GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2003
- Messages
- 1,227
The 24 Hour WDW Bandits Strike Again!
Well, this will not be a new story to many of you, you've read it before (from us) numerous times life throws us a curve, so we~Head to WDW, of course!! Heres the lowdown on yet another 24 hours in the World!
Cast:
DH, 33/Me, 32~according to Disneys computers, weve been there 24 times since weve been married which is less than 8 years!
DS, 3~this was his 8th trip
Pre-Trip:
Well, the holidays were coming up. And you know how Thanksgiving is its all about food and family. Which is wonderful~IF you have a good relationship with your families! Weve had trouble with both sides of our families, so our ideal holiday is to not be with either one! But you know THAT isnt going to happen. This year, it was Thanksgiving with his family. Things had been especially tense with them recently, so it was kind of an up in the air deal, anyway. DH said, on Monday, I believe, lets just skip the whole family thing and go to WDW. Oh yeah, that makes great sense. Especially since we dont have extra money laying around! (Not that I was opposed to it, you understand just didnt think it was the smartest thing to do, financially speaking.) Then on Tuesday, the Thanksgiving plans were made, and we were stuck. Dinner with the family. Yippee. We normally put up our trees on the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe DH had a premonition. He REALLY wanted to put them up on Wednesday this year. So thats what we did. By Wednesday night, all decorations were up. Thursday dawned, and reality began. I wont get into the details. Lets just say by the time we got home, we were both wishing we had skipped the whole thing and headed to Florida. We tried to salvage the day by letting DS stay up late so we could all watch White Christmas (a family favorite) together before going to bed. That we did, so it was near midnight before any of us got to bed. And when we did, DH said, Lets go tomorrow. Ummm Huh? Come on, lets go to Disney itll make up for this awful day! No, we cant go to Disney. Think, honey. Its a HOLIDAY weekend. There wont be anything available, anyway. He persisted. I went to sleep. Now why is it that when you have to get up to go to work, you could sleep til noon if your alarm didnt go off but on a nice, relaxing day off, youre awake at~5am!!! We both tossed and turned til 6:30. Thats when I heard DH get up. I knew exactly what he was doing. Ten minutes later I followed him into the den where he was, as I suspected, online checking room availability. Good grief! By 7, we were back in bed. He had finally figured out that I wasnt kidding, that I really didnt think it was the best idea for us to go. Around 7:30, I finally dozed off again. At 7:45, DS was in the room. What IS it with days off?? On a school day, you have to pry the kid out of bed!! DH is painting a lovely picture of our day together, with DS whining and complaining, were all going to be bored (were not day after Thanksgiving shoppers, and the trees, as I mentioned, were already up) Now Im certain that we could have found something fun and entertaining for us all to do. We do fun and entertaining things on a regular basis. But I knew that going to Disney would help make up for how bad the day before had been. As a favorite DIS saying goes, Id rather pay the Mouse than a shrink! So, that fast, I decided that DH was right, it would be worth it. DS is already whining. He wants to watch Little Einsteins. An aside note: If you have small children, do not allow them to attend pre-school. No matter how wonderful your child is, s/he will pick up all these nasty habits from their classmates. Whining is our big one. He never used to whine. He never used to do anything bad, nothing at all! Then came pre-school. Now, what do you know, hes just like all the other kids! BUT~when were at Disney, something magical happens. He doesnt whine! We dont rant and rave! We all become a wonderful, happy, peaceful, loving family again. There you go, decision made. DH says to DS, We have a surprise for you! Were going to Disney World! There is a moment of silence. Then DS whines, But I wanna watch Little Einsteins!!! What??? Who is this kid??? This is NOT our son! Well, maybe it is. Have we spoiled him? Is he so accustomed to going to WDW that it isnt special anymore? Are we terrible parents? Have we given him too much of a good thing? Is he going to grow up to be a mass murderer because we took him to WDW too much? You know how it is. If youre a parent, this is life for you. You second guess every thing. Well, maybe you dont. I do.
