Let's Watch the Hallucination Show on the Castle- A May '14 TR *12/3 PTR Link to Real Life News

[afwdwfan]

Oh... I really, really, really want to try Manta sometime! I've ridden one coaster like that one before where you lay face down hanging under the track, and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't the most intense coaster I've ridden, but I think Manta looks like a lot of fun! I'm glad that you overcame your fear, kept your promise to Alex and conquered it.

And I'm glad you went back for a second ride with your eyes open.

And do yourself a favor. When Alex gets home, go to IoA and Ride Hulk with him. It doesn't have a whole lot of negative G's, aside from the first hill. It definitely gives a lot of the positive G's. And the launch on that one is awesome.

I'm glad that you and your mom each found something fun to do when you got there. It's also great that Landon woke up from his nap in a decent move. I hope your day at Sea World continues to be a good one!

 

[Marsheliz]

I am so happy that you guys had such a fun night at the party! We did the Christmas Party back in 2005 and really enjoyed it. I love how you and your mom are so close. I miss my mom so much and it is refreshing to me to see you and your mom having fun in Disney together...

Gosh, Alicia, why were you so rude to that lady?? I just don't get why people have to be so rude. I work with people like that, LOL and I secretly laugh at them behind their back.. Must be the life to be that miserable.

One of my fav quotes is " Pay no mind to those who are ugly to you. It says nothing about you, but everything about them" or something like that.

Way to go, riding the coaster by yourself!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my word! You are a much braver woman than I. I'd never ever ever ever, (did I say ever) be able to ride Manta. Way to go!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hehe, I see a ride on Tower in Landon's future with his love of elevators.

MMMMMMMMMMANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trust me Alicia, I would have gone on with ya in a heartbeat!

But YAY MMMMMMMANTA!!! So glad you did it, not once, but twice. Still my favourite ride in Florida. And based on where you were, I think you must be heading to one of, if not my absolute, favourite shows.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

first off - great job riding Manta! My thinking is that, as long as it is in a legit place, the more dangerous it looks, the more safety testing they have done. Plus, if recent law suits are any indication, Prince Charming's Regal Carousel is the most dangerous attraction at Disney World

Love how the weather can feel so different to people - last week we had a warm stretch where it got up into the 50s and everyone was complaining that it didn't feel like Christmas. We even took advantage of the summer like conditions and barbecued our Christmas dinner

Elevators are great - though, when you have multiple young kids it turns into major arguments as to who gets to push which buttons. My son especially is also a major fan of escaltors and can ride them up and down for like a hour and not get bored ... that escalator up to the 2nd floor at the Contemprorary is the 2nd best attraction at Disney ... 2nd only to the Monorail don't you know

Glad that Landon woke up ok - it's like Russian Roulette sometimes with how they wake up

 

[khertz]

Great decision to go to the Christmas Party. A perfect little taste of MK! Because you really can't just be at a Disney resort and not go to a single Disney park, right??

Manta looks freaking TERRIFYING! I don't know if I could have braved that one, but good for you for tackling it. The closest I have gotten to weird roller coaster seating was on Wild Eagle at Dollywood which has you suspended away from the track. Laying flat is a whole 'nother ballgame!!

 

[amazingact21]

Sounds exactly like Little Miss!! We had to remove all toys and books from her room for those very reasons.


Oh I am just dying hearing about your start on Manta. We have a coaster near us that is very similar in its loading and I believe I had the same stream of consciousness when I rode it.

I wish I knew the thought process behind the person who came up with the idea to ride a coaster facing the ground. Like, what posessed them to want to do that in the first place?!

Haha, Landon likes to hand out shoes too, huh?

I think he and Izzy do have some things in common – she LOVES elevators too. I’m fairly certain that her favorite thing about Aulani was being on the 7th floor and getting to use the elevator (and often push the button) frequently.

Ha, I guess you and I have a bit of the Izzy/Landon thing going, as I love drops (Space Mountain? Sign me up!) and just tolerate RnRC. We can both agree on Big Thunder’s awesomeness, though, so there’s that.

I like your pics to Alex. I’ve never done an inverted coaster, but it does sound very intense. I’m not sure how I would do. Oh, wow, I’m so glad you didn’t lose your phone! I have pockets like that too and sometimes drop my phone just bending over or sitting down – you are lucky!

Glad you all had an enjoyable start to the day, roller coasting, napping, and chatting dolphins. And glad Landon woke up in a good mood for the show.

Landon figures if he hands out our shoes, we'll leave the house quicker.

Landon wanted to push the buttons on the elevator, but he's still so short, the only one he could reach was the emergency stop one. (Which, he almost got to before I taught him that the red button would STOP the elevator fun.)



That's too funny about our ride preferences. Guess we'd be perfect to hang out with at Disney with the kids. "Okay, I'll watch Izzy while you go ride Tower of Terror, then I'll go on RNRC."

In this day and age, you'd think they'd design pockets to fit those massive phones in them...

