Lollipop Mom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
- Messages
- 1,079
January 1, 2004
The trip is catching up with us.
Todays plan, MGM. David and Dad want to see the Capital One Bowl so we planned to head out of the park for lunch at Beaches and Cream then they could go to the ESPN Zone to watch the game and Mom and I could either go back to the parks or back to the RV for a nap depending on what the kids want to do.
We get everyone out the door in time to be at MGM about 10 minutes before park opening. While waiting for the gates to open we had pictures taken with Chip and Dale, Goofy and the Pooh characters again. Connor is just thrilled to be reunited with his long lost friends once again.
Once in the park I realize that the reason behind the need to get there early is totally lost on the people I am with. I go to get a map and as Im walking back trying to decide if we should get fast passes for Rockin Rollercoaster or for Tower of Terror I realize that they are getting directions to somewhere from a Cast Member. Turns out they have found out that we can have breakfast at the ABC Commissary. I try suggesting that at the very least I should run and get fast passes for the 2 rides David and I want to do but they think its important that we all eat together. OK, fine. This is after all a family trip, right?
After breakfast Mom and Dad took the kids to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground while David and I went to check out RnR and ToT. We brought Mom and Dads park passes with us so we were able to get fast passes for both rides. This worked out well as the times were 15 minutes apart. After getting our fast passes we head back to meet up with the rest of our group. We played for a while longer (MAN is that playground humid!!). Once we managed to round up the kids we decided to track down Buzz and Woody. They were hanging out with Jessie at Als Toy Barn. The boys were thrilled to get to meet another of their Disney heros. Brandon is really starting to get into the autograph book and enjoyed looking through his book and asking who wrote this? When we left Als Toy Barn we ran into Kermit the Frog! The kids had no idea who he was but David and I who grew up with the Muppet Show thought it was neat and had a photo taken with him. We caught a showing of Beauty and the Beast which everyone enjoyed. By then it was time for our Fast Passes. Mom and Dad were going to take the boys to see the Muppet 3D show while we went for our rides.
We walked over to Tower of Terror which David is all excited to ride. I admit that this free fall type of ride is not my favorite but that Id heard great things about it so I was willing to try it out. We zip through the fast pass line and very quickly found ourselves standing in the lobby of the hotel. They send us to stand in front of an elevator. There is one group in front of us. A dad and 2 boys about 13 or so. Dad tells the to spread out here at the elevator doors to make sure that they are in front. David rolls his eyes at me. We go into the library for the preshow and people in our group are all pushing to get in. I completely do not understand the concept of this! Everyone in this group will get on the same elevator at the same time. If you are in here, you are on the ride. There is no need for pushing and shoving. This isnt a group of toddlers wanting to make sure they get the green Dumbo, these are adults pushing and shoving! Anyway, we watch the video and the doors to the hallway open. We walk out and there is a traffic jam in the hallway. We wait and wait and wait. In this time two or three other preshows full of people have come out of each of the libraries and were all packed like sardines in this little hallway. Eventually a cast member comes out and tells us they have some technical difficulty and it will be a few minutes. Could someone please tell that to the cast members who keep sending people into the preshows? There is no more room and they have 2 rooms full of people trying to push their way in. Of course we get the Disney speech about moving all the way down filling in all available space. Just what I want to do, pack in tighter in this little hallway with no windows or easy exit. Finally after about 20 minutes we move forward some. More waiting. About 10 more minutes and we can now see that only one of the ride elevators appears to be working. Pretty soon they have 2 more going and the line starts to clear out. More pushing and shoving because of course moving ahead 2 people makes you get to the front SO much faster. Once were finally on an elevator David and I are in the front row and I am giving thanks that I am in the one seat on this row with a hand grip in front of me to hold on to. I couldnt even begin to tell you how many times we dropped! I did enjoy the ride though. Its really well designed. Very neat!