Planning:
By this time, DH has already run for the phone. Have I mentioned that, for us, Disney is all about the food? Yes, he calls for ADRs before he checks on room availability. Thats my baby! Wow, we get Boma at 6:10!! Sadly, no out of the park character breakfasts are available for Saturday. We try for Whispering Canyon instead. Were both a little disappointed. Okay, a lot disappointed. When we arent going into the parks, a good character meal always makes up for it (well, sort of.) He gets a room at Coronado Springs. This would be fun. Weve decided to go moderate from now on, instead of value. A few too many whooshing toilets, and a few too little insulation panels. We had planned to stay at Coronado Springs in February, when we go with friends, but there was nothing available, so were staying at PO Riverside instead. This would be a good opportunity for us to check out Coronado Springs. Okay, so plans are set. All thats left is to shower and pack. This we do (DS got to watch Little Einsteins, so he had finally stopped whining.) While Im showering, DS runs in and yells, We got Park Fare! Well thats cool! Have I mentioned that DH is a big believer in, If at first you dont succeed, try, try again?? He is. (Thats how he got me! Ha!! No, really, that IS how he got me!) So, there you go, his mantra worked again. Alrighty. Showered, packed, fed the cats lets go!
The Trip:
Travel/Arrival/Night 1 okay, Night ONLY
We left about 10am. Had to swing by the ATM and the gas station. Drove thru BK for breakfast. Wow, were on our way to DISNEY!!! The whining was only moderate. And he only asked 3,297 times when we would be there. All in all, not a bad trip! At 4ish, we were pulling into Coronado Springs. I had been there previously, just to look around, but DH had not. He was impressed immediately. We had a short wait before Lisa checked us in. She was great, very personable, quite chatty. She gave DS about 25 stickers, then went and got balloons for him. Stickers and balloons~shell be his friend for life! We were assigned our room (Cabanas 8A, room 8207, I think), and were on our way. We walked around a bit first, then drove to our building. We had packed light (it was for only 24 hours, remember!), so we grabbed the bag and our small cooler, and went to see how much better a moderate REALLY is. Whoa. It is much better. Really! A noticeable difference in room size even the bathroom. And the fridge is fabulous. Ceiling fan is also a plus. DS goes to the bathroom. Flushes the toilet. Pops his head out and says, "That wasn't as loud as I thought it was going to be!" DH says, yep, Im convinced, no more values! After a quick walk to see the pool (impressive!), we strike out for AKL, hoping to get into Boma a little early, because we have another surprise for DS. If my son is arrested one day, youll know its because we gave him too many surprises. DH checks in while DS and I admire the gingerbread lodge. We get our cell phone looking buzzer thingy and go searching for animals. Flamingos, gazelles and something else. I know many people love AKL, but it just doesnt do it for me. At times there is a very animal-y odor (to be expected, I understand, but not really what I want to smell from my hotel room balcony on an expensive vacation), but even worse than that, the area around the pool smells like dead fish! Ugh. About 3 seconds before Ive had all the dead fish smell I can take, our cell phone looking buzzer thingy goes off. Thank goodness!
Boma was good, as it always is. Lindsay was our server. At one point, she nearly had both DH and me in tears. As she stopped by our table to see if everything was alright, she said, What a well behaved little boy you have there! You are sitting in your chair and eating so politely! (Whine he may, but he IS a very well behaved child! Maybe we ARE doing something right!) He did eat quite well, even though it was PBJ and chicken fingers. He eats more adventurously at home than he does away. DH and I were adventurous enough for all of us! DH thinks the prime rib is best, I think the top sirloin is best. Who cares, theyre both good! And so are all of the sauces. DH tried the butternut soup, which was quite good, though very rich. I like the salads. We both really love hummus, and theirs is outstanding. To me, their desserts are not as great as the other things. Not that any of it is bad, Id just rather have more meat and hummus. So I did!