Oh... I really, really, really want to try Manta sometime! I've ridden one coaster like that one before where you lay face down hanging under the track, and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't the most intense coaster I've ridden, but I think Manta looks like a lot of fun! I'm glad that you overcame your fear, kept your promise to Alex and conquered it.

And I'm glad you went back for a second ride with your eyes open.

And do yourself a favor. When Alex gets home, go to IoA and Ride Hulk with him. It doesn't have a whole lot of negative G's, aside from the first hill. It definitely gives a lot of the positive G's. And the launch on that one is awesome.

I'm glad that you and your mom each found something fun to do when you got there. It's also great that Landon woke up from his nap in a decent move. I hope your day at Sea World continues to be a good one!

If I had a dollar for every time Alex has talked about going to IoA and riding the Hulk, I'd be a rich woman. His brother and sister actually live right down the road from the park, like so close I passed by the entrance on the way to their neighborhood, so it would be easy to go. It's just the getting there part we have trouble doing.


I would have been a lot more excited to ride Manta if I'd had someone to ride it with. I don't like doing crazy stuff like that by myself. I guess if the coasters gonna go down, I want someone to go down with me.

 

[amazingact21]

I am so happy that you guys had such a fun night at the party! We did the Christmas Party back in 2005 and really enjoyed it. I love how you and your mom are so close. I miss my mom so much and it is refreshing to me to see you and your mom having fun in Disney together...

Gosh, Alicia, why were you so rude to that lady?? I just don't get why people have to be so rude. I work with people like that, LOL and I secretly laugh at them behind their back.. Must be the life to be that miserable.

One of my fav quotes is " Pay no mind to those who are ugly to you. It says nothing about you, but everything about them" or something like that.

Way to go, riding the coaster by yourself!

Marcie, I know I said it last night, but I just had to say it again...congratulations!!!! I know how much this means to you, and I'm thinking pink, pink, pink! And, can I just say, that was the cutest announcement ever!



I'm sure it has to be a little bittersweet reading reports involving moms and daughters. Sad because it probably makes you miss your mom, but happy that you were able to make some Disney memories with her. If anyone ever needs a reason to take those family vacations, your story is the perfect arguement.
Being in the military, I know the day is going to come that I move away from my family (I know, not even close to the same thing as your story) and I always tell myself on each trip I'm with my mom that I need to appreciate the time we have together.

Oh my word! You are a much braver woman than I. I'd never ever ever ever, (did I say ever) be able to ride Manta. Way to go!

I think another kid and another decade of parenting/living later and I'll be passing on the roller coasters, so I'm taking advantage of them while I can.

Hehe, I see a ride on Tower in Landon's future with his love of elevators.

MMMMMMMMMMANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trust me Alicia, I would have gone on with ya in a heartbeat!

But YAY MMMMMMMANTA!!! So glad you did it, not once, but twice. Still my favourite ride in Florida. And based on where you were, I think you must be heading to one of, if not my absolute, favourite shows.

Landon is going to LOVE thrill rides when he's older. Yesterday, he was blocked off from a room by this folding table propped against a wall and a chair. Well, he shook that table and leaned on it until it fell over. And he held onto it and fell with it! Once he hit the floor he just got up and ran into the off-limits room. He has no fear!



Having to go on Manta alone was the worst part. I'm sure I would have been a hoot to listen to as we waited to take off. I was muttering to myself a mile a minute.
And, I won't lie, in addition to Alex pestering me to ride it, I did remember you saying this was your favorite attraction. And I couldn't chicken out when I very well knew I'd have to write about it later!

first off - great job riding Manta! My thinking is that, as long as it is in a legit place, the more dangerous it looks, the more safety testing they have done. Plus, if recent law suits are any indication, Prince Charming's Regal Carousel is the most dangerous attraction at Disney World

Love how the weather can feel so different to people - last week we had a warm stretch where it got up into the 50s and everyone was complaining that it didn't feel like Christmas. We even took advantage of the summer like conditions and barbecued our Christmas dinner

Elevators are great - though, when you have multiple young kids it turns into major arguments as to who gets to push which buttons. My son especially is also a major fan of escaltors and can ride them up and down for like a hour and not get bored ... that escalator up to the 2nd floor at the Contemprorary is the 2nd best attraction at Disney ... 2nd only to the Monorail don't you know

Glad that Landon woke up ok - it's like Russian Roulette sometimes with how they wake up

I definitely laughed out loud at your carousel comment. But only because, based on news stories, there's an element of truth to it.


Weather is definitely relative. I've lived in colder places before, and I was acclimated to the snow and ice. But I've lived in FL now for close to 6 years, and my blood's thinned. I'm going to be in trouble when Alex gets orders for someplace chilly.


I have seen the elevator button arguement at Disney before. The MagicBands for the door also seem to be a hot ticket item with kids. There was a dad on an elevator with me once that I heard telling his kids, "Look, DS can push the button, but then DD, you get to open the door."
Bartering...every parent's best trait.

