MsSpinShady
Mouseketeer<br><font color="3d8e33">I'm always lat
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2003
- Messages
- 469
Cast of characters:
Mom (aka Me) -- DW, 39 The Keeper of the Plan and knower of all things Disney
Dad -- DH, 38 I came to Disney and I came.
Mini-Me -- DS, 15 Knows as much about Disney as me (probably more since hes young and can remember stuff better)
Mr. Bobolin -- DS, 12 a childhood nickname that has nothing to do with Disney but may cause some embarrassment should a future girlfriend ever read this report
The Irish Princess -- DD, 4 red curly hair, grey-green eyes, and the ability to turn her face red and blow steam out her ears by clenching her fists and stomping her feet
Baby Abby -- DD, 1 along for the ride (kinda like Daddy!)
Day 2: Quick, Head Count!
Well, after our day of running, youd think wed deserve a little down time. We did, after all, make it to Orlando on the same flight we were scheduled to be on. How many other families can claim that? Then again, maybe missing flights is just a little problem of ours
But alas, The Plan doesnt call for down time. So at some ridiculously early hour during the middle of the night (if I remember correctly it was about 6:30 a.m.) I am jolted awake by a loud noise. Funny, no one else seems to have heard anything, theyre all still asleep. Then I hear it again, and realize its coming from that dark void next to my head. Eureka, its a ringing phone!
I fumble in the dark, scattering the contents of the nightstand around the room, and miraculously come up with the receiver in my hand. I listen just long enough to identify Mickeys voice (I would feel stupid handing the phone over to The Irish Princess if it was mousekeeping or something) and then hold the phone to her ear. Mickey finishes his cheerful good morning, I lean over to ask The Princess who called her and discover shes still sound asleep. Oh well, its so quiet in the room with everyone SLEEPING that I could hear him too, and we can try again tomorrow.
Now, getting all of us to the airport on time is, admittedly, an amazing feat. But that pales in comparison to getting everyone up in the morning. Remember that little thing I told you about us staying up late? Doesnt jive well with the early bird thing. Except for Baby Abby. Some kind of cosmic joke well give the early-rising baby to the late-sleeping couple. Wont that be good for a few laughs every morning?
So Baby Abby and I start rousing the troops. We start politely with the soft shake and gentle good morning. This is followed by the slightly louder, Time to get dressed and go to the Polynesian. This is enough to wake The Irish Princess, but the male members of our party are still not budging. With time ticking by, I am forced to resort to more desperate measures. On come the lights. Off go the blankets. Houston, weve got some whining now! I think theyre starting to rise! Mini-Me makes a dash for the shower while Mr. Bobolin tries to duck and cover. But Im too smart for that, and once again off comes the blanket. His plan foiled, he stumbles out of bed.
With all the kids now in some state of consciousness, I turn my attention to Dad. The Plan calls for us to get dressed, grab a bite to eat, check-out and head over to the Poly so we can check in and get our park tickets by 9 a.m. Ambitious, yes, but we are, after all, on vacation, and we must do EVERYTHING. Dads plan is to put a pillow over his head and pretend he never heard a thing. Hes not going to get away with that, and I have a secret weapon Baby Abby! With a little strategic planning and precision timing, I get Baby Abby right were I want her, and it only takes a second for the voice under the pillow to call a truce and promise to get up. See, sometimes I can even get in on that cosmic joke thing!
Anyway, we have a tight schedule to keep to today, so with military precision I get everyone (head count) and all of our luggage over to the Poly and checked in by 9:30 a.m. Ah good, theres time to go get our traditional first day at the MK picture before Mini-Me and I take off for our really cool Disney geeks lunch. We all hop the monorail and set off for our first day at the parks.
Now, I have read posts on The Dis Boards from time to time from well-meaning parents explaining how they didnt get to see and do everything because theyre children were small and they were taking things at their pace. If we had decided to take things at the pace of our two youngest, wed have spent our first three days outside of the MK gates counting the hidden Mickeys in the walkway bricks leading up to the park. But since Mini-Me and I had our Disney Geek lunch at 11:30 a.m. over at MGM, that just wouldnt do. So we walk quickly (I bet you thought I was going to say run, but we are at Disney and so are using our best manners) inside to take our traditional The Clan On Main Street shot, and then make arrangements to meet by the Mickey and Walt statue at 2 p.m.
Mini-Me and I head out to our Dine With an Imagineer lunch. For months, we have been talking about all he things we can ask our Imagineer about. Turns out, we are the only two booked for the special lunch that day, so we will get a chance to ask ALL of our questions! After a tour of the Brown Derby, they take us back to a private room and introduce us to our Imagineer. We sit down and he starts telling us a little bit about his background and what he does for Disney. Mini-Me and I are impressed. After about 10 minutes, I realize Mini-Me isnt asking any questions I think he was sooo impressed he couldnt speak. I, on the other hand, had a secret plan to talk so intelligently about Disney that the Imagineer would be impressed, and would offer ME a job as an Idea-Gal Imagineer. But since Mini-Me had gone temporarily mute, I was left to carry ALL of the conversation. Not necessarily a good thing. I did manage to talk so much that lunch went for almost an hour longer than it had been scheduled for, and our poor Imagineer started receiving increasingly more frantics pages as the afternoon wore on.
