Kanga1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2004
- Messages
- 1,470
Cast of Characters:
Jana (moi, 40, obsessive planner of this and all trips..think Chevy Chase in the Vacation movies.)
Eric (DH, 41, a big kid at heart, pretty much goes with the flow and can have a good time anywhere as long as theres good food.)
Anna Marie (4 year-old DD and true princess any princess...pick one.)
Beep beep beep The 6:00a alarm goes off much too early. I have gotten all of maybe 2 hours sleep last night and this morning we are scheduled to be at MK at 7:30 for EMH. Oh, boy what was I thinking?!? We really need to do this because there are only 2 MK EMH morning days scheduled throughout our trip. Since MK is our primary park this vacation, and mornings are best for us, I get out of bed ready to start the day wheres the coffee? Besides, how many times have I heard savvy Disneyites say, Best advice is get up and at em. Ok, Im up trying to get to the at em part .wheres the coffee? DH and I get up and ready and DD wakes up about 6:30. Amazingly, shes raring to go. Mornings are usually not a problem for her. If she sleeps past 7:00 regardless of what time she goes to bed - its a true miracle. I have planned a magical surprise bag for her to open each morning of our trip. These will be small gifts that appear out of nowhere while she is sleeping maybe from Tink. I have purchased a few small items at home the rest will be purchased at WDW. I will try to coordinate each gift with something she experienced each day. Shes tickled that there is a present waiting for her and opens it to find that Tinkerbell has left her some mini Disney washcloths. We eat a little cereal well, DH and DD eat the cereal I find Little Debbie cakes or Pop Tarts more palatable for breakfast but lets not go there, shall we? DD wants to be Minnie again today, so I put her in comfy shoes and pack extra clothes. Were out of the room by 7:15 and it feels like we are the only ones on the property. Its so calm and peaceful this morning. I guess its true that most people like to sleep in on vacation. The MK walkway is eerily vacant, and when we stumble onto some money next to a bush, were pretty sure it was not dropped this morning...its still wet with dew. DH picks it up and counts it - $12. There is no way to find out who this belongs to, so we keep it and thank Tink for spreading some pixie dust our way this morning!
We arrive at the gate and have a short wait before opening. This is always such an entertaining time for me watching all the smiling faces of guests ready to begin their magical day. Since this is an EMH morning, there is no Mickey greeting us from the train, but the bells begin and we hear the music Welcome, welcome, welcome a kingdom full of endless dreams for every girl and boy DH gets the stroller while DD and I head for Tinkerbells Treasures. Since we accomplished Dumbo last night, I thought we might try our hand at waking Tink this morning. Entering the store, we find a mom and dad with their son who looks to be about 10 or 11 years old. Shoot. Were not first. Oh well, it will be fun to watch. The CM comes on over and asks who was here first. They were, I said, but the CM took one look at DD in her cute little Minnie costume and said, Why dont both of you wake Tink this morning? I thought that was so nice, but then the mom said, Oh, go ahead and let her do it well just watch. I kind of felt bad about this and little bit awkward, because even though their son was much older than DD, maybe he had his heart set on doing this. Anyway, I thanked them and DD took the wand and headed for Tinks box. Tap tap tap jingle jingle jingle! Tinks awake and sparkles around the room. This was really cute and Im so glad DD got to experience it. The other family left the store and the CM filled out a Magic Moment certificate with DDs name on it and gave her some Tinkerbell stickers. Im really sad the other family left so soon. Im sure the CM would have given their son a certificate too. By this time, DH arrives with the stroller and DD excitedly shows him the little cupboard where Tink lives and tells him to look in the keyhole. DH takes a peek, and at that point, it seems that Tinkerbell jingles just for him. This all seems so