Great decision to go to the Christmas Party. A perfect little taste of MK! Because you really can't just be at a Disney resort and not go to a single Disney park, right??

Manta looks freaking TERRIFYING! I don't know if I could have braved that one, but good for you for tackling it. The closest I have gotten to weird roller coaster seating was on Wild Eagle at Dollywood which has you suspended away from the track. Laying flat is a whole 'nother ballgame!!

I am so glad we decided to go the Christmas party. It was everything we'd hoped it'd be and more.


Manta was terrifying. But as far as the track goes, it was like RNRC, only a little longer. The biggest aspect of it was definitely the hanging downwards. And if you closed your eyes you barely noticed that.

 

[Marsheliz]

Thank you Alicia!! )) I am definitely hoping for PINK and so is everyone else. I am hoping to finally update my TR with a pic of the announcement and our plans for February. I am SO slack, I know!

 

[amazingact21]

SeaWorld Part 2


My mom, Landon, and I walked into one of the park's theaters and found ourselves with plenty of seating options. Despite a show starting in less than ten minutes, the place was pretty much empty. Definitely not a high crowd day.


We chose a row of bleachers in the middle section, fairly high up, just in case Landon got bored and fussy. We didn't want to distract the handful of other guests that were there.

Settled in our spots, I glanced to the "stage" and realized we were going to be watching the Blue Horizons show. Which, ironically, happened to be the only other thing on my To-Do list for the park.

An hour in SeaWorld, and I accomplished everything I'd set out to do. Not too shabby...




Landon spent the time waiting for the show to start eating some snack food:



Give the boy food and he's a happy camper.

Heck, give me food, and I'm happy too.
I can see where he gets it from.





The show started a few minutes late, because they were having technical difficulties. The lights and sounds weren't going to operate properly for the show.

(I wonder if it's because they were in shock over the frigid temperatures?!)



But as compensation, the trainers let us watch a group of juvenile whales practice some techniques they'd recently mastered. Once they have learned the routine and are old enough, they're going to be added to the show, but for the time being they weren't ready yet.


As the whales were showing off their jumps, one of the trainers talked to the audience about all the rescue work SeaWorld does and kind of stressed how all the animals in the show were under 6 months old when they were discovered in the ocean. And according to federal regulation, they could not be released back into the wild because of their age.

I don't know if that long spiel was always in the prelude to Blue Horizons, but the way the trainer talked made him come off as almost justifying himself. Like, "Hey, we help these animals, and even if we wanted to free them, we couldn't." I hope that has always been SeaWorld's routine speech, and that it wasn't just an answer to all the Blackfish drama.


But, SeaWorld is an educational park more than anything else, so I'm hoping my perspective on it was just that. My perspective.


Despite there being technical difficulties, I thought Blue Horizons was a fantastic show.


So long as you can separate your Disney standards from your regular standards.

If you go into Blue Horizons thinking you're getting a Disney level show, then you're doomed to be disappointed. The storyline was kind of corny and undeveloped, and it was more like a bunch of scenes smashed into sequential order; however, for an animal show it was one of the best I've seen.

Not only did I go into the show with Disney standards, but I also went in with an extensive history of watching sea animal tricks. Living about 45 minutes away from a local sea park and 4 hours away from the Georgia aquarium, I've seen my fair share of marine life stunts. It's gotten to the point where I skip our local sea lion show because I can repeat the lines by heart.

So for Blue Horizons to impress me the way it did was a hefty feat, and it accomplished the task magnificently.


f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

My mom loved the dolphins; I think her favorite part was where two of them pushed a trainer's feet and corkscrewed him underwater. The amount of work that had to have gone into that from both that animal and adult's part had to have been extensive.


They had acrobats dive into the water at one point:

f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Better them than me.



And Landon's favorite part of the show involved birds that flew from the top of the stadium to the stage:

f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


It really was a tossup over whether or not Landon would sit still through the show, and luckily for my mom and me, he did fantastic. The music that played occasionally helped a lot, because it drew his attention back to the performers right as it was about to stray. And then the finale involved flags and birds and dolphins flipping in the air, and his eyes were glued to the water tank. He even clapped at the end with everyone.



After Blue Horizons was finished and we'd returned to our stroller, my mom and I were worried about how cold Landon was becoming. We were both feeling like popsicles, so we knew he had to be cold, as well. So we headed into the nearest indoor location we could find.

The underwater dolphin viewing tank.


It took about five minutes for any of them to come close, but once they did it was like a party in that tank. They were everywhere.

Landon fell in love with the dolphins. I kept saying "Look, look!" to get his attention when they first started swimming by, and pretty soon Landon picked that up.

He ran to everybody around us and screamed, "Oook! Oook!" Then he'd point and wave goodbye once they were gone.

