Introducing My Princess to the Magic of WDW 05/03-05/09 Completed 08/12

[aGoofyMom]

This is my first attempt at a Trip Report. After being so inspired by those that I have read here, this trip was dramatically different than any of my other Disney trips. I hope this lives up to the offerings here.

Cast:
Me, Donna: works in emergency services, 2 days, 2 nights (14 hours) per week; crafty; creative; student belly dancer. I should also mention I have always done Disney commando style. I have promised DH for this trip I will relax & not try to do everything.

DD4, Siri, a.k.a. the princess, my little loves both princesses and villains, smart, chatty, friendly, polite, loves to play elaborate games of pretend with little props

Rajah: a stuffed leopard, I mean tiger…OK this is a leopard from Ikea that the Princess got at a large family reunion. The princess LOVES her cats. Rajah was Simba briefly then once he was named Rajah, has been THE stuffed toy. You know that one that heaven help you if he isn’t right there at bedtime… He has gone to school for Show and Share and that usually means another “chat” about tigers and spots. The princess gets it but doesn’t care. He is her spotted tiger. That makes him special.

DH, Carl: is the IT department for his company, gets to work from home 2 days a week, devoted to family, friendly, taking college courses on line, enjoys martial arts, writing (why am I doing this?).
Carl has also recently given up coffee completely and is not a morning person. However he is on this trip with full knowledge that I am a morning person, and a coffee drinker & as the Value resorts do NOT offer in room coffee, he is likely to be the one taking the mugs over every morning.


Setting the Stage: Due to plans POSSIBLY getting messed up for the planned summer road trip to Nova Scotia, I decided a back up vacation plan is needed. The obvious choice - Disney would be a good back up, but May would be much better than August, so decisions must be made soon. Next I work out some numbers (Thanks Connorsmom!) and discover it will be cheaper than Nova Scotia. OOOHHHH I know! What if we do BOTH? (oooh danger zone!) As I am now completely ready to wave the wand and make it happen and it is time to defer to
DH for the final decision. Maybe a day and a half later, he caves, (and fully admits it was caving) and consents to the extra Magical Adventure. YIPPPEEEE! We quickly decide to keep the trip a secret from Siri. Quickly the trip is booked – 6 nights in the All Star Music, preferred room location. Flights booked just as fast. 7 am the next morning, from work no less, I call the 800 number and add the Dining Package, reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table for the Dreams Come True dinner for the Friday night of our trip. It is only 6 weeks away. BooYa!
The next few weeks are spent making plans and ADR’s and changing the ADR’s and booking the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I am beside myself in keeping the secret. I am so excited I just want to blurt it out. We have been dropping hints & “preparing” our little princess to the point where she keeps asking when we can go to Disney. We promise to take her in 2009. I even describe the Haunted Mansion and she thought it sounded like fun. I keep asking if she is looking forward to getting to ride on an airplane some day. She always says it will be very exciting.
Finally in the last week before the trip, we are out trying to pick up the last few items for the trip, the princess and I were in the mall, she really wasn’t sure why we were picking up stuff, but she asked to go to the toy store as we walked by. We didn’t have time and she already knew I was on vacation the next week. I promised her to take her to a toy store one week from Friday (Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique day!). I pinky swore & we were good.


Day 1: This could actually be called Day -1 for some. Today we are announcing the surprise trip, and heading across the border to be close to the airport for our early morning flight. This gives Siri a chance to adjust to the idea of her first ride on an airplane, let alone her first trip to WDW. She knows I have vacation – it affects her daycare schedule. I have worked a 14 hour nightshift, finishing at 7am. At 5:30 am one (ahem) woman called in with a migraine. No real surprise there – EXCEPT THERE IS NO ONE TO CALL IN! I contain my panic and after her break, my co-worker has a solution. Problem solved and my co-worker also decides I need to be the first to leave. No one would have wanted to be with me staying any longer than my shift today. Carl is working from home, and is there when I arrive. I explain to him my morning of panic. We decide to toast our anniversary & polish off the wine in the fridge to help me sleep. (Hey – shift workers have totally different clocks!) I stay up to run off our boarding passes and head to bed around 9 am.

Up again before noon to shower, and pack, and spur DH to move as well. The packing wasn’t going too bad, but not done. Turned out he really did have to get some work done, but at least he didn’t have to either lose a vacation day or drive in to the office. By 3:15 it is time to walk over to the school and pick up the princess from JK. It is a beautiful sunny day. We arrive, and exchange knowing looks with her teacher and 2 other Moms – all in the know. We convince Siri to give up recess and come home now. As soon as we get in the door, we tell her we have made some plans for vacation. We tell her Daddy got time off work too & would she like to go away. Yay! Would she like to go on a plane? Ya, great! Where would she like to go? The 4 year old mind can not comprehend this question – whatdoyameanwhere??? Does it matter? So we ask would she like to go to Walt Disney World? REALLY????? WHEN? NOW????? “I love you Mommy, I love you Daddy!!”

