So this is how parents relax at Disney! A June 8th-16th report.

[TeresaG]

Hi!

Joining in. Fantasmic probably has the poorest exiting design of anything in WDW. We usually hang back in the stadium and allow the crowds to thin a bit before heading to the stroller corral. Then we take our time getting to the bus stop. While we don't get on the first busses, usually the first giant wave of crowds have left by that time.

You know, I totally agree. The exit was chaos. It was a mess. My daughter dropped her glow stick and trying to pick it up was scary. It's like a stampede of people. And there isn't very much lighting. I definitely had no idea it would be like that. I was so happy to put the kids in the stroller because I was terrified I'd lose Alex.

There is nothing I love more than to take a few minutes and just sit and people watch and take it all in...having a sleeping baby is a great excuse for that!

I agree. I think it's something that I so rarely remind myself to do while at Disney, so having that 30mins to people watch was so enjoyable. Not to mention my adorable view of a sweet sleeping baby.

Loving this TR! Subscribing!!

Thank you and !!

 

[SnowWhite607]

Really enjoying your TR! We love Pop also and ToT is one of my favorites!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[jc040404]

Your IASW pics are great! Perfect way to pass all those trips on it. I absolutely loved them!

 

[TeresaG]

We had an ADR at Crystal Palace around 2pm this day so after the Jungle Cruise we headed over to check in. Our plan was to eat at CP, head back to the hotel to swim and rest, and then come back to the park. We had reservations for the dessert buffet at 9pm and were planning to hang out at the park for EMH so we knew it would be a late night. Since it was already pretty hot, heading back to the hotel was a the perfect break in the day we needed.

As we were waiting to be called at Crystal Palace (this place ALWAYS looks packed and crazy), Maddie and Alex were looking in the windows and beyond excited to meet Pooh and the gang. Maddie was not fooling me since every character she sees she gets excited about until they get near her. Then she freaks out and wants them to get away from her. I gave Kenny 'the look' which meant "this should be a fun lunch..." and we continued waiting.

Finally they called us in and we were seated. We had a nice location and our table had confetti all over it which made Alex super excited. We all sat down and ordered drinks and were told Eeyore was only a couple tables away so it would be best to wait before hitting the buffet. I gave Alex his autograph book, and got out my camera and adjusted my settings. Alex was practically jumping out of his seat.

Maddie was looking around, but she had a slightly manic look about her.

When she realized Eeyore was getting closer she started to say "No want it! No want it mommy!" Kenny was taking video at the time and caught it all on tape. We might be evil parents, but that video is the highlight of our trip. Little miss drama has her elbows on the table, her hands on her head and is saying "Noooo waaaaant iiiiit!" It's awesomely hilarious.

Finally Eeyore came over and gave Alex a big hug.

He pointed to Alex's Birthday button and clapped his hands. Alex asked for his signature and Eeyore signed and drew an adorable birthday cake.

Maddie was crying "No want it!" the whole time. Because she was so dramatic and hysterical (not crying, just complaining) I didn't even try to get her in a picture.

After Eeyore left I ran over to the buffet to get the kids some food before another character made it over to our table. I got the usual fare for both kids: macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Thankfully CP has some really great cooked broccoli so both kids got lots of that too. By the time I made it back to the table Pooh was 2 tables away and Maddie was in full drama mode. Once I put the food down in front of her she went from "No waaaant it!" to "Mmm yummy!" and proceeded to rub her hands together in anticipation. Food took her mind off the big scary Pooh looming a few tables away.

Alex wouldn't look at his food because he was way too excited.

Pooh made it over to our table and Alex catapulted himself into Poohs arms for a huge hug. Maddie wasn't too freaked out by Pooh because she was too busy eating. Note to mommy: make sure she has food in front of her during any character meals and she won't have a drama fit.

After Pooh left Alex quickly shoveled some mac and cheese in his mouth and washed it down with a chicken nugget. He had spotted Piglet and wanted to make like one. Maddie was too busy eating to care that Piglet was nearby. By the time he came over Maddie was stuffed enough that she was in a better mood and didn't make an unpleasant dramatic sound.

