Summary of our trip 7/8-7/17 (and apology too!)

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

Now that I am back home and in my "real" life, I don't have the time to write as detailed report as I would like. But I would like to answer any questions anyone may have. I know that for us the last minute disboard tips were invaluble!

We (Myself=mom= 32, DH 32, DS 14, DS 11, DD almost 2) Stayed at the CBR in Martinique for 10 days with 8 day park ticket plus packs with dining option. The dining option was incredible, we ate nonstop! An unexpected perk for us was Hurricane Dennis. The night it rolled in we has PS for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show. Because of the bad weather the entertainment was cancelled but we still had an amazing dinner AND we were still entertained. The dancers came out to the tables and the band played. One of our most magical memories! The best perk of all was that we were prepared to use 2 of our dining credits for it, but they refunded half so we used the "extra" credit to pay for our Priness PS at Akershus in Epcot. We ate at Primetime Cafe, Sci-Fi, Cinderella's Royal Table, Chef Mickeys, Boma, The Hoop-De-Do, Cape May, Beaches and Cream (kitchen sink for lunch!!) Flame Tree BBQ etc, etc. Hurricane only thinned out the crowds... we all had ponchos and umbrellas only our feet were wet!

CBR was beautiful!! I can not stress that enough. Beaches with the hammocks, the pools and courtyards. Beautiful!! and HUGE! it took me a good 3 days before I felt comfortable enough to venture out without a tourguide (DS have great sense of direction) Busses were a crapshoot. sometimes they were timely and sometimes they weren't. One of our "rides" took us 2 hours to get from Downtown Disney back to MgM (don't run straight from Downtown, you must first go to a resort and then switch) We got the famous towel animals (very cute) depending on what building you were in was different. other buildings had their animals (bunches of them) propped in their windows waiting for people to come home.... not our building, they were waiting by the coffee pot and it was at the most 2 small ones. No worries, my DD tore the eyes off of them immediatly and put them on herself everyday, and my DS could care less... (I was happy that we even got them... I have heard others disappointments on this board!)

Our DD threw her first temper tantrum at MGM. and boy oh boy do we need to nip this in the bud. So to all of the people at MGM on July 10 near One Mans Dream, we are TRULY sorry. DH and myself tried "in vain" to put her on a naughty step (we do this at home) but she wasn't having any of it and screamed so hard and loud and for sooooo long i worried that her little throat would explode. It sounded like we were ripping her arms off but we weren't touching her. I wanted to pick her up just to get her to stop, but didn't want her to think that she had "won" and that this was a "good" strategy for future use. so for 20 minutes she threw the worlds biggest fit. We (I) recieved so many dirty looks. After a while I was more angry at the onlookers that thought I was such a rotten mother because I wouldn't pick up my daughter. Grrrrr... my blood boils just thinking about it! Finally out of desperation we put her in the stroller (another fight, have you ever tried to put a screamingcontorting toddler somewhere they didn't want to go? and then try to strap them in?) You should of seen the looks we got then. We all left and headed for the benches on the far side by the busses to give her cool off time. She had ripped the straps right off of the stroller! After about 5 minutes of "hug wrestling" she calmed down and said "I'm sorry Mommy." but for the rest of our trip if she wanted something she would hit that high scream.... anyhow. I don't want you to think she was a brat the whole time. Most of the time it was magical. Seeing Disney through her little eyes. Everytime she saw Mickey she would jump up and down and call his name, and then give either myself of DH a hug and tell us she loved us. Her Princess breakfast was a dream come true, she dressed as Tinkerbell. Another amazing magical moment.

Magical Express was... should I say... interesting? When we arrived the line at the counter was HUGE and then we waited for a bus for about a half an hour. Our luggage arrived in our room about 4 hours later.. not bad, I had already made provisions for that. Our return trip, the driver was EARLY and almost left without us, and didn't load our stroller. So our stroller got an extended vacation! However 3 carry ons and a toddler in Atlanta's airport for a 2 hour layover was not fun.

Wishes fireworks are INCREDIBLE!! I highly recommend watching them as often as you can. Fantasmic never get's old and only gets better (there are NO bad seats)

I little secret we learned is that if you go to the barber shop on Mainstreet with your little girls and ask them to put confetti in their hair they will hairspray Mickey confetti in FOR FREE!! oh and if you get your hair cut their they will too! But we thought it was neat!

Ok... Off I go for now. I will HAPPILY answer any questions... we had a wonderful time... we owe a good share of it to these here Disboards!!

Have a Magical Day!!

 

[pumba]

people always think they know best for what we are doing with our kids or grandkids for that matter........sounds like you had an awesome time and two year old kids are hard in good circumstances......never mind out of their element......you did good to keep the punishment .......cause like you said you could of easily picked her up and she would of won......thanks so much for the report and your food sounds YUMMY

 

[jimmysmommy]

I always want to ask the people that give the looks, if they would like to buy a toddler (CHEAP!!!)LOL!! You know they are not taking, even if you paid them!!You did what you had to do, and that's what's important. And, you didn't resort to giving in, or hitting (which would have earned you even more disapproving looks!) So be proud of yourself!!

 

[Cinerama]

Thanks for the report! Don't apologize for your child acting normal...I feel for you though!

 

[Disney01]

Did your 14 year old son like everything? My son will be 14 when we go again. He's so "moody" at home, I'm wondering if he will still like it.

 

[janets]

my oldest (7.5) was great but the little one (turning 3 on Monday) was really hit hard by the heat. He doesn't sweat well, wouldn't use the fan or mister and really wasn't drinking enough, so when the heat got to be too much, he really let loose.

