Mommy and Jack’s Fall adventure! or Things I Learned About Traveling as a Single Mom!

[stephielela]

And we’re back! Jack and I spent 4 days and 3 nights at the fabulous Walt Disney World resort last week! For those of you who followed my incredible flip-flopping plans, you will be pleased to see there are still surprises ahead! For those of you just joining me (PTR can be found HERE), let me be the first to say, I had some trouble making up my mind about many different choices for this short trip. In the end, it turned out to be a great time, and definitely got us psyched for our big family Disney trip in December! (PTR for that trip can be found HERE)
First off, let me introduce you to the (small) cast. On this trip it was just me and my son Jack, age 2.5.

We left home before dawn on Tuesday September 28th for our 6:30 am flight. I had Monday off so Jack went to daycare in the morning so I could dye my hair and take a nap (the night before I had a massive headache when I got home from work so I hadn’t slept well). I picked him up after lunch and we went to the park to meet my mom for her lunch break, and so Jack could burn off some energy and get really tired for his early bedtime. At this point I noticed he had a runny nose, but it wasn’t that unusual, especially since I think he has mild seasonal allergies. Things went as planned and I put him to bed about 8 pm and I headed to bed around 9. Sure enough a few hours in, he was awake and crying with a rough, barky cough. My dad volunteered to get up with him since I needed to get some rest, but there really is no sleeping through that, so we were all up. This lasted most of the night. Eventually my dad slept in Jack’s bed with him for a few hours, but needless to say 4:45 am came pretty quickly! Once he was up and about, he was in a pretty good mood, so we got ready and got out the door right on time! We checked our luggage at the curb and made our way to security, which was pretty painless. It wasn’t until we were all settled that I realized our plane stopped in St. Louis on the way to Orlando! Luckily we didn’t get off the plane. I had packed blueberry muffins for the plane, but Jack didn’t want any. I thought he might sleep on the plane since he hadn’t slept much, but no… Here is my wide awake boy after we switched seats in St. Louis! (We managed to get in the 3rd row!)

Once everyone got on in St. Louis the mood of the airplane definitely changed. There were a TON of kids and families and everyone was excited about going to see Mickey! Lots of the kids were well behaved… lots were not, but whatever, we were on our way to Disney! Side note, my son was extremely (surprisingly) well behaved!
We got into Orlando right on time, actually about 5 minutes early, and we made our way to the Magical Express area. It is a loooooooong walk! (I don’t have my notes on me right now, so later I will add in the times. ) We had to wait about 10 minutes for our ME bus, but once we got on, the excitement really set in! It is a 35 minute ride from the airport and the movie starts “6 minutes” into the ride (per the CM driving the bus). The video really helped set the stage for our fabulous vacation!

After our first stop (CBR) we pulled into our home for the next 3 nights!

We went right up to the online check in desk and the CM was very nice, but he informed us our room wasn’t ready yet. I had faxed over a request that was very specific (I even gave them 3 examples of perfect rooms) so I wasn’t surprised I had to wait, especially since he informed me I was in the building I requested and on the floor I requested. Jack and I went to eat lunch, I had the chicken penne alfredo, apple juice, and tie dye cheesecake (yay!) and Jack got the kid’s cheese pizza with chocolate milk, grapes and a cookie. I also picked up my refillable mug.

We went to find a seat and this is when Jack had his first meltdown of the trip. He had spotted Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV and he demanded to sit right by the TV. Luckily there was a booth open right in front of the TV. After we ate we checked out the store and bought postcards and Jack got a plastic Mickey figure. Then we walked around the property a bit. Jack got a kick out of seeing the giant Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead.

We had tickets to MNSSHP, and my original plan was to nap till 3:30 pm and then head into the park, but I knew he would need at least a 2 hour nap, and we weren’t even in the room yet. We got a text saying our room was ready and it was 1:45 pm and it was the EXACT room I wanted (#9137)!! We went in and I got Jack ready for nap and we climbed into our beds. Jack was out pretty quickly, but I started to worry about our luggage delivery. I had put up the privacy please sign, but I really wanted our luggage… so at 2:30 I was still awake when I heard the guy delivering the luggage outside our room. He was talking on his radio and when he said our room number I leapt out of bed so that he wouldn’t leave. I got our luggage and felt bad because I didn’t have any $ for a tip. I went ahead and unpacked and got all our stuff set, and wrote out all of our postcards so we could mail them form the Magic Kingdom. Then the rain started…

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I'm in! I have to view your photos one by one, though. It sounds like your trip got off to a decent start! Can't wait to read more!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

I'm here! Looking forward to your report.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

YAY!!! I'm here!!! I can't believe you are back already??? Can't wait to here all about the trip!!! Jack is so stinking cute!

