kids could ride Rockin Roller Coaster. DH and I took the two little ones to Studio Backlot Tour, which I have never done in 5 previous trips. Hmm…not bad, but not what I consider a “must do” either. The kids were unimpressed, but that isn’t surprising.

After meeting back up with our group, we hit Star Tours (also a first for me). Um, no, not again. This is not a ride for me. I did not particularly like the bumpy, jerky motion of the simulator. I also tend to be a little vertigo-ish. I don’t know; it just made me feel dizzy. Everyone else enjoyed it, though, so they can have it! The Muppets was the last attraction we did for the morning. DS loves Muppets so he was very pleased with our choice. This is one of those “underappreciated” attractions if you ask me. I grew up with the Muppets, you see. The Muppets were real entertainment, in my humble opinion. Beaker is my favorite followed closely by Animal.

At this point, we had had enough for the morning. All of us headed back to our rooms, but only one stayed there. The rest of us went to the pool to cool off. Yes I’m from Louisiana and yes I’m used to the heat. However, I am not used to touring parks in the heat. Also, I kind of like the pool at CBR and I bought a brand new swimsuit and swim skirt for the trip. I was simply trying to get my money’s worth!

We had reservations for Hollywood and Vine with the Fantasmic Dinner package at 6:45, which didn’t really leave us much time to get dressed. Anyway, we have eaten there in the past so I thought we would like it. The service wasn’t the best, and the chef was not very eager to help with DD’s food allergies. That is certainly not the norm for us at Disney World. I was surprised and disappointed with the experience overall, so I doubt we go back anytime soon. It was nice to have the seats for Fantasmic without having to wait in line though. I’ve seen Fantasmic many times, but it just never gets old. What a great show!

It was a late EMH day for the Studios so we took advantage and rode Toy Story Mania a few more times. The dads spent a good bit of time with all four kids in the Tattoine Traders making light sabers before we left. (P.S. the kids are still having battles with those things almost two weeks after coming home.) I think the kids were dead on their feet by midnight. I know I sure was.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 3: Epcot
Yikes, the travel days finally caught up with DH and DS. DH could not get moving and DS was having tummy issues. We left them behind and headed to Epcot. Of course we headed straight to Soarin which was already a 60 minute wait shortly after rope drop. DH almost caught up with us in time to ride, but DS sat in “something” at the bus stop. We still aren’t sure what it was and to be honest, we probably don’t want to know. At any rate, this delayed them even further.

We grabbed FP for all of us (DH was waiting when we exited) with a return time of 4:05-5:05. This was not to be. We had every intention of making it back. More on this later. DS and I made a bathroom run while the others rode Living with the Land. We rounded out our morning with Nemo and Figment! We were exhausted though. We had lunch reservations at Whispering Canyon Café and planned on heading back for our FP return to Soarin. After eating though, we were not only still tired, but we were very full. Naps were definitely in order as was a trip to the pool. That would have been great if a storm had not rolled in. The girls didn’t complain though, because they had plenty of playtime. For those of you who have never visited the Caribbean Beach Resort, the feature pool is amazing. There are two slides and a great splash zone for the little ones. There are two hot tubs near by, plenty of seating…it is an attraction all to itself in my opinion. I can’t blame the kids for wanting to spend a lot of time there. We waited out the storms and headed back to Epcot to close out the evening with EMH.

We made it back to Epcot just in time to grab snacks and snag a good spot for Illuminations. DH was satisfied to have a Moroccorita, but the rest of us wanted SUGAR! The kids and BFF had Mickey bars, I had chocolate mousse from Boulangerie and DD had chocolate Tofutti. I absolutely love that I can go to the Fountainview and order safe snacks for her. That is one of the things that make Disney trips so magical for her. She becomes “normal” for a week and can eat almost everything we are enjoying. There is no “going without”, no setting for something less. She just gets to be a kid and enjoy fun foods. Random moment: During Illuminations, DS says “Wow, that is the most magic I’ve seen since….last night!” I don’t know why that tickled me, but I found it amusing.