Piglet was the only character willing to try and engage the screaming banshee.

Probably because she wasn't screaming and seemed harmless. Haha. Piglet waved and Maddie stared.

I'm not sure if it was because Piglet is so cute or because he's pink, but Maddie wasn't scared or crying and actually seemed interested. Piglet was honored to be one of the chosen few that Maddie liked.

She's seriously trying to decide if it's worth the effort of screaming and complaining. Ultimately she decided it wasn't worth the calorie burn because then she'd just have to eat again and god knows who might come around dressed up all crazy to bother her again.

Piglet left and we were onto dessert. Our waiter brought out a Birthday cupcake and a card signed by all the characters for Alex. Alex was beyond excited about it.

Then he asked why mommy didn't have a cupcake? the waiter didn't know there were TWO birthdays and so I told him it was totally fine (I didn't want to waste a cupcake and I knew we wouldn't be eating them both). He came out 5mins later with another cupcake and birthday card. Alex was very happy.

I let Maddie have my cupcake and went to grab some dessert for the kids. I indulged Maddie a little by giving her a tiny bit of ice cream and a chocolate chip cookie.

The ice cream was the reason she could care less that Tigger showed up.

Lunch was very good. We always go to Crystal Palace and it's always a great meal. We left the park after lunch and headed back to Pop with very full bellies. The kids were looking forward to swimming and Kenny and I were looking forward to resting a little.

 

[Disneychix]

Fun Update! I love how all the worries of a 2yr old can be washed away with mac n cheese and ice cream!!

 

[StephLS]

wow you have two trips planned? If you dont mind me asking what is your mega celebration? Im trying to convince my husband to go next year for our 25th anniversary!!!unfortunately he is not a disney lover, unlike my daughter and son and I am trying to really see the greatness of Disney

 

[Chee Chick]

Joining in for your TR! I just found it today and really enjoyed reading through it.

I will going to WDW next year at exactly this time of the year with a 2 year old. I've already gathered some great tips from your experiences. I really liked the tip to distract your little one at the character meals with food to make it less stressful.

I agree with your opinion on Fantasmic...way too scary for the little ones. We saw it a few yeas ago and I won't return until my kids are older.

 

[amazingact21]

Sounds like you all had a successful lunch at CP. I enjoyed seeing pictures of Alex with the characters, it was very obvious he was having so much fun. And I'm glad Maddie was able to at least interact with one of the characters.

 

[Queenofallthings]

I'm oblivious of my surroundings when I'm having ice cream too

Great update....and great pictures too

 

[declansdad]

I'm oblivious of my surroundings when I'm having ice cream too

Great update....and great pictures too

I thought that was a Grey Goose Slushie.

Sounds like it was a interesting and fun lunch.

 

[Villainess]

Ice cream always makes everything better! It looks like Alex enjoyed the characters though!

 

[TeresaG]

Really enjoying your TR! We love Pop also and ToT is one of my favorites!! Can't wait to read more!!

Thank you! Glad to have you!

Your IASW pics are great! Perfect way to pass all those trips on it. I absolutely loved them!

Thank you! I took so many I could probably make an IASW flip book.

Fun Update! I love how all the worries of a 2yr old can be washed away with mac n cheese and ice cream!!

I know it. Ice cream washes all my worries away too.

wow you have two trips planned? If you dont mind me asking what is your mega celebration? Im trying to convince my husband to go next year for our 25th anniversary!!!unfortunately he is not a disney lover, unlike my daughter and son and I am trying to really see the greatness of Disney

We really only had ONE celebration planned which was my 30th birthday. my son decided that since HIS birthday is in June too it should be his birthday trip too, so we let him wear a button. He loved it. Disney is just a magical place, I doubt anyone can hate it after visiting.

Joining in for your TR! I just found it today and really enjoyed reading through it.

I will going to WDW next year at exactly this time of the year with a 2 year old. I've already gathered some great tips from your experiences. I really liked the tip to distract your little one at the character meals with food to make it less stressful.

