How I got out of a mixed marriage

[gigi1313]

ooh! ooh! pick me!! i KNOW what's going on at MK at 7pm in 1998!!

 

[monsterkitty]

ooh! ooh! pick me!! i KNOW what's going on at MK at 7pm in 1998!!

Was it the 3 o'clock parade?

More please!

 

[novdisneydreams]

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

As an ex CM I used to love it when people would walk up to me and ask when the 3'oclock parade was!! (yes, really serious too!)

Was it the 3 o'clock parade?

 

[mikesdisneymom]

Great report.

 

[tubachick]

..... As we exit the ride, DH suggests riding it again, but suddenly it clicks and I know where all the children in the World are….

ooooohhhhh..... you are good

 

[TwinkieMama]

For all of you who know that you should be eating by 7 pm at the absolute latest in order to have a good spot for the evening parade scheduled at 9 pm on summer nights when the park closes at 10 pm give yourself a big pat on the back.

So I grab my men and hustle them to what I have determined to be a prime parade & fireworks location. We are basically outside the Hall of Presidents toward the entrance to the park. The theory is that we have front row seats for the evening parade and then be able to turn around and wend our way towards the front of the castle in time for the big finale and if we are unable to do so we will still have a good view of the fireworks. We get to our destination and the CMs haven’t even put out the masking tape yet. I announce my intentions to secure a good location for the parade and fireworks.
DH asks if I am nuts. Do I really intend to waste 2 hours just sitting around?!? (Note it was almost 7:30 at this point…. He is exaggerating just a little.)
Um, dear they are rated "not to be missed" by ObiBob. Enough said.

I have mentioned that I love Disney because of their history of excellence in all areas; I love the uberimagination that sparked all of this. You have noticed that DH has quickly succumbed to the magic… but for a far different reason. He likes to *do* things. Vacations with him are packed full of activity from dawn until dusk and even into the late hours of the night. At home, he likes to sleep in and I can’t think of a televised sport that he won’t watch however on vacation he has a strong need To Get His Money’s Worth. Please don’t think that he is cheap or stingy (frugal yes)….. this is all about value. You better take your vitamins and break in your shoes before you vacation with Mr. Twinkie… his itineraries have been known to send lesser mortals (mostly ex-girlfriends) into meltdown mode complete with bunions, ulcers and nervous tics.

With a good plan you can get incredible value from your Disney vacation. Every time we saw a long line for an attraction we had already done or as he tallied up the attractions experienced per hour (which he did periodically throughout the day and from here on out it will be abbreviated APH) it made him Very Happy. Now I was going to screw up his APH with my silly notion of sitting for a LONG time doing nothing but holding out a spot.

He is a very persuasive guy (I did marry him) so he set about tempting me…
“Come on babe. Let’s go do Haunted Mansion a couple of times. Our spot will still be here.”
Oh he is good. Very very good. I love Haunted Mansion and logically he was right... our spot would be there... but would it be "our" spot? I held firm to the plan. We really were having about as perfect as a day as you can have in the Magic Kingdom and I really wanted to see the parade. (Really? you say... quit making fun of me. Yes. Really.)

So we sit down. At least DS and I do. DH wanders around and soaks up the atmosphere. Soon the CMs come out lay down the tape. We have scored our front row seats and suddenly out of the woodwork there is a line of families with small children as far as the eye can see. Soon the popcorn carts appear in droves. DH wanders back to plead once again to go to Haunted Mansion. He points out how much our APH has dropped.

At this point we become aware of the family sitting next to us.

 

[TwinkieMama]

Special thanks to tubachick, SLDL, Thinktinknpixiedust and all other repeat posters... thanks for letting me know that I haven't lost my audience. Also thanks to all the new posters.... glad to have you aboard the good ship Twinkie.


I might say that I am writing this for the children but you all know I am doing this for all the

 

[Glendamax]

Hey! My shift isn't over yet . . .

(Crap! Is this really the last page?)

Hey Lady!!!!! What am I supposed to do till I get to go home?!!!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Great trip report! I just caught up with it, read it all in one sitting.
I love the step back in time And I love the stepmoms point of view. It's nice to know there are other non-wicked stepmoms out there besides me

 

[smwf71]

This is great! I keep thinking what I was doing while you were on your trip - I was homee with my first baby - now almost 8 - who was born in early August of 98 - time flies!!!!

Great writing!!! I am not getting any "summer reading" done thanks to all these trip reports - oh well!!!

 

[idofabric]

Looks like 2 halfs of 1 twinkie and a full one "cresting" over them to me... like a whale crests up out of the ocean. Kinda majestic, in a strange and confusing way... for Twinkies, that is!

 

[AmberLuvsWDW]

Keep going!! I have been following this the whole way and it's great!
I can't wait to hear ds's reaction to the parade, fireworks, etc.

 

[gigi1313]

another great installment... and i am HOOKED!! ::thinking i should go buy a box of twinkies to keep me company 'til there's more good TR reading!::

 

[pooksma]

more, more more!!!!!!