Maelstrom was the first thing on our list after Illuminations. DS was very concerned about these trolls we told him about. By the time we boarded our Viking ship, he had to use the bathroom. Seriously??? Didn’t I just ask him if he had to go before we sprinted to the line? Why, yes. Yes I did. Too late for that though. With the promise of a bathroom visit after the ride and assurances that the trolls were not actually going to be on the boat with us (nor were they evil), he hopped aboard. Turns out he loved the ride but not the trolls. He spent the rest of our trip warning other guests about those “evil trolls”. I know, I know. They are wicked little boogers, but I couldn’t tell him that before the ride, especially since his little bladder was full!

All our big people wanted to ride Mission Space and Spaceship Earth. I waited outside and passed the time with DS and BFDD8. They are an absolute hoot! These kids clicked and acted like they had been together forever. She loves to boss, he loves to let her. They had me in stitches. She is normally such a girly-girl (nothing wrong with that), but she definitely took charge with DS. I think she considered it her personal obligation to keep up with him and ensure his safety. Oh my goodness, and she took that obligation to heart! We spent most of our time waiting in the gift shop at the exit of Mission Space. They talked about Star Wars, they talked about Vinylmations, they talked about pins…the only time the two of them stopped talking was when everyone went back to the rooms to sleep. And this is a huge deal because he does not enjoy other children. Sometimes I think he only tolerates his own sister. What a wonderful experience to see him having a great time!

Thank goodness we had time to ride Soarin once more before calling it a night. That made up for not using our FP earlier in the day. As we got off Soarin, DS had trouble getting his safety belt unbuckled. DSGF came sprinting to the rescue. This would probably be easier for you to appreciate if you met her. She is a tiny little thing with the tiniest scratchy voice. She has delicate little features and she loves to be doted on. For her to be “looking out” for anyone is a little funny.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 4: Animal Kingdom, wait, the bus didn’t show up? Okay, Magic Kingdom
So I thought Day 3 was a bad morning. That was not a bad morning. THIS was a bad morning. DD couldn’t get moving, DH couldn’t get moving. I had to compensate for their lack of preparation by pressing clothes (aren’t we on vacation?), which put me off my schedule. Dear Friends were up and ready to go with the birds. I told them to go on without us to Animal Kingdom and that we would catch up with them later. To be honest, we would have only been about 20 to 30 minutes behind them. Not too bad. So my crew finished getting ready and headed to the bus stop. Guess who was sitting there! Yep, dear friends were STILL waiting on the bus for Animal Kingdom. Other guests had been there even longer. Meanwhile, 5 Magic Kingdom busses, 3 Epcot busses and 2 Downtown Disney busses had come and gone. We still don’t know what was going on, because Animal Kingdom had early EMH. I would have expected to see more Animal Kingdom busses than anything else for that reason alone. Hmm, what do I know?

Remember when I said I was determined to have a stress-free trip? That’s what we did. I suggested we get on the next bus that showed up. Another Magic Kingdom bus arrived so that’s where we went!

Of course we were VERY early for Magic Kingdom. We made a great morning of it though. The first stop we made was to meet Merida. That wouldn’t have been my first choice, but that’s what the girls wanted to do. After that, we made a beeline for Peter Pan since the line gets so long quickly. Next up was my favorite: It’s a Small World! We headed over to Haunted Mansion after that and then split up so the big kids could hit Big Thunder and Splash. DH and I took DS and BF little DD to TomorrowLand. The big girls FP Splash Mountain and waited in stand by for Big Thunder. By the time they got off Big Thunder, it was time to use their FP for Splash. I think that was the longest line any of us waited in the entire week. Lines just weren’t that bad with good planning and FP. That was such a nice surprise because I expected the worst. Meanwhile, I grabbed FP for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and we headed to TTA. I was glad to still hear “Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow”. I knew TTA had undergone some changes. DH wanted to see Carousel of Progress so we headed over. I realize it is a classic and “everyone loves it”, but it really isn’t my favorite. I appreciate it for what it is and for what it represents. However, it was dark and air conditioned. It was a great place to take a quick nap. We walked on over to use our FP for Buzz. Now is a good time to tell you DH totally whipped all of us at Toy Story Mania on our first park day. None of us could get anywhere near his scores. He thought this was pretty funny. This was not his day. This might have been because I controlled the spin, but I’ll never admit that to him.