Dinner over, we start towards Destination Unknown, and DS surprise. At Fort Wilderness, we park the car and board the bus for Chip and Dales Campfire Singalong (and movie). It was after 7 when we arrived, about halfway through the singing. DS got to give Dale a hug, but no time for a picture. And we didnt get to visit with Chip at all, though we saw him from a distance. No matter. It was still fun. Then it was time for our movie: Aladdin. Okay, so the bleachers were hard, and I nearly had an eye put out by a stray marshmallow roasting stick courtesy of our bleacher neighbor but it was great! DS really did like this surprise. And I think its quite noble of Disney to offer this for free. Well try and work this into our schedule periodically a new cool Disney thing to do!
Arrived back at Coronado Springs in time for DS to catch the last Bedtime Story~Toy Story 2. This was quite a relief. Our last few trips, hes missed the bedtime stories and has been very distraught. By 11, he and I were both out. Not sure how long DH stayed awake.
Day 2/Departure
Mickey called at 8am. We were a little slow-moving, but got up and about not too long after 9. We were sad to leave our room, we really did like it there. (Thanks Buzz2001, for all your CSR encouragement!) We browsed the gift shop, then left for the Grand Floridian. Got there in good time, and had a chance to look around at the decorations and the gingerbread shop. Checked in at Park Fare, where DS informed us he did NOT want to see Mary Poppins. Well okay. Got our food, our server was Joan her service was much more prompt than in July, when we had Dennis. Pooh was first around. DS loves Pooh, says he is soft and cuddly. Next was Alice. She chatted for a bit, and gave him a kiss. Then was the Mad Hatter. Surprisingly, DS had a lot to say to him. He typically prefers the non-speaking characters, but he does occasionally come out of his shell with face characters. This Mad Hatter was better than some weve seen previously. Then Tigger arrived, and they bounced together. We saw Pooh again before we left. Then he decided he would see Mary, after all, so he did.
Given the choice of riding the monorail around the resort loop or going straight to Downtown Disney, DS chose Downtown Disney!! We knew it would be packed, and it was. Started by seeing Santa. The line wasnt too long, so we thought wed get it out of the way. Next stop: World of Disney! That store how on earth do you ever see everything they have in there?? We saw as much as we could, trying to make mental notes on what we wanted to buy, etc and struck out for Once Upon a Toy. Here DS found his I-gotta-have-ems: a stuffed dragon (you know, the one Maleficent turns into in Sleeping Beauty) and a Sleeping Beauty play set. But darn those Disney folks, they had the spend $75 get this lithograph for only $10 more thing going on at World of Disney. Surely we saw these same items at World of Disney. If not, we promised DS, wed come back. We trotted off to the Christmas store, where the lines were unbelievable. But we had not yet gotten a 2005 ornament (I swear it is because DH threatened to divorce me if I bought one more ornament, so I didnt purchase one in September, for the purpose of saving my marriage), so DH dutifully stood in line to get one. (I love you, baby!) Then I browsed in Pin Traders Im not a pin fanatic, but I do like to get one or two each trip (I say that as if Ive always done that. Really, I bought my first ones in September I am now the proud owner of 7 pins, I believe, and one of them Ive had for years, and another one came free with the Cinderella DVD we purchased on this trip) this time I got Mickey proposing to Minnie (I almost bought in September, changed my mind, then regretted it ever since), and an Aurora/Prince Phillip one. Are you seeing a Sleeping Beauty theme? You have no idea how much DS loves Prince Phillip. And it doesn't hurt that we've had a FANTASTIC character experience with Aurora, and then got to meet her, Prince Phillip, Cindy and Prince Charming IN THE CASTLE, all by ourselves, on that same trip (last December). Anyway, I knew