I agree with your opinion on Fantasmic...way too scary for the little ones. We saw it a few yeas ago and I won't return until my kids are older.

Hi and !! I'm glad you're finding my report helpful! Maddie is a really easy going baby so she hardly hampers us from doing anything. Well, except go on some rides altogether. But that's what parent swap is for so it all works out.

Sounds like you all had a successful lunch at CP. I enjoyed seeing pictures of Alex with the characters, it was very obvious he was having so much fun. And I'm glad Maddie was able to at least interact with one of the characters.

We really love CP and it's always a success. Even with Maddie's drama, she's really not that bad. Mommy might play it up a tad.

I'm oblivious of my surroundings when I'm having ice cream too

Great update....and great pictures too

Same here! She has obviously inherited mommy's sweet tooth.

I thought that was a Grey Goose Slushie.

Sounds like it was a interesting and fun lunch.

I think this is why I'm happy my husband isn't on here... But I am bummed I missed getting one of those while we were at Epcot. Next time. lol

It was a great lunch.

Ice cream always makes everything better! It looks like Alex enjoyed the characters though!

LOL! Ice cream always makes things better whether you're 3 or 30. Alex loved meeting the characters.

 

[TeresaG]

The kids fell asleep on the bus on the way back to the room (should've predicted that) so it made for a very interesting bus exit. We were sitting next to a wonderfully kind gentleman who was riding a scooter and we were chatting the whole way back to the hotel. By the time the kids fell asleep (both leaning on me -naturally) he said "you can't possibly wake them! Wait until they lower the ramp, put them in the stroller on the bus and use the ramp to push them off." Kenny and I are not ones to rock the boat so we were sort of wavering between doing that or just carrying the kids off and putting them in the stroller off the bus. By the time the bus pulled into Pop, he told the driver we were going to open the stroller on the bus once it was empty so we could put the kids in and push them off. The driver said it was fine, so that's what we did. It was a very nice gesture from this kind man because we wouldn't have done it otherwise. But it worked out perfectly and both kids continued sleeping. He actually waited for us near the entrance to Pop to make sure both kids stayed sleeping.

We waved goodbye to our new friend and tried to decide what to do with the sleeping beasts. We knew going into the room would possibly wake them since it would be too quiet and they had fallen asleep in an abundance of noise (funny how that works). We went into Everything Pop to fill our mugs and took our time walking back to the room. Even walking as slowly as we did it still didn't take long. I decided to go into the room first and turn on the TV and sound machine (yes, we bring a sound machine from home -we all like to sleep to the sound of falling rain ) so it wouldn't be silent and startling when we walked into the room.

The kids stayed asleep for a good 25mins before waking, which wasn't too bad. Kenny and I rested or read our Kindles while they slept in the stroller (hey, even though they didn't look the most comfortable, I wasn't about to risk moving them to the bed -a short nap is better than no nap). Alex woke up in a MOOD which was lots of fun. He was cranky and mad at the world. Even the suggestion of going swimming couldn't make life worth living. We gave him 10mins to pout and play his DS and eventually his horns and tail retracted and he was my little boy again. We decided to go swimming for a little while and then head back to the park.

After swimming we got the kids redressed and ready to go. For Maddie, going back to the room was a great thing because she absolutely ruined the outfit she wore to the park during the day. Note to self: white shirt + chocolate ice cream = bad bad mess.

As we were waiting at the bus stop, Maddie vocalized her desire to not sit in the stroller (which should read: yelled and whined until we let her out to "walko peeease!").

Of course, with Maddie not strapped in, there is always the potential for drama. First thing she does? Suck on the handrail. Ewwww. Yes, I'm one of those parents who is very grossed out by germs. I was trying to get a cute picture of her, instead I snapped this.

You know that moment when you know something bad is about to happen but you can't stop it from happening? I couldn't stop Maddie from doing this any more than I could stop my finger from taking the picture once I started. Ick. I still cringe thinking about this.

Maddie doesn't appreciate getting yelled at. She hardly sees the big deal.

"Here, wash that down!" Ick.

So we arrived at Magic Kingdom around 5pm and we decided to start using the Fast Passes we had collected throughout the day.