By this point in our day, we were all starving. We met back up for lunch at Casey’s, which is still one of my favorites. Poor DS was still having tummy troubles so I took him back to the room after lunch. The rest of the crew followed about an hour later. I think we all crashed pretty quickly and barely made it back in time for supper at Liberty Tree Tavern. I really miss seeing all the characters at Liberty Tree, but we still like the food and the atmosphere. All of us were still pretty tired, so we rode Pirates a few times and called it a night. It seemed so strange to leave Magic Kingdom at night without having watched a parade or fireworks.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 5: Magic Kingdom again? Yes ma’am!
Remember that whole stress-free declaration? Still trying that on for size. Everyone slept in, and “that’s okay”. I had to say that over and over because I usually insist we hit rope drop every day and close out the parks every night. Our strategy was to let everyone sleep late and to shut the parks down. At 10:00, we still had not left the room. “That’s okay, that’s okay, that’s okay”. Whew, this stress-free vacation is getting more difficult to pull off. BUT DD was able to get Mickey waffles from the food court, DS was able to sleep in, but DH was still complaining when he woke up. Grrr…this sleeping in thing was mostly for him.

On the agenda for today were Pirate makeovers! But we had other things to take care of first. For instance, we had to get a photopass picture in front of the castle. And we had to eat lunch at Crystal Palace! That is one of my favorite buffets for various reasons. Winnie the Pooh has been a favorite of mine as long as I can remember. At my age, I still forget that is a person in a costume and not the REAL Pooh Bear. Also, on our first trip, that was the first place DS fell in love with a costumed character. At 18 months old, when he saw Eeyore, DS just sort of melted into his tummy. And finally, the chefs there always take such good care of DD with her food allergies. She has never walked away from Crystal Palace hungry, and this visit was no exception. She ate rotisserie chicken, rice, corn and peas, ham, turkey and rolls. In fact, she ate so much real food, she passed on the dairy-free brownie and Tofutti.

By the time we finished, it was almost time for the kids to check in for their makeovers. If you haven’t done a makeover at Disney, I highly recommend it. I don’t care if you’re 5, 25, 55, or 85. Disney does such a good job making everything such an experience. All four kids were so excited. They got pirate names along with a cute little certificates. DS had a slight meltdown during the face painting. That poor man felt so bad. He spent so much time playing the part, DS got scared, lol. He stepped out of character long enough for both of us to reassure DS that this was painless and that no one would harm him. Bless his heart! Have I mentioned how great CMs are? Once they were finished, the Photopass photographer gave them real “pirate booty” that she found and recovered. They had to promise not to tell anyone where they got it of course, lol. The kids had a blast, and honestly, so did we while we watched them. They had enough time to catch Captain Jack’s last pirate tutorial of the day.

Did I forget to mention the kids were almost run over by an ECV??? I sure did! While the kids were waiting to be called for their pirate makeovers, they sat close to the planters near the entrance. The CMs said this was fine and the kids were out of the way of foot traffic. We stood next to the children to supervise, and honestly, where else were we going to go? Another guest was sitting on the ECV nearby with a small child in her lap. To my knowledge, they were not waiting on Pirate makeovers, but were simply taking a break and trying to stay out of the way. All of a sudden, I hear the beeping sound of an ECV moving in reverse. The kids begin to scatter as fast as they could because she was coming straight for them. She heard them scream, looked back and proceeded to back up some more! Oh my goodness! It was then I realized she was letting the young child push the buttons. A CM witnessed the whole thing and kindly informed this nice lady that the young child would have to get out of her lap for safety reasons. Whew! Close call.

