That Mickey sure is one smart cookie!! May 2011 CBR TR (update 08/13)

[PirateKate]

I'm glad Maya got to eat her worms in dirt for breakfast and sleep in. That sounds like a great way to start the day.

The beach at CBR looks so nice! I love the Maya included James in the sandcastle building. What a great big sister!

I love the invitation to 1900 PF, too, especially the notice that Lady Tremaine and daughters may be in attendance.

 

[lbuzz52]

I'm glad Maya got to eat her worms in dirt for breakfast and sleep in. That sounds like a great way to start the day.

The beach at CBR looks so nice! I love the Maya included James in the sandcastle building. What a great big sister!

I love the invitation to 1900 PF, too, especially the notice that Lady Tremaine and daughters may be in attendance.

It was the middle of the trip, and we had long days so far. a nice relaxing morning was just what we needed!

I love that Maya and James are close, and hope that they stay that way through out adulthood aslo.

I'm kind of bummed that you guys aren't staying at CBR. I'm not sure why- it's not like it affects me. I just really enjoyed it and think sometimes it gets a bad rap.

I love thE invitations for the mornings. It gives the kids a fun way to see what they have to look forward to that day AND helps pull the grumpies out of bed

 

[jenseib]

Love the photopass. I know why those ones were so zoomed out. They are trying to get France in the background. I have had many in that same spot and France is the reason they are there.
I love your walking tour of CBR too. We only got to see a small portion at AEP.

 

[lbuzz52]

Love the photopass. I know why those ones were so zoomed out. They are trying to get France in the background. I have had many in that same spot and France is the reason they are there.
I love your walking tour of CBR too. We only got to see a small portion at AEP.

that makes sense. i'll have to remember that next time and ask for some both ways.

CBR is very peaceful in the mornings!

 

[pinkxray]

Love the tour of CBR. Now I am a little sad we won't be staying there, it looks so nice. Oh well, one day.

I can't wait to see what you thought of Park Fare. We have an adr for Oct but I am not sure if we should keep it or not.

 

[lbuzz52]

Love the tour of CBR. Now I am a little sad we won't be staying there, it looks so nice. Oh well, one day.

I can't wait to see what you thought of Park Fare. We have an adr for Oct but I am not sure if we should keep it or not.

I think CBR will be better for you on a different trip, you need a bit of down time to explore and relax there.

I'd tell you what i thought about 1900- but i'd rather make you come back adn read it in a couple updates

 

[Eliza32]

Just wanted to say that reading this has really cheered me up on a miserable UK September evening.

 

[lbuzz52]

Just wanted to say that reading this has really cheered me up on a miserable UK September evening.

welcome!!!

and thanks for reading along!

 

[lbuzz52]

Saturday, May 14th cont.


When we last left off, most of the family had slept in a bit, and the kids were eating a nutritious breakfast of worms and dirt.

We sat around until almost 10, and them got ready for the feature pool. On the way, we stopped on Caribbean Cay so the kids could try out the playground.

I couldn't figure all of it out. This looked like an old tire swing, but it was bolted down on all sides. Apparently, it made for a great make believe pirate ship though!

Maya spent a lot of time climbing. And James spent a lot of time making music. I tried to drag them away to take a picture on this cool alligator, but they were too busy for my needs lol. My husband offered to conquer the alligator for me!

Eventually we drug them away and continued on to OPR. It was pretty easy considering our next stop was powerade and the arcade! We had the 100 points included in our vacation package. Because there were 4 of us playing, I went ahead and added $10 for a total of 700 points. Games ranged from 25-100pts, with most being in the 35-70 range.

We played a few games of family Air Hockey. The girls won! Mostly because James kept scoring for us, but still we won.

James and I really enjoyed the family bowling game- about 10 times. Chris and Maya played basketball.

Then we all raced motorcycles. I'm almost embarrassed to say how bad of driver I am on video games. Let's just say Maya's a better driver than me- and remember what I said about her driving on the Speedway?

Soon our points were depleted. I chose to not be green, and rather than recycle the playcard I kept it for a scrapbook.



-

 

[lbuzz52]

continued

It was time to continue on to the feature pool.



Today, Maya was all about the slides. Back and forth and back and forth between the two.

When the line was too long, she took a break and jumped in a couple times. But not before she made sure she had an audience.