His reaction was so enthusiastic, and that was the first time I'd ever heard him say the word look before, so it was needless to say we spent a long time letting him watch the dolphins. Landon was fascinated with the sea creatures, I was fascinated by him.


Eventually, my mom and I did drag him out of the room and began wandering around the park.

Wandering is the most fitting term, because we had not the slightest idea where we were going or what we wanted to do next.



If we were in Disney, we would have been committing a cardinal sin, but we just followed the flow of traffic and glanced at the park map to see what we were nearby.


At some point on our walk, I took a picture of my favorite part of Manta:

f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


I've got a photo of that on my phone, but I don't have any from our impromptu visit with the seals and sea lions. We passed by the Antarctica section (a few times, because the park layout was kind of confusing) and took a path that dead ended us by the sea lion tank.


It was feeding time for them, and they were being loud and boisterous.

And just like the dolphins, they hooked Landon's attention. It didn't take long before my kid was trying to talk back to them. "Oooh, ah ah ah ah," (Trying to type seals sounds is a very difficult thing, by the way.)


My mom and I were bent over with laughter at Landon's communication attempt. He was so serious about it. Leaned into the glass wall, staring the big guys in the eyes, and hooting and howling back at them.

One of the highlights of my day.


Tearing Landon away from his new best buddies took a little bit of effort. It was the only time that day that he had a mini meltdown, and I had to carry him for awhile. Up until then, he'd walked with us and listened to my directions to get out of other guests' way like a champ.

At that point, a lot of his grumpiness was also due to the fact that he was beginning to get hungry, so my mom and I decided to keep an eye out for any good places to eat.



Unfortunately, even though it was 11 o'clock, most of the quick little food stands weren't open. The park was pretty much empty, still, and I guess SeaWorld figured there weren't enough people out to justify operating the eateries.



My mom and I ended up walking all the way to other side of the park before we found a barbecue restaurant that sort of looked open.

They said they were open for lunch, and there were workers inside, but the place looked like a ghost town.

Not a soul for a mile around.

It was eery.



My mom and I walked inside, anyways, just to check, and we came upon a really pretty Christmas tree.





The building was composed of two ordering stations, and four main dining rooms broken up by glass walls. The place looked like it could seat three or four hundred people, but when we walked in, there was only one other family in there.

One.

It was weird.

They had a stroller parking spot, but seeing as we kind of had the place to ourselves, I told my mom to go ahead and pick a room for our own and take the stroller with her.


I went to order for us, and while I was checking out the menu, I noticed a gaping difference between Disney and SeaWorld. Unlike Disney, where there's nine or ten menu options to choose from, what SeaWorld advertised at the entrance to their restaurant is what you get.

Nothing else.

They had chicken, ribs, and salad.

That's it.

I ended up getting two chicken plates with corn on the cob and dinner rolls, and a kid's chicken leg with mac and cheese and dinner roll.


Landon took my corn on the cob:




The chicken turned out to be pretty decent, actually. It was just a simple smoked chicken with optional barbecue sauce on the side. It reminded me a lot of the chicken I used to serve when I worked at a barbecue restaurant, so I had a nice little walk down memory lane for a moment.



During our lunch, about three other groups came in to eat, but it still felt creepily empty. This was the room we were in:



All by our lonesome.

And the other side of the restaurant, past the Christmas tree remained empty the whole time we were there.

It kind of made my mom and I feel bad for SeaWorld. We knew local schools were still in session, and it was a weekday, but even with all those factors we expected it to be a little more busy than it was. I'd heard rumors that attendance hadn't been good for the park, but I didn't think it was that bad until we felt like we had the whole park to ourselves.



Finished with our lunch, my mom and I made a quick pit stop to the bathrooms that were located inside the building, and I discovered my favorite thing about SeaWorld. Ever.

They had a little, closet-sized room specifically for diaper changing.


It was a private room with a changing table, trash can, and a seat attached to the wall. Even though there was nobody in the bathrooms with us, I appreciated having my own personal space to take care of Landon. He gets distracted easily, and sometimes changing him in busy public spaces becomes a feat. And that room was much more convenient than going all the way over to a single baby care center, especially for something as simple as a diaper change.

It was the one thing I liked at SeaWorld that Disney did not have.

The weirdest things make me excited now that I'm a mom.





The shark exhibit was our next stop. Landon wasn't crazy about the long tube you walk through, but it was something I used to enjoy doing as a kid, so I wanted to go through it again and see if it was as awesome as my memory made it out to be.



And it was!

There is something creepy and captivating about looking up and seeing sharks swim over you. I would highly recommend making a quick tour through the there if you're ever in SeaWorld.



It was outside of there that Landon had a head on collision with a little boy of about five. He was watching the ground below him, not paying attention to where we was going, and BAM! Ran right smack into a kid. Knocked Landon flat on his butt.

I was grateful it was a kid he ran into and not a pole or a stroller.

He's ran into a signpost before, so I worry about these things...



I decided at that point we needed to head over to the kid's section of the park and let Landon burn off some energy in the form of rides.