Now its on to Rockin Rollercoaster. David was looking forward to ToT, this was my ride Id been looking forward to. Once again we sail through the fast pass line. We watch the preshow and experience more pushing and shoving from adults. I wonder if these same people scold their children for pushing on the playground or if they just find pushing to be an acceptable behavior any time any where. We end up in the back row for this one. The fast part! as David says. I LOVED this ride! David even says he would like to go on it a few more times. Unforunately there is no time for that! Its time to head back to the meeting spot to get our kids back.
When we find Mom and Dad we discover that both kids have fallen asleep. Connor in the stroller and Brandon in Moms lap on the scooter. They didnt do any shows or anything, they just let the kids rest. We sit on a bench and chat for a while. Its the time we agreed to head out for lunch but no one is hungry yet since we at breakfast at 9:00. Mom and Dad go to stand in line for Playhouse Disney while David and start rousing the kids. They are both very excited to go and see Bear in the Big Blue house so its not tough to do. Dont miss the Playhouse Disney show if you have kids under 5! They were both singing and dancing and giggling the whole time.
After Playhouse Disney we decided if Dad and David were going to catch the Capital One bowl, we needed to head out. David and I are UGA alums and have season tickets to the home games in Athens. David couldnt believe we were in the same city as the game and not going. He was fine with not being there in person as long as he didnt miss it. If you cant be there in person, ESPN Zone is the next best thing! Against my opinion, Dad and David put the ECV in the back of Mom and Dads car b/c Mom was worried that the kids would want to return to the RV for a nap and it would be too heavy for she and I to lift alone. I figured since they napped for almost an hour in the park, they werent going to want to go back for a nap again so soon. Mom insisted she could walk it so Dad and David packed the ECV away. We took a boat ride from MGM. Dad and David got off at the Swan & Dolphin and walked to ESPN from there. Mom and I rode on to the Beach Club to go to Beaches and Cream. Once off the boat, we walked and walked and walked. My meal vouchers said that Beaches and Cream was at the Beach Club so thats where we went. The lobby was quite busy with guests doing check in/check out or whatever so there was no one to ask for directions. I went to look at the map of the resort and see that it lists Beaches and Cream as Yacht Club dining. So off we go walking to the Yacht Club. We get there and ask a CM where it is. Back that way, its between the Beach and Yacht. We go outside and I insist that weve been that way twice and there as nothing but pool so Mom and the boys sit down while I go hunting for it. Finally find it and go back toget everyone. By this time Connor is starving and getting fussy. We get to the door and are told it will be a 40 minute wait. There is no way we can do this with Connor so we ask what the nearest food option is. Hurricane Hannahs .in other words, the pool snack bar for the Beach Club. We can get burgers and hot dogs fine, as long as Connor eats SOON. The boys have hot dogs, Mom has a burger and I have a turkey wrap. Mine was good, Mom says hers was awful. The kids ate theirs so I guess it was OK. The problem with eating here is that we are literally AT the pool. This frustrate Brandon who doesnt understand why we didnt bring his suit so he could swim.
After lunch Brandon doesnt want to go back to MGM, he wants to try to find the characters from Brother Bear so we take a boat to Epcot to look for them. We arrive at the International Gateway and see that the World Showcase looks almost empty. Where are the crowds I kept hearing about? We havent seen them the last few days. We are lucky enough to find Koda and Kenai in the Canada pavilion. Brandon is thrilled to meet them. He sits in Kenais lap for photos and doesnt want to get up. Kenai kept hugging and kissing him and putting his paws over his mouth like he was laughing. Brandon was loving every minute of it. In the time it took for us to get up and get our stuff back together Koda and Kenai had to go back in. Brandon didnt see them leave and he spent a few minutes looking for them. With tears in his eyes he says theyre gone Mommy. I wanted them to play with me. Poor little guy.