 

[cjhinch]

Can't wait for more!!!!

 

[ZZUB]

Please don’t think that he is cheap or stingy (frugal yes)….. this is all about value.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[TwinkieMama]

They have a double stroller filled with a little girl who looks about one and a little boy who looks about three. They also have a five year old son who is running laps around the double stroller. (Might I interject here that we have crossed the park all day with one four yr old in tow without a stroller… why… well as far back as I had been around DS didn’t have a stroller… I did suggest renting per Bob’s advice and DH said that he didn’t think DS would ride in one… anyway DS was/is very tall for his age and that did save about 8 bucks… anyway I say all this not to imply that we are morally superior to anyone who does have a stroller but to set the scene- a stroller would have been very useful for DS to sit in to watch the parade… (Psst … this is foreshadowing))

As soon as the popcorn carts appear the older two begin a tag team whine fest. It is pretty clear that they have been here before and that they know the drill. They whine, Dad trots off to fulfill their desire. I want to make it clear that these are basically good kids who have merely suffering from Too Much Vacation. So they whine and then the dad goes and gets some popcorn. No sooner do they have the popcorn than they begin to demand ice cream. The dad goes and gets some ice-cream. At this point they begin to whine for a toy. “No no Jimbob (please note all names have been changed to protect the innocent) we bought you the pointless spinny thing yesterday. And the glowing necklace the day before that. And the glow in the dark sword the day before that. Pick something else.” Wordlessly, my DH wanders off again.

(Ok- aside here. Why do people give little boys things like swords and golf clubs??? On the one hand, if play is the work of children and training for adult life… well many adults like to spend a day out on the links. Swordsmanship… not so much a need in our society. By the time DS was four he was already the proud owner of 2 sets of golf clubs and 3 swords and a hammer (all given to him by grandparents). Golf clubs and swords and hammers are for hitting things. What do little boys do with golf clubs and swords and hammers… they hit things… they yet are unable to discern that golf balls and nails are Good Things to Hit while TVs, windows and siblings are Not Good Things to Hit. Now DS was an only child so we were mainly worried about the TV and windows but it did cross my mind that these 2 small children cooped up in a hotel room with a hyper 5yr old who owned a sword… now that is a scary thought)

Don’t worry you haven’t missed much. JimBob’s mama is still going strong “No Jimbob you know the rule one snack and one toy every evening. Now JimBob don’t cry. Look what you have done… now BillyRay and SassyLou are crying too. JR don’t you think we could get the children something extra… it is our last night…” Frankly we are probably staring. This is better than Goofy in a silver cape. These kids are not brats… they are tired and hungry children who could win a gold medal in parent manipulation. They are on vacation and if the parents want to feed them only Mickey bars and buy them every plastic item in the whole MK then more power to them. I just didn’t understand the parenting technique whereby you say no and then immediately acquiesce to their request (that means give in to all you simple sea farers out there). However in my Twinkie-centric universe, I am getting kind of concerned about how this is going to affect DS. I am planning on buying him something but I am thinking of a stuffed Mickey or a pirate flag since that is what he used to open the park. I really don’t want to buy an item whose only point is to amuse a child while you wait for the parade. I remember that we haven’t eaten anything since the Diamond Horseshoe. I offer DS a slightly smushed package of nabs. He says sure. He still has not whined or begged since 9 am this morning and here he sits with ample temptation and still not a peep. Wow! I am so proud of him and I brag about this moment to this day as he cheerfully sat and munched on cracker crumbs while watching others eat popcorn and ice cream.
In another magical moment, DH shows up with 3 Mickey Bars. (I love Mickey bars… DH and I both remember when the Schawn’s man carried Mickey bars in the late 70s. I loved the Schawn’s man.) While we sit together savoring our Mickey bars, JimBob begins his own monologe. He demonstrates his new toy and tells us about the other toys they have bought on vacation and that they are staying at the hotel with the volcano in the pool and they have been here 7 days already and that this is their last parade but they get to come back tomorrow but they have to leave before dinner to go home.
DH and I exchange worried looks over DS’s head but he seems to be paying a lot of attention to his ice cream. Then you can see the coin drop in his little head… and he looks up at me all breathless and starry-eyed

“Oh, Mommy… could we come back tomorrow?”

 

[LaLa]

Kidding.

TwinkieMama, I'm enjoying your romp through the ages Disney World style. My boss, however, isn't enjoying me enjoying it quite so much. But he's a little uptight anyway. And a horrible speller. But that's neither here nor there. So no worries.

DH and I exchange worried looks over DS’s head but he seems to be paying a lot of attention to his ice cream. Then you can see the coin drop in his little head… and he looks up at me all breathless and starry-eyed

“Oh, Mommy… could we come back tomorrow?”

Can't wait to see how this turns out...

Keep em coming. You're a really fun read.

 

[tubachick]

“Oh, Mommy… could we come back tomorrow?”

you got me now