But first I had to stop and get a picture in front of the giraffe topiary:



Not sure why there was a giraffe topiary set up, but it looked cool, and I got a kick out of it.



The carousel was my mom and I's first stop in the playground area. I got Landon situated on a sea horse, and then we had to wait FOREVER for the ride to start. A new worker was being trained so they were going over everything in great detail, and during that time Landon was starting to have a meltdown.

He was not understanding the sit and wait game. It was definitely the most stressful moment of the trip, because he was screaming and pulling on me to get him down, but there really wasn't anything I could do at the point.
Thankfully, after an eternity, the carousel started, and Landon loved it. Every time his horse went up high and he shouted, "Weeee!"

That sound of joy and giddiness was hard earned...





The kid's area was located right next to the Shamu stadium, and as we were walking by my mom casually noted that there was a show about to start in fifteen minutes. My mom wouldn't say it, but I could tell she wanted to watch the performance, so I suggested we head over there once we got Landon off the ride.

And just like Blue Horizons, we managed to walk in a couple minutes before showtime and find plenty of open seats.



I hate to say it, but this new version of the show wasn't nearly as exciting as the old one. I think if you never saw the original, it'd be fantastic, but it was hard for me to compare the two and not find the latest one wanting.

It didn't help that Landon had zero interest in the show.


Shamu was just too big for him:



He spent the majority of the time standing up and eating snacks.




It was back to the kid's rides after Shamu, where I took Landon on a train ride and discovered he LOVES trains.



He cried and screamed when I made him get off the ride. I never had that kind of reaction from a ride before, so it was back in line we went for a second turn on the train.


Clearly, the train was Landon's favorite part of SeaWorld:




During our second ride through, the lines for all the rides exploded. I guess the few guests that were in the park were all congregated in the same part of SeaWorld as us, so my mom and I felt it best if we move on.

Landon was in the mood to walk again, so we took him to a long bridge that connected two parts of the park and let him roam.


Along the way, we got to look at the Sea of Trees displayed for Christmas.



At night, they were lit up in festive holiday colors, but even the daytime they looked beautiful. Made the walk across nice and pleasant and gave us something to look at.


It was only 2 o'clock at that point, but my mom and I were sort of finished with SeaWorld. We'd wanted to see all the Christmas specials that night, but there were no more shows left for us to watch and no more animal exhibits (other than Antarctica). Landon had traversed the entire theme park on foot, and neither of us adults felt like chasing him down for another five hours.

It was mutually agreed that we had gotten our money's worth out of SeaWorld; it was time to head out.


But hold on...

Before we could get to the exit, we passed by Manta, which still only had a 5 minute wait.

I asked my mom if she'd watch Landon while I go on Manta without my phone. Just to see what it was like without the previous stress I'd had.

My mom happily agreed and found an open bench for her and the toddler.


Just like earlier that day, Manta was walk on.

And it was definitely more fun without the worry of my phone falling out.

I got through the attraction so fast, that I went one more time. Just because I couldn't leave without giving the front row a try.

And man, that was an adventure. I didn't think the ride could get any more intense than it already was -until I experienced three or four seconds of hang time in the big loop.



I wouldn't suggest sitting in the front your first time. It was a little intense for me, and I'd already braved the ride three times before.



As I met back up with my mother, I came upon an unexpected sight.
Landon was playing peek a boo with Franklin, the turtle.

Huh?

Apparently, my mom and Landon were sitting right next to a character meet and greet spot. And poor Franklin wasn't very busy. From what my mom said, Landon watched several group of kids go up to the turtle and say hello and receive hugs, and right about that time I walked into the scene, Landon had finally mustered up the courage to walk over to him. Franklin danced with Landon and played peek a boo, and when people showed up waiting for their meet and greet, I told Landon to tell him goodbye and he waved to him.


It was an adorable sight to see, all the other people sitting around were laughing at Landon's interaction with the turtle, and it made me really look forward to the day Landon meets a character he actually knows.

It was the sweetest and cutest way we could have possibly ended our trip to SeaWorld, and my mom and I walked out of the park on such a positive note.



Up Next: A Little More Disney Magic

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

YAY, I was right... BLUE HORIZONS!!!

For what it's worth, I have never ever heard that speech before, so it could well be in response to Blackfish.

Interesting perspective on the show. I absolutely love this show. I will grant you, it certainly doesn't have Disney level storytelling but it has my favourite animal and I adore the music. It's actually one of my favourite shows that doesn't involve fireworks and a castle.

I am totally with you on the wandering. I've been to SeaWorld a fair amount and I still get lost. It probably doesn't help that the park maps are HUGE!

Yeah, SeaWorld is a weird one. I don't know that I've been there where it's been crazy busy. Then again, I don't know that I've experienced anything quite like you did. I expect a lot had to do with the temps.

Totally agree Alicia. The new Orca show pales in comparison to the old one.