Carl heads off to tackle his list, and my little Princess comes to help me pack and check out the WDW Planning DVD. One look at the Haunted Mansion ride and no way is she going near it. Darn, I thought I had her hooked when she had rented a Scooby Doo video with ghosts and we made up stories about riding around with ghosts. Siri is excited, but overwhelmed. We finish packing and decide which way to go so we can try to get cheap (in what world?) gas, dinner & the shortest way to the highway of choice. We need to make 2 stops on the way. At the second stop we realize we forgot to mapquest the hotel we are staying at that night OOOPS! – back to the house we go. Pit stops for everyone, print out the directions, grab the map, the anti-itch & first aid kit we forgot and we are off, again.

We find gas for less than $1/L, then, stop for dinner. I don’t really know how, but we had found the slowest restaurant possible. We order frosty drinks & a milkshake & decide to just go with the pace – this IS vacation after all. Part of the delay is due to one burger being made twice. This is easily determined by the other orders that have obviously sat under heat lamps while we were wondering what that smell was… This, combined with the Princess’ habit of needing her throne as soon as hot food is delivered had me anxious for a better meal. We used the time to fill the Princess in on what to expect, particularly about meals for the next day with our early flight & to expect late lunch. When we are finished our meal, the manager is the one who stops by to clear up. We tell him our plans & suddenly we have really quick service to get us on our way.
The Princess managed to stay awake for at least another hour. Shortly after she dosed off, we hit the bug region. I mean bugs like you have never seen before. Clouds of black were just hovering in the air. Swarms of bugs were hitting our car in a way that sounded like rain. Forget trying to see much through the windshield – the wipers could do nothing to deal with the disgusting remains. We finally made it to the border, and across with no problems. The Princess had awoken from her Royal Nap again for that.
We found the hotel without problem, and checked in around 9:30 pm. 2 hours past the Princess’ bed time. Alarm set for 4:00am. We need to be on the 5:30 shuttle. We were told at check in that the Airport Shuttle runs every 30 minutes on the hour & the half hour. This will be important at the end of the trip.
Sleep. Please.

 

[connorsmom911]

ok, since I knew it was posted (we're sitting across the room from eachother...dualling DIS screens!!) I had to read and post a reply. It is interesting how funny the trip reports are in print...I've heard the story in person, but I still found myself giggling reading the first post.

I still have yet to get to my own trip report...kinda like the whole scrapbooking thing. My dh has forbid me from buying anymore scrapbooking stuff until I get caught up. I'm still on the "cruise" with "that other cruiseline" from 2001, not to mention any of the other trips in my sig line...

This is going to be such a great keepsake for Siri when she grows up...you better be keeping a copy with all the replies!!!

 

[Lisa_Belle]

Sounds fun so far. Can't wait to find out if Siri sees ghosts!

 

[OhMari]

I can so relate to that bug thing. We just came home and my dd asked me if it was raining-"ya" I told her, raining bugs. Yuck.

Looking forward to, "Are you there yet?" I really do like the pre-trip reports.

OhMari

 

[roberrl187]

Good start. I look forward to more.

 

[TLinden16]

Great surprise for your little girl! I can't wait to hear about your adventures in the parks.

Thanks for posting.

 

[BlueBayou]

I am having fun reading your trip report. Can't wait until the next instalment.

 

[aGoofyMom]

4 a.m. – Coffee please - IV if possible. “I’m too excited to sleep.” Actually the pillows were so soft, they kept squishing down to nothing and weren’t very comfortable after all – stiff neck. I head into the shower – Yahoo! Good water pressure & I feel much better. Coffee in hand, things are looking good – even that early! The time arrives to try to awaken our Princess. Nothing works. Tickling, teasing, poking, prodding - not even “it’s time to go to Disney”…oh wait. What’s this? A gift? It is addressed to Siri. It seems Tinkerbell found her way to us and left a little something for our Princess to get her trip off to the right start. Good thing too, since that was the only thing that got her out of bed. Tinkerbell left her 2 pair of sunglasses, a new bathing suit & a new beach towel – Tinkerbell of course - and a card all dusted with a little pixie dust too.

