LOL, no kidding Angie. That's what I get for trusting my rusty old memory!
Friday December 23rd: The day started off with an extremely odd experience; while sleeping in the same room as my children, I was awakened by an alarm! Those of you that know my children, can understand my shock at still being asleep at 0700, hence needing an alarm. It took us awhile to get started this morning, we were all pretty wiped from the day before, but that ended up being a good thing, as the boys got to watch the new Holiday episode of Imagination Movers!
We headed down to have breakfast, and this time we were greeted with a friendly jester who gave the boys each a special coin they could toss in the lobby fountain to make a wish! We had breakfast at the Sassagoula Food Court and the kids were thrilled with the Mickey waffles, bacon and applesauce while the grownups went after the eggs and hashbrowns. This morning did remind me, however, of why I tend to get my coffee at the Cove onboard -- the stuff they serve at the buffets is yucky! >_<
Then began the waiting game: apparently we shouldn’t have detoured to the bathrooms to wash all the syrup off the boys, seeing as those few minutes caused us to just miss the bus to Disney Hollywood Studios. Of course, we didn’t figure that out for another 15 mins and the bus was another 10+ mins late getting back to the resort. It wouldn’t have been so bad, if in the meantime, Tyler hadn’t fallen off the bench and scraped his left knee all up. Poor baby.
Once we were finally on our way, we spent more time waiting at a traffic light the we did actually driving to the resort! I could not believe the number of people who came zooming up alongside us and the other buses waiting to turn left and then crammed in to cut us off. it was ridiculous!
Consequently, all that waiting meant we missed the opening of the park and were way behind all the people already running to Toy Story Mania.
We’d been tipped off that we needed to head there first and get FastPasses...ok, no problem. Except that apparently arriving at 9:18 means you get a FP for 3:30 in the afternoon... WHAT?! Well, that’s going to be a problem. Thanks to the Southwest Airlines dragon, and the boys’ relentless obsession with the pool, we had already designated the afternoon to doing things outside the park...fine. Forget this nonsense, we’re going to where our family belongs anyways: Star Tours!!
It didn’t take us long to find it, what with the giant AT-AT Walker outside and the wait was only 10 minutes. w00t! The Force is strong in my family!
DH had never been before and it was drastically changed from the last time I’d visited, so we were all vibrating with excitement. The DS’s watched the droids instructions far more avidly than any airplane ride they’d ever taken and were beyond ecstatic that Threepio was in the cockpit of the spaceship.
As my oldest DS exclaimed, “It felt like we were really jumping to hyperspace!!” An even further frustration, we couldn’t get a fastpass to comeback later because of the bogus Toy Story fiasco blocking us.
Bah. Humbug.
Up next, we visited the Muppets Studio, given that are kids have become the newest generation of fans after a recent trip to see them in the theatre.
We all enjoyed the hi-jinx of the Muppets as they attempted to master 3D vision, with absolutely no cheap tricks.
After wandering around for a bit, we found a place that opened at 11:30 for lunch: The Brown Derby!
What a fantastic idea this turned out to be! We were a bit hesitant when we saw the fancy decor inside, but the other patrons also wearing jean shorts and tennies put us at ease. We knew we were going someplace fun for the kids at dinnertime, so we wanted a “grown-up” type meal for lunch today! The wait staff was superb and they even had kids books (and menus) to keep them entertained. We really enjoyed ourselves.
The DH got the Duck Two-Ways and I had Filet of Beef with truffled potatoes and they boys were totally impressed with their triple decker grilled cheeses on whole wheat bread! The red wine with the meal reminded us how grateful we were for Disney transportation and the decadent desserts stuffed us full for our busy afternoon! We almost didn’t want to go back out into the hot, crowded park, but the Magic of Disney Animation awaited!
I’ll never cease to be amazed at how little kids are completely entranced by real people talking to characters on a TV screen and completely buying it! The artist had quite a routine going with Mushu, which the DH and I got a big giggle out of and we spent quite an enjoyable bit of time letting the kids explore the light, sound and color kiosk stations. According to Lumiere, my oldest DS is most like Flik from A Bug’s Life, the youngest is most like Aladdin (heaven help me!) my DH is most like Jiminey Cricket (coulda told ya that!) and I am most like Cinderella. Ah, yes, a true princess... (Stop laughing, Bonnie!!!)