This picture is glorious!!

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow, that looks like it was quite a nice day at Sea World! I'm glad that Landon enjoyed the show, and really seemed to do pretty well in general all day.

That is crazy that there were so few people, but it definitely made it nice for you guys to be able to quickly and easily get through things.

And I'm glad that you got to go back to Manta!!!! It is hard to beat a 5 minute wait for a good coaster. And I definitely have to give you some credit for riding front row on your last ride.

 

[Dugette]

Aw, that’s so sweet how much Landon enjoyed the dolphins and the sea lions!

That is cool about the diaper changing room!

Adorable pics on the train! I guess that is one thing he and Izzy (and most other toddlers, probably) have in common – a love of trains!

Wow, you braved Manta two more times and front row?! I bet Alex is SO proud!

So sweet that he was brave enough for the turtle meet and greet! It’s going to be so fun when he gets to meet Mickey and the gang!

 

[amazingact21]

YAY, I was right... BLUE HORIZONS!!!

For what it's worth, I have never ever heard that speech before, so it could well be in response to Blackfish.

Interesting perspective on the show. I absolutely love this show. I will grant you, it certainly doesn't have Disney level storytelling but it has my favourite animal and I adore the music. It's actually one of my favourite shows that doesn't involve fireworks and a castle.

I am totally with you on the wandering. I've been to SeaWorld a fair amount and I still get lost. It probably doesn't help that the park maps are HUGE!

Yeah, SeaWorld is a weird one. I don't know that I've been there where it's been crazy busy. Then again, I don't know that I've experienced anything quite like you did. I expect a lot had to do with the temps.

Totally agree Alicia. The new Orca show pales in comparison to the old one.

This picture is glorious!!

Blue Horizons was a fantastic show for SeaWorld. I'm really glad I got to see it while I was there. But now I want to watch it again, just to know what I missed with the technical difficulties.


Thank you! Landon was having a blast on that train! I'd never seen him react to a ride like that before. I sent that picture to Alex, and he was showing it around to all his coworkers.

Wow, that looks like it was quite a nice day at Sea World! I'm glad that Landon enjoyed the show, and really seemed to do pretty well in general all day.

That is crazy that there were so few people, but it definitely made it nice for you guys to be able to quickly and easily get through things.

And I'm glad that you got to go back to Manta!!!! It is hard to beat a 5 minute wait for a good coaster. And I definitely have to give you some credit for riding front row on your last ride.

The low crowds helped tremendously with Landon. We let him walk the entire time, and he could roam around wherever he pleased. It was kind of shocking how he walked 90% of the time with us. Kid has bountless energy...

I was a little surprised I requested first row, myself.

Aw, that’s so sweet how much Landon enjoyed the dolphins and the sea lions!

That is cool about the diaper changing room!

Adorable pics on the train! I guess that is one thing he and Izzy (and most other toddlers, probably) have in common – a love of trains!

Wow, you braved Manta two more times and front row?! I bet Alex is SO proud!

So sweet that he was brave enough for the turtle meet and greet! It’s going to be so fun when he gets to meet Mickey and the gang!

Kids and trains...I never understood it until I had Landon. Have you taken Izzy on Disney's train yet? I can't remember. Landon hasn't been on it, but I'm sure we will take him on it next trip.


That diaper room was magnificant! I wished they had that at every bathroom stop in Disney. It could go right next to the family restroom.

 

[amazingact21]

A Little More Disney Magic:


My mom, Landon, I got back to Pop Century around 3:30 that afternoon and headed to Everything Pop for a snack. We were hoping to pick something up at SeaWorld, but the only food options were ice cream, cotton candy, and popcorn. None of which appealed to us.

Landon napped through our apple turnovers, which was a nice little perk for me. What parent's going to turn down the opportunity to eat something without having to share? Normally you have to wait until the middle of the night to score that kind of break.



My mom finished her turnover first and went back to the room to make a phone call. I was getting pretty decent wifi in the food court, so I attempted to FaceTime Alex, but it was unsuccessful. I moved to the bowling pin pool to see if that would help, but my phone refused to pick up the internet signal out there.


Right about the time I rejoined the network and got my phone to work, Landon woke up from his nap. The phone call attempt was just not going my way that afternoon.

I managed to get myself and Landon back to our room and got him situated with his toys. My mom had already moved on to her laptop and was watching a show with headphones on, so I got Alex to call me back and we chatted in the room.

It was a very laid back and easy going afternoon, overall.


Nothing I have ever experienced with Alex before. He would never have let me sit around for that long on Disney time. Too much to see and do and too little time to do it in!



Eventually, Landon's stomach started rumbling for dinner, so my mom and I headed back to the food court. Our most visited spot on Disney property that trip.




The view from our room on the 3rd floor.





I couldn't believe it was already our last night at the resort. It truly felt like our trip was just gearing up. Ever since I took my first week long trip to the world, any stay less than 4 nights seems like a cruel joke. I didn't get enough time to enjoy the magic, to soak in all the park offerings, to process that I was on vacation.