It wasn’t too long after the pirate tutorial that the sky opened up and the storms finally rolled in. I didn’t mind getting a little wet, but my poor feet were soaked. Lesson learned: when rain is in the forecast, wear Crocs, flip flops, or take a pair of extra shoes with us. Not only was it unpleasant to wear wet shoes around the parks, our feet and shoes smelled horrible when we took our shoes off. Eeew! (save that thought for later)

Okay, onto less smelly and yucky things. We all donned our ponchos and soldiered on for the sake of the children (yeah right!). None of us had done much in Tomorrowland as a group so that was the plan. Unfortunately, that was the plan for what seemed like everyone else at the resort! Actually, most of the people we encountered were looking for any shelter from the rain. To be honest, it was a little frustrating because this made it quite difficult to get in line for attractions and it made it even more difficult to exit attractions. This was the only time we really had any crowd trouble. It made us all tired and cranky though. Dear friends wanted to eat at Pinocchio’s Village Haus for supper because the kids like to sit and wave at Small World riders. If you haven’t eaten at Pinocchio’s, skip it. Seriously. Skip it. Atmosphere, near Small World, waving to the riders…not enough redeeming qualities there for me. You live and learn though. Even my kids complained.

We really wanted to see the fireworks and parade. Remember, the previous night we left while Wishes was going on. Ouch! Is that allowed??? Well, turns out it is. But I was not about to let it happen again. By golly we wanted to see Wishes and that new Main Street Electrical Parade. You see, last time we were at Magic Kingdom back in 2008, Spectromagic was still the evening parade. I had read all about this “new” parade and wanted to see it. I realize it isn’t really new and that it has been at WDW before. It was new to me though. It did not disappoint. I was especially glad to see Pete and Elliott featured! Oh and Pete was in rare form! He yelled from atop his float to guess a number between 1 and 5. DD and BFF’s DD guessed every number between 1 and 5, or so we thought. He yelled out, “2 and ½! That’s a number!” Oh Pete, you didn’t disappoint this family! We had a great spot for the parade too. We stood in front of the Partners statue so the parade came straight toward us.

Wishes was great as always and gave me goosebumps! While I’m thinking of it, let me say something about that whole “The Magic, The Memories and You” thing. That is really cool! It is so neat to me that they can turn the castle into a projection screen. And when Buzz blasted off from a turret…WOW! I had read mixed reviews and how some people didn’t care for the whole thing. We enjoyed it and thought it was great. Once we finished out the parade and fireworks, it was definitely time to call it a day.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 6: Didn’t we just do Magic Kingdom…twice?
Yes, yes we did just leave Magic Kingdom a few hours ago. I had a plan! What was the plan? Oh yeah, breakfast! Chef Mickey’s has been a favorite of ours and it has been 6 years since we ate there. I love the changes since we were last there. It took no time to be ushered back for our picture and to be seated. That didn’t happen last time. Last time it was definitely more hectic and it took way longer to make our way to the table. Overall, this seemed to be our experience at all TS locations, with the exception of Liberty Tree Tavern.

We all waited for Chef to come out so DD could get her dairy-free Mickey waffles. Characters came quickly so we had things to do while we waited. I’m not sure why, but I left DH largely in charge of DS’s food at every buffet. I should totally try this more often. DS is such a selective and picky eater due to sensory issues. But I swear when I came back to the table, DS was eating bacon and waffles! Okay, what did the pod people do with my kid and who let them come to Disney in the first place? I think he was just so darn hungry that he was willing to put almost anything in his mouth. Up to this point, he had walked every day at the parks with no need for a stroller. He did complain about leg pain a few times, but this was always right before we took a swim break for the day. He loved having his “girlfriend” by his side and she was moving way too fast for him to slow down. Precious!