"excuse me mamn, I'm five and 3/4. Wanna watch me jump in?"

James played in the zero entry portion of the big pool. He was making me nervous. He just kept going out further within inches of covering his head. He was scooting around on his belly pretending to swim. I kept having to coax him over closer to the side where it was less deep.

After an hour and a half or so, it was time to leave. James was a good listener, and he got out quickly.

Maya was not happy with this plan and she let me know it.

"this is the worst day ever."

Yep, if you haven't realized it yet, I have quite a drama queen. She stomped her way back to the room. I was not at all excited in her lack of appreciation- or respect. I stayed back a minute in an effort to bite my tongue. Not that she didn't need to be spoken to/ punished- but I was angry and knew I needed to cool off a second first.

By the time i caught up to her, she apparently was aware that her behavior was uncalled for. She apologized and told me she didn't mean it. She then asked to take a little nap. I totally slacked and pretty much let it go, other than announcing that we would not be back to the featuer pool. Honestly, I didn't want to have to punish her. I didn't want to miss my own park time. I was so glad she had come to her senses quickly. Chris had not heard this exchange. Or the afternoon would have probably gone much differently. I told him about the drama missed after she fell asleep.

The rest of us got cleaned up. Then we woke up Maya. Thankfully, those thirty minutes were what she needed to get the whinyness out. I put her hair in a braid to hide the wet bed head look, and we were off for lunch at OPR. We noticed it was a little cooler outside, probably closer to 87 or so. The clouds were hiding the sun, and it actually felt pretty good.

I wanted a burger after seeing Chris' last night. I decided on the Carribean burger, no sauce or plantains. (a burger with onion straws, lettuce, and tomato). I wished that I had paid attention while I was ordering; if I had I would have asked for cheese. Here's what my burger looked like

borrowed from DFB- thanks!

and here's what it normally looks like​

The kids both wanted sand pails. I ordered chicken nuggets in a pail for one and burger in a pail for another. They each had fries and applesauce for their sides. Chris got the individual pizza with salad. We turned to go to the register and noticed it was raining. That's two meals in a row we made it right before the rain!

Chicken Nuggets in a Sand Pail $6.49
Hamburger - in a Sand Pail $6.49
Caribbean burger topped with sweet plaintains, fried onion straws and pineapple barbecue chutney


Chris had picked out two desserts for us all to share. I'm really glad he was in charge that day. I wrinkled up my nose when he returned with a peanut butter cupcake and a soft serve. but it was SOOOOO good. Add the ice cream to the cupcake and it was mouthwatering! This was my second favorite dessert of the week. We all enjoyed it. in fact, I think it was the first dessert we had finished up to that point in the week. right now I wish I had one!

After a quick potty break, we headed out to the OPR bus stop. We were thankful it was nearby, because it was still raining, but now thundering too. A bus came very quickly, and by 3pm we were on our way to the MK. The bus was almost empty. That was good, because it meant I had almost no witnesses when I spilt my tea down my pants a minute later


---

 

[basketkat]

Sounds like a nice afternoon...minus the dramatics of course. My oldest daughter's nickname at the dance studio is "Drama Drama" so I can totally relate! That's good that Maya was able to check her own attitude though!

I am TERRIBLE with driving video games....I used to be scared to learn to drive a real car because I thought it was going to be like video games!

Oh no...tea on your pants??? That is NO fun!

 

[lbuzz52]

Sounds like a nice afternoon...minus the dramatics of course. My oldest daughter's nickname at the dance studio is "Drama Drama" so I can totally relate! That's good that Maya was able to check her own attitude though!

I am TERRIBLE with driving video games....I used to be scared to learn to drive a real car because I thought it was going to be like video games!

Oh no...tea on your pants??? That is NO fun!

"drama drama" that's funny

a week ago it was announced that our one local grocery store bought out the other. so we went to the one that is closing to see if there were any deals to be had (there weren't). anyway, when maya figured it out she stood in the middle of the store crying about it. apparently its her favorite and it breaks her heart


Good video driving for me means i'm going in the right direction i remember whatever Mario game i had growing up, i'd just give up and go backwards.

yes, tea on my pants. i'm as much of a mess as the kids usually! luckily, it didn't really show for long.

 

[pinkxray]

The pool and playground look great. I can't believe Maya called it the worst day ever. She must have been very tired.