Siri was stunned that Tinkerbell would come all this way for her. It is enough to get her motivated to get dressed fast & get off to the airport. We don’t have to wait long for the shuttle. We meet up with 2 businessmen. Poor guys, lucky for them we weren’t on the same flight. We arrive at the airport and we are dropped off first. I had forgotten to warn Carl about curbside baggage check in. He was soooo startled and confused as our bags were being grabbed by some strange guy standing there and he could see that I was fine with it. Sorry hon, forgot to mention we don’t have to carry those until they are full of souvenirs… Being the first time at this airport for us, we still have to stop at the ticket counter, just to ask directions. We line up for security and explain that process to Siri. She is nervous. This is a lot of tall people surrounding her and that makes it hard to see the way out sometimes Hmm…When our turn arrives, they let her keep Rajah with her to go through. I walk through, and ask her to come to me. She is frozen with fear. NO WAY is she going there. She is actually frozen with fear – no shaking no crying just deer in the headlights. The guard tells me to go pick her up and bring her through. I go back to pick her up & as soon as I do, the trance is broken. The princess throws a Royal Fit. She becomes absolutely hysterical about having to go through that strange doorway type thing. The other guards start teasing our guard that he made her cry. She is NOT amused that someone would DARE snicker during the Royal Fit – have they no knowledge of Protocol???? ALL efforts are to be directed towards soothing her Royal Highness. I am trying to calm her down, grab our stuff, and get out of the way. To have the appropriate picture of this, put in your mind that this Princess is only 16” shorter than I. The 4 year old is less than a foot & a half shorter than I, the adult. Visually it looks ridiculous, me trying to carry her. Physically speaking, with my arthritis, it is just plain difficult. It ranks as one of those things Mothers can do when the need arises, but without the need, wonder how it happens.

I grab our stuff, and move off to the side and turn my focus on stopping the Royal Fit. Once assured that there will be no further security checks to further distress the Royal Temperament, she calms down, along with the hope of some breakfast. Carl is assigned to conjure up more coffee, juice and a muffin. That helps. We make it to the gate and all is fine for her. The coffee wasn’t good –not so fine for me. She checked out the plane through the window. She was curious, but not bouncing off the walls. She and I discuss that once up in the air, the flight may be a little boring, and probably a really good time for a rest since we will be busy having fun later. (I have almost-never-failing optimism, but I also know that if I plant an idea, later on when she remembers it, she will think it was her idea in the first place.) We were near the end of the pre-board line by the time we decided to queue up.
The Princess chose our seats, about half way between the wing & the front. Once everyone boards we get the announcement. Turns out the airport doesn’t have a long enough runway for our plane. (That still just sounds ominous doesn’t it?) Southwest had to make a choice – leave behind some passengers, some luggage or some fuel. They chose the fuel, which meant a brief refueling stop in Pittsburgh. No need to de-plane, so only add maybe 5-15 minutes to the flight. Good choice. Once airborne I discover that both my DD and DH have the same good fortune – no ear problems with take off. [For those familiar with Hamilton Ontario, I can’t even make it up or down the “mountain” there without popping my ears several times. I don’t think I could ever live there again for that reason alone.] I am sucking back lifesavers like there is no tomorrow and they are both fine. Good for them – more lifesavers for me. We get juice & coffee again. The Princess can’t believe her luck – there is ice in her juice! I am just loving a hot coffee that I might have the chance to finish. If only I knew…another announcement. Sorry to those folks who have gotten their juice or coffee, but it is time to chug it. Yes he really said CHUG IT. We are approaching Pittsburg and about to make our descent. I do not chug coffee well. Between my job, and motherhood, I do believe the last coffee that was still even really warm when I finished it was probably many years ago. I have become accustomed to the lukewarm, almost-ready-for-the-ice cubes coffee. It is a small coffee, and the last thing I want is a migraine. I need 2 cups of coffee per day or the equivalent in caffeinated products to avoid the headache. Not usually very hard but something to be wary of when on vacation. I CHUGGED my coffee. UGH. That was a mistake. Tum-ta-ta-ta-TUMS! This is the only time on a flight that I have moved the barf bag closer. (or are they now officially Zzub bags from what I have read here?) I don’t blame the airline at all for that landing. Totally my own fault. Mental note for next time, wait more than 24 hours after a night shift before boarding a plane. Or at least ensure half decent meals in the days leading up to the trip. Apparently 3 days of not eating well, not sleeping well and chugging airline coffee do not sit well in flight. Maybe it was all those lifesavers…

Oh well. Once on the ground in Pittsburgh, Siri decided ok so that is flying then eh?, well if we are just going to do that again…she put Rajah on the arm of the seat by the window as a pillow and was asleep before we taxied back the runway. This is probably my first Magical Moment. She not only didn’t question the nap, but didn’t even ask to take her seatbelt off or anything. She just curled up and went to sleep. So I took my jacket and made it into a pillow for DH’s shoulder and tried to do the same. Part way to Orlando, I raised the arm between us and she cuddled up – still with her seatbelt on – until the announcement came – we made it! Oh no – another landing???? Where did I stash the TUMS??? I really need to remember to take care of myself better before trips. The landing really was a little better for me this time – only minor “ick” feeling.