Two nights was just a tease.



Back at the food court, my mom and I got Landon the always loved but awful for you hot dog, while we got two burgers. Landon ate his dinner no problem, but unfortunately for my mom and I, our burgers were too gross to consume. They were ice cold. Like, felt like they'd been sitting in a fridge for an hour, cold.

I have a pretty high tolerance level. It takes a lot to get me to complain about something. I usually suck it up and deal with whatever's the problem, but the burgers were so cold, it was unhealthy. Someone could have gotten sick eating one of those, because it was just a breeding ground for bacteria to grow.


So I had to be that obnoxious guest that went and told a Cast Member they needed to check their food warmers, but I only did it because I did not want anyone to get sick. That would be an awful experience for a first time visitor to Disney. (To any visitor, really.) The Cast Member listened to me, but she kind of brushed me off, which really irritated me. I watched as she continued to do what she was in the middle of for close to ten minutes before she walked over to the burger line and talked to anyone.


I was about ready to go back and talk to a manager I happened to see, but I told myself to brush it off and forget about the situation. The correct Cast Member was told...eventually. Yeah, my mom and I threw away 11 dollars burgers, but at least we were still relatively full from our snacks earlier.


However, my mom was pretty much over the Pop food court. Our dinner the previous night hadn't been stupendous, either, so she vowed to eat at Art of Animation the following day.

Sounded good to me.



Alex must have worn off on me over the past half dozen Disney trips, because I couldn't help myself after dinner.

I had to go look at the souvenirs!

Not that I was going to buy anything.

This was a strict no-pins trip. I'd bought enough in August to last me a long while.

Oh, look, a new Tangled pin!

Too bad. My collection would just have to suffer.

Ahh, the 2014 holiday pin was Tangled themed, as well. No matter if it would look great next to my 2013 holiday pins.

It wasn't happening.

Nope. Nothing for me.

I didn't even have my wallet with me.


The smartest way to window shop at Disney, in my opinion; don't bring your money!

And so I meandered from the pins to the cookbooks and then to the journals.

And what before my wondering eyes did appear, but a miniature bag and twelve souvenirs.

Christmas came early for me that night, because I had stumbled upon a collection of all the Magic Kingdom poster art that's displayed along the tunnels to the park!

Including...

Big Thunder Mountain!




"Mom! MOM! Lookit, lookit, lookit! It's the poster I was telling you about. Along with all the other attractions. I was looking for a Pirates poster to put in Landon's room. And now I could have both!"




What were the odds that I would find exactly what I was looking for the day after I mentioned it? And the best part? It was only 20 dollars.

For all 12 posters.

I about cried tears of joy.


It was the best souvenir I had ever found. And even a few weeks later, I stand by that statement. Out of every little gem I have discovered in and around the parks, those posters are my favorite thing I've found for sale.

But unfortunately, I couldn't buy it that night, because my wallet was still in my room. I had to come back for it the following morning.



Landon, meanwhile, had found the toy section and was having a blast playing with the toy Mickeys.




He has one of those Mickey toys from our May trip, so I was not about to buy him another one. But I did let him play for a bit.




He spent a long time lining the Mickey and Minnie's up next to each other.

Because, you know, Minnie and Mickey belong side by side.


I tried to coax Landon away from Mickey and towards the Peter Pan and the Toy Story figurines that were also on the shelves, but I had no luck. Landon is all about his Mickey Mouse.

And when I did finally get him to walk away, he found another Mickey toy:



A Mickey Mouse toy bank.

I wish I were exaggerating about my kid's love of the mouse.



Another ten minutes of him attempting to pull every single bank off the shelf, and my mom and I dragged him outside to the sidewalks.

It was time to let him walk back to the room for an early night.




On check out day, my mom and I took our time packing our things. We didn't have much, since we were only there for 2 nights and we left most of our things in the car.

Landon passed the time watching the Must Do's at Disney and playing peek a boo with the privacy curtain:



The simplest things make kids happy.


When the car was loaded and the room was emptied (about 10:00) my family headed to the Pop gift shop to let me buy my poster art.

I might or might not have gotten those two pins, as well.


I have no impulse control in Disney.


It was back to the car to drop my purchases off and to drive over to Art of Animation. I parked the car in an empty LM lot, figuring that since we were going to be leaving from Art it was smarter to just move the car and save us the walk later.



Like last time, Landon spent a long time looking at the lion statues.




At eleven, I tore him away from them and went into Landscapes of Flavors. I was ready for some lunch, but the station I was hoping for didn't switch to lunch for another half hour. My mom and I weren't up to eating another burger, which was about the only thing available at the time, so we decided to buy a pre-made chicken wrap and split it.

The wrap was actually really tasty and pretty filling. Landon munched on the tomatoes and some of the bread, and then I took him back to the Nemo playground to play.