When we left Canada we went to Mexico for the boat ride. After our ride we watched some street performers and were waiting to get a frozen drink when Dad and David called to tell us the game was over. We told them where we were and sat to wait for them. Once we met up with them Brandon announced that we all needed to ride the monorail. On our way to the monorail we got in another trip through Journey into Imagination, a stroll through Innoventions and another ride on Spaceship Earth. After that it was on to the monorail. He wanted to ride up front but it was getting close to dinner time so lots of people were leaving the parks and it was full. After the monorail, it was a bus ride back to MGM and back to the car. We decided to skip Fantasmic and save it for May. We figured we needed an early night for the kids.
Once back at the RV we ordered Pizza. Brandon started in on wanting to go swimming. We had been promising him for 2 days we would take him and we got in too late last night to go so I figured we should take him. David ends up saying you take him and Ill stay here with Connor. He says this because he has started watching a football game on tv. Connor loves to swim too so he would have liked to have gone but he didnt know he needed to protest. I tell David if it isnt going to be a family thing that he should take Brandon b/c I am tired. Big fight ensues. He doesnt want to go b/c hes watching this game. I point out that hes already watched one game today rather than doing things with his kids, that now he can take a half hour and play with his son rather than watch a game. He says hes not the one who told Brandon he could go (he wasnt right then but hed been promising all day for 2 days). He gripes about me saying Im tired b/c hes tired too. I point out that while his butt sat at ESPN for 4+ hours, I was walking the parks with the kids. This just makes him madder. I point out again that I didnt complain at all that he wanted to watch the UGA game rather than do Disney with us even though he had Tivo set to tape it at home that he could at least come swimming with all of us now. No go, more fighting. I finally cave and say fine, you get him changed then. He cant believe hes expected to do this. Im ticked b/c Im supposed to spend 4 hours more than him walking and still take Brandon to the pool by myself and I still have to get him dressed for the pool and of course bathe both kids and get them ready for bed at night all by myself. He gets Brandon dressed but not without stomping around and complaining the whole time. I of course do end up doing baths for both kids when I get back b/c he was too busy watching football. I go to bed thinking this is probably grounds for justifiable homicide, right?
Todays plan, MGM. David and Dad want to see the Capital One Bowl so we planned to head out of the park for lunch at Beaches and Cream then they could go to the ESPN Zone to watch the game and Mom and I could either go back to the parks or back to the RV for a nap depending on what the kids want to do.
We get everyone out the door in time to be at MGM about 10 minutes before park opening. While waiting for the gates to open we had pictures taken with Chip and Dale, Goofy and the Pooh characters again. Connor is just thrilled to be reunited with his long lost friends once again.
Once in the park I realize that the reason behind the need to get there early is totally lost on the people I am with. I go to get a map and as Im walking back trying to decide if we should get fast passes for Rockin Rollercoaster or for Tower of Terror I realize that they are getting directions to somewhere from a Cast Member. Turns out they have found out that we can have breakfast at the ABC Commissary. I try suggesting that at the very least I should run and get fast passes for the 2 rides David and I want to do but they think its important that we all eat together. OK, fine. This is after all a family trip, right?
After breakfast Mom and Dad took the kids to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground while David and I went to check out RnR and ToT. We brought Mom and Dads park passes with us so we were able to get fast passes for both rides. This worked out well as the times were 15 minutes apart. After getting our fast passes we head back to meet up with the rest of our group. We played for a while longer (MAN is that playground humid!!). Once we managed to round up the kids we decided to track down Buzz and Woody. They were hanging out with Jessie at Als Toy Barn. The boys were thrilled to get to meet another of their Disney heros. Brandon is really starting to get into the autograph book and enjoyed looking through his book and asking who wrote this? When we left Als Toy Barn we ran into Kermit the Frog! The kids had no idea who he was but David and I who grew up with the Muppet Show thought it was neat and had a photo taken with him. We caught a showing of Beauty and the Beast which everyone enjoyed. By then it was time for our Fast Passes. Mom and Dad were going to take the boys to see the Muppet 3D show while we went for our rides.