coincidently magical, for we are then off to Neverland to ride Peter Pans Flight. Hardly a line has formed yet Off we go!... This was awesome and DDs most favorite ride. Im so glad we made the extra effort to watch Peter Pan before we got here. Over the past 10 months we had been watching every classic Disney movie we could get our hands on even joining the Disney Movie Club for this reason. Peter Pan was the one video we could not find. I so much wanted DD to know the characters of Peter, Wendy, and Captain Hook, so I asked everyone I worked with if anyone had the movie we could borrow for a couple of weeks. Someone did, and DD must have watched it a hundred times. Well, it was all paying off now (and will again many more times this vacation) as she knew the song and all the characters of the ride. After Peter Pan we decided to check out Its a Small World which had recently been renovated. There was no line and once again we were lucky enough to get in the front of the car. Of course, DD was enthralled by all the dolls and I loved the white scenes. Was this new or did I just now get it all the countries coming together in the end all dressed in white symbolizing world unity, or possibly Heaven? Thats my take on it anyway let me believe what I want. And I may be in the minority here, but I love that song! Its a world of laughter, a world of tears Next we tried out Winnie-the-Pooh (DD loved the bouncing part), the Mad Tea Party (faster, Daddy faster!) and of course Snow White where we again got in the front seat Bashful this time. We were doing pretty well covering Fantasyland, and decided to take a break from the rides and try Mickeys Philharmagic. Outstanding. LOVED IT! Had so much fun watching DD reaching out for the 3-D effects. Heck, I had so much fun reaching for the 3-D effects. This is a must do and I was hoping we could do again on this trip. We stroll through the gift shop and DD finds a cute Donald Duck with a Sorcerers cap. (I usually allow her one souvenir per day as long as her behavior is up to par.) DH and DD take a little break while I sneak on over to Tinkerbells Treasures to purchase a treat for tomorrows magical bag a Tink jewelry box that plays the Peter Pan song. By now, it is 10:00 and we begin to make our way over to Crystal Palace for our 10:30 breakfast with Pooh and Friends. Theres a LONG line, and even though weve checked in, it doesnt look like theyll be calling our name anytime soon. We park ourselves on a bench in the sun. It is getting hot and DD is beginning to unravel. Luckily, a family of ducklings happen by and that distracts her enough to get us through our wait. Breakfast here was really good, the setting is beautiful, and the character interaction was one of the best we had all week. Maybe it was because we were the last seating, but it felt like Pooh and the gang were coming by every 5 minutes. We even had Pooh and Tigger together for a short while. (Im beginning to relax at these meals now. If Eyeore wants to come by while Im getting food, then so be it just let me have my Mickey waffle!)
After breakfast we walk back to CR for a swim and a nap. The pool, although not as themed as some of the other Disney pools, was nice and big. DH rented DD a swimming vest they had only one small one left and the CM told us to keep it in our room for the duration of our trip. Wonderful! It amazes me how Disney has a way of making things easy. This is the first time DD wears a vest like this and she quickly learns that it helps her stay afloat. She loves it. After a quick swim, we head back to the room for a much needed nap for all of us. I want to mention something here about Mousekeeping they were wonderful. We had requested for the room to be serviced in the early morning, as we would always be coming back for an afternoon nap. This was no problem and it was honored every day of our stay. Each afternoon we would find some nice surprise a towel animal (or doll in our case), DDs stuffed Donald Duck holding the remote control and watching TV, or her stuffed Mickey reading a book to all of her princess dolls. It was so fun, and we looked forward to coming back each day and seeing what we would find. Another example of Disney going out of their way to make us happy.