the two pins I wanted were also available at WoD, so we started back for there, CERTAIN that they would also have the items DS wanted. Naturally, they didnt. Oh well, we still got enough stuff to allow us to buy the lithograph! So. Back to Once Upon A Toy, where DS realized that they had a BIGGER Maleficent dragon than the first one we saw, and thats the one he wanted. DH thought it was a grand idea, because it was big enough for DS to throw his Prince Phillip sword at (as he does in the movie), which would relieve DH from dragon duty. Poor DH. I get to play the fun parts: Wendy, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty he always has to do the physical stuff. You know, get eaten by a crocodile (Captain Hook), have a sword thrown at him (Maleficent) you get the picture. So the bigger dragon it is! And the play set. Weve already more than gotten our moneys worth, he played with them all the way home (minus the 45 minute nap he took), as long as wed let him Saturday night after arriving home, before church, after church, last night and he has informed us that we are NEVER to make him get rid of his dragon, because it is his favorite toy. (This is because we told him on Wednesday it was time to go through his things and pick out some to give to a little boy or girl who didnt have any toys. Now you know that what we finally made him give up were items he has not touched in 11 months but it doesnt matter, he LOVES those particular toy(s). Alright, we agree that he NEVER has to get rid of his dragon.) We spin through Earl of Sandwich to get dinner to take on the road (thereby eliminating the no more Disney food situation that always reminds you, much sooner than you wish, that you are back in the real world), and were off, just about 4pm~exactly 24 hours from the time of our arrival.
We were doing fine til about Valdosta wed rehashed every second since we left home, had our sandwiches, DS got his little nap then traffic began slowing down. It was a LONG trip home. For the last 30 miles, DS sang Jingle Bells. Yes, for 30 miles. Fortunately, it was cute, and somewhat entertaining. But it was still 30 miles.
Now were home, back to business as usual, and nearing the 50 day mark for our January trip. Life is good better, anyway. Thanks again, Mickey, for creating magic for this family once more!
Well, this will not be a new story to many of you, you've read it before (from us) numerous times life throws us a curve, so we~Head to WDW, of course!! Heres the lowdown on yet another 24 hours in the World!
Cast:
DH, 33/Me, 32~according to Disneys computers, weve been there 24 times since weve been married which is less than 8 years!
DS, 3~this was his 8th trip
Pre-Trip:
Well, the holidays were coming up. And you know how Thanksgiving is its all about food and family. Which is wonderful~IF you have a good relationship with your families! Weve had trouble with both sides of our families, so our ideal holiday is to not be with either one! But you know THAT isnt going to happen. This year, it was Thanksgiving with his family. Things had been especially tense with them recently, so it was kind of an up in the air deal, anyway. DH said, on Monday, I believe, lets just skip the whole family thing and go to WDW. Oh yeah, that makes great sense. Especially since we dont have extra money laying around! (Not that I was opposed to it, you understand just didnt think it was the smartest thing to do, financially speaking.) Then on Tuesday, the Thanksgiving plans were made, and we were stuck. Dinner with the family. Yippee. We normally put up our trees on the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe DH had a premonition. He REALLY wanted to put them up on Wednesday this year. So thats what we did. By Wednesday night, all decorations were up. Thursday dawned, and reality began. I wont get into the details. Lets just say by the time we got home, we were both wishing we had skipped the whole thing and headed to Florida. We tried to salvage the day by letting DS stay up late so we could all watch White Christmas (a family favorite) together before going to bed. That