If you don't have anything nice to say...write about it in your trip report

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Great update, looking forward to the the next one!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Great update, looking forward to the the next one!

Thanks! I'm actually finding it quite difficult to remember details. so glad I got some done while on the trip.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

As close as we could get to Minnie Mouse, apparently a very scary mouse!

This face is the reason why people buy these ridiculously expensive toys:

We never eat ice cream at home, the kid is in heaven, light rays above his head agree:

I seriously want this chair in my home:

A rare moment on Friday when he wasn't screaming 'No!' at me or placing various body parts in the toilet by accident. Yes, it was a very long day for me, but here he is smiling at the Jambo House playground.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

So I'm already having Disney withdrawal and I've only been back a few days. Last night I even had a nightmare about staying in BLT and not being able to pay for dinner in time to watch the fireworks. So I was about to go into the story of The Great Park Hop of 2013. Once we got Tigger down for his nap Grizzly and I scurried out of the house for our night off. Tigger was in good hands with MIL, so we were free to do as we pleased. We pleased to ride Everest, Dinosaur, Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Test Track all before the parks closed. It was 2:30, Epcot closed at 9pm. We started with Animal Kingdom because it was the closest and closed the earliest. I think we parked and were back in the car in just over an hour.

I was going to take our picture on each ride as evidence, but after I took the first one Grizzly laughed at me. We could be anywhere, but the reality is we are standing in line for a broken down Dinosaur. This is our first ride and look how exhausted we look already!

After they emptied each and every ride vehicle and searched the ride for someone's lost medication we finally get to ride Dinosaur. We skip over to Everest. The standby line has a posted 5 minute wait. I think this is only because it takes 5 minutes to walk through the whole queue area to get to the coaster. I request the last row. Heading out of the park I realize I never ate lunch. I was looking for something along the popcorn side of things and settled on a corn dog. We wolf our corn dogs down as we head out of the park. Back to the car and we are heading over to Hollywood Studios.

It seems we had horrible luck with the parking situation. For each park we arrive to the parking people are still forcing us to park in the middle of nowhere. Each time we return to our car we find the parking people have gone, and we are the last row they parked. All the walking to and from the cars probably took an hour out of our total time. Hollywood studios was easy, and we were in and out so fast through the regular stand by lines. We make it through the turnstiles of Magic Kingdom by 5pm. We head first to Big Thunder and find a humungous line. We stand in the line for a few minutes before back tracking, grabbing fast passes with a 6pm return time, and heading over to Space Mountain. We brave the 45 minute stand by line. It takes at least 45 minutes if not more. The rowdy boys behind us make me glad that I am not their parent as I would have been terribly embarrassed by their behavior. Grizzly is trying to pretend that he is not annoyed by them as well. We back track back to Big Thunder Mountain at 6:15pm. Ride the mountain and start sprinting (in a Disney approved walking fashion) to Adventureland so that we don't get caught by the parade which is about to start. We scramble towards the exit and at one point get yelled at for walking in the 'closed road'. Grrrrrrr.... We head over to Epcot with one ride left to complete our mission. We are exhausted. Grizzly is terribly thirsty. At some point, I think while in line for Space Mountain, we made a reservation for 9:30pm at Raglan Road. To make the reservation we figure we need to be leaving Epcot by 8:30pm. Finally when we get to Epcot we are allowed to park anywhere! We ride Test Track using the single rider line, but end up in the same car anyways. I'm not impressed. Grizzly says it reminds him of Tron. I would like to ride it again and make my own car because I'm guessing that makes the ride better? Not sure...

With time on our hands we walk to Germany and grab some caramel squares. We also try the caramel popcorn for the first time. We now have a new love. It was soooooooooo yummy.

We slowly make our way towards the exit with lots of time to spare. We pat ourselves on the back for still 'having it'. It being the ability to run around the parks like crazy people. We get to Raglan Road early and before we even drink 2 sips of our drinks from the bar we are given a table. Exhaustion hits me and I'm too tired to eat. The scallops, calamari, and it's not bleedin chowder are barely touched by me. When we get up from the table I can barely move. A little achy, very very cold, and so sleepy. Yet somehow quite content with our accomplishment.