Yum, pb cupcake with ice cream. Good call by your DH.

 

[lbuzz52]

The pool and playground look great. I can't believe Maya called it the worst day ever. She must have been very tired.

Yum, pb cupcake with ice cream. Good call by your DH.

that cupcake was seriously awesome. the sad thing is though that i can't remember what it looked like to get it again next trip

The pool and playground were great! Especially the pool. it never felt crowded, even though it was always busy. Maya was so tired. She always does things to extremes, and this outburst was no exception. Usually it works in the other way though. Simple things like bubbles in the bathub or playing in the sprinkler get declared as the "best day ever".

 

[jenseib]

It sounds like a relaxing day. My little one seems to be a drama queen at times too. Like yesterday when she had spent the night at grandmas and then went out to breakfast...all with her cousin and then came home and left again for a playdate with a friend. When sh got home we had to leave again and she wined how she did nothing fun all day and had no time to play...ah whatever. LOL!

 

[lbuzz52]

It sounds like a relaxing day. My little one seems to be a drama queen at times too. Like yesterday when she had spent the night at grandmas and then went out to breakfast...all with her cousin and then came home and left again for a playdate with a friend. When sh got home we had to leave again and she wined how she did nothing fun all day and had no time to play...ah whatever. LOL!

oh my goodness, Maya has said the same exact thing! I had a sister at least, but Chris grew up with all boys and he is a bit overwhelmed by it at times, to say they least.

we did otherwise have a very nice morning! It was nice to have no real schedule!

 

[lbuzz52]

Saturday, May 14th cont.


Our goal for the afternoon was to take a sweat free photopass picture, pick up a fastpass or two, and visit Tom Sawyer island before dinner. By the time we arrived, the rain was stopping.

After a quick family photopass by the memories sign, we hit the left lane for entry and made our way through the tunnel. We didn't make it far though. The afternoon parade was coming our way, finishing near the fire station. I guess it was delayed because of the rain? While we waited I snapped some random shots.

Maya waiting for the parade to cross in front of us.

My balloon attempt

The kids had found a front row spot, but they would have been fine anywhere. There were less dancers and it was moving quickly. Most of the characters were waiving but they were not stopping to visit at all. They were rushing likely because it was starting to turn gray again.

We did have one visitor though.

Hello ladies, we'll see you soon!

The last float passed, and quite a sizable crowd left the park.

We stopped for a few more photopass shots on Main Street.

This one is similar- but my silly boy had his hand in his belly button the whole time​

The sky looks much brighter in these shots then it did in reality. We needed to find somewhere to wait out the storm. We thought we'd head to Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately so did everyone else. The line was outside- no protection from the weather. The sky looked dark and ominous. The wind was starting to whip. At home, when it looks like that, we have wall to wall weather coverage breaking in on all the local channels. This was right in the height of the flooding in the Mississippi, the tornados in MS/GA/ AL. We had been having tornado warnings about 2 x per week. After all the historic weather in the recent weeks, I can't deny I was getting very nervous. We decided to park the strollers in the covered area outside the Hall of Presidents. If it got crazy, we could quickly run inside.

The rain must have triggered a signal with Maya, because as soon as it started she had to go potty. We put on our rain coats and rushed to Columbia Harbor House next door. By the time we were finished, the downpour had passed but it was still a good hard rain. I was so very glad that the worst of the storm had missed us.

In the meantime, Chris had attempted to cover the strollers. I had brought shower curtains and binder clips for that purpose. But he had covered them with ponchos. Not knowing it had been an ordeal, I asked him why he didn't use the shower curtain.

"You try to do it in this wind. I'm going to get fastpasses. "

He headed towards splash, and I attempted the impossible. The shower curtains worked really well in a sprinkle, but not in the wind of this storm. I folded them around the autograph books for extra protection and left the ponchos in place. They had already ripped in the wind. I hoped we wouldn't need them later because they had to be trashed.

By the time he got back, the rain had slowed towards a drizzle. Tom Sawyer was not appealing at that time, so we decided we would walk towards Fantasyland and hit whatever had a short line. But there were none to be found so we continued towards Tomorrowland. Once again, the lines were quite long. The crowd level was higher that day, but I really think it had more to do with the fact that some rides were temporarily down.