Check it out.

Alex and I decided we wanted to go on BTMRR first so we left Kenny and Maddie and headed to the line. I guess Kenny heard me complaining about never having any pictures of me with the kids on vacation because he felt compelled to pick up my big scary camera and try to take a few pictures (how this really went down was as Alex and I walked away to get in line I barked out "Try to take some pictures please!" ). So the next few pictures are courtesy of Kenny.

Here's not his best work. If you look carefully towards the front you can see me and Alex. Alex loves this ride, but insists I keep one arm wrapped around him.

After that Alex and I hit up Splash Mountain. I grabbed a Parent Swap for Kenny on our way.

Kenny continued to attempt to take some pictures while I was gone. I think he feared his crazy wife if he didn't. Obviously he wasn't sure what to do so he took a picture of Maddie while he waited by the drop to Splash Mountain.

"Hasn't mommy already taken 1,502 shots just like this already?"

Hey look! He not only found us but he took a picture of us!

"Alex look at Daddy! Over there!

"Alex he's right there...oh forget it"

I give my husband props for trying. He did a good job. Here's us on the drop. The picture would be pretty good if we were sitting in better seats. Since we were in the 3rd row it's pretty hard to see us, but both me and Alex have our hands up in the air. That's how we roll.

After we went on those few rides we agreed to feed the beasts (Kenny and I were saving room for the dessert buffet, but the kids needed to eat something other than sweets) and then ride the rest of FP we had.

 

[lbuzz52]

I like the way you make IASW into a positive thing

your day sounds great so far. it seems like a perfect amount of nap/ rest without taking too much time. i love the baby swap! our infant ticket wouldn't spit out fastpasses. it would have made it so much easier!

 

[TeresaG]

I like the way you make IASW into a positive thing

your day sounds great so far. it seems like a perfect amount of nap/ rest without taking too much time. i love the baby swap! our infant ticket wouldn't spit out fastpasses. it would have made it so much easier!

I thought taking practice shots on IASW was a positive decision too. Especially between my options.

Our infant ticket didn't spit out FP either, but a CM noticed us getting a "this is not a valid fp ticket" and gave us a ticket specifically for fp. It was very nice of her and we appreciated it a lot.

 

[pooksma]

ITA agree with the rail sucking thing I'm not a Howie Mandel-like germaphobe but that is GROSS! I know kids do and DS did his share as well but YUCK.

What a great bus driver for letting you open the stroller on the bus.

 

[SnowWhite607]

LOL at the rail-sucking! I mean they are kids, what are you gonna do? On the other hand I swear this is how we got sick the first few times we went to WDW. DD would touch the rails and then pick up a handful of popcorn........you get the idea. Germs from all over the world live on those rails. After that one trips of a nasty nasty stomach bug I kept hand sanitizer with me at all times! LOL!

 

[amazingact21]

Oh man, I would've been giving Maddie juice as well. Gotta love kids and their fearlessness of germs.
Looks like you guys had fun riding the Mountains. I laughed at the arrow you inserted in the BTMRR photo.

 

[TeresaG]

ITA agree with the rail sucking thing I'm not a Howie Mandel-like germaphobe but that is GROSS! I know kids do and DS did his share as well but YUCK.

What a great bus driver for letting you open the stroller on the bus.

Exactly. I'm not a crazy germaphobe or anything, but I think sucking on a handrail at Disney is probably the grossest thing ever. Ick!

LOL at the rail-sucking! I mean they are kids, what are you gonna do? On the other hand I swear this is how we got sick the first few times we went to WDW. DD would touch the rails and then pick up a handful of popcorn........you get the idea. Germs from all over the world live on those rails. After that one trips of a nasty nasty stomach bug I kept hand sanitizer with me at all times! LOL!

Oh man, thinking of germs all over the world being licked off makes me want to go Lysol her mouth. ICK!! lol!! I keep sanitizer with me too, but there was nothing to do for the mouth germ fest. But yea, kids do what they do. I just try not to think about it.