We make our way to the Magical Express desk, and Siri was just taking it all in. She even thought the little shuttle ride to the main building was cool. We checked in at the desk and headed over to our line. My little Princess, with her rolling Princess carry-on just followed along, and waited PATIENTLY in line. We were only there for about 20 minutes, but I will freely admit to knowing how lucky I am to have her and her patience. (maybe she will teach me the secret to the patience someday?)
ASIDE: I don’t think we ever even had to explain queues to her much at all. Just before her 3rd birthday we took her to Sesame Place. She saw Bert & Ernie, looked around for the end of the line and was the first one in our family to get in line. No questions, no arguments, no fuss. When she knows what she has to wait for, and sees that it is a queue with other people waiting also – no problems (YET – knock on wood!!)

We got a Disney Cruise Lines bus and climbed aboard. Some of our time had already been spent discussing the possibility of finding Hidden Mickeys. Siri looked at the seat covers and decided they were covered in Hidden Mickeys and we MUST count them. We managed to stop counting after discovering that ALL the seats had them so maybe they weren’t really hidden…
We arrive at ASMu and head for the check in desk. It was about 1pm so we were hopeful about the room being ready – no such luck. The wonderful CM is so enthusiastic I almost had to wonder who was on vacation. He was thrilled for us for room location, even though it wasn’t ready so he didn’t tell us why, and for including the Dining Package – he said “No MacDonalds for you”. Seriously. He really said that. He made sure I knew about making ADR’s – I told him everything was already booked including CRT for Friday. He was impressed that I was organized (hmm… even without having the binder in sight?). He asked us to check back in about 2 hours for our room number.
Great – I want lunch. We try to make it to the food court but Siri can see the pool. We go look, then explain that no, we will eat lunch, and then go for a swim. She is torn between food & the pool, but Food wins. We had opted not to check our carry-ons since our bathing suits etc. were in there, so I sit with the stuff while Carl takes the Siri to check out the food. I managed to get his attention enough to remind him to get the refillable mugs. Once they have their choices, I get to go grab something. Carl had suggested a sandwich he thought I would like. (Why didn’t he just grab it for me if he thought I would like it you might ask? Because the fear of buying food I didn’t want was larger than the fear of sending me to get my own, even with a suggestion from him – I am a VERY picky eater. And remember, I haven’t eaten well, and been nauseous twice already this day)
After scarfing down a great lunch & making sure the cold drinks were full, we take turns going to the washroom to change. Now I can’t remember where or who I got the suggestion from but somewhere I learned to bring post it notes for the automatic toilet flushing motion sensors so little ones don’t experience an ill-timed flush. This is the best suggestion I followed for our trip & now for good. Every time we are in a washroom she asks if I have the post its. You just need the little ones and cover the sensor until they are done. Excellent tiny little huge tip.

My next Magical Moment. Tinkerbell brought the Princess a Disney towel, and my intention, to help keep costs down was that we would use hotel towels for the pool. WELL. Carl promptly went to Maestro Mickey’s and purchased PAL Mickey and 2 towels. It seems he remembers that when dragged to Florida for our honeymoon I mentioned that in my family, every trip to Florida meant a new beach towel as a souvenir. I made him buy one even though he didn’t really want to. He remembered and INSISTED that I get a new towel. He chose one with the 2006 logo on it for me, and a Sorcerer Mickey for him. Wow – I had actually forgotten that whole towel business. Now that is what I consider romantic. Not so much a beach towel as the perfect gift, but that he remembers how much it meant to me and wouldn’t let me give it up.

Up next: We get our room and make our way to MK!

Thanks to all who are enjoying - I love seeing the responses.

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

Ahh, the joy of Disney through the eyes of a child.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

She is NOT amused that someone would DARE snicker during the Royal Fit – have they no knowledge of Protocol???? ALL efforts are to be directed towards soothing her Royal Highness.

Sounds vaguely familiar. I think our princesses must be distant cousins. Does yours do the crossed-arms, foot-stomping, permascowl thing when you snicker at her Royal Fit?

 

[princessjv]

Once they have their choices, I get to go grab something. Carl had suggested a sandwich he thought I would like. (Why didn’t he just grab it for me if he thought I would like it you might ask? Because the fear of buying food I didn’t want was larger than the fear of sending me to get my own, even with a suggestion from him – I am a VERY picky eater.

