Royal Me This, Royal Me That ~ Disney in December, How About That? *Update 6-1* P26

[TarzansKat]

NOW you were channeling your inner Z! LOL

You noticed that, huh?

Do you know that when my phone rings and he asks who it is and I say it's you he now starts yelling "Hi Kitty Kat!" before I can even answer.

Dork.

Dork?

Or sweetheart?

Methinks the latter.

But I will say this, when I hung up with you I knew, just knew, that you were happy to be Where the Magic Lives with your ladies and your lil' man.

I was. That is true.

I was worried about this at the Poly. I'd read the horror stories. But I'm happy to report we were very pleased. Not only was our room ALWAYS ****

Apparently, you've discovered a word you can't say on the DIS. Oddly enough, I would never have thought anything was wrong with that word until it got bleeped out on you, but now I know why.

and span, but turndown was at the exact same time each day, so we always knew when to expect it AND the Mousekeepers were sweet as pie, always saying "Aloha!" and asking how we were enjoying ourselves.

And no, I'm not trying to convince you to go Poly next time you go DEluxe at all.

No siree Bob.

Temptress.

They name is Tink.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Dork?

Or sweetheart?

Methinks the latter.

Wait.
Have you MET my boyfriend?

LOL

No. You're right. He's a sweetie.

AND a dork.

Apparently, you've discovered a word you can't say on the DIS. Oddly enough, I would never have thought anything was wrong with that word until it got bleeped out on you, but now I know why.

Oh GEEZ. What I was attempting to say is that our room was SpicNSpan (NOspraycleaner). As in clean. Not as in derogatory racist term.

Clean!Clean!Clean people!

Temptress.

They name is Tink.

My halo is hiding my horns.

 

[MegansMom]

What a rough day kiddo---glad it is over, so wishing for things to be better and brighter "tomorrow!"

 

[jewels1916]

Hi TK! I have enjoyed reading your TR...now I am going to go read your PTR! Although the number of posts has me a little intimidated...not gonna lie!

Can't wait to read the next update!

 

[TarzansKat]

Wait.
Have you MET my boyfriend?

LOL

No. You're right. He's a sweetie.

AND a dork.

So what you're saying is, he's a swork.

My halo is hiding my horns.

I knew it!

What a rough day kiddo---glad it is over, so wishing for things to be better and brighter "tomorrow!"

Thanks!

Hi TK! I have enjoyed reading your TR...now I am going to go read your PTR! Although the number of posts has me a little intimidated...not gonna lie!

Can't wait to read the next update!

Thank you for coming on over! Happy to have you here, and bless you for trying to read the PTR!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

So what you're saying is, he's a swork.

Or a dweetie.

 

[daze]

I was WRONG!!! No rum. It's good that you had a moment with your son, it's moments like that, that make being a parent extra great.

 

[TarzansKat]

I was WRONG!!! No rum. It's good that you had a moment with your son, it's moments like that, that make being a parent extra great.

Hey, welcome back! I hope you had a great trip.

 

[TarzansKat]

No joke, guys. The journal says, "Finally, sleep!!!!"

So apparently, I got some sleep that night, and was soooo happy about it. HRH only kicked me a few times in the course of the night, and didn't wake me up until 640. That was downright late compared to the day before. Now, being that I was exhausted, I did try to get him to go back to sleep, but to no avail. He was up.

And it was time to commence the routine. Bath for him, breakfast he would barely eat (why oh why did I waste room in my luggage packing that stuff ) and getting myself ready.

And of course, the waiting for Mom and Nana. Mostly Mom. Nana may be older, but she's faster. Bless her. She's lower maintenance in regard to the getting ready department. Like me. You'd almost think we were related.

Now I have to say, I really didn't mind the leisurely morning. It was nice to take it slow, even if HRH does get a little antsy.

But I have to tell you this. I had that feeling. You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're following a set plan and you have a nagging idea that something else would be better.

And I know where we went wrong. I know what we should have done that day. And it would have made so much more sense. But I think I'll save that until the end.

Suffice it to say we headed off to the Magic Kingdom despite my trepidation, which I chose not to voice to anyone. Therefore, I make my bed, I lie in it.