 

[stephielela]

Sorry about the picture thing... I was trying get it posted during my last 15 minutes of work so I skipped a crucial step in the photo posting process

Also can anyone tell me how to change my title... it's obviously too long...

The rest of day 1 will be up today!

 

[stephielela]

So when I left off I had just finished writing out our postcards (which by the way STILL haven’t arrived) and I had realized it was raining… and thundering… and lightning… and Jack was still FAST asleep in his pirate costume (since we didn’t have any luggage and his clothes were messy from lunch I figured why not). I wasn’t sure what the best course of action was… should I wait till the rain stopped? But what if it didn’t stop? Should I see if I could switch tickets to Thursday? What if it rained on Thursday too? In the end I decided to wait a little longer and see what happened. Jack woke up around 4:30 and was a bit disoriented, but once he remembered where we were he was fine. We got loaded up, and the rain had lightened to a persistent drizzle, so we headed out around 5.
This is where I made a mistake I am hesitant to even admit, but just a learning opportunity for others, I will go ahead and humiliate myself by telling you guys… I got on the wrong bus!
Here’s how it happened- we made our way to the bus stop and got in the really long Magic Kingdom line. They were loading two ECV’s and there was at least a full busload of people in front of us. Then an Epcot bus pulled up. Now we have almost always rented a car at Disney, so we usually drive to the parks. When you try to drive to Magic Kingdom (or Epcot) you have to park at the TTC, from which you can get to either park. I for some inexplicable reason had a brain fart and thought the same was true about the buses… so we went and got in the Epcot line which was empty, and a bus was just pulling up. I know, I know, that is NOT a mistake I should have made… but it gets worse. Though in my defense, there was a couple in front of us in the MK line who also got into the Epcot line, so I figured they were doing the same thing.
So now we are at Epcot (I of course realized my mistake moments into the ride) and there is a long line for the monorail, and I didn’t want to deal with bag check and waste more time so I decided to take a cab. I walk over to the cab area and as I get there the 3 cabs waiting pull away. So we waited… in the drizzle… and then a cab came! And then the cab driver packed 7 other people on with us, none of which were going to the same place, and charged me $16 for the honor of being transported. He proceeded to drop us off at the ACTUAL TTC (I thought since a cab picked me up at Epcot, it would drop me off at MK instead of the TTC), where we boarded a monorail… which stopped at the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian before FINALLY depositing us (at approx. 6 pm) at the gates of the festively decorated Magic Kingdom! Once we arrived I decided to put the unpleasantness of getting there (due to my own stupidity) behind us and just enjoy ourselves as much as possible, despite the rain.

The original plan was to go to Columbia Harbour House for dinner, and then ride Haunted Mansion. Once we were through the gates I decided our first order of business would be to purchase 2 ponchos. Then we threw our plans out the window and headed to Pirates of the Caribbean first! I had my little Pirate with me, and I thought it would be a great way to start out the night… there was no wait whatsoever (this would be the theme of the night) and I figured we could stop and buy a sword after to complete Jack’ s ensemble! It was great… until halfway through the queue area when he started to get freaked out by the darkness. It ended up being ok, but not his favorite ride, though he did get a sword out of the deal and I got a cute picture (even though) he wouldn’t get out of the stroller).

After POTC I decided we needed to do something he would LOVE to get him into the right mood for the party, so we hauled it all the way back to Tomorrowland (still in the rain) to do Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. I was right, he did enjoy it, especially the giant Buzz you see as you get in line.