The is EXACTLY how my DH would have handled it and what I would have thought! Great TR so far, please keep it comin!

 

[aGoofyMom]

glad to hear from eveyone & that you are enjoying my first effort - the next installment is at least a couple days away - I am a little swamped.


LisaBelle - my princess only does the arms crossed before we get to the point of the Royal fire and usually with her head turned and nose in the air with the little Harumph. Once we hit Royal Fit stage she usually puts her hands on her hips sticks one hip out and gives her version of "the Look" It is very hard not to laugh at it.

more soon!

 

[catherines_mama]

Oh I am loving your report, cannot wait to read more!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[scanne]

This is a great report! I love the idea of a present from Tink to wake your daughter on departure day. We have to get the kids up at 4:45am the day we leave, so I think I'm going to "borrow" the idea and have presents for them. Maybe from Mickey and Minnie? It is a GREAT idea! So is the post-it notes idea. Those are on my "must buy for Disney" list!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[aGoofyMom]

Siri is totally enthralled with the guitar pool. We tell her we are in one of the 2 Calypso buildings. We ask her if she wants to stay at the pool until the room is ready, or go to a park. The Princess puts on that look of total Royal Confusion – you want to leave this fabulous pool – isn’t this it? This is Disney – right? Look – there’s Donald with a water pistol in the pool – what more do we need?
After some fabulous pool time, and the beginnings of sunburn for the fair-skinned females of the bunch, we check on the room – YAY it’s ready. It turns out the CM was right about our room location. We had the main floor, building 1, parking lot view, but the end closest to the main building. No foot traffic going by, but close to everything. What more could we ask for? (ok The Poly? - maybe next trip!)

We freshen up and check out the room. Our luggage has indeed magically arrived. But the package I am expecting from Connorsmom is not here. Drat. And there is no safe key? I let DH call while I am freshening up.

Aside: I should point out here, that once Carl caved on booking this trip he wanted NOTHING to do with the plans. As my Obsessive Compulsive Disney Planning binder grew, he really wanted to know nothing. I would tell him about ADR’s, and ask if he wanted to switch things around and he would humour me but wanted to make absotlutely NO DECISIONS. Therefore he knew nothing of our plans. Heck he also did not know what an ADR was He assumed I would take charge of where to be when, and he understood that missing I meal I had arranged would be a problem. That was enough in his mind.

I announce that once everyone is ready we can head to MK for the evening. (Hmm…anyone notice a miscommunication here? Calling for assistance in the room and then leaving? Bad guest! Bad guest!– it will sort out later)
Out to the bus stop and– oh wait – autograph book first, she chooses the Princess book with space for photos. Now we can go. Off to MK We just kind of stopped at Main Street and tell Siri “Look – there’s Cinderella’s Castle”. Ok we now have a little Princess on a Mission. Get to the Castle, walk in the front door & say Hi! to Cinderella. By the time we reach the Castle, we have convinced her that Cinderella may not be home right now. This, after she had just the week prior, written a letter to Cinderella, and one to Sleeping Beauty in hopes that some day she would be able to deliver them to the castles herself. (Silly Mommy forgot the letter at home too – good thing the Princess had forgotten about it too!)
As they are set up for Cinderellabration, we can’t go in the front of the castle. Our Princess is quite put out over this. I tell her – no worries, Mommy knows how to get to the back door. We head around back & just kind of look around the castle. Then we head over to the Cinderella’s Carousel. I spotted Cinderella’s horse, but couldn’t find it again once the ride had stopped. After a turn on the Carousel, we head over to Dumbo. We offer the option of which parent to ride with. The Princess chooses Daddy. Great. Did I mention that the man of our house is afraid of heights? (yep – that’d be the tall guy) Very afraid. He looks at the ride, looks at me, then looks at the Princess & knows that he can’t say no. Off they go. I go to a good photo spot – not the most recommended spot though. I have recently checked out my parent’s pictures from my childhood trips & know that there are pictures of myself and my sister on Dumbo and I want to get similar pictures here. The plan is to recreate some pictures from as many previous trips as possible so that Siri understands this is something I did as a child and introduced Daddy to on our honeymoon – now it is her turn.
Of course since the Princess has absolutely no fear of heights they spend the entire ride up as high as she can get it. She has a ball, and the look on her face gets Carl through the ride without a barf bag.