we did, so it was near midnight before any of us got to bed. And when we did, DH said, Lets go tomorrow. Ummm Huh? Come on, lets go to Disney itll make up for this awful day! No, we cant go to Disney. Think, honey. Its a HOLIDAY weekend. There wont be anything available, anyway. He persisted. I went to sleep. Now why is it that when you have to get up to go to work, you could sleep til noon if your alarm didnt go off but on a nice, relaxing day off, youre awake at~5am!!! We both tossed and turned til 6:30. Thats when I heard DH get up. I knew exactly what he was doing. Ten minutes later I followed him into the den where he was, as I suspected, online checking room availability. Good grief! By 7, we were back in bed. He had finally figured out that I wasnt kidding, that I really didnt think it was the best idea for us to go. Around 7:30, I finally dozed off again. At 7:45, DS was in the room. What IS it with days off?? On a school day, you have to pry the kid out of bed!! DH is painting a lovely picture of our day together, with DS whining and complaining, were all going to be bored (were not day after Thanksgiving shoppers, and the trees, as I mentioned, were already up) Now Im certain that we could have found something fun and entertaining for us all to do. We do fun and entertaining things on a regular basis. But I knew that going to Disney would help make up for how bad the day before had been. As a favorite DIS saying goes, Id rather pay the Mouse than a shrink! So, that fast, I decided that DH was right, it would be worth it. DS is already whining. He wants to watch Little Einsteins. An aside note: If you have small children, do not allow them to attend pre-school. No matter how wonderful your child is, s/he will pick up all these nasty habits from their classmates. Whining is our big one. He never used to whine. He never used to do anything bad, nothing at all! Then came pre-school. Now, what do you know, hes just like all the other kids! BUT~when were at Disney, something magical happens. He doesnt whine! We dont rant and rave! We all become a wonderful, happy, peaceful, loving family again. There you go, decision made. DH says to DS, We have a surprise for you! Were going to Disney World! There is a moment of silence. Then DS whines, But I wanna watch Little Einsteins!!! What??? Who is this kid??? This is NOT our son! Well, maybe it is. Have we spoiled him? Is he so accustomed to going to WDW that it isnt special anymore? Are we terrible parents? Have we given him too much of a good thing? Is he going to grow up to be a mass murderer because we took him to WDW too much? You know how it is. If youre a parent, this is life for you. You second guess every thing. Well, maybe you dont. I do.
Planning:
By this time, DH has already run for the phone. Have I mentioned that, for us, Disney is all about the food? Yes, he calls for ADRs before he checks on room availability. Thats my baby! Wow, we get Boma at 6:10!! Sadly, no out of the park character breakfasts are available for Saturday. We try for Whispering Canyon instead. Were both a little disappointed. Okay, a lot disappointed. When we arent going into the parks, a good character meal always makes up for it (well, sort of.) He gets a room at Coronado Springs. This would be fun. Weve decided to go moderate from now on, instead of value. A few too many whooshing toilets, and a few too little insulation panels. We had planned to stay at Coronado Springs in February, when we go with friends, but there was nothing available, so were staying at PO Riverside instead. This would be a good opportunity for us to check out Coronado Springs. Okay, so plans are set. All thats left is to shower and pack. This we do (DS got to watch Little Einsteins, so he had finally stopped whining.) While Im showering, DS runs in and yells, We got Park Fare! Well thats cool! Have I mentioned that DH is a big believer in, If at first you dont succeed, try, try again?? He is. (Thats how he got me! Ha!! No, really, that IS how he got me!) So, there you go, his mantra worked again. Alrighty. Showered, packed, fed the cats lets go!