Finally, when it became clear that Imagineers are probably not supposed to take 2 ½ hour lunch breaks, he graciously excused himself and we headed back to the MK. We head over to the statue, only about an hour late. Hmm, theyre not here. But, it is 3:00 p.m. and the parade is, so we decide to watch. Fortunately, at just about this time up comes Dad. Now, when we split up, I had one kid, and he had three. When we met, I brought back my one, but he only returned with two. A quick head count, and we are down 1 kid! Fortunately, just before panic sets in Dad explains that Mr. Bobolin didnt want to watch the parade and was using up their fast passes at Space Mountain. What? He went on Space Mountain without me?
Mr. Bobolin shows up just as the parade comes to an end, and we try to put diplomacy to work and vote on what to do next. Being the bright bulbs that we are, Dad and I realize fairly early into the trip that this is not a good method of scheduling. Mr. Bobolins soul reason for coming was to ride Big Thunder Mountain over and over. Every day. The Irish Princess wanted to see this is an easy one here folks the Princesses. Mini-Me wanted to hit each park commando style like his mentor, Me. Baby Abby just wanted to get out of her stroller and run in whichever direction we were not going, and Dad kept thinking a nap sounded good. Pretty soon, our conversations all became variations of:
Me: What should we do now?
Mr. Bobolin: Big Thunder Mountain!
Mini-Me: No, we already did that, lets do something else!
The Irish Princess: Is it time for Belles story yet?
Mr Bobolin: Yuck, I dont want to do that!
Dad: Why dont we go back to the hotel and take a nap?
As you can imagine, this was not a very efficient way to tour the parks. So, with a little bit of coordination, we would occasionally split up and then meet back together so that everyone (except usually Dad who wants to nap on their vacation?) got a chance to do what they wanted.
In a fit of what I must say modestly was inspiration, I had scheduled our dinner that night at Ohanas. This was one of our favorites last trip, and so we thought it was a perfect way to start our first ever stay at the Poly. After a couple of pink drinks in Tiki head glasses the size of basketballs and a lot of meat on giant sticks, I did see Dad lean back with a little smile on his face. I think, just maybe, he was enjoying himself
Mom (aka Me) -- DW, 39 The Keeper of the Plan and knower of all things Disney
Dad -- DH, 38 I came to Disney and I came.
Mini-Me -- DS, 15 Knows as much about Disney as me (probably more since hes young and can remember stuff better)
Mr. Bobolin -- DS, 12 a childhood nickname that has nothing to do with Disney but may cause some embarrassment should a future girlfriend ever read this report
The Irish Princess -- DD, 4 red curly hair, grey-green eyes, and the ability to turn her face red and blow steam out her ears by clenching her fists and stomping her feet
Baby Abby -- DD, 1 along for the ride (kinda like Daddy!)
Day 2: Quick, Head Count!
Well, after our day of running, youd think wed deserve a little down time. We did, after all, make it to Orlando on the same flight we were scheduled to be on. How many other families can claim that? Then again, maybe missing flights is just a little problem of ours
But alas, The Plan doesnt call for down time. So at some ridiculously early hour during the middle of the night (if I remember correctly it was about 6:30 a.m.) I am jolted awake by a loud noise. Funny, no one else seems to have heard anything, theyre all still asleep. Then I hear it again, and realize its coming from that dark void next to my head. Eureka, its a ringing phone!
I fumble in the dark, scattering the contents of the nightstand around the room, and miraculously come up with the receiver in my hand. I listen just long enough to identify Mickeys voice (I would feel stupid handing the phone over to The Irish Princess if it was mousekeeping or something) and then hold the phone to her ear. Mickey finishes his cheerful good morning, I lean over to ask The Princess who called her and discover shes still sound asleep. Oh well, its so quiet in the room with everyone SLEEPING that I could hear him too, and we can try again tomorrow.
Now, getting all of us to the airport on time is, admittedly, an amazing feat. But that pales in comparison to getting everyone up in the morning. Remember that little thing I told you about us staying up late? Doesnt jive well with the early bird thing. Except for Baby Abby. Some kind of cosmic joke well give the early-rising baby to the late-sleeping couple. Wont that be good for a few laughs every morning?
So Baby Abby and I start rousing the troops. We start politely with the soft shake and gentle good morning. This is followed by the slightly louder, Time to get dressed and go to the Polynesian. This is enough to wake The Irish Princess, but the male members of our party are still not budging. With time ticking by, I am forced to resort to more desperate measures. On come the lights. Off go the blankets. Houston, weve got some whining now! I think theyre starting to rise! Mini-Me makes a dash for the shower while Mr. Bobolin tries to duck and cover. But Im too smart for that, and once again off comes the blanket. His plan foiled, he stumbles out of bed.