We still have a little time before our ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern, so we decide to check out It’s a Small World. The Princess is a little leery of any ride she can’t check out first, but is willing. IASW works its magic and she is hooked. She mimics the dancers, and bows to the dolls leaving the Asian room. She is ready to go on it again, but it is time for dinner. Oh my we are walking past the Haunted Mansion. Siri is asking what it is. Siri does not want to even walk past it. She does not want to look at it. I was beginning to wonder if I had to find another way to walk over to the restaurant. Finally she agrees to walk past if we hold her hands. Is this really the same child that loved the “Boo Brothers in that Scooby Movie? And loves villains? Ok Ok – I can tell this is her line – if I push this one we will have a meltdown that will put any royal fit to shame, and the trip might as well be over. Not worth it – great ride, but it’ll have to wait. For now.

Once we check in at the Liberty Tree Tavern and sit down to wait, it is, of course, throne time. By the time I get directions to their washrooms, they call our name. We get our table & the Princess & I take off for the throne room. In the time we are gone, Dale drops by but assures the Carl he will be back. On the way to the throne room, we pass a little Belle on the stairs. My little Princess checks her out, then suddenly gets that knowing look on her face. The flash of one look that says “So THAT’s why Mommy rushed to make this year’s Halloween costume princess dress, and packed it along with last year’s! Yay!”
And finally no stalling in the stall since she knows the characters are out there.
Camera and autograph book ready, the characters start to come around – she is thrilled! She doesn’t have to wait for them because THEY will come to HER. Wow – special! Carl may not have wanted to be part of all the planning, but he was sooooo happy to have such a hearty meal after spending the day traveling and getting settled. The Princess saw the bowl of mac and cheese arrive and her eyes just grew – until she tried a mouthful. My ever-loving Kraft Dinner kid choked it back dropped her fork and announced (not all that loudly) that “that is NOT mac and cheese!” Fortunately she liked other options on the table and we instantly knew not to order Mac and Cheese for her again on this trip. (a.k.a. the start of a week of chicken strips and hot dogs!)
ASIDE: for those outside of Canada and not familiar with that Barenaked Ladies song…Kraft Dinner is our version of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese – a.k.a. KD. Boston Pizza’s Bugs & Cheese is perfectly acceptable but anything that tries to pass itself off as KD but isn’t KD doesn’t fly with this child.
Once dinner was over there was only one place to go – IASW again. BUT we have to walk by the Haunted Mansion again. More reassurance and we are past it in no time. After IASW, it was starting to get late, but I thought we would have time for a quick jungle cruise, especially after reading that it is funnier at night. Siri didn’t even notice walking past the Haunted Mansion this time. It was dusk as we got on, right up front. They were right – it is funnier. The Princess laughed at every corny joke even if she didn’t know why. I think the CM got cornier the more she laughed. Ok enough now, long day, must sleep.
Back to the room and there is the package from Connorsmom – “oh (dirty word) it was NOT supposed to be that big” was all I could blurt out. After I apologized for such language, Carl & Siri couldn’t wait to see what it was. Knock at the door. OH ya, that miscommunication, - they were watching for us to correct that whole safe key problem. We had 2 CM’s (one maintenance) there while it was opened – darn. Somebody forgot something. Now we need to call a manager before anyone can remove it. No worries. While waiting, the Carl & Siri check out the boxes – Tinkerbell garden lanterns and a set of 3 Tinkerbell wind chimes. Carl has talked about creating a fairy garden with the Princess. Connorsmom was placing an order to Disneyshopping.com with free shipping to her resort so I jumped in on the order and she left them for me to cram into suitcases. She also picked up a case of water for me – Thanks again Connorsmom! The Manager didn’t take very long to get there. Once he arrived they documented what had been left behind and removed it. They lock had already be adjusted so they were gone again in no time. Finally sleep again.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

Siri is totally enthralled with the guitar pool. We tell her we are in one of the 2 Calypso buildings. We ask her if she wants to stay at the pool until the room is ready, or go to a park. The Princess puts on that look of total Royal Confusion – you want to leave this fabulous pool – isn’t this it? This is Disney – right? Look – there’s Donald with a water pistol in the pool – what more do we need?

You gotta love the innocence of little princesses. Mine has her own "vision" of Disney World that doesn't even include Donald. Or Mickey for that matter. There is a castle of sorts. But you have to wait until September (possibly October) to see what it is

I hope you got a photo of Siri when she met the REAL Donald Duck. And, if so, please post at the appropriate time! OK?

 

[aGoofyMom]

I know I have been slow to get this up, so we shall see if anyone is still reading...