We awoke from our nap feeling a little more rested but not very refreshed. I guess being up for 18 (and 21 and 23) hours leaves a person pretty drained. The head of this exhaustion monster will surface later tonight, and consequently change into the cranky beast, but we have no way of knowing this now. Besides, we have a pretty low key evening planned dinner at Fultons Crab House and a night of shopping at DTD. I was really looking forward to both of these. After my brief glimpse of the World of Disney store yesterday, I couldnt wait to get back and leisurely look around. And there were a few other stores I was eager to see as well. As for Fultons, both DH and I are mega fans of good seafood, which doesnt exist in the middle of mountainous WV. Heck, the nearest Red Lobster is 2 hours away, so my appetite was primed for crab cakes and shrimp. I had heard mixed reviews about Fultons and it seemed that people either loved it or hated it. I was hoping we would be on the lovin side of it, but when we arrive at 5:30, we had a pretty long wait in the lobby. Here is where it begins to fall apart. DD is getting really antsy and begins not to use the best of manners. DH and I are starving, tired, and not in the mood to entertain a cranky child. I take her outside to look at the boat and the scenery. Finally, they call our name and take us upstairs to a really nice table by the window that overlooked the river. Looking over the menu, I am surprised to see that I want steak. What?!? How can I want steak when I booked this dinner solely for seafood? (No pun intended!) DH wants crab cakes and we decide to share our meals. But no one comes to take our order. We wait and wait and wait. 20 minutes later were still waiting and havent even been offered drinks yet! DD is extremely thirsty and beginning to lose it. DH flags down a waiter and asks what the hold up is. This isnt my table, but Ill check. I dont CARE if its not your table weve been sitting here for 25 minutes shriveling up from dehydration somebody take our order!!!! The manager comes over and tells us they are short of staff, had to do some arranging, and there was no one assigned to our table. Well, duh!!! Then WHY did you SEAT US HERE??? Immediately a waiter comes to take our order, but the first thing he says is, This isnt my table. WE DONT CARE!!!! FEED US!!!! And give my DD some water and a morsel of a cracker or something! Shes thirsty, hungry, tired, and cranky, and if we dont take care of one of these problems tout de suite, somebodys gonna get hurt! Ok common sense tells me that we should just politely exit the restaurant now and make our way over to Old McDonalds, but NO, Momma has her heart set on this fine dinner we are about to partake so we stay. 45 minutes later we finally get our food, and let me tell you, it cannot even compare with the seafood found in WV. It was AWFUL. I was so disappointed. Hopefully dessert would redeem this restaurant, but we have now been here for almost 2 hours and DD could no longer last. Her behavior was atrocious, and both DHs and my nerves were frayed to the point of disintegration. I take her by the hand, curtly tell DH to finish his dinner and well meet him outside. Let me interject that DD rarely throws tantrums, but her rudeness and whininess at this point was spiraling downward quickly. It continued to worsen while outside, so I pulled out my last consequence in my depleting bag of punishments we were going shopping at the big Disney store and she was not allowed to get a thing. Not one thing. I even went so far as to tell her that she would NOT be getting the Tinkerbell dress she had her eye on. Ever. Not today. Not any day. We would NOT be going home with that dress. Well, this statement sets her off faster than a ride down Splash Mountain and now my child is screaming at the top of her well-formed lungs and Im getting curious glances from patrons entering the restaurant. No folks, I have not just beaten my child just having a little meltdown move along nothing to see here and may I suggest you move along to the next restaurant, or it might be YOU standing out here next. After what seemed to be an eternity, DH comes out to witness this fiasco. I hiss What took you so long? I couldnt get anybody to give me the check. How much was it did they give us any kind of discount? At this point DH informs me that no they did not give us any kind of discount and the bill was over $100 (before tip!) $100!?! You mean we PAID $100 for that debacle!?! And you actually left a TIP?!? Yes, he did hes such a big-hearted guy. Pushing this disastrous experience to the far recesses of our brains, we go to shop where I inform DH that there will be no buying on DDs part. Great. Its not going to be very pleasant for US to buy anything if she cant. I agree. Well just look tonight come back another time and chalk this whole evening up to poor decisions and lack of sleep. DDs behavior greatly improves (and does so for the rest of the week all I have to say is Tinkerbell dress) and she earns a $2.00 ride ($2.00!) on the little train at DTD.
Returning to CR, we find that we are just in time to observe the Electric Water Pageant beginning right outside our room! Its cute and well get to see it a few more times later on. The three of us fall into bed hoping for a good and long nights sleep.
"Planning or Obsession...What's the Difference?"
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=857133
"Our Vacation Begins"
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...370#post9138370
Day 1 "Pixie Dust and Panic Attacks" (Part 1)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...210#post9143210
Day 1 "Pixie Dust and Panic Attacks" (Part 2)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...244#post9143244
Day 1 "Pixie Dust and Panic Attacks" (Part 3)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=857458
Jana (moi, 40, obsessive planner of this and all trips..think Chevy Chase in the Vacation movies.)