Tomorrow is our last day in the parks. The plan is to hit Animal Kingdom for rope drop. I'm excited to let Tigger play in the bone yard, but he unfortunately has other plans.

 

[disney212]

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of Disney. I am hanging in there with you. Can't wait to see if you manage to hit all the rides!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of Disney. I am hanging in there with you. Can't wait to see if you manage to hit all the rides!

Thanks for hanging in there! I just read your trip report, I'm wishing now I had bothered to wait in the big scary BOG line for lunch. Maybe next trip.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

So I'm in my office and they are beating the tar out of the wall on the opposite side of my office. I suppose a more accurate description would be they are beating the wall out of the wall. Here is evidence along with my favorite souvenir of the trip, a tiny little mouse ear hat which I put on my flamingo lamp. Notice all the pieces of wall behind her on the floor. Geesh, it's been a long morning.

Speaking of long mornings! Let's go now to Friday morning. Our day to tackle Animal Kingdom. We had a short list of todo's at Animal Kingdom which included: Safari, Lion King Show, It's Tough to Be a Bug (Bone Yard for Tigger), Finding Nemo and Flights of Wonder.

At rope drop we headed straight for the safari and were able to get on the first handicap accessible safari truck. For MIL, Grizzly and I the safari was awesome. At one point in the grassy savannah we got stuck for probably almost 30 minutes due to some unknown animal in the road in front of the vehicle in front of ours. While waiting there we got to see the herd of giraffes walk back and forth right beside our truck many many times. It was pretty awesome. Tigger thought the roof of the truck was awesome and spent almost the whole safari lying with his head in my lap looking up at the sign with all the animal names. I had a picture which I mistakenly deleted of Dad and MIL pointing wildly to an animal while Tigger paid no attention and lounged on the seat looking up at the picture of the animals. I think I'm resigned to the fact now that animals may not be his thing. This makes me a little sad because I love all things furry and woolly.

On this trip Tigger started something new, which like 50% of all toddler new things was actually quite annoying. He started requesting to go to the bathroom even when he doesn't have to go just so that he can get out of doing what he is currently doing. Hence when we got off the safari we bolted to a bathroom. Everything went downhill from there. Oh so down hill. Down a cliff? It was bad. We enter the stall and Tigger has to clean the toilet, the walls, the flusher, the paper dispenser, basically every surface in the stall before he will even consider sitting down. This alone takes 5 minutes or more. Meanwhile I'm thinking he's going to wet his pants because he asked about 10 times on the safari to go pee. So I rush him on to the toilet and he no longer wants to sit on the front he wants to sit with his butt on the back, but the toilet is so long that by the time he wiggles back there his short little legs no longer reach the front of the toilet like they do at home and his foot falls right into the toilet. YUCK!!!!!!! I grab his foot out but it is too late. He is completely distraught and screaming screaming screaming. I insist he has to stay and pee because since he asked 10 times I am sure he has to go. More screaming then the hitting started. Oh it was ugly. I think we ended up leaving without peeing. I stormed out of there put some new pants on Tigger and took him back to the hotel for the worlds longest time out. So I got a whopping 45 minutes of Animal Kingdom.

Back at the hotel Tigger remained horrible. Horrible horrible horrible. I made him sit in time out for 30 minutes. yup 30! normally he would have gotten 2 minutes but I was ticked. At one point he said he had to pee again, so we went and tried that. This time he dropped his whole butt into the toilet. Since I was at my wits end at this point I lifted him out (he's screaming) and threw a towel in his general direction and told him to dry himself off and get back in time out. I was so mad! This is probably because he had just thrown his father's sleep machine onto the ground after also throwing the tv remote across the room. While he sat in time out I packed all of our stuff for our return trip. As Tigger threw stuffed animals at me I packed those too and restarted the timer. He was probably in time out for about an hour by the time the timer was able to run all the way down without him throwing something at me or across the room. I only write this because it is extremely unusual behavior for him and it made me so mad. So furiously frustratingly mad.