There was a lot more kids there that morning than the previous visit, so Landon had quick lesson in taking turns and not mimicking bad behavior. It wouldn't have been so bad if the older kids hadn't kept running around and through the toddler section. They startled and spooked all the young children trying to go down the slide.


Fortunately, that was only a couple minutes out of the thirty Landon was there, and the rest of the time went splendidly. Up until that day, Landon had always needed assistance going up the playground steps and down the slide, but that was the day he learned to conquer it himself.

Which was a nice break for me, I've got to say.


At some point during Landon's playtime, I got a call from my brother in-law asking if I'd stop by on the way to Alex's parent's house. They live in Orlando, near Universal, so I couldn't really say no. I arranged to be there around 1, which meant my mom and I had to scurry back to the food court to grab some more food and get on the road.


We split a buffalo turkey sandwich that was delicious, much better than anything at Pop, I have to say. Landon was kind of over everything by that point and gave us a hard time while we ate, but a quick detour through the Little Mermaid section afterwards helped calm him down.

Farewell, Prince Eric! Farewell, Disney! Hopefully Mom will be nice enough to bring us back with Dad someday soon!




My visit with family in Cape Canaveral was uneventful, with the exception that we got to walk down to the beach both nights and watch the Disney Magic and the Disney Dream sail out of port.









If you're ever in that area and can't make it on an actual Disney cruise, I'd highly recommend staying somewhere close enough to see the ships depart. There were about five other ships that left with Disney, and they were all incredibly cool to watch. From our position, the boats seemed to come out of the land, between these two hotels. It was a neat optical illusion.

And as we were headed back home, I told Landon to say goodbye to the boats, and my sister in-law added in Mickey Mouse, so the result was Landon turning around, waving his arms and shouting, "Bye 'Icky!"

We have got to get that boy to the mouse!




Okay, now that I've strayed off topic for four posts, I will get back to my May trip report. Thanks for bearing with me on this little detour. I just had such a wonderful time with my mom that I had to share it while it was fresh in my mind. Landon has grown so much since August that I was in shock at how different his reactions to everything were. I can't wait for Alex to come home so he can go with us and see the change for himself.

 

[marDgreen88]

I was gonna say, she better get those pins!!! How else would you remember you were there for the 2014 holiday season?!? Hahahaha. I kid. But really, I'm a pin collector too so I would've been the same way. And that poster set sounds amazing!

Art of Animation will always win against Pop. In my opinion. Hahah

I'm glad yall had such a nice getaway. Sounds like it was much deserved.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

what fun with the sea lions!

Very impressive that Landon walked most of the park!

Yay for Finding the Poster that you were looking for with a bonus of extras!

 

[Dugette]

Kids and trains...I never understood it until I had Landon. Have you taken Izzy on Disney's train yet? I can't remember. Landon hasn't been on it, but I'm sure we will take him on it next trip.

No, we haven't made it on the MK train yet with Izzy! That is on my to-do list for May. I'm sure she'll love it. We have done some other train rides, though: our state fair's kiddie train, a real train with Santa, and the Dole Plantation's Pineapple Express in Hawaii - I have a similar picture of Izzy on that one:



Trains = toddler bliss.

 

[Dugette]

Ha, you’re right, eating while your kid is asleep or otherwise occupied is quite a treat! You don’t have to share or anything!

Totally relate to the 2-night trip feelings. You just arrive and have to leave already. Not cool. (That’s why our current May plans have morphed from “cruise during week w/WDW weekends” to “4 nights at WDW, 4 nights on cruise, 4 nights at WDW” ).

Hmmmm, Landon and Izzy would agree on the supremacy of hot dogs as well.

Yikes on the burgers! Hope they got that fixed. Personally, I don’t like to complain much about stuff like that either, but I think I would have. What a waste.

Haha, love that you picked up the shopping slack for Alex.

Wow, that’s awesome that you found the posters (and for a good price)! Yay!

Yep, Izzy would agree about Mickey and Minnie needing to be paired up! I love that they have the same style of shopping – pull all of them out of the shelf!

Ugh, that’s a pet peeve of mine – older kids trampling over toddlers on the playground (especially one that’s made for toddlers). Oh, and that is a nice mommy break when they can handle a play structure without your hand.

That would be fun to watch the ships (especially with plans to be on one when Alex returns). Love that Landon said goodbye to Disney and Mickey like that.

Isn’t it amazing how much can change in a few short months at that age? It’s like bringing a whole different kid to Disney sometimes. Thanks for sharing the mini-trip!

 

[Marsheliz]

Love that pic of Landon with his big smile and his sweet glasses! <3

Oh man, I hate you guys didn't enjoy your burgers. I would have complained too. I got a spinach pizza thing at POP in June and like you, I was not impressed.

Glad you found your poster you wanted! I am thinking of adding a little Disney to our new nursery, once we find out the gender. <3 I found some prints on Etsy and my sister mentioned that Hobby Lobby has some too!