We walked over to Tower of Terror which David is all excited to ride. I admit that this free fall type of ride is not my favorite but that Id heard great things about it so I was willing to try it out. We zip through the fast pass line and very quickly found ourselves standing in the lobby of the hotel. They send us to stand in front of an elevator. There is one group in front of us. A dad and 2 boys about 13 or so. Dad tells the to spread out here at the elevator doors to make sure that they are in front. David rolls his eyes at me. We go into the library for the preshow and people in our group are all pushing to get in. I completely do not understand the concept of this! Everyone in this group will get on the same elevator at the same time. If you are in here, you are on the ride. There is no need for pushing and shoving. This isnt a group of toddlers wanting to make sure they get the green Dumbo, these are adults pushing and shoving! Anyway, we watch the video and the doors to the hallway open. We walk out and there is a traffic jam in the hallway. We wait and wait and wait. In this time two or three other preshows full of people have come out of each of the libraries and were all packed like sardines in this little hallway. Eventually a cast member comes out and tells us they have some technical difficulty and it will be a few minutes. Could someone please tell that to the cast members who keep sending people into the preshows? There is no more room and they have 2 rooms full of people trying to push their way in. Of course we get the Disney speech about moving all the way down filling in all available space. Just what I want to do, pack in tighter in this little hallway with no windows or easy exit. Finally after about 20 minutes we move forward some. More waiting. About 10 more minutes and we can now see that only one of the ride elevators appears to be working. Pretty soon they have 2 more going and the line starts to clear out. More pushing and shoving because of course moving ahead 2 people makes you get to the front SO much faster. Once were finally on an elevator David and I are in the front row and I am giving thanks that I am in the one seat on this row with a hand grip in front of me to hold on to. I couldnt even begin to tell you how many times we dropped! I did enjoy the ride though. Its really well designed. Very neat!
Now its on to Rockin Rollercoaster. David was looking forward to ToT, this was my ride Id been looking forward to. Once again we sail through the fast pass line. We watch the preshow and experience more pushing and shoving from adults. I wonder if these same people scold their children for pushing on the playground or if they just find pushing to be an acceptable behavior any time any where. We end up in the back row for this one. The fast part! as David says. I LOVED this ride! David even says he would like to go on it a few more times. Unforunately there is no time for that! Its time to head back to the meeting spot to get our kids back.
When we find Mom and Dad we discover that both kids have fallen asleep. Connor in the stroller and Brandon in Moms lap on the scooter. They didnt do any shows or anything, they just let the kids rest. We sit on a bench and chat for a while. Its the time we agreed to head out for lunch but no one is hungry yet since we at breakfast at 9:00. Mom and Dad go to stand in line for Playhouse Disney while David and start rousing the kids. They are both very excited to go and see Bear in the Big Blue house so its not tough to do. Dont miss the Playhouse Disney show if you have kids under 5! They were both singing and dancing and giggling the whole time.
After Playhouse Disney we decided if Dad and David were going to catch the Capital One bowl, we needed to head out. David and I are UGA alums and have season tickets to the home games in Athens. David couldnt believe we were in the same city as the game and not going. He was fine with not being there in person as long as he didnt miss it. If you cant be there in person, ESPN Zone is the next best thing! Against my opinion, Dad and David put the ECV in the back of Mom and Dads car b/c Mom was worried that the kids would want to return to the RV for a nap and it would be too heavy for she and I to lift alone. I figured since they napped for almost an hour in the park, they werent going to want to go back for a nap again so soon. Mom insisted she could walk it so Dad and David packed the ECV away. We took a boat ride from MGM. Dad and David got off at the Swan & Dolphin and walked to ESPN from there. Mom and I rode on to the Beach Club to go to Beaches and Cream. Once off the boat, we walked and walked and walked. My meal vouchers said that Beaches and Cream was at the Beach Club so thats where we went. The lobby was quite busy with guests doing check in/check out or whatever so there was no one to ask for directions. I went to look at the map of the resort and see that it lists Beaches and Cream as Yacht Club dining. So off we go walking to the Yacht Club. We get there and ask a CM where it is. Back that way, its between the Beach and Yacht. We go outside and I insist that weve been that way twice and there as nothing but pool so Mom and the boys sit down while I go hunting for it. Finally find it and go back toget everyone. By this time Connor is starving and getting fussy. We get to the door and are told it will be a 40 minute wait. There is no way we can do this with Connor so we ask what the nearest food option is. Hurricane Hannahs .in other words, the pool snack bar for the Beach Club. We can get burgers and hot dogs fine, as long as Connor eats SOON. The boys have hot dogs, Mom has a burger and I have a turkey wrap. Mine was good, Mom says hers was awful. The kids ate theirs so I guess it was OK. The problem with eating here is that we are literally AT the pool. This frustrate Brandon who doesnt understand why we didnt bring his suit so he could swim.