Day 3 – May 4
As usual, I am first up and to the shower. This is not just because I am a morning person, but because I take so long. I am a morning person who does not like to be rushed. I got up and asked Carl if he would throw some clothes on and find some coffee for me. I have to believe at this point that if he didn’t already know I am too grumpy without my coffee that I would be on my own for this.
I also should mention that here that up until this point, Siri does not usually manage to sleep alone in a hotel. When she was younger, and only had a toddler bed, low to the ground at home, I would worry that she would tumble out of bed in a hotel and we would trade off sleeping with her. The night before the flight, she picked Daddy (lucky me!) and the first night at Disney, it was my turn. We both sleep on angles so it actually makes it very difficult for the 2 of us to share a double bed. I think I was up 4 times because she was pushing me off the bed or she was falling off the other side trying to find room. Our goal with this trip was to have her sleep all by herself. But we knew enough not to start with the first night – we have 6 nights here, we can sort it out!
Coffee in hand and freshly showered, I am puttering doing my thing while Carl gets his shower. I start trying to slowly wake up Siri before I turn on the hair dryer. She is the type that a bad start to the morning, like the unexpected hair dryer noise, will put her in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Kind of like me without my morning coffee. We get sorted out and head out to the buses. We explain on the way that we will get out at the Magic Kingdom, but take the monorail to the Contemporary (just because I love the monorail!). This puts my “Simpsons”-watching husband singing “monorail, monorail, monorail, monorail!” And since I have seen that episode I chimed in. Next thing you know all 3 of us are singing it. Sorry to anyone who was close enough to hear it.

Once we arrive and check in we line up for the photos. Goofy was the host of the day. Siri was very excited to see all the activity. We got to wait and have a little fun with Goofy before we got our table. Goofy knocked over a sign loudly, and pointed to Siri. She just ran up and hugged his legs. She didn’t care about anything other than he pointed at her. Once we got settled, I took Siri up for some food. She was thrilled that there was so much fresh fruit. She is a fanatic for fruit. She has passed up cookies and candy to have fruit. Now that she has had the PB & J pizza though, it may be a tough call! We realized after going to the buffet once, we should just keep one of us with her at the table so as not to miss any characters going by. Because Mickey was the only character we hadn’t seen the night before, we were just keeping the autograph book out of sight. But for Siri’s class back home, I had made up a sign for her class. I had downloaded a Mickey font and put a clip art of the Castle on it. We were just going to have a picture with Mickey and the sign, and have Mickey sign the sign, but it snowballed. We had every character sign the sign, and a photo with Siri and the sign and each character. When Siri went back to school, she took in the sign and shared it with her classmates. I made up a page with the photos from the home printer and sent it in as well.
That way she could share a little of her trip & I didn’t spend any extra $$. Not that I want to be cheap, but not everyone can do it, so I don’t want to start something other parents feel pressured to continue.

Breakfast was wonderful but we finally did head out and back over to MK. The guide sites had predicted it would be packed and it was. We were headed to Fantasyland and I noticed the castle was open. Our little princess was thrilled to be able to “walk through the front door” finally.
We managed to ride IASW again, but the wait for Aerial was over an hour, so we had to skip that. We talked Siri into Philharmagic – she was hesitant because she couldn’t see what it would be but we got her in and she loved it. I was just glad there was no wait. We did the stand by line for Peter Pan after that because the FastPass return time was not going to work for us. This was our only long wait – maybe 20-30 minutes, but Siri was patient. I think this is where she decided that maybe it was ok to trust Mommy about the stuff inside all these buildings. That and she does tend to believe that if people are lined up for anything it must be worth the wait. One more round of IASW and maybe we should head back for a swim & rest.
I should mention here that at some point during all of this Siri notices that many other people are wearing Crocs. One of my pre-trip purchases were to buy Crocs for at least myself and Siri. I showed them to Carl and suggested he at least think about getting some himself. He went out and picked up a pair as well. Siri had no idea I did this because of reading the Disboards. She did think it was fabulous that we all had the same shoes. Until I went and ordered the Nile Crocs (open toe crocies in Siri’s books) and they didn’t come in her size. Her princess sandals are now referred to as her “open toe crocies”. By the time we were thinking of heading back to the hotel, it was no longer startling (to us at least) for Siri to point and say loudly ‘Crocies Mommy look!” I would like to apologize now if we startled any croc wearers out there.
So we went through the castle again only for me to realize I haven’t checked the time. 2:50pm Crumbs! – the parade is going to start soon – we will never make it. DH & I quickly assess the situation and notice there is a fairly good spot right there, so we stay to watch. Siri enjoyed the parade, even though she wasn’t close enough to interact with the characters too much. When the Villain float arrived and she got to see Maleficent in person – she liked that almost as much as the Princess float at the end. If I haven’t already mentioned, she has a very active imagination. She understands that movies are pretend. So for her, at the end of the movie, the bad guys don’t necessarily stay bad – it was all pretend right? I love this outlook for her. I will be sad when reality strikes.

Up next - wrapping up a long day with Spectromagic, Wishes and more Magical Moments for me!

 

[averill94]

Still reading- thanks for reporting!