He was still a bit nervous, but he had a good time. You can't see it in the picture but he even scored a few points! After that we rode the TTA, which got stuck in the spot where you watch the people on Space Mountain getting ready to take off, and while we were riding around I saw that the Trick-or-Treating had started AND there was Buzz Lightyear posing for pics and signing (ok, stamping) autographs! I got Jack over there ASAP and he was SO EXCITED to see Buzz! He would have stayed there with him all night if I had let him.

And this is when our Halloween Miracle occurred! It STOPPED raining! I was so excited I wanted to dance for joy! We went and rode Buzz again and hit up a few T-o-T trails and then headed over to Toontown. We went through Minnie’s house and then rode Goofy’s Barnstormer which Jack LOVED, and I was surprised at how roller-coaster-y it was. I figured since it was for kids it would be pretty tame but it was AWESOME! After Barnstormer we went back to Mickey’s house and the Judge’s tent to meet Mickey and Minnie!

I think we only waited about 15 minutes, and when it was our turn Jack was perfect! He interacted really well with both Mickey and Minnie and kissed Minnie on the cheek and even smiled for the camera! I had been concerned since up until this trip he has been a bit apprehensive anytime he came in contact with a costumed character (Easter bunny, Dinosaur at T-Rex, etc) but he had no fear this time around!
After meeting the big cheese(s) we went back to the Barnstormer and proceeded to ride 3 more times, without even getting off! (We could have ridden again, but I was ready to move on). I asked Jack if he was hungry and he said he wasn’t so we went over to Fantasyland. We rode Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Carousel, and Peter Pan, and of course there was a wait for Peter Pan (there is always a wait for this ride! Why???)

We also hit a few more T-o-T trails. By this time it was about 8:45 so I knew we wouldn’t see the first parade, but I figured we could change Jack’s diaper and get some dinner at Casey’s in time for the fireworks. We were in Casey’s FOREVER trying to order and get out. I got a hot dog meal with fries, brownie and coke on the dining plan, and then we ordered the corn dog nuggets and lemonade- Jack had the lemonade and the hot dog meal and I ate the corn dog nuggets… The brownie got tossed in the backpack and forgotten about. We got out right before HalloWishes started so I parked our stroller with the food in it and put Jack on my shoulders and we stood on the curb and watched. He liked the fireworks too, which I was super glad about since he typically is torn about whether to love or hate them. After the fireworks we ate our now cold hot dogs and then we went into Adventureland and Frontierland for candy and the dance party with Woody and Jessie! Jack was happy to see his favorite girl!

I also got my first ever Dole Whip float! I sincerely wish I had a picture of that disaster… it started melting instantly and I was trying to push the stroller and hold onto it… I ended up taking 2 bites to say I had tried it (and it was pretty good) and then threw it away once we made it back to Main St. We lined up on the curb and waited about 10 minutes before the Headless Horseman cam “rushing” by. I really liked the parade, it was awesome, and Jack was really excited to see Goofy at the end. We were standing right by a mailbox on a lamp post, so I reached into my backpack and dropped off our missing postcards… hopefully they make it soon!

After the parade we lingered on Main St, stopped in the Emporium and then headed out to the bus stop, taking a couple pictures along the way! I really enjoyed the party and I would love to do it again… I asked a CM at the exit if it was usually that empty this early in the season, or if it was the weather, and she said it was definitely the weather. So I guess the weather was a blessing in a very very good disguise!

We got back to the room about 11:45, and Jack wanted a snack so I let him have some pretzel goldfish while I got everything ready for bed! We were asleep by 12:30!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Love the picture of Jack with Jessie! He's absolutely adorable!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Joining in. I need to go back and catch up.

 

[nejjie]

Really enjoying your trip report.. that stinks about the transportation mix up!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Great update! The party looks like a lot of fun. That stinks with the transportation. I would think that a taxi would drop you off at the park too. I'll remember that for future trips. I'm glad Jack warmed up to the characters!

 

[stephielela]

This was our first full day, and after the late night before, I had decided we would sleep in. I got up before Jack, took a shower and got dressed, and then when Jack started stirring I helped him wake up a bit quicker by reminding him we were going to see Nemo today! He declined my offer of a chocolate pop tart for breakfast, so we were on our way to the bus stop earlier than I had expected. I would have to go back and look at my tweets, but I know we got to the park before 11 am. We waited in line for bag check which was speedy but thorough, and headed through the gates! It was a bit overcast, but that was fine with me, it made it nice and cool. The first thing I noticed was the F&W festival stuff was already up!