The Trip:
Travel/Arrival/Night 1 okay, Night ONLY
We left about 10am. Had to swing by the ATM and the gas station. Drove thru BK for breakfast. Wow, were on our way to DISNEY!!! The whining was only moderate. And he only asked 3,297 times when we would be there. All in all, not a bad trip! At 4ish, we were pulling into Coronado Springs. I had been there previously, just to look around, but DH had not. He was impressed immediately. We had a short wait before Lisa checked us in. She was great, very personable, quite chatty. She gave DS about 25 stickers, then went and got balloons for him. Stickers and balloons~shell be his friend for life! We were assigned our room (Cabanas 8A, room 8207, I think), and were on our way. We walked around a bit first, then drove to our building. We had packed light (it was for only 24 hours, remember!), so we grabbed the bag and our small cooler, and went to see how much better a moderate REALLY is. Whoa. It is much better. Really! A noticeable difference in room size even the bathroom. And the fridge is fabulous. Ceiling fan is also a plus. DS goes to the bathroom. Flushes the toilet. Pops his head out and says, "That wasn't as loud as I thought it was going to be!" DH says, yep, Im convinced, no more values! After a quick walk to see the pool (impressive!), we strike out for AKL, hoping to get into Boma a little early, because we have another surprise for DS. If my son is arrested one day, youll know its because we gave him too many surprises. DH checks in while DS and I admire the gingerbread lodge. We get our cell phone looking buzzer thingy and go searching for animals. Flamingos, gazelles and something else. I know many people love AKL, but it just doesnt do it for me. At times there is a very animal-y odor (to be expected, I understand, but not really what I want to smell from my hotel room balcony on an expensive vacation), but even worse than that, the area around the pool smells like dead fish! Ugh. About 3 seconds before Ive had all the dead fish smell I can take, our cell phone looking buzzer thingy goes off. Thank goodness!
Boma was good, as it always is. Lindsay was our server. At one point, she nearly had both DH and me in tears. As she stopped by our table to see if everything was alright, she said, What a well behaved little boy you have there! You are sitting in your chair and eating so politely! (Whine he may, but he IS a very well behaved child! Maybe we ARE doing something right!) He did eat quite well, even though it was PBJ and chicken fingers. He eats more adventurously at home than he does away. DH and I were adventurous enough for all of us! DH thinks the prime rib is best, I think the top sirloin is best. Who cares, theyre both good! And so are all of the sauces. DH tried the butternut soup, which was quite good, though very rich. I like the salads. We both really love hummus, and theirs is outstanding. To me, their desserts are not as great as the other things. Not that any of it is bad, Id just rather have more meat and hummus. So I did!
Dinner over, we start towards Destination Unknown, and DS surprise. At Fort Wilderness, we park the car and board the bus for Chip and Dales Campfire Singalong (and movie). It was after 7 when we arrived, about halfway through the singing. DS got to give Dale a hug, but no time for a picture. And we didnt get to visit with Chip at all, though we saw him from a distance. No matter. It was still fun. Then it was time for our movie: Aladdin. Okay, so the bleachers were hard, and I nearly had an eye put out by a stray marshmallow roasting stick courtesy of our bleacher neighbor but it was great! DS really did like this surprise. And I think its quite noble of Disney to offer this for free. Well try and work this into our schedule periodically a new cool Disney thing to do!
Arrived back at Coronado Springs in time for DS to catch the last Bedtime Story~Toy Story 2. This was quite a relief. Our last few trips, hes missed the bedtime stories and has been very distraught. By 11, he and I were both out. Not sure how long DH stayed awake.
Day 2/Departure
Mickey called at 8am. We were a little slow-moving, but got up and about not too long after 9. We were sad to leave our room, we really did like it there. (Thanks Buzz2001, for all your CSR encouragement!) We browsed the gift shop, then left for the Grand Floridian. Got there in good time, and had a chance to look around at the decorations and the gingerbread shop. Checked in at Park Fare, where DS informed us he did NOT want to see Mary Poppins. Well okay. Got our food, our server was Joan her service was much more prompt than in July, when we had Dennis. Pooh was first around. DS loves Pooh, says he is soft and cuddly. Next was Alice. She chatted for a bit, and gave him a kiss. Then was the Mad Hatter. Surprisingly, DS had a lot to say to him. He typically prefers the non-speaking characters, but he does occasionally come out of his shell with face characters. This Mad Hatter was better than some weve seen previously. Then Tigger arrived, and they bounced together. We saw Pooh again before we left. Then he decided he would see Mary, after all, so he did.