 

[aGoofyMom]

Ok - I have been really busy, but here is the next installment finally...

We made it back to the hotel and had a swim and cooled off. We had a quick dinner there at Intermission. The dinner wasn’t bad, the portions were, of course, huge. We then headed back to MK for Spectromagic and Wishes.
I have mentioned trying to recreate certain photos for Siri – well the Spectromagic in 1999 was my DH’s first experience at Disney on our honeymoon. Slight visit back in time: When we arrived at Disney on our honeymoon, our first night there was the only night Spectromagic was on. I dragged him to the MK early that night and decided to stake out a spot in front of the castle. Sitting on the curb with him that night just staring at the castle is something I will not forget anytime soon. He just kept staring at it saying “wow it really is real”. Flashback over. – and the point – I am hoping to recreate some of the “float photos” for Siri. Not that she knows that. Yet.

We realize before we get there that a good spot is not very likely but we are ready to accept our fate. Next Magical Moment: A big thanks to the group visiting with the Frazier High School Marching Band. We stopped at an open space near Casey’s and discuss staying vs moving on. We are behind a group of tall adults. (ok I am 5 foot tall. My version of tall is slightly distorted as there are plenty of 14 year olds that appear tall to me) One gentleman turns and asks if we are thinking of finding another spot. We said yes. He said don’t go. We are here to watch the band. I have not looked that far ahead and ask about the bands. He explains that 2 marching bands will come down before the parade. Theirs should be first, after which they are leaving. Leaving? Before the parade? Woo Hoo! Freeing up a curbside spot? Magic. We cheered on their band as best we could – they were good too. Not that I know much about marching bands, as they are not quite as popular up here. The group takes off to find their kids, making sure we get their spot. We are not sitting on the curb as there is a group there but it is close enough. DH puts Siri up on his shoulders when the parade starts. Siri sees the clowns come down the street first and gets a VERY confused look on her face. What is this? She was momentarily incredibly miffed. Then Mickey arrives and the relief is evident. Siri was bouncing up and down on her Daddy’s shoulders. (Many reading this can probably feel that pain!) With the break between Spectromagic and Wishes, Siri is taken down from her perch only to collapse on the ground in tears. Her legs have fallen asleep and she can not stand. Magic Garbage Can Moment: I am standing next to a trash can. We pull Siri up to sit on top of the garbage can. Carl takes off to find a drink and Siri & I start chatting with a family from New York, whose youngest is sharing the trash can seat. I had purchased some glow necklaces & bracelets at home and brought them, so we shared with the family. Who knew the bracelets came in 3’s. Ok I would have had I read past what colour they were. Then I realize Carl is taking to long even for this crowd, so I start trying to look for him. Again remember – 5 foot doesn’t see much in a crowd. I finally spot him about 50 feet away, looking for us. It seems he got lost. I start waving the Tinkerbell light up spinner. Nothing. He is oblivious. I yell. Nothing. I am now stuck. My child probably still can’t comfortably stand and I can’t get his attention. The kind family from New York offer to watch her for me. Darn. If only they knew I have spent weeks preparing my child by talking to her about the dangers of strangers. She is so friendly that it scares the crap out of me some times. Another family we met on a bus is close by, realizes my quandary, and she offers to go get him. Carl makes it back just in time to put Siri back on his shoulders – apparently the garbage can seat is not good enough. I don’t see why not she had a higher line of sight from there than I did from standing…

THE Magic Moment of the trip: This was my first time seeing Wishes. I cried. It took me back to the intro to “The Wonderful World of Disney” and my childhood. I looked up at my daughter (bouncing again) and she was so excited, and I could tell by the look on her face that she finally got it. Up until that point she had trouble wrapping her head around the entirety of Disney. In that moment – she understood. This is the place of happily ever after, where dreams really do come true and magic occurs everywhere. This is where good always wins over evil, but when the show is over the villains are simply finished playing their roles and not truly evil. If happiness is what you make it, this is where you stock up on supplies. I cried. I told DH I had to have a copy of the Wishes soundtrack. Sometimes a smell can take me back, but music has always had more power over me. I can get energy from the right music, change my mood even. Now whenever I play that music, I relax, and get all teary. I am getting all teary writing about it. Ahh.

Back to the hotel for rest – Siri slept all the way. But I did make sure to rub down her legs before I fell asleep. I figured they were still pretty crampy. This can be an important tip for some parents – if your child has trouble sleeping while on any vacation but particularly with the activity and walking, a quick, light, leg rub has worked well for my child, and to a few other Moms’ I have spoken with. It just seems to settle them down and help them sleep.

Up next – Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique Day – a little stress…and of course some Magic thrown in.