Animal Kingdom was long overdue, so we quickly hopped a bus to head in that direction after breakfast. I was a little concerned that we had not made rope drop and that crowds would be horrendous. But to be honest, although the crowds were moderate, the lines were reasonable. For example, Kilimanjaro Safari was the first place we headed. The standby line said 65 minute wait. In reality, we were only in line 15 minutes. The first thing DH commented on was how “lush the savanna looked”. Without even thinking, I blurted out “they must have just painted it!” No idea. It just popped in my head. It did elicit a chuckle out of a few other guests, though. I do what I can.

We had a slightly longer wait for Kali River Rapids, but still less than the 40 minutes that was posted. DS was very nervous about riding even though he has ridden Kali before. Of course, DS and I got the wettest, which wasn’t the worst thing. Once we got off the ride, I commented on how DS’s pants were soaked. He said, “that’s okay Mom, my pants were already wet.” Hmm, I certainly hope that wasn’t the case, because I can only think of one way for his pants to have been wet.

I think the kids had the longest wait at Everest, which is understandable all things considered. Those were the only three attractions we visited while at Animal Kingdom. DH loves AK and would have gladly spent the entire day there. If not for the crowds, I think he might have put up a fight to stick around. However, he was glad to head back to the room. Besides, we needed serious naps. On the agenda for the evening was Magic Kingdom evening EMH. Have you ever heard the phrase “It sounded good at the time”? You’ll hear that later.

Oh and before I forget, I have to ask a question. Have any of you ever made a security guard blush at bag check? Well I did. DD had left a black sports bra in my backpack the day before. I totally forgot about it until we entered Animal Kingdom. Not wanting the guard to have to fumble around with it, I took it out and held it to the side while he searched my bag. Apparently, he thought I was hiding another bag. He reached for it and when I wouldn’t hand it over, he asked what I was hiding. Well, I told him. “It’s my daughter’s sports bra.” That poor man. He backed up a few steps with his hands pulled back. We all had a little laugh along with him. Bless his heart!

Since EMH lasted until 2 a.m., we decided there was really no hurry to get back to the park. But the kids wanted to swim again. But we really needed to rest. But the pool beckons young children. Yes, we went back to the pool. We did not all take naps. That was our first mistake. Maybe that was our second mistake? Going swimming makes me tired, so that could have been my first mistake. Maybe it was just simultaneous mistakes.

I don’t know, but we didn’t make it back to the MK until 8:00 p.m. I don’t know that I’ve ever walked through an entrance turnstile at WDW that late ever. It felt strange, but we had a plan, right? So the plan was to head over Cosmic Rays for supper and beat the parade/fireworks crowd on Main Street. But BFF spotted Rapunzel and the kids just had to go see her and get autographs. After all, the train would be operational until 10:00, so we could just hop on the train. Would it take a little longer? Sure, but it sounded like a good idea. Well, the times guide was WRONG! The train was not operational! We had to walk through the crowd on Main Street trying desperately not to lose our sanity in the process, or the children. A gentleman was nice enough to cut me off near the Watch Shop. When he slowed his pace, I excused myself around him (yes I said “excuse me, trying to reunite with my group”). He was nice enough to sneer at me and smart off. Well, let me just throw some pixie dust your way Mister! Thank you very much.

We finally made it to Cosmic Ray’s, slightly frazzled, but still in one piece. The last time we ate at Cosmic Ray’s, DD was a child on the DDP. It was quite difficult to order allergen free foods for her without a hassle. The CMs we dealt with were not willing to swap out safe foods for her because that would have required she order “adult menu foods”. The manager who helped us this time said we never should have had that problem. She also said the CMs are doing a much better job with food allergies because they have seen a huge increase in food allergies among their guests. I can say our experiences were the easiest they have ever been since 2005. Now, DD is considered an adult on the DDP, and that did seem to make things easier at CS locations. At any rate, DD ate well during the visit and she didn’t have any reactions. I was a happy mommy!