Eric (DH, 41, a big kid at heart, pretty much goes with the flow and can have a good time anywhere as long as theres good food.)
Anna Marie (4 year-old DD and true princess any princess...pick one.)
Beep beep beep The 6:00a alarm goes off much too early. I have gotten all of maybe 2 hours sleep last night and this morning we are scheduled to be at MK at 7:30 for EMH. Oh, boy what was I thinking?!? We really need to do this because there are only 2 MK EMH morning days scheduled throughout our trip. Since MK is our primary park this vacation, and mornings are best for us, I get out of bed ready to start the day wheres the coffee? Besides, how many times have I heard savvy Disneyites say, Best advice is get up and at em. Ok, Im up trying to get to the at em part .wheres the coffee? DH and I get up and ready and DD wakes up about 6:30. Amazingly, shes raring to go. Mornings are usually not a problem for her. If she sleeps past 7:00 regardless of what time she goes to bed - its a true miracle. I have planned a magical surprise bag for her to open each morning of our trip. These will be small gifts that appear out of nowhere while she is sleeping maybe from Tink. I have purchased a few small items at home the rest will be purchased at WDW. I will try to coordinate each gift with something she experienced each day. Shes tickled that there is a present waiting for her and opens it to find that Tinkerbell has left her some mini Disney washcloths. We eat a little cereal well, DH and DD eat the cereal I find Little Debbie cakes or Pop Tarts more palatable for breakfast but lets not go there, shall we? DD wants to be Minnie again today, so I put her in comfy shoes and pack extra clothes. Were out of the room by 7:15 and it feels like we are the only ones on the property. Its so calm and peaceful this morning. I guess its true that most people like to sleep in on vacation. The MK walkway is eerily vacant, and when we stumble onto some money next to a bush, were pretty sure it was not dropped this morning...its still wet with dew. DH picks it up and counts it - $12. There is no way to find out who this belongs to, so we keep it and thank Tink for spreading some pixie dust our way this morning!
We arrive at the gate and have a short wait before opening. This is always such an entertaining time for me watching all the smiling faces of guests ready to begin their magical day. Since this is an EMH morning, there is no Mickey greeting us from the train, but the bells begin and we hear the music Welcome, welcome, welcome a kingdom full of endless dreams for every girl and boy DH gets the stroller while DD and I head for Tinkerbells Treasures. Since we accomplished Dumbo last night, I thought we might try our hand at waking Tink this morning. Entering the store, we find a mom and dad with their son who looks to be about 10 or 11 years old. Shoot. Were not first. Oh well, it will be fun to watch. The CM comes on over and asks who was here first. They were, I said, but the CM took one look at DD in her cute little Minnie costume and said, Why dont both of you wake Tink this morning? I thought that was so nice, but then the mom said, Oh, go ahead and let her do it well just watch. I kind of felt bad about this and little bit awkward, because even though their son was much older than DD, maybe he had his heart set on doing this. Anyway, I thanked them and DD took the wand and headed for Tinks box. Tap tap tap jingle jingle jingle! Tinks awake and sparkles around the room. This was really cute and Im so glad DD got to experience it. The other family left the store and the CM filled out a Magic Moment certificate with DDs name on it and gave her some Tinkerbell stickers. Im really sad the other family left so soon. Im sure the CM would have given their son a certificate too. By this time, DH arrives with the stroller and DD excitedly shows him the little cupboard where Tink lives and tells him to look in the keyhole. DH takes a peek, and at that point, it seems that Tinkerbell jingles just for him. This all seems so coincidently magical, for we are then off to Neverland to ride Peter Pans Flight. Hardly a line has