I was sitting with him at MK, not too far from Jungle Cruise (I think at a seating area near Swiss Family Robinson or was I imagining things?) and he had a tantrum the likes of which I have never seen before. The same as yours...throwing himself around, almost ripping the straps off the stroller, kicking, hitting, you name it. I was not going to give in and basically just sat there looking in the other direction, not feeding into the tantrum. I definitely saw a lot of looks in my direction, as if I was supposed to be doing something to make it stop. I was not going to be manipulated by a toddler so I just waited it out.

When we finally went on our way, I ended up stopping at the baby care center at the front of the park. Let him sit in the A/C, got him a cold juice and some popcorn and he was good to go in about 10 minutes.

No one should judge anyone on their parenting by what their children are doing at a theme park. Children often do not react the same out of their element and that is not the time to try changing the way we deal with them. I admire your persistence in handling the situation. Just think of all the things you can say to her when she's older....

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

Janets, Lets hope your son and my daughter NEVER marry!! Thanks for the encouragement. My mother always used to tell me that I couldn't manipulate her... she was bigger than me!

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

Moody must be "IN" for the 14 year old crowd... yes he loved it. We gave him some extra space at times and let him go do something "cooler" than IASW and Pooh, but really for the most part there were NO issues. In the evening on the bus rides home he could be wishy washy, but he really enjoyed the trip. I must add that he still says he loves me outloud in public and doesn't run screaming if I try to give him a hug in public. with that I simply cannot imagine anyone having the time of their lives. If he's really bored take him to a water park. Mine looked forward to those days with special anticipation... all those swimsuites!!

Did your 14 year old son like everything? My son will be 14 when we go again. He's so "moody" at home, I'm wondering if he will still like it.

 

[cascarlet]

It sounded like we were ripping her arms off but we weren't touching her.

I SO relate, check out my trip report. All though your dd is a toddler, mine had no excuse. Enjoyed your report!

Marianne

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

We asked a family with twin infant boys if they wanted to switch! They just laughed and laughed like we were joking or something...

I always want to ask the people that give the looks, if they would like to buy a toddler (CHEAP!!!)LOL!! You know they are not taking, even if you paid them!!You did what you had to do, and that's what's important. And, you didn't resort to giving in, or hitting (which would have earned you even more disapproving looks!) So be proud of yourself!!

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

ok... i think that you just wrote our trip report with all of the details and just changed the names to protect the innocent! Really! detailed planning, steam pouring out of ears, DH cowers at thought of temper , and to top it off the same political affiliation!

I SO relate, check out my trip report. All though your dd is a toddler, mine had no excuse. Enjoyed your report!

Marianne

 

[toyman70]

Did you get the kitchen sink as part of the dining plan?

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

No unfortunatly we did not get it with our dining plan. Would be great tho. It cost 22.50 and it was all 5 of our lunch! It was really cool that when the waitress brought it out the light dimmed several times and she displayed it around the room proclaiming how "brave" we all were to try to tackle this monstrosity.... it was great! and well worth the 22.50

Did you get the kitchen sink as part of the dining plan?

 

[jennymouse]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. We're taking my granddaughter (2 by then) on her first WDW trip in November and I honestly don't know how she'll do. The can throw some temper tantums already...going through a bad biting stage now too. But, she loves to be on the go and seeing/doing things so I hope it'll go well. We're just doing 4 nights this time, just in case.

 

[meatballsmom]

I always want to ask the people that give the looks, if they would like to buy a toddler (CHEAP!!!)LOL!! You know they are not taking, even if you paid them!!You did what you had to do, and that's what's important. And, you didn't resort to giving in, or hitting (which would have earned you even more disapproving looks!) So be proud of yourself!!

I actually have asked people if they wanted to buy a child cheap when things like that have happened. Those are the people though that don't even appreciate the humor in that.

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

jennymouse, you will have a wonderful time. Temper tantrums and all I believe this is a perfect age... all of that excitment and wonder! In retrospect for us we realized that our little "drama queen" was so used to being the center of attention, she was the entertainer. Disney was a backwards expierience for her. she was being entertained, and we were together as a family. One on one time wasn't the same as it was at home. After we took her out of MGM the day of the meltdown she was ok. We let her dance and be the center of attention for a while and the rest of the day was perfect. Go with the flow... and if someone gives you dirty looks, give em right back! and know we understand!!

 

[mello]

and boy do I feel for you about the toddler tantrum! Our dd is nearly 3 and we'll probably have to deal with the same thing some. Thank goodness she doesn't have meltdowns as often as our middle ds used to do; he'd throw those tantrums nearly every time we'd be in public. Not so often at home (I would put him in his room and ignore it at home). But in public I would feel so helpless! (Think the 2 yo's know that? ) And what do all those people who give the dirty looks think you're supposed to be doing anyway? Giving in to shut the kid up? Spanking the kid? Sometimes I want to ask them that question lol. But you did a good job in a tough situation!

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

what a great idea for next time (gee, I hope there isn't a next time!) I'll just ask those "professional" parents that walk by...

2 yo are MUCH smarter than anyone thinks or gives them credit for.

Ps. Your going to have a wonderful time no matter what!

and boy do I feel for you about the toddler tantrum! Our dd is nearly 3 and we'll probably have to deal with the same thing some. Thank goodness she doesn't have meltdowns as often as our middle ds used to do; he'd throw those tantrums nearly every time we'd be in public. Not so often at home (I would put him in his room and ignore it at home). But in public I would feel so helpless! (Think the 2 yo's know that? ) And what do all those people who give the dirty looks think you're supposed to be doing anyway? Giving in to shut the kid up? Spanking the kid? Sometimes I want to ask them that question lol. But you did a good job in a tough situation!