Okay, onto the rest of our plan. The park had thinned out quite a bit already and it wasn’t even closing time yet. We hit the ground running and split up. All the kids and dads went to Tomorrow Land Speedway while BFF and I went to Mad Tea Party. Her intentions were to see if we could make ourselves sick since we had just eaten. It sounded like a good idea at the time. Once I realized just how fast she can spin, I decided it did not sound like a good idea anymore. She thought it was funny either way and it wasn’t fast enough to make me sick. Ha!

Next up? Space Mountain! Okay, the big kids went to Space Mountain. BFF’s DH is not a coaster fan and neither am I. We took the two little kids to ride Buzz. That is totally my speed. I was beginning to get drowsy, but I dare not speak up. After all, this whole thing was my idea! Once we all met back up, everyone wanted to hit those blasted Tea Cups again. No, thank you. Not falling for it again! DS and I opted to be observers this time! What next? Dumbo and Barnstormer of course! Remember when I said I’m not a coaster person? Well, Barnstormer is a coaster for those of you that missed the bulletin. I bee bopped right on though! Why? Oh why did I get on that ride? I hate that ride! There I sat, trapped in that stupid seat! And the least sympathetic person (DD) sat next to me, razzing me about how big of a weenie I am. I survived though, but only barely.

The new Dumbo ride is absolutely beautiful, and relaxing. And not a coaster. I was really impressed with all the scenes painted on the ride. Dumbo really needed that facelift. DS isn’t a fan of heights, but he did fine. The second Dumbo ride was not operational quite yet. I understand they are doing test rides now.

By this point, everyone was feeling the late hour. None of us were willing to admit it just yet. BFF said she was taking her DD8 back to the room. Her DD8 had other plans. She wasn’t ready to admit she was tired either! No, that little darling wanted to ride It’s a Small World and who could blame her? That is my favorite ride. I really was getting sleepy though. It was well after midnight. In fact, it was almost 1:00 a.m. It was so nice to walk on rides without waiting though. We all agreed that we were “slightly tired”. By “slightly tired”, we really meant “oh my gosh I can’t believe I’m awake, am I in an alternate reality” kind of tired. Okay, ONE MORE RIDE! FINE! Haunted Mansion anyone??? You know its bad when you almost fall asleep on Haunted Mansion. DS kept me awake though. As we dragged ourselves to the bus stop, we felt ill due to being tired. It was 1:30 by the time we got back to the rooms. But it really did sound like a good idea at the time. It was a good day

 

[turkeymama]

Day 7: Epcot
First on the agenda for the day was breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. DD was really starting to feel the effects of the trip and she wasn’t even hungry. I normally avoid early breakfast reservations because she isn’t a morning person anyway. Add a week of park touring and she just isn’t fit for the general public. The food was good though, and we got a little in her so she wouldn’t be too weak. Honestly, by the time we got done, she had already started to feel better. The fresh air helped too.

Okay, so after breakfast, we hopped the monorail for Epcot! We had good intentions, we really did. But we also had Behind the Seeds booked! No time for rides, but we did have time to grab a FP for Soarin. Smart choice because the return time was several hours later.

Marissa was our tour guide and she was lovely. She is a graduate of Florida State and DH was wearing his LSU shirt. They had to participate in some college rivalry before we could get started. The tour was a lot of fun and very informative. The kids were fascinated to learn about using bugs as pest control! What a great concept! Marissa also told us to be sure we didn’t step in the sand because that could introduce bacteria and other things that would be harmful to the plants. And for some reason, I specifically remember her mentioning nematodes. She gave us nifty little handouts on starting our own hydroponic gardens, which is wonderful. I have the rest of the summer to experiment with that. I really want to try that with my students when I get back to school in August.

After our tour, we took the kids over to the Brave exhibit to let them explore. The playground is so cool. I wish I could remember who designed it because the equipment was really neat! The kids had a blast over there and the parents had a nice shady place to sit for a few minutes. All the Highland games nearby were a lot of fun for the kids too. They spun a wheel to see which “clan” they belonged to. CMs gave the kids buttons with their clan name and character picture on them. Really cute and a nice little souvenir.