With all the kids now in some state of consciousness, I turn my attention to Dad. The Plan calls for us to get dressed, grab a bite to eat, check-out and head over to the Poly so we can check in and get our park tickets by 9 a.m. Ambitious, yes, but we are, after all, on vacation, and we must do EVERYTHING. Dads plan is to put a pillow over his head and pretend he never heard a thing. Hes not going to get away with that, and I have a secret weapon Baby Abby! With a little strategic planning and precision timing, I get Baby Abby right were I want her, and it only takes a second for the voice under the pillow to call a truce and promise to get up. See, sometimes I can even get in on that cosmic joke thing!
Anyway, we have a tight schedule to keep to today, so with military precision I get everyone (head count) and all of our luggage over to the Poly and checked in by 9:30 a.m. Ah good, theres time to go get our traditional first day at the MK picture before Mini-Me and I take off for our really cool Disney geeks lunch. We all hop the monorail and set off for our first day at the parks.
Now, I have read posts on The Dis Boards from time to time from well-meaning parents explaining how they didnt get to see and do everything because theyre children were small and they were taking things at their pace. If we had decided to take things at the pace of our two youngest, wed have spent our first three days outside of the MK gates counting the hidden Mickeys in the walkway bricks leading up to the park. But since Mini-Me and I had our Disney Geek lunch at 11:30 a.m. over at MGM, that just wouldnt do. So we walk quickly (I bet you thought I was going to say run, but we are at Disney and so are using our best manners) inside to take our traditional The Clan On Main Street shot, and then make arrangements to meet by the Mickey and Walt statue at 2 p.m.
Mini-Me and I head out to our Dine With an Imagineer lunch. For months, we have been talking about all he things we can ask our Imagineer about. Turns out, we are the only two booked for the special lunch that day, so we will get a chance to ask ALL of our questions! After a tour of the Brown Derby, they take us back to a private room and introduce us to our Imagineer. We sit down and he starts telling us a little bit about his background and what he does for Disney. Mini-Me and I are impressed. After about 10 minutes, I realize Mini-Me isnt asking any questions I think he was sooo impressed he couldnt speak. I, on the other hand, had a secret plan to talk so intelligently about Disney that the Imagineer would be impressed, and would offer ME a job as an Idea-Gal Imagineer. But since Mini-Me had gone temporarily mute, I was left to carry ALL of the conversation. Not necessarily a good thing. I did manage to talk so much that lunch went for almost an hour longer than it had been scheduled for, and our poor Imagineer started receiving increasingly more frantics pages as the afternoon wore on.
Finally, when it became clear that Imagineers are probably not supposed to take 2 ½ hour lunch breaks, he graciously excused himself and we headed back to the MK. We head over to the statue, only about an hour late. Hmm, theyre not here. But, it is 3:00 p.m. and the parade is, so we decide to watch. Fortunately, at just about this time up comes Dad. Now, when we split up, I had one kid, and he had three. When we met, I brought back my one, but he only returned with two. A quick head count, and we are down 1 kid! Fortunately, just before panic sets in Dad explains that Mr. Bobolin didnt want to watch the parade and was using up their fast passes at Space Mountain. What? He went on Space Mountain without me?
Mr. Bobolin shows up just as the parade comes to an end, and we try to put diplomacy to work and vote on what to do next. Being the bright bulbs that we are, Dad and I realize fairly early into the trip that this is not a good method of scheduling. Mr. Bobolins soul reason for coming was to ride Big Thunder Mountain over and over. Every day. The Irish Princess wanted to see this is an easy one here folks the Princesses. Mini-Me wanted to hit each park commando style like his mentor, Me. Baby Abby just wanted to get out of her stroller and run in whichever direction we were not going, and Dad kept thinking a nap sounded good. Pretty soon, our conversations all became variations of:
Me: What should we do now?
Mr. Bobolin: Big Thunder Mountain!
Mini-Me: No, we already did that, lets do something else!
The Irish Princess: Is it time for Belles story yet?
Mr Bobolin: Yuck, I dont want to do that!
Dad: Why dont we go back to the hotel and take a nap?
As you can imagine, this was not a very efficient way to tour the parks. So, with a little bit of coordination, we would occasionally split up and then meet back together so that everyone (except usually Dad who wants to nap on their vacation?) got a chance to do what they wanted.
In a fit of what I must say modestly was inspiration, I had scheduled our dinner that night at Ohanas. This was one of our favorites last trip, and so we thought it was a perfect way to start our first ever stay at the Poly. After a couple of pink drinks in Tiki head glasses the size of basketballs and a lot of meat on giant sticks, I did see Dad lean back with a little smile on his face. I think, just maybe, he was enjoying himself