After the marathon time out we headed out to a playground. I gave him the choice of the Jambo House playground or the Bone Yard and he chose Jambo house, so that is where we went. We had a good time. Spent most of it playing a game that involved driving a bus then taking a nap. He was smiley and good natured and it gave me hope for the remainder of the day. Since I had gotten very little time in the park I was waiting desperately for MIL and Grizzly to come home so I could escape the wrath of Tigger for a bit. By the time they come home though, around 2:30, I was exhausted and had no energy to go anywhere. I took a nap instead while MIL and Grizzly went for Safari Ambers at Sanaa.

The evening plan was to go to Magic Kingdom for Wishes, but we were all so tired that we passed it up. We stayed in, watched Undercover Boss and went to bed. We did however send Grizzly over to Epcot for yet more salted caramel squares and caramel popcorn that we enjoyed during the show. I was hoping that since we got Tigger to bed early he would be less awful in the morning. We shall see. Tomorrow is our last day and includes a slow morning with breakfast at Kona Cafe and a 1:10pm flight.

Overall this trip has given me mixed emotions. I'm so glad MIL liked everything, but while trying to let MIL see lots of things we were unable to let Tigger do some of what he would have liked to do (example: ride IASM 10x in a row). I personally sacrificed a lot of park time so that MIL could be happy. I was glad that I got to spend lots of quality time with Tigger in the pool, but part of me would have rather spent that time with Tigger and Grizzly so we could have time as a family which we never really get at home and which is part of the magic of Disney for me. Till tomorrow...

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

Still following along. Being home stinks doesn't it? We just got home today.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Still following along. Being home stinks doesn't it? We just got home today.

Being home most definitely stinks! It causes me to do crazy things like book more Disney trips!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I believe I left you (if there are even any people left) 11 days ago saying I would return the next day to finish up my report. Well then things at work got rather typing intensive and the last thing I want to do at lunch time is type when I have been typing all morning. I've still been typing today, but thought I would finish this up so that I can get on to other things.

In the last days since I've left we did however make some new Disney plans! We booked our first cruise for February 2nd 2014. It's a 4 night Bahamas cruise on the Disney Dream. After the cruise we are hoping to stay at BLT for 3 nights to use our annual passes a bit. I don't have any points available for that stay so we have a request in with David's, so I have my fingers crossed that it comes through.

So lets rewind back to our trip home. We had a 1:00pm flight which proved to be my favorite departing time yet. We got up, had a nice leisurely breakfast at Kona Cafe, returned to our room to give back the scooter, and departed for the airport around 10am. Breakfast was yummy. This day was supposed to be very special because it was Tigger's actual 3rd birthday, but it turned out much less than special. We let him wear his button to breakfast, but I don't even think the server or anybody said happy birthday to him. That was a little disappointing, but I was also fine with it. Nothing happened like our cupcake extravaganza on our anniversary where every meal we had we were presented with cupcakes or fancy cake. It became ridiculous after a while. So no cupcake for Tigger, but I wasn't expecting anything, just hoping I guess. He did get to eat Mickey pancakes which he devoured, and had chocolate milk for the first time. MIL got the big kahuna and just raved and raved about the pineapple pancakes. For Grizzly and I it wasn't even a question, Tonga Toast it was.