We doubled back over to the Imagination pavilion to ride Journey into Imagination once more. For the record, this isn’t my favorite attraction. Nothing wrong with Figment. I’m sure he’s a nice little dragon. He is a dragon, right? Sometimes, I think it’s fun to just explore and skip a ride. At this point, we were quickly headed toward checking rides off a list to say we had done it.

By the time we exited the pavilion, it was FP return time. Off to Soarin we go! This is one of those rides I could do over and over again. The smells, the mechanics, the ocean scene…I just love that ride! DD quickly looked at me as we were seated so she could remind me to take off my flip flops (I had worn flip flops on our previous rides). I wore my running shoes this time though. She stopped herself rather abruptly in midsentence. (Remember when I told you our feet got wet in the rain and our shoes and feet smelled horrible by the end of the night?) DD says, “Mom, I don’t think anyone will be smelling the oranges if we take our shoes off!” Oh wow! And she was as serious as she could be. The previous two rides on Soarin, we were seated in rows 3 and 2 respectively. This time, we were in the first row. I did not have any trouble with my vertigo this time! So maybe in the future, I should wait until I can be on the first row? I think it would be worth the wait if I didn’t have to suffer from dizzy spells afterwards.

DS wanted to hit up The Seas with Nemo and Friends once more so that’s what we did. All of us split up after the ride though. BFF took the girls back to the hotel room, DH spent time with DS exploring The Seas pavilion and I headed over to buy an Epcot shirt. I love the “retro” looking Epcot shirts and had to have one!
This was essentially the end of our park touring for the trip. The kids really wanted to participate in the campfire and movie at CBR that evening and it sounded like a lot of fun.

At the campfire, the kids roasted marshmallows and built sandcastles on the beach. Then they swam a little before Toy Story 3 was shown on the big screen. We all camped out around the projection screen and ate burgers. The kids really did have the best time this week. I'm not sure if we can ever go back with friends. It was such a different experience for them, but in a good way that I never anticipated.

 

[turkeymama]

Day 8: Check out, head to Downtown
DH wanted to sleep as late as he could. I really expected him to be up early so we could drive home in one day. He wanted to take the kids Downtown though. Perfectly fine with us. DD wanted to visit Babycakes once more for a doughnut anyway. She also wanted to go to Little Miss Matched. Whoever came up with that concept is a marketing genius. They sell mismatched socks! That’s it. DD and her friends never wear matched socks anyway, so she loved it! I have to admit, it is a cute little store. I wish I could wear some of the t-shirts. Really cute.

DS had enough of cute though, so I took him to Goofy’s candy shop next door. Holy buckets, the treats in the store are amazing! How do they do some of that stuff??? The apples are amazing.

Speaking of amazing, DS was more than a little impressed with the Lego store. He and DH looked at every single Lego set for sell! DH was sure to point that out to me for some reason. DS was in Lego heaven! I really think we should set more time aside for Downtown on our next trip. He could have stayed there for hours playing.

Okay, so we ate lunch at Pollo Campero. I think we’ll skip it from here on out. It wasn’t great. Maybe it wasn’t what we’re used to for fried chicken. The lady at the front door reminded me a little bit of Peggy the girl scout leader from Everybody Loves Raymond. Actually, she reminded me of Peggy a lot! It was actually kind of funny. She probably thought I was nuts because I kept staring at her.

Any who, we finally wrapped up our shopping by 2:00 and said our goodbyes to Orlando.

 

[turkeymama]

General observations from the trip:

1. Rope drop is not an absolute necessity when you use FP and evening EMH.
2. I can survive WDW in the summer.
3. DS starts off with a bang and slowly withers as the week progresses.
4. DH will never get up early without complaining.
5. DD can not eat breakfast early in the morning.
6. I noticed more diversity this visit, but I think that was due to the larger crowds.
7. Naps are okay. Midday breaks are okay. (we always go in the off peak times)
8. Mickey ice cream bars are harmless when you walk all day long.