I do have to say though, when we walked into the Magic Kingdom, I thought, "Now this is what a park is supposed to look like for Christmas." I don't know why, but those decorations just spoke to me. They were beautiful, and I loved it. There's something magical (cliche, I know) about the Magic Kingdom decorated for this holiday. Fall in the World may be my favorite, but December was very nice.

Now of course, by the time we get in, I'm starving. Who's surprised? And Casey's is open, so Mom and Nana know I'm going to want my traditional hot dog. We make our way down there and get to ordering, and HRH surprises me by wanting the apple slices with his meal. Truthfully, he barely ate the hot dog. No joke, I went back and got him two more servings of apple slices. There was as little back and forth between myself and the cast members (friendly) until they figured out you can really purchase those separately. This is the healthy choice they offer for kids, and I was grateful. Honestly, as much as my son my want candy, or that kind of carp, he's not a really junky meal type eater. The only junk I see him wanting for meals is McDonald's. Other than that, he's so happy to be having fruit, or being able to have some more "adult" things off the menus. Which is why I have such a hard time feeding him in the World. There's so much carp. And I'm so used to eating that for counter service, that I'm going to need to broaden my horizons and look at other things, even if it's just for him and we still get what we want.

But I digress. Although, what is a trip if not to teach what you could do better next time? Hindsight, and all that.

Now, I'll admit, Mom and I were so awed by the decor, and I was so hungry, that we didn't do the first thing we should have done when we got there.

And that was get an ECV for Nana.

I can't tell you how HORRIBLE I felt for not remembering that. I mean, it was my priority for her for the whole trip, and I forgot. And I felt like a schmuck. Because Nana will keep going as long as you ask her to. I mean, she stops when she has to, but I don't want that for her. Do you know what I mean? I felt awful.

Being that we were there and without option, we moved onward (Mom and I having discussions throughout the day about considering renting one full time for the whole trip in the future, even though you have the whole bus debacle and we wrote down numbers on rented ones we saw), everyone decided to head to Tomorrowland. Since we all love the TTA and Buzz, it was a good direction to go on.

We headed over to the TTA, Nana decided to sit it out. There was a huge line. Now why is there ever a huge line at a ride that is in perpetual motion and can load lots of people pretty quickly?

Well because it's broken, duh!

So we waited in line. It's the only ride HRH asks to go on, and by gum, he's going on it. We chatted with people in front of us, and eventually, things got fixed, and we got on, taking our traditional "we're on the TTA" pictures. Have I ever told you all about this? Every time we ride that, we take pictures of each other on it, right at the beginning. I guess you could say those are my how we grow type pictures from Disney, because we do that without fail, every year. It's just one of our family things.

Anyway, that's a great ride as you all know. I don't know what it is, but I've loved it since it was the Wed Way People Mover.

After that, we met up with Nana and tried to use some of our special fastpasses to head over to Buzz.

Guess what happened?

It broke down.

Oh, we were cursed. My gut was nagging me with what I thought we should have done. We were disappointed because Nana was actually coming with us on this one, and that ride can be hard for her to get into. Of course, it broke down and they were attempting to escort us out when we thought, hey! They have our special fastpasses! We want them back. And Mom retrieved them. As nicely as possible. We were upset.

So what next?

Well, HRH had LOVED the speedway when we were there in September. Now since I was both myself and DH (ha ha) on this trip, it was my job to take him. And for all the ribbing I got from Mom about my ditching them in Epcot, she and Nana left HRH and I to fend for ourselves. In the 30 minute wait. I was cool with it. After all, I liked the alone time with my boy. The only reason I was a little sad is because when my husband took HRH in September, I waited by the sidelines to take their pictures. And no one would be doing that for me.

I know, I could have spoken up and asked. But there was no way I was going to make Nana stand in the sun, savvy? Although they could have split, but hey, they wanted to do their own thing. Who was I to protest?

So HRH and I waited, and he was pretty good for me in line, I was impressed.

We finally got to the loading area, and I was excited! I haven't been on that ride since I was a kid.

And I was going to let my three year old drive.

Truly, I was a brave woman. I believe I actually called DH while we were in line and asked him exactly how much driving he let HRH do in September. So I was well coached.

And then, just as our YELLOW car pulled up, and the other guests disembarked, HRH looked at me and uttered the words that no parent about to enter a ride you've waited any length of time for wants to hear.