First we rode Spaceship Earth, as is mandatory (unless you are dashing off to Soarin’ or Test Track). We walked right up, no line whatsoever! Jack was a little nervous due to the darkness, but he seemed to enjoy the ride, though he was very serious throughout. He did enjoy pressing the options on the screen to “build our future”.

After SE we rolled on over to The Seas and hurried right in to ride Nemo! There was no wait, but man, it’s a looooooong walk! WE got right into our Clam-mobile and before we really got into the ride, I snapped a quick pic of Jack’s fascinated face!

He really like the ride, but I am not sure he grasped the concept. Once we were done we took a quick stroll through the aquarium and then went to the gift shop where Jack picked up his most prized possession of the trip, a Nemo plush!

*hidden Mickey*
After Nemo it was about 11:30 so I decided we should go ahead and head on over to Biergarten for our (often canceled and reinstated) 12:15 pm reservation. I kept going back and forth on this one, I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the money, but I am so glad we did. We took the Friendship Boat since we had time to kill. Jack enjoyed the boat ride, but kept talking about how Nemo was going to go swimming in the water. I told him Nemo was NOT allowed to swim in that water under any circumstances, and that the birds would eat him.

Biergarten was great! Jack really hadn’t eaten much up tp this point and I thought that a nice solid sit–down lunch would be good for both of us. It was delicious! Jack ate a bunch, as did I, and they even brought him a Gingerbread Boy cookie, which I thought was awesome since I wasn’t paying for him (kids under 3 are free at buffets). I of course ordered a beer, it was the Radeberger Pilsner (not sure if I spelled that right), and she said it was the light beer. It was ok, I didn’t love it, but it was decent and I drank it. Side note: I cannot believe I didn’t take any pictures here! I’m not sure what was wrong with me! We stuck around till 1:15 for the show which was pretty cute. The other couples at our table were nice, they thought Jack was pretty cute and very well behaved, which made me happy. They were at one end and we were at the other so we didn’t interact much, but that was ok with me, it let us have a nice quiet lunch.
After lunch we looked around a bit and stopped in at the shop in Italy to get 2 blown glass angels that my mom LOVES, and Jack unfortunately keeps breaking (not on purpose). I got a gold one for my mom and a blue one for my grandmother (she gave us a check for our trip which I was extremely grateful for). They are pretty expensive, but they are very nice. I love that store, I found some lovely jewelry but it was too pricey for this trip, so maybe I will get something in December. This store made me extremely nervous with Jack, so I had him strapped into his stroller tightly. The girl helping us with our purchase thought he was adorable, and he flirted with her shamelessly! She gave him about 10 Mickey stickers as a reward. I had the angels shipped back to the resort, and we headed out to the bus stop so we could get home and take a nap and go for a swim!
First we stopped by the Goofy fountains which ended up being Jack’s favorite thing at the hotel (possibly of the whole trip). He ran and ran and laughed, it was pretty funny.

Then we went to the big pool and swam around for a bit before heading back for our nap. We took a pretty good nap and ended up heading back to the park later than I had planned, but it was worth it.

Once we got back to Epcot, we went and rode SE again and then headed back to Nemo. After that we took some pics in front of the Nemo characters.