Oh man, I would've been giving Maddie juice as well. Gotta love kids and their fearlessness of germs.
Looks like you guys had fun riding the Mountains. I laughed at the arrow you inserted in the BTMRR photo.

Yea, they just don't understand putting things in their mouths is gross. I figured the arrow was the only way anyone would see me and Alex since that picture is so badly framed. lol!

 

[TeresaG]

While we tried to decide where to get food for the kids we set them free in the tiki sprinklers. I seem to see a trend here; any time we needed to think we brought the kids here to play. lol. We were trying to decide whether to go to Casey's or Cosmic Rays. I wasn't sure that Alex would want Cosmic Rays and I figured hot dogs are always a favorite so maybe we should just do that.

Maddie met a little boy who she was very interested in befriending.

They were having a very stimulating conversation.

Maddie thought she had found her prince. At last.

And then it was time to go. She wasn't thrilled to leave her new friend.


By the time we had decided on Casey's it was 7pm. I wanted to hurry up and go eat so we had time to go on another ride before it was dessert buffet time. We collected our wet children and set off for Casey's. We've eaten here only one other time but even then this place has been PACKED. Wow. Finding a table is practically impossible every time. Sadly I had to leave Kenny in charge of finding one while I went to order food. For some reason, setting Kenny loose to find a table is always a difficult task. I'm not sure if it's performance anxiety or if he just has the worst luck ever, but he always gets a crazed look on his face when we part ways.

I got into the shortest line I could find and waited. And waited. Did I mention I waited? Seriously, the people in front of the line must had a million questions about everything under the sun and took for-ev-er. I mean jeez, it's a hotdog joint, there's not a ton of options -get on with it. I knew if I jumped into another line Murphy's Law would prevail and the line I was standing in would zip through, so even though it killed me I stayed put. Eventually they were satisfied and the rest of the line moved quickly. I ordered a hotdog and fries and some hot dog nuggets with fries. Looking back I should have only ordered some hot dog nuggets and let the kids split it, but I didn't know how hungry they were so I err'd on the side of caution.

So with an insanely full tray (food, drinks and dessert on a tiny tray =bad) I set off to find our table. As I exit I see Kenny and the stroller...nowhere near a table. "You couldn't find a table?! In all that time?" He's looking a little frazzled and says "No, have you seen this place? It's freaking crazy." I gave him the drinks to hold and quickly look around to see if anyone is almost done eating. As I start walking away a woman told me she had JUST left a table inside and it might still be available. I thanked her a hundred times and took off. I practically dive into a seat before anyone else could see the table as being empty. Score! As Kenny walks the kids over I say "See, if you just look harder you'll find an empty table." Kenny blinks at me a few times to see if I'm serious and shakes his head.

As I mentioned above, the kids only ate the hot dog nuggets and some fries so Kenny and I ate the hot dog and fries. {not my pic, but trying to keep this visual}

The problem with the hot dog nuggets was they were crazy hot -I bet they had just come out of the oil hot -so it took forever to get them cooled down enough for the kids to eat. Dinner took way longer than I expected it to (what with the waiting, table finding and feeding) so by the time we were done we had literally 30mins before it was time to go to the dessert buffet.

We headed over to Tomorrowland and checked our lines ap to see if there were any short lines for anything. There wasn't. We looked over to the Tomorrowland Terrace and noticed a decently long line for the buffet so we just went over to wait with everyone else.

Eventually we got our wrist bands and were shown to our table. This was our second time going to the dessert buffet. The first time we had a great table. This time our location was crappy. It was tucked in the back near the buffet tables, which seems like it would be good, but with all the people walking around all the time, sitting with two small children and no high chairs was challenging.

The buffet was good. All the desserts were very yummy. I gave each kids chocolate covered strawberries and a cookie which made them happy for a little while. The line for drinks was always long which I wasn't too happy with. Even trying to wait it out didn't seem to help; the line never got shorter. Eventually I knew I had to suck it up because both kids were thirsty and I wanted a cup of iced coffee. I left Kenny with the kids and stood in line. By the time I got up to the milk it was empty. Oh joy. So I grabbed a cup of ice for Maddie (she had her drink at the table already and loves to crunch on ice) and a cup of coffee for Kenny. I dropped both drinks off and immediately Alex said "Mommy, where's my milk?" So back to the line I went to get the (finally) replenished milk for Alex and a cup of coffee for me. This time the line went much faster.