At this point, we had to collect our photos from last night’s Photopass and our Star Tours photos from the front gate. We then took the bus back to the hotel, as the boys were jonesing to hit the dragon pool outside our room!
It was a great chance to cool off, relax a bit and get things organized before we headed someplace we none of us had never been before: Downtown Disney!
We were on a mission for two very specific things; which ended up being a life-saver! This place was huge and there’s no telling how much damage we might have done if we didn’t have something to focus on! The DH’s belts were one of the misfortunes of the SW airlines disaster and he needed them for his dinner outfits and I had (apparently naively) planned to buy our embarkation photo t-shirts somewhere in WDW a few days before Christmas... right? Yeah. So the good news was our resort was connected to Downtown Disney via boat. The bad news is the engine on that bad boy rattled so loudly in its metal hull I thought the fillings of my teeth were going to shake loose. >.>
But we arrived intact and only a few steps off the boat, we discovered a small kiosk that sold handmade belts and custom belt buckles! With a vendor from Green Bay WI...yeah, that’d be kismet, my friends! The DH had a blast picking out a casual brown and classy black leather belt (with a little help from the kids!) which were both fitted to his size and buckle preference. I took the boys off to be delighted by some local musician, playing his heart out at the nearby margarita bar... this is my kind of place!
At this point it was about 4 p.m. or so and we decided on a snack to tide us over until our late dinner; pretzels it is!! Sadly, having been raised on German-style gourmet pretzels, our whole family was sort of gooky and turned off by the lumpy pile of fried greasy, baked dough that is the American idea of soft pretzels. *sigh* After that, we divided and conquered at Disney’s “World of Toys”. And yes, for those of you that haven’t experienced it personally, it’s just as crazy as you might think.
I sent the boys off to look at toys as I figured I did not want them around while trying to find something as boring as t-shirts. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter much as I couldn’t find anything left and it was still 3 days before Christmas. And I don’t want to hear anything from the Disney veterans who are rolling their eyes right now, I’m telling you, such expectations are NOT unrealistic! Where else would you be able to sell off this stuff other than WDW resort 3 days before Christmas?? How can you be afraid of over stock? Seriously!!
When that didn’t work we tried the sales associate’s idea of the 365 Days of Christmas store, but, hey wouldn’t you know...they don’t have a single t-shirt of any kind...really? So then I suddenly remembered the place I researched: Design a Tee! You can put any design you want on a t-shirt and even personalize it! We showed up and waited anxiously for someone to answer our question... it takes an hour to print shirts. It’s now 5:45 and we have 7:30 dinner reservations. Given our problems of cutting it short the whole day, we decide waiting might be a bad idea. Can you send it to a Disney resort? Sure, it’ll take 48 hours...what?! We’re 15 mins away by boat, lady!! Ugh and
Bah Humbug!
Thoroughly disheartened at that point, I couldn’t condone dragging my kids anywhere else, so I left them with the DH, happily playing in the fountain while I trudged back to World of Disney to buy non-holiday shirts. As I walked slowly along, I passed a shop called “Fun Finds” that I’d actually cut through briefly earlier in the day. But this time I passed by a display window, with a dad and son mannequin wearing the exact shirts we needed for our cruise! After briefly Deciding against a mug-and-run, I went into the shop and marched up to a sweet-looking sales man and told him I needed those shirts in 4 sizes, where are they? He showed me what they had left and I managed to snag them in sizes for me and both the boys. Hm, well, guess Daddy will have to make do with a light-tangled Mickey shirt and his Santa hat.
Elated by my purchase, I make it back to the boys in time to suggest we head over to the bus stop and we arrived within a few minutes of the bus pulling up to the curb. It ended up being a *very* long ride as apparently it was necessary to switch drivers in between and we just barely made it to the Polynesian Resort with enough time to make it to dinner. Good thing we didn’t wait for the t-shirts!
I guess after reading reviews of Ohana’s online, I was expecting mass chaos, and maybe us being the 4th seating made a difference, but I thought the restaurant was almost too quite! I’d told my kids all kinds of fun stuff would be happening and I think they might have been a tad bored during the first part of dinner -- the youngest DS almost fell asleep in his booth seat!