formed yet Off we go!... This was awesome and DDs most favorite ride. Im so glad we made the extra effort to watch Peter Pan before we got here. Over the past 10 months we had been watching every classic Disney movie we could get our hands on even joining the Disney Movie Club for this reason. Peter Pan was the one video we could not find. I so much wanted DD to know the characters of Peter, Wendy, and Captain Hook, so I asked everyone I worked with if anyone had the movie we could borrow for a couple of weeks. Someone did, and DD must have watched it a hundred times. Well, it was all paying off now (and will again many more times this vacation) as she knew the song and all the characters of the ride. After Peter Pan we decided to check out Its a Small World which had recently been renovated. There was no line and once again we were lucky enough to get in the front of the car. Of course, DD was enthralled by all the dolls and I loved the white scenes. Was this new or did I just now get it all the countries coming together in the end all dressed in white symbolizing world unity, or possibly Heaven? Thats my take on it anyway let me believe what I want. And I may be in the minority here, but I love that song! Its a world of laughter, a world of tears Next we tried out Winnie-the-Pooh (DD loved the bouncing part), the Mad Tea Party (faster, Daddy faster!) and of course Snow White where we again got in the front seat Bashful this time. We were doing pretty well covering Fantasyland, and decided to take a break from the rides and try Mickeys Philharmagic. Outstanding. LOVED IT! Had so much fun watching DD reaching out for the 3-D effects. Heck, I had so much fun reaching for the 3-D effects. This is a must do and I was hoping we could do again on this trip. We stroll through the gift shop and DD finds a cute Donald Duck with a Sorcerers cap. (I usually allow her one souvenir per day as long as her behavior is up to par.) DH and DD take a little break while I sneak on over to Tinkerbells Treasures to purchase a treat for tomorrows magical bag a Tink jewelry box that plays the Peter Pan song. By now, it is 10:00 and we begin to make our way over to Crystal Palace for our 10:30 breakfast with Pooh and Friends. Theres a LONG line, and even though weve checked in, it doesnt look like theyll be calling our name anytime soon. We park ourselves on a bench in the sun. It is getting hot and DD is beginning to unravel. Luckily, a family of ducklings happen by and that distracts her enough to get us through our wait. Breakfast here was really good, the setting is beautiful, and the character interaction was one of the best we had all week. Maybe it was because we were the last seating, but it felt like Pooh and the gang were coming by every 5 minutes. We even had Pooh and Tigger together for a short while. (Im beginning to relax at these meals now. If Eyeore wants to come by while Im getting food, then so be it just let me have my Mickey waffle!)
After breakfast we walk back to CR for a swim and a nap. The pool, although not as themed as some of the other Disney pools, was nice and big. DH rented DD a swimming vest they had only one small one left and the CM told us to keep it in our room for the duration of our trip. Wonderful! It amazes me how Disney has a way of making things easy. This is the first time DD wears a vest like this and she quickly learns that it helps her stay afloat. She loves it. After a quick swim, we head back to the room for a much needed nap for all of us. I want to mention something here about Mousekeeping they were wonderful. We had requested for the room to be serviced in the early morning, as we would always be coming back for an afternoon nap. This was no problem and it was honored every day of our stay. Each afternoon we would find some nice surprise a towel animal (or doll in our case), DDs stuffed Donald Duck holding the remote control and watching TV, or her stuffed Mickey reading a book to all of her princess dolls. It was so fun, and we looked forward to coming back each day and seeing what we would find. Another example of Disney going out of their way to make us happy.