Tigger was just generally being awful this day. Although he sat relatively nicely for breakfast the rest of the day I was ready to strangle him. Since I had pretty much watched Tigger the entire trip I told Grizzly it was his job to handle his ornery highness on the plane, so Tigger sat between MIL and Grizzly and I sat across the aisle reading celebrity gossip magazines. I was so on edge by this point that the plane ride home was the one time all trip I finally got annoyed at MIL. So here goes, my one rant (actually there are two). So MIL as I've mentioned before is paranoid about people stealing her stuff. So while on the plane she feels the need to hold her purse the entire time. I'm not sure how she thinks someone is going to grab it from under her feet without her noticing, but she is apparently extremely worried about this. So she orders a beer on the plane, and when the drink comes she reluctantly puts the purse on the floor so she can have room to open her table. She's a little Pooh shaped, so there's not room for both the purse in her lap and the table down. Well after a few sips of her beer she clearly becomes worried that the mice on board are eating her money and she MUST MUST MUST pick up her purse right then. In trying to do so she knocks her beer on the floor. BEER EVERYWHERE! And she can't pick it up herself due to her aforementioned shape, so I have to pick up her beer. Fine not really a problem, but it is if you are already ready to strangle everything in site. And then later she drops her napkin. Then her napkin again. Then her cup. Then her pen. Oh My God can this woman not hold on to anything!!! It was worse then sitting next to my son because at least my son would have gotten all his dropped things himself. So there is my rant. Really not too bad, but at the time I was dying a little inside.

And one more rant. Just one I promise. So MIL tallied up all her receipts for the trip and payed us back for what she ate and purchased on the room card. Well, her total came to $596, and that is EXACTLY what she gave us. $596. That just seemed so weird to me. I totally would have rounded up to $600. That must have been her coupon cutting miser side returning after the trip.

Reflecting on this trip is so tough. I loved that my MIL got into everything and totally 'Got It'. She really did. She loved everything about it and says it was the best time she's had in years. I think if she traveled with us again it would be easier. This trip however I was too concerned about making sure that she had a good time that I failed to have a great time. I definitely had fun, but there is just a little bit of stress that goes along with making sure another person has fun that I didn't quite enjoy myself as much as usual. I need another fix! September is our next trip and it is so far away. I keep toying with another anniversary trip this summer or maybe a quick anniversary Disney Cruise, but the price gets me every time. Definitely out of our budget. Tigger also didn't have the best trip. I'm going to chalk it up to feeling icky. I also missed just following his lead. I love it when we ride something over and over again because he wants to. We didn't get to do that this time because we wanted MIL to see more than just Dumbo and IASM. Sigh.

Here are a few pictures to leave you with:


The best picture of my Dr. Weasel ears, though I'm not completely happy with it. May have to try again next trip.

My little guy happy as a clam in the carriage. He was still terrified of the horses.

Torture device, other wise known as $14.00 hunt for obscure battery types and tiny screw drivers, although my son just chooses to call it his train:

I'll be returning in September! Thanks for following along if you made it this far.

 

[emelee1053]

I read your whole trip report in one sitting! I needed a Disney fix and your story just filled the need perfectly! 3 year olds are so much fun to watch.,.from a distance. Mine were Tiggerx2 at that stage - I still cringe and they are 32 and 28 now. I'm glad things worked out with MIL. I love doing WDW with my adult children and their friends - maybe I'll get to be MIL someday and hope I'll be as good a sport as she was. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Chellymouse]

Just finished your TR and loved it! Congrats Dr. Weasel on finishing your degree! No easy feat! We took my MIL, SIL/BIL and niece and nephew last summer and I was pretty nervous but it turned out to be a great trip! Hope your next trip you are able to enjoy more of the parks!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I read your whole trip report in one sitting! I needed a Disney fix and your story just filled the need perfectly! 3 year olds are so much fun to watch.,.from a distance. Mine were Tiggerx2 at that stage - I still cringe and they are 32 and 28 now. I'm glad things worked out with MIL. I love doing WDW with my adult children and their friends - maybe I'll get to be MIL someday and hope I'll be as good a sport as she was. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for reading! I'm sure as a Disney veteran you will be a great Disney MIL someday.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Just finished your TR and loved it! Congrats Dr. Weasel on finishing your degree! No easy feat! We took my MIL, SIL/BIL and niece and nephew last summer and I was pretty nervous but it turned out to be a great trip! Hope your next trip you are able to enjoy more of the parks!

Thanks for the congrats. I went a little crazy and booked a disney cruise for just my husband and i for our anniversary this summer because I still need a bit of a disney fix.