Given the choice of riding the monorail around the resort loop or going straight to Downtown Disney, DS chose Downtown Disney!! We knew it would be packed, and it was. Started by seeing Santa. The line wasnt too long, so we thought wed get it out of the way. Next stop: World of Disney! That store how on earth do you ever see everything they have in there?? We saw as much as we could, trying to make mental notes on what we wanted to buy, etc and struck out for Once Upon a Toy. Here DS found his I-gotta-have-ems: a stuffed dragon (you know, the one Maleficent turns into in Sleeping Beauty) and a Sleeping Beauty play set. But darn those Disney folks, they had the spend $75 get this lithograph for only $10 more thing going on at World of Disney. Surely we saw these same items at World of Disney. If not, we promised DS, wed come back. We trotted off to the Christmas store, where the lines were unbelievable. But we had not yet gotten a 2005 ornament (I swear it is because DH threatened to divorce me if I bought one more ornament, so I didnt purchase one in September, for the purpose of saving my marriage), so DH dutifully stood in line to get one. (I love you, baby!) Then I browsed in Pin Traders Im not a pin fanatic, but I do like to get one or two each trip (I say that as if Ive always done that. Really, I bought my first ones in September I am now the proud owner of 7 pins, I believe, and one of them Ive had for years, and another one came free with the Cinderella DVD we purchased on this trip) this time I got Mickey proposing to Minnie (I almost bought in September, changed my mind, then regretted it ever since), and an Aurora/Prince Phillip one. Are you seeing a Sleeping Beauty theme? You have no idea how much DS loves Prince Phillip. And it doesn't hurt that we've had a FANTASTIC character experience with Aurora, and then got to meet her, Prince Phillip, Cindy and Prince Charming IN THE CASTLE, all by ourselves, on that same trip (last December). Anyway, I knew the two pins I wanted were also available at WoD, so we started back for there, CERTAIN that they would also have the items DS wanted. Naturally, they didnt. Oh well, we still got enough stuff to allow us to buy the lithograph! So. Back to Once Upon A Toy, where DS realized that they had a BIGGER Maleficent dragon than the first one we saw, and thats the one he wanted. DH thought it was a grand idea, because it was big enough for DS to throw his Prince Phillip sword at (as he does in the movie), which would relieve DH from dragon duty. Poor DH. I get to play the fun parts: Wendy, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty he always has to do the physical stuff. You know, get eaten by a crocodile (Captain Hook), have a sword thrown at him (Maleficent) you get the picture. So the bigger dragon it is! And the play set. Weve already more than gotten our moneys worth, he played with them all the way home (minus the 45 minute nap he took), as long as wed let him Saturday night after arriving home, before church, after church, last night and he has informed us that we are NEVER to make him get rid of his dragon, because it is his favorite toy. (This is because we told him on Wednesday it was time to go through his things and pick out some to give to a little boy or girl who didnt have any toys. Now you know that what we finally made him give up were items he has not touched in 11 months but it doesnt matter, he LOVES those particular toy(s). Alright, we agree that he NEVER has to get rid of his dragon.) We spin through Earl of Sandwich to get dinner to take on the road (thereby eliminating the no more Disney food situation that always reminds you, much sooner than you wish, that you are back in the real world), and were off, just about 4pm~exactly 24 hours from the time of our arrival.
We were doing fine til about Valdosta wed rehashed every second since we left home, had our sandwiches, DS got his little nap then traffic began slowing down. It was a LONG trip home. For the last 30 miles, DS sang Jingle Bells. Yes, for 30 miles. Fortunately, it was cute, and somewhat entertaining. But it was still 30 miles.
Now were home, back to business as usual, and nearing the 50 day mark for our January trip. Life is good better, anyway. Thanks again, Mickey, for creating magic for this family once more!
.....bad news is it was to florida.....good news is they moved to the gulf coast......soooo we just don't mention when we go to florida......bad i know but easier then the guilt trips, lol. 
thanks for sharing