As we were finishing up eating and drinking the kids started getting a little restless so I whipped out more handy dandy light sticks. Love those things. The quickly quieted down and started playing which allowed Kenny and I to finish without too much stress.

Some castle shots

Eventually the castle picture show was going to begin so we headed over to the railing with the kids (we were told when being seated that Wishes was "Standing room only" at the railing). There weren't too many people who stood up to watch which surprised me. I'd say only about half the people there got up to watch Wishes. Most of the people standing by the railing had kids with them and almost everyone still sitting didn't. I wonder if they just wanted to enjoy the buffet longer and weren't terribly interested in seeing Wishes (perhaps because they had seen it already). Anyway, it was nice to enjoy Wishes without being too crowded and wondering if the kids had a good view from the stroller seats. Alex stood next to me and I held Maddie through the show. It was wonderful. I didn't take any pictures because it's not the best viewing area and it wasn't worth hampering my experience watching it with the kids.

We had decided any time we were staying late for a show that we would hang out for an hour or so to avoid the mass exodus and long bus line. So after Wishes we left the buffet and went into Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan. On our way Maddie fell asleep (which we expected). Alex and I rode together and had a magical time. Alex hasn't seen Peter Pan yet, but he has been watching Jake and the Neverland pirates non-stop so he feels like he 'gets' the ride even without having seen the movie.

After PP we went to the Tomorrowland speedway because Alex would NOT STOP insisting to go driving with daddy. Because Maddie was sleeping we couldn't do a lot of rides as a family anyway so we headed back to Tomorrowland. I refuse to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway with Alex at this age because he doesn't even TRY to drive for real. He likes to whip the car wheel back and forth. I do not enjoy. I learned this lesson the hard way back in December when we went so this is strictly a 'daddy only' ride. Alex and Kenny got in line and Maddie and I parked ourselves on a bench to wait. I have to say, I really enjoy the time to myself when Maddie is sleeping. I like the peacefulness. Or as peaceful as things can get at WDW.

One day I'd like to go to Disney without kids, but I highly doubt that will happen any time soon. I'd feel too guilty going without them. Maybe one day we'll go with my parents and leave the kids with them one day so we could experience a park without kids. That way we still bring the kids, but we'll have built in babysitters so we can do things alone every once in a while.

OK, now that my 'wishful thinking' portion of the TR is complete we can go back to the real TR.

After the boys were done riding I took a good look at Alex and could see the pure exhaustion on his face. It was 11:30pm so we decided to call it a night and head back to Pop. The bus line was crowded when we got there, but we were able to squeeze onto the bus that was there. I was really worried about doing this when we stepped on, but there were still a lot of people getting on behind us so we were stuck. There were no open seats which was what I expected. I was holding Maddie and Alex was dead on his feet so I knew this would be a horrible bus ride.

A nice man noticed me holding a sleeping Maddie and got up to let us sit down. I was so grateful, but debated giving it to Alex because I knew he wouldn't make it standing the whole time. I sat down with Maddie and pulled her off to one side of my lap so I could fit Alex on my other side. This was a mess because Alex is a big boy and I do not have the biggest lap. He finagled himself so he was practically draped over his sister and was asleep before the bus pulled away from MK. Of all the bus rides I can remember, this was the worst. I really, really wished I could switch with Kenny and be the one standing and holding the stroller instead of the one with the numb body trying to hold both kids at the same time. It was not the easiest trip back. At the time I was seriously second guessing our decision to stay so late to watch Wishes, but the truth is if we wanted to see it even once there was no real way around the 10pm show time. And had we left immediately following the show we probably wouldn't have made it back that much earlier anyway.

Regardless, we eventually made it back to Pop, put both kids in the stroller (after Kenny got off to open it up) and went straight to the room where we collapsed into our beds and went to sleep.