Next we stopped by the Character spot and discovered the line was 45 minutes long, so we passed on that and headed to the Electric Umbrella to get Jack chicken nuggets. We waited FOREVER here, which was frustrating because after that we headed to the Cantina at Mexico and I discovered they had chicken nuggets too! I can’t believe I didn’t remember that. Anyways, my plan was to get dinner for me at the Cantina and hang out and watch Illuminations from there. I got over there a little before 9 and it was PACKED! There wasn’t much of an alternative though, so I got in line, got my nachos and my passion fruit margarita and started trying to find a place to sit while balancing my full tray and pushing my stroller. An angel of a man then came and rescued me! He swooped over and asked how many seats I needed and I told him I just needed one for me and he invited us to come and sit at the table with him and his wife. He even carried my tray. I almost cried tears of joy! I sat down with them for a few minutes (and thanked them profusely) and we chatted and then they headed out, so I let Jack get out of his stroller and sit in a seat so he would be able to see better. Then a large group of people with a passel of kids came looking for seats and I just knew I had to pass on the Disney magic so I offered up our two extra seats. It turned out to be a lovely family, a woman with her grown son and his wife and family and her grown daughter as well who were staying at Fort Wilderness campgrounds. One of the girls, I think she was about 10 chatted with me the whole time. Our view was pretty limited from where we were, but we saw enough to make Jack happy, he was so excited for the fireworks, and for the glo bracelets I had brought (he even shared one with the other little boy who was a few months younger), and it was kind of relaxing not to worry about having the best vantage point. I enjoyed my margarita and chatting with the girl, who was as blunt as only children can be (she asked where Jack’s father was and why he wasn’t with us). It was pretty nice. After the show we headed out (Jack needed a diaper change pretty bad) and went to Norway to the restroom. Afterwards I went into the bakery and bought my first ever school bread!! Then Jack and I went back to Mexico to ride the ride. The nice lady at the entrance of the ride gave Jack a strip of Mickey stickers that was as tall as Jack! (Literally, she measured them out according to his height!) and we went on our Gran Fiesta tour. Jack loved looking for Donald and we had the boat almost to ourselves.
After the ride we looked around the shopping area and Jack tried on a big hat. I bought the black reusable bag that has all the countries of the World Showcase.

We started heading for the exit and we stopped to do some photopass pics with SE in the background.

They turned out pretty well, so I might buy one, since I’d like to have at least one picture of the two of us from this trip! Then we stopped in Mousegears where Jack found a million things he wanted, but settled for just a cup with Mater and McQueen on it. We finally left the park at 11 pm, but the line for the bus was pretty long so we didn’t get back to our room till 11:40 pm. We stopped by the soda machine at the food court, and the attendant let me fill up Jack’s new cup with water. Then we went back to the room and crashed, and I knew we were not going to make it to rope drop the next morning…

 

[DisneyFirefly]

That sounds like it was a wonderful day! Jack is absolutely adorable and I love the pics of Jim playing in the fountain. He looks like such a sweetheart!

 

[stephielela]

That sounds like it was a wonderful day! Jack is absolutely adorable and I love the pics of Jim playing in the fountain. He looks like such a sweetheart!

Thanks! He is a sweetheart about 75% of the time... you should see him when he's not... not so adorable then, but still pretty funny. He LOVED that fountain! He seems to be fascinated by all things water... there will be more about that in my next update. As far as our Epcot day, I definitely didn't get as much done as I wanted, but it was a relaxed day, which was good for us. I knew Jack wouldn't be done for browsing the shops in each country, I just wish I'd had the energy to get back over to France for some chocolate mousse! Oh well, there's always next trip!

 

[jenseib]

You guys really were on the go. Jack is so stinking cute!

With the MK bus top and TTC, I think only buses are allowed to drop you off up at the gate. I don't think Taxi's are allowed to, but I could be wrong. You must've taken the resort monrail, since you had all those stops. We once rode it around, just for fun and it sat at the Comtepory forever!
So glad the halloween party worked out well for you though.

WE love Pop too. It's alot of fun for little ones.

 

[therussells08]

I'm here! That picture of Jack with Jessie is ADORABLE!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Oh man I just love MNSSHP!!! One of my all time favorite events!!! Jack is just too darn cute!!! Those pics with Jessie and Woody are priceless!!!

 

[leshunlenese]

loving your report! i miss mickey and MNSSHP is so great i just went nad those were the best fireworks ever and jack is so cute. he was so happy in that pic im guessing he is a toy story fan

 

[I Believe In Magic]

Just joining in!! Your little one is so adorable he reminds me a LOT of my son when he was that age (and now he is 19 sniff sniff) you can tell the 2 of you have a blast. I can't wait to read more!!

 

[peterpanlover96]

I Believe In Magic told me to come take a look at your trip report and I'm glad I did VERY cute son, and it sounds like so far your trip has been super fun. I'll be subbing and waiting for the next update

 

[spurk5532]

I'm jumping in. My ds is the same age and I am sure we will be doing many mommy and son trips in the future.