"Mama, I need to pee."

:::sigh:::




Up next - What next?

 

[MegansMom]

UGH!!! NOT that infamous line!!!!! I think WDW should come up with a Parent Pass---I am sure that happens so often---they need to give you a way to get back in that line! Where did Nana and Mom go while you all were waiting?

 

[jenjolt]

OH NO...you're kidding me!! Poor you...Poor HRH....I can't wait to see what you did? Aww to not following your gut feeling, you have me anxious to see what you would have suggested instead...little cliffhanger leaver you are LOL

Well continue to feel better!!! I want an update soon!!!

 

[TarzansKat]

UGH!!! NOT that infamous line!!!!! I think WDW should come up with a Parent Pass---I am sure that happens so often---they need to give you a way to get back in that line! Where did Nana and Mom go while you all were waiting?

I see you are familiar with that line.

You know, honestly, I think they went somewhere into Fantasyland, but I'm not truthfully 100%. I'll have to ask them.

OH NO...you're kidding me!! Poor you...Poor HRH....I can't wait to see what you did? Aww to not following your gut feeling, you have me anxious to see what you would have suggested instead...little cliffhanger leaver you are LOL

Well continue to feel better!!! I want an update soon!!!

It was just that kind of a day, you know! I have to laugh now, what else can I do?

Thanks, I'm on the mend.

 

[MegansMom]

I see you are familiar with that line.

Megan has this problem especially at restaurants----she will NEVER have to go to the bathroom, until RIGHT after our meal comes out all nice and piping hot, and THEN "MOMMY, I HAVE TO GO TO THE POTTY!!!!!!!!" Never......fails.......ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

"Mama, I need to pee."

Please.
Remind me of this if ever we are on a road trip together with your son and I see a sign that says, "Next Rest Area: 100 miles."

I have the feeling the inevitable would strike there also.

And how many times have I told you to listen to that little voice that apparently lives in the pit of your stomach? LOL

It's not always hunger, you know, but it is always right.

 

[If U Had Wings]

My nieces are the two queens of that line. Usually they time it for the start of dinner too. They no longer appreciate when I make announcements that they will at least try before I take them places, but I've learned the hard way with them.

Your brave for driving with your DS. I did it once with my younger niece. Let's just say I hope she improves alot by the time she starts to drive. I think she was intentionally hitting the rail.

 

[TarzansKat]

Megan has this problem especially at restaurants----she will NEVER have to go to the bathroom, until RIGHT after our meal comes out all nice and piping hot, and THEN "MOMMY, I HAVE TO GO TO THE POTTY!!!!!!!!" Never......fails.......ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, that figures! Nice hot meal, right? And I hate cold food.

Please.
Remind me of this if ever we are on a road trip together with your son and I see a sign that says, "Next Rest Area: 100 miles."

I have the feeling the inevitable would strike there also.

See, at least I'm fully aware that I have a small bladder and take necessary precautions. The boy...who knows?

And how many times have I told you to listen to that little voice that apparently lives in the pit of your stomach? LOL

It's not always hunger, you know, but it is always right.

Why oh why do I ignore my gut?

My nieces are the two queens of that line. Usually they time it for the start of dinner too. They no longer appreciate when I make announcements that they will at least try before I take them places, but I've learned the hard way with them.

Glad to know I'm not the only one.

Your brave for driving with your DS. I did it once with my younger niece. Let's just say I hope she improves alot by the time she starts to drive. I think she was intentionally hitting the rail.

I remember the thrill of being able to do that ride by myself. I was so proud. Horribly cautious, but so proud.

 

[daze]

See, at least I'm fully aware that I have a small bladder and take necessary precautions. The boy...who knows?

When I was little, my dad's standard response was "Tough". I learned to hold it REAL quick. (I am by no means advocating that particular method of parenting BTW. It obviously didn't work that well, as evidenced by me)

daze

 

[TarzansKat]

When I was little, my dad's standard response was "Tough". I learned to hold it REAL quick. (I am by no means advocating that particular method of parenting BTW. It obviously didn't work that well, as evidenced by me)

daze

AW! You poor thing.

I was so nervous, because as a potty training toddler (so I am informed) when I said I had to go, it meant right then. Then. Right then. You got me? So I was warring with, is my son just like me or can he hold it?