We did all enjoy the coconut races and the hula lessons and the photo ops, but the boys were really not interested in the food (inorite?! Sacrilege!) so we were all very ready to head “home” by the time the bill came.
We inquired at the front desk and found that the monorail left from the same level we were on to head back to the Magic Kingdom... another first for the Barnes Crew! Then we walked a quick jaunt from there to the bus transfer lines and boarded the line back to French Quarter. All was going well, our sleepy boys were curled up on our laps in the dark bus...when suddenly DH sat bolt upright and said... “Do you have the bag?!” WHAT??! Yes, that’s right, we’d committed the ultimate tourist faux-pas. Leaving the restaurant and not bring our belongings with us.
So there we were, in the middle of a bus ride, realizing we’d made a mistake and there was nothing we could do about it. All that time and effort finding the right shirts and belts and now they were gone! Trying not to bug the kids, we frantically began whispering ideas about what to do. DH was all for turning around with the bus and heading right back to claim it... I was all for talking to the staff at Port Orleans. Given that we still had to discuss
DCL details with Bell Services, my idea won out. And boy am I glad we did!
We met a very nice Cast Member at the concierge desk who helped us out despite our stressed state. She invited us to go back to our room and relax, as she would call the restaurant and resort and see what she could do. She promised to call us in our room before she left that night and let us know what was going on. DH was reluctant, but we had to get the kids to bed.
Things were very tense as time went by and we didn’t hear anything. We could sure use some pixie dust right about now! The kids snuggled right down to sleep and we quietly worked in the semi-dark getting our luggage ready for the DCL 0830 pickup the next morning. Finally, exhausted and a bit deflated, I decided to take a shower to try to help me feel better. By the time I got out, my husband came over and whispered, “They found it.” I said I hadn’t heard the phone ring and he said Grace just left a message on the voice mail so she wouldn’t disturb the kids. We could hardly believe it; we’d gotten our Disney Christmas miracle!
This is what I love most about Disney: where else in the world could you possibly lose expensive merchandise and not only get it returned, but even have it delivered to your hotel?! We went to bed that night with huge smiles on our faces!
Quote of the Day ~ DH: “I was afraid a day and a half in the park would be too little, but MAN, I’m so ready to get on the boat!”
I did, however, post one previous trip report and HERE is the link to our MAGICal Mediterranean Cruise, if you're interested. 
I think my boys are going to be super excited to spend the day before our cruise at Disney Hollywood Studios. Legos, Star Wars, and Mickey, what more could a boy ask for?! 
I blame the fact that my son's birthday is this weekend. I've been baking Christmas cookies, prepping snacks and wrapping presents in my "free time" this week. But, hey, at least I have my dress, shoes and accessories for Christmas Dinner all ready to go! 
A girl has to be properly attired, ya know.
we plan to be there at park opening and stay until it's time to leave for dinner reservations at O'hana's. Anyone have an estimate on how long it will take to get to MK on park transfers at rush hour?! 
Now if we can just get things to straighten out in Cozumel... 
Since no sunscreen is allowed in the dolphin aquariums, I have matching swim trunks and shirts for the boys and coverups/t-shirts for Mommy and Daddy. Since this is also supposed to be Pirate Night, we pretty much figure we'll change into what we want to wear for dinner when we get back to the ship in the afternoon. 
We had stopped at the restrooms in Tomorrowland and still had a bit of time before our Space Mountain FastPass kicked in, so we wondered around a bit and talked about what else was going to happen that night. Then we found a place to sit right in front of the FP entrance and started chatting with the young CM there. Turns out he has the same name as my brother and is from where we are moving to next. We double checked to make sure that Tyler was tall enough for the ride and I remember, after having described the ride as slow and calm and peaceful to my kids, I had a brief moment of doubt about why the height requirement...? 
) I really think this was the perfect age for them to see it for the first time. They’re eyes were huge, the watched every second and were thoroughly delighted. Even my “mature” 8 yr old, got huge eyes, smiled brillantly and said “What the...?!” when Elliot the dragon came rolling by him! 