The rain was coming down a bit heavier again. Once again we waited it out- this time under the covered seats near the People Mover. Chris kept saying

"I feel so bad. I feel like we have wasted the day."

I assured him it was fine, we didn't miss out on anything. We had done basically everything planned. Still, it was so funny to hear him thinking a relaxed day was a failure.

It was maybe 4:30pm at this point. Still too early to head to dinner. But.... Just far enough away to take in a snack first. We decided to make our way to Main Street and pick our snack based on the line crowds.

The cinnamon roll smell stopped Maya in her tracks. There was barely even room inside to open the door though. I told Maya I had another idea just up the street.

I'm not a big fudge person- but the more I read Kate's (PirateKate) trip reports, the more I was thinking about it. So we headed to the Confectionary. There are so many options though. We had to wander the aisles to see all our choices first. After being turned down on a giant sugar stick once again, Maya picked out a marshmellow stick. I didn't take a picture, but it was similar to the kind you get at Goofy's Candy Company, covered in chocolate and drizzled wiht sprinkles. It was plenty for sharing. Chris picked out a giant Mickey head cookie, with dipped chocolate ears.

picture borrowed from Google images- TIIY​

I had thought the marshmellow was a snack credit, but it wasn't. Neither was Chris' cookie. We charged those to the room. ($10). I stayed true to my craving and chose a piece of chocolate nutfudge for a snack credit.

picture borrowed from google images- TIIY ​

The Dapper Dans were performing Cruella Deville, so it was crowded inside. Maya needed to use the restroom again, so we crossed Main Street to the potty by the fire station. We saw Pluto in the shop next to it, and were going to see him after the restroom. He was gone though. Instead, we sat the kids on the brick and let them eat their marshmellows. We saved the other treats. We thought the kids might need a little pick me up by the time the 11pm parade rolled around.

Dinnertime was approaching, so we cleaned the chocolate faces and headed to catch the monorail to the Grand Floridian.



.

 

[basketkat]

Your family photopass shots are adorable!

Ugh...that rain and wind doesn't sound very fun, but it sounds like you had a great attitude about it! Mmmm that fudge looks amazing! PirateKate really does seem to know the most yummy things to have at WDW!!!

 

[luvmy2babies]

I am enjoying your report. I need to subscribe to it as I have trouble getting back to it. When we go next, my son will be about your son's age. My daughter will be 9. They are close like your children. It is heartwarming.

I can also relate to the drama. I have one of those drama queens myself and I was really laid back as a child so it's unfamiliar to me. Something doesn't go her way and no matter what else has happened that day, when that happens…"This is the worst day ever!" I usually just shake my head and say to myself, "I wish it was honey." We were at Great Wolf Lodge this summer and she was doing the MagiQuest game. You get a wand and run around the hotel doing various Quests. Pretty neat really, but you can really get caught up in it. I had to follow her around the place with my son strapped to me in an Ergo carrier. You had to go around the hotel collecting points and searching for clues, there was stair climbing involved. I decided after a few quests it was time for a break. She crossed her arms and stomped away from me. We had a little talk after that to….adjust her attitude. She was tired in this case, but didn't want to admit it. And her outbursts are usually worse with fatigue.

Thankfully this is all I can write home about with her that isn't positive. She's been through a lot, but she's a great big sister and a loving child who tries her best. And truth is were it not socially unacceptable for someone my age, I might have the occassional meltdown myself.

Your children are adorable. The pictures of your son in the pool remind me of some I took of my son at Great Wolf Lodge this past summer.

I'm curious as to if your son napped during your trip. I've been reading and I haven't noticed it. Been thinking to myself, "Wow, he hasn't gone to sleep yet?" I just figured you haven't mentioned it. My son can go a mile a minute, but he does pass out for 2 hours every afternoon if he can. If it's cut short though it usually doesn't have a negative effect on things though.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[shan23877]

Hi! Followed you over from my TR, and so glad I did! It took a few days but I'm all caught up!
First- I love your lists! Lists make me happy!
2. I can totally relate to you and DH's schedules. My DH works days while I work nights in a restaurant. It's tough sometimes, but I'm glad that I've had the chance to be home with DD so much.
3. Your kids are adorable!
4. I also enjoyed the cold bar at Akershus! Mostly, I had green salad and salami

I look forward to the next update!