After lunch Brandon doesnt want to go back to MGM, he wants to try to find the characters from Brother Bear so we take a boat to Epcot to look for them. We arrive at the International Gateway and see that the World Showcase looks almost empty. Where are the crowds I kept hearing about? We havent seen them the last few days. We are lucky enough to find Koda and Kenai in the Canada pavilion. Brandon is thrilled to meet them. He sits in Kenais lap for photos and doesnt want to get up. Kenai kept hugging and kissing him and putting his paws over his mouth like he was laughing. Brandon was loving every minute of it. In the time it took for us to get up and get our stuff back together Koda and Kenai had to go back in. Brandon didnt see them leave and he spent a few minutes looking for them. With tears in his eyes he says theyre gone Mommy. I wanted them to play with me. Poor little guy.
When we left Canada we went to Mexico for the boat ride. After our ride we watched some street performers and were waiting to get a frozen drink when Dad and David called to tell us the game was over. We told them where we were and sat to wait for them. Once we met up with them Brandon announced that we all needed to ride the monorail. On our way to the monorail we got in another trip through Journey into Imagination, a stroll through Innoventions and another ride on Spaceship Earth. After that it was on to the monorail. He wanted to ride up front but it was getting close to dinner time so lots of people were leaving the parks and it was full. After the monorail, it was a bus ride back to MGM and back to the car. We decided to skip Fantasmic and save it for May. We figured we needed an early night for the kids.
Once back at the RV we ordered Pizza. Brandon started in on wanting to go swimming. We had been promising him for 2 days we would take him and we got in too late last night to go so I figured we should take him. David ends up saying you take him and Ill stay here with Connor. He says this because he has started watching a football game on tv. Connor loves to swim too so he would have liked to have gone but he didnt know he needed to protest. I tell David if it isnt going to be a family thing that he should take Brandon b/c I am tired. Big fight ensues. He doesnt want to go b/c hes watching this game. I point out that hes already watched one game today rather than doing things with his kids, that now he can take a half hour and play with his son rather than watch a game. He says hes not the one who told Brandon he could go (he wasnt right then but hed been promising all day for 2 days). He gripes about me saying Im tired b/c hes tired too. I point out that while his butt sat at ESPN for 4+ hours, I was walking the parks with the kids. This just makes him madder. I point out again that I didnt complain at all that he wanted to watch the UGA game rather than do Disney with us even though he had Tivo set to tape it at home that he could at least come swimming with all of us now. No go, more fighting. I finally cave and say fine, you get him changed then. He cant believe hes expected to do this. Im ticked b/c Im supposed to spend 4 hours more than him walking and still take Brandon to the pool by myself and I still have to get him dressed for the pool and of course bathe both kids and get them ready for bed at night all by myself. He gets Brandon dressed but not without stomping around and complaining the whole time. I of course do end up doing baths for both kids when I get back b/c he was too busy watching football. I go to bed thinking this is probably grounds for justifiable homicide, right?