 

[TarzansKat]

So when last we left our intrepid travelers they were faced with daunting prospects.

In short, could DS make it through the whole of the Speedway without needing to visit the royal loo?

Oddly enough, our car was yellow. Which the CM was kind enough to point out to me, and then laugh.

And I laughed too. Because it was one of those kind of trips, and sometimes you just have to laugh. Reinforce that positive energy back out into the world. And World.

So board our yellow car we did, DS in the driver's seat. We'd had a thorough discussion about the concept of "holding it" and making it through the whole ride.

Now I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I was one nervous mama! Not only was this the first time on this ride with my son (which I thoroughly enjoyed) but it was the first time we'd ever run into this particular issue, and I had no idea whether or not we'd be having a mess to clean up.

He made it!

That boy. I was so proud!!! And his driving, well, let's just say I had to grab the steering wheel a couple of times. But I loved going in that car with him. He was adorable, he was happy, and it was great. And if you can imagine a much better mother and son moment than that, I'm not sure what it would be. As a matter of fact, that was probably one of my best moments that whole day. Just me and the boy.

So, needless to say, as soon as we pulled back to the starting point, I unbuckled that child and picked him up faster than you can say "Where is the royal loo?"

And I ran. With a 40+ pound toddler in my hands.

I must have been an interesting sight. Of course, there is that metal stairwell you have to make your way through, and I was more cautious going down that. But as soon as I hit ground, I bolted for the nearest bathroom in Tomorrow Land.

Which happened to have a BIG. FAT. LINE.

Hoo boy.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.

I can now tell you all about the pattern on the wall of that Tomorrowland bathroom. You know, the one relatively close to Auntie Gravity's Goodies? I can tell you about it because it was the diversionary tactic that kept my poor little nut from having an accident. We counted circles. We counted squares. Oh, we counted patterns in that wall over and over and over again until finally it was our turn to go! YIPPEE! Oddly enough, that smilie almost actively conveys a little pee pee dance, don't you think?

And when I got towards the front of the line, another mom with some older girls said, oh, why didn't you tell us, we would have let you go first! You know truthfully, I just didn't think to ask. I mean, I know he's a fairly newly potty trained kid, but I just didn't expect that of people, you know? It was very sweet of her to say.

And I'm happy to report that we did make it, accident free. Double

And let me tell you, that's a long time to hold something in. The poor kid. He was a trooper. I was so proud.

Once we'd finished conducting our business, it was time to meet up with Mom and Nana, so we retrieved the stroller and headed towards Fantasyland. We ended up bumping into them as they'd started back down, and although I don't remember exactly how it came about, we all decided to get the boy his very first Mickey Ice Cream Bar.

His very first.

That was a moment for me, folks.

The coveted Mickey Bar, so well talked about on the DIS and here was my boy having his very first one. I know he'd asked for some kind of treat, and when we went to the cart, we let him pick, and he picked this.

And it was fun to watch him eat it. It really was. And I was ready with wipes and napkins, so that nary a drop would end up on his clothes.

Although truthfully, if it had, I wouldn't care. I'm not so much worried about that as my mom is, and so in order to not cause her undue stress, the wipes were handy.

When the boy was done, we decided to head over to Fantasyland and let him blow off some steam. Therefore, we discovered a place that should be sacred to parents with very active children.

I have to tell you that DS had a great time running around this playground. I got this fantastic picture of him playing with the water, one arm raised, one arm down, a sort of triumphant look on his face as he gets ready to splash. Now I wasn't totally thrilled with him getting wet, but there are worse evils, you know? And it wasn't terribly cold outside that day, I'd been comfortable in my tee shirt and jeans, and he was in long sleeves with pants, so it was good. Albeit a little wet.

Now I don't know why, but I had that itch. That itch that we couldn't just sit, couldn't just be. And part of that itch is because even though there's only one in and out to that place, I still feel like I need to see DS at all times. I mean, I don't care if you're in Disney World or not, if you don't know where your kid is, that's a prime opportunity for them to get taken.

And I know we don't like to think about those things, but I do worry about that kind of stuff, in any kind of playscape, not just in the World.

So while Mom and Nana had a really nice sit, I was running all over the place, sometimes sitting down briefly, only to get back up again when I couldn't see exactly where DS was.