We awoke from our nap feeling a little more rested but not very refreshed. I guess being up for 18 (and 21 and 23) hours leaves a person pretty drained. The head of this exhaustion monster will surface later tonight, and consequently change into the cranky beast, but we have no way of knowing this now. Besides, we have a pretty low key evening planned dinner at Fultons Crab House and a night of shopping at DTD. I was really looking forward to both of these. After my brief glimpse of the World of Disney store yesterday, I couldnt wait to get back and leisurely look around. And there were a few other stores I was eager to see as well. As for Fultons, both DH and I are mega fans of good seafood, which doesnt exist in the middle of mountainous WV. Heck, the nearest Red Lobster is 2 hours away, so my appetite was primed for crab cakes and shrimp. I had heard mixed reviews about Fultons and it seemed that people either loved it or hated it. I was hoping we would be on the lovin side of it, but when we arrive at 5:30, we had a pretty long wait in the lobby. Here is where it begins to fall apart. DD is getting really antsy and begins not to use the best of manners. DH and I are starving, tired, and not in the mood to entertain a cranky child. I take her outside to look at the boat and the scenery. Finally, they call our name and take us upstairs to a really nice table by the window that overlooked the river. Looking over the menu, I am surprised to see that I want steak. What?!? How can I want steak when I booked this dinner solely for seafood? (No pun intended!) DH wants crab cakes and we decide to share our meals. But no one comes to take our order. We wait and wait and wait. 20 minutes later were still waiting and havent even been offered drinks yet! DD is extremely thirsty and beginning to lose it. DH flags down a waiter and asks what the hold up is. This isnt my table, but Ill check. I dont CARE if its not your table weve been sitting here for 25 minutes shriveling up from dehydration somebody take our order!!!! The manager comes over and tells us they are short of staff, had to do some arranging, and there was no one assigned to our table. Well, duh!!! Then WHY did you SEAT US HERE??? Immediately a waiter comes to take our order, but the first thing he says is, This isnt my table. WE DONT CARE!!!! FEED US!!!! And give my DD some water and a morsel of a cracker or something! Shes thirsty, hungry, tired, and cranky, and if we dont take care of one of these problems tout de suite, somebodys gonna get hurt! Ok common sense tells me that we should just politely exit the restaurant now and make our way over to Old McDonalds, but NO, Momma has her heart set on this fine dinner we are about to partake so we stay. 45 minutes later we finally get our food, and let me tell you, it cannot even compare with the seafood found in WV. It was AWFUL. I was so disappointed. Hopefully dessert would redeem this restaurant, but we have now been here for almost 2 hours and DD could no longer last. Her behavior was atrocious, and both DHs and my nerves were frayed to the point of disintegration. I take her by the hand, curtly tell DH to finish his dinner and well meet him outside. Let me interject that DD rarely throws tantrums, but her rudeness and whininess at this point was spiraling downward quickly. It continued to worsen while outside, so I pulled out my last consequence in my depleting bag of punishments we were going shopping at the big Disney store and she was not allowed to get a thing. Not one thing. I even went so far as to tell her that she would NOT be getting the Tinkerbell dress she had her eye on. Ever. Not today. Not any day. We would NOT be going home with that dress. Well, this statement sets her off faster than a ride down Splash Mountain and now my child is screaming at the top of her well-formed lungs and Im getting curious glances from patrons entering the restaurant. No folks, I have not just beaten my child just having a little meltdown move along nothing to see here and may I suggest you move along to the next restaurant, or it might be YOU standing out here next. After what seemed to be an eternity, DH comes out to witness this fiasco. I hiss What took you so long? I couldnt get anybody to give me the check. How much was it did they give us any kind of discount? At this point DH informs me that no they did not give us any kind of discount and the bill was over $100 (before tip!) $100!?! You mean we PAID $100 for that debacle!?! And you actually left a TIP?!? Yes, he did hes such a big-hearted guy. Pushing this disastrous experience to the far recesses of our brains, we go to shop where I inform DH that there will be no buying on DDs part. Great. Its not going to be very pleasant for US to buy anything if she cant. I agree. Well just look tonight come back another time and chalk this whole evening up to poor decisions and lack of sleep. DDs behavior greatly improves (and does so for the rest of the week all I have to say is Tinkerbell dress) and she earns a $2.00 ride ($2.00!) on the little train at DTD.
Returning to CR, we find that we are just in time to observe the Electric Water Pageant beginning right outside our room! Its cute and well get to see it a few more times later on. The three of us fall into bed hoping for a good and long nights sleep.
"Planning or Obsession...What's the Difference?"
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=857133
"Our Vacation Begins"
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...370#post9138370
Day 1 "Pixie Dust and Panic Attacks" (Part 1)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...210#post9143210
Day 1 "Pixie Dust and Panic Attacks" (Part 2)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread...244#post9143244
Day 1 "Pixie Dust and Panic Attacks" (Part 3)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=857458
I feel like this is my vacation because my husband and I have a 4 year old daughter and we have planned it "little girl style" to the hilt too. What time did you get to the Tink shop in order to wake her up? I have been hunting for all of those little magical moments and I would LOVE to do this with Hannah!