Case in point? This would be one of those times when I missed my husband the most. For his boundless energy, his ability to let me sit, to take care of our DS when I'm just tired.

I mean that's what a parenting team is, at least in our house. What one can't do, the other does. We work in sympatico, you know? And it works for us, it works so well. So when one element is missing and you're on your own? Well, I know it sounds like I'm complaining and maybe I am. I relished my alone moments with DS, but at the same time, I was sad that I, myself was unable to relax. There, as selfish as that seems, I lay it out for you.

So with that itch of just how long are we going to let him play here and me not sure if Mom and Nana were antsy and wanted to go elsewhere, I took it upon myself to tell DS he had ten more minutes. And then count down. And DS really resisted. Not in a whiny way, just in a "Mama, I'm having fun," kind of way. He was having such a good time, just playing in that playscape.

Why couldn't I stay there?

Just be in the moment, instead of thinking we needed to get on more rides until he finally passed out for his nap. Why did I push him, and myself so hard?

:::sigh::: I don't know. In retrospect, I know I felt stuck between keeping DS and everyone else happy. And that this trip didn't really seem about my happiness at all, and that made me a little sad. And you can take that for what it's worth, but this day in the Magic Kingdom is truly about laying it all out there.

Good, bad, ugly, welcome to the world of TK on this trip.

It was what it was. Beautiful moment on the Indy speedway and watching DS eat his first Mickey Ice Cream Bar to DS being less than pleased while leaving the playground, and my placating him by offering to take him on the WTP ride.

Let me say, he really enjoyed this ride in September. So we got ready to use our special fastpasses, Nana decided to sit this one out, and we headed into the line. Got a fair bit in, too. But he was all over the place! He wouldn't hold my hand, wouldn't stay with me, wouldn't listen to me. And this is not really a line where you can have a rambunctious toddler, you know?

And then I did it. Something every parent dreads, but if you're worth your salt, you'll do it.

I threatened DS with the fact that not behaving meant we weren't going on the ride. And when he didn't listen to me, and was still acting up, I took him by the hand and marched him right back down that queue.

Call it my walk of shame.

First one of the trip, but it had to happen. If your child doesn't listen, I don't care where you are, you need to put in place some expectations and follow through. I think a lot of parents (I know some friends) who threaten and threaten and threaten until the cows come home, but they never follow through. Their kids walk all over them.

It's not that way in my house.

And that's not to say that we're strict, or that I have unrealistic expectations of my then 3, almost 4 year old. It's to say that if I told DS one more time to stay by my side and hold my hand instead of wandering up ahead to other people we didn't know, or if I told him to stop playing with the chains linking off certain sections one more time (we've all been there right), I was seriously going to lose it.

I think eventually I did.

But not yet. My emotional breakdown was yet to come.

After the walk of shame, we decided quite quickly to split up. Mom and Nana would leisurely walk in the direction of Adventureland, and I would use my power walking skills to get DS to fall asleep in the stroller, since really, all his behavior was pointing towards the fact that he needed a nap and badly.

Sadly, that nap was not to be. Now in all retrospect, I probably should have taken that boy right back to the play area and just let him run around until he tired himself out. That would have been the smart thing to do. But there's some sort of force field that exists in the Magic Kingdom that tends to suspend my normal, logical brain waves and replace them with I'm on my Disney vacation why am I having so much trouble what do I do next ones.

So following a routine like at home, thinking cranky toddler equals nap time, I tried to get a good power walk going.

I have never, ever, in my Disney trip life since the Magic Kingdom so crowded on a Monday.

There were so many people. I couldn't get a good walk going, I couldn't even get through. I must have had that ZZUB invisible cloaking device on the stroller again, because I swear, people just did not see me.

I couldn't get up a good speed to get DS to sleep.

We finally made our way over to POTC, and there's a bit of an alcove over there to the left of the ride, if you're facing it. In the back is an area that cast members can go in, along the landscaped areas some places to sit.

I made so many loops of that little courtyard trying to get DS to fall asleep.

Three guesses as to whether or not that actually happened.



Up Next - Unexpected Kindess

 

[2xcited2sleep]

HRH's first Mickey bar... what a momentous event!! I want to say that he fell asleep but something tells me that perhaps it was not meant to be. And for the comment that your breakdown is yet to come!