The Meanest Mother in the World--A L-B TR, 5/05 *DONE. p.65, with one last pic*

[mikymouse]

Glad you checked in, can't wait for the rest of your report!

 

[corinnak]

Hello! I started reading this trip report.....well, sometime before the summer started and got all crazy. I love reading about Ralla and Chommin' and your family having fun. Hopefully by "subscribing" I can "keep up" rather than "catch up" at some future date. Oh, and from one mama to another, I LOVED the Mamarail. Right on the money.

 

[ncseric]

When we were kids, we always stayed off property. There was one time we stayed at the Polynesian, but every other trip was at the Days Inn/Days Lodge. I don't ever recall feeling like we weren't "in the magic" whatever that means, nor do I ever recall feeling like we were missing something when we ate dinner some place other than at one of Disney's overpriced eateries.

I'm in the same boat as you, ZZUB. My grandparents lived near Tampa, so we would typically come over for a day in the morning and then go back to Tampa. The only time we stayed on property was in the "garden wing" at the Contemporary, back when the two monorail hotels and Ft Wilderness were the only place to stay.

When my parents got a motor home, my dad would bring me, my mom and brother over to WDW or Epcot and drop us off, because his arthritis bothered him too much to walk around the parks. We would stay at an off-park campground those times. We did stay at Ft Wilderness once, but it was just overnight and we never went to the park that time.

While I'm not one for spending a lot of money, I enjoy the on-property experience too. There's something different about staying "in the world" vs. off-property. It's like going to Six Flags vs. going to Disney... there's a world of difference.

 

[princessjv]

Wow. I have been waaay negligient over here. The summer has not been as, um, leisurely as I'd anticipated.

TONIGHT, though, I'm back at it. Getting over the hump and back into the swing of writing.

I am determined to finish this report before our next trip.

Broken promise lady. We are a waiting for you to finish. You are not allowed to go next month, without it done! From one mean momma to another...GET TO WORK, OR YOU CAN'T PLAY!

 

[magicmama]

sigh.
just waiting...
and waiting.....

 

[White as Snow]

Kim, your TR is awesome!! You may have been dubbed the meanest mother in the world, but is sounds like you should call yourself the BEST mother in the world! The way you know how to handle your kids is amazing (according to my mom who's reading along with me - I'm not blessed with younguns yet!) Your children are little angels and it is evident that you know and appreciate that fact. Can't wait for more!!!

 

[kpk89]

Broken promise lady. We are a waiting for you to finish. You are not allowed to go next month, without it done! From one mean momma to another...GET TO WORK, OR YOU CAN'T PLAY!

Nuh-uh! I am writing it! It's just not done!!

 

[kpk89]

Tuesday morning dawns with the kpKrew revived and rarin’ to go. We are off to MGM today!

MGM has never been a favorite of mine. I went for the first time in June of 1989, only a month after the park had opened. I went with a group from my high school on a “Grad Nite” trip. This trip included an off-property hotel (as there were no “high school group” amenable options back in ’89) tickets to the Grad Nite party (woo hoo! Samantha Fox, New Kids, and Information Society!) and one-day passes to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. It was a total blur. But since Epcot (sorry, EPCOT Center, as it was then) was “educational” and Disney-MGM Studios was brand spankin’ new, one of our chaperones (my own mother!) led the charge to sell our Epcot tickets and get MGM tix instead.

So she stood, like a scalper, in the parking lot at EPCOT. Luring some sucker to buy our tickets for face value. What a bargain we drive! Of course now we know it would’ve been no trouble to just go on up to the ticket window and ask them to exchange it, but what would’ve been the fun in that? My mom was proud to be the bad mama, setting a terrible example for us young impressionable kids. Luring us AWAY from the educational park and “illegally” selling tickets (at face value) to boot!

The whole shenanigan led to a lot of pressure on the brand-baby-new park. To be fun. Lots and lots of F-U-N with no education in sight.

Turns out, it was educational too! Just about movies and Hollywood stuff instead of science and technology and the varied cultures of the world.

Dwats.

Whatever; we were a bunch of high school seniors, soon to be free of the shackles of our secondary education. So we rode the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot Tour, and saw the Indy stunt show. We also visited SuperStar Television and the Monster Sound Show – benember those? Good times. It took about an hour, I think.

So. Compare that to the trip we took Christmas week, 1994 when we waited for TWO HOURS to ride Tower of Terror. And that’s when it was brand new. One drop. Phew! That was(n’t) worth waiting for two hours!

Put those two experiences together and they add up to not our fondest memories of Disney World ever.

But.

Back to the future. Present. Whatever.

THIS trip, we were wildly anticipating MGM because of two things. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Fantasmic! Ok, for me, three things. Because we had PS’s for the Brown Derby, too.

However, even our wild anticipation wasn’t enough to get us there for the actual opening of the park. We tried, we really did. We ate granola bars for breakfast en route to the park, and skipped the whole coffee ritual. We just missed it.

We sped through the entrance and made straight for Rock ‘n’ Roller. Remember, I’m on a quest to make sure to see everything “new” that has been added since I last visited in 1994.

At the gate, we are ready to get FastPasses. But there’s no need! Wow. Doug doesn’t like coasters, something about a little fear that they’ll go hurtling off the track. So my Conorman and I are it, for this one.

Except that he’s not tall enough.

But he is! I measured him at home, using the pretense of making sure his new clothes were going to fit. (Ha! More planning, right under their unsuspecting little noses.)

He was 48” when I measured him, not a week before the trip.

I knew I shouldn’t have caved and let him have those brownies for breakfast. Honey, I shrunk the kid with poor nutritional choices.

Actually, the problem seemed to be that he was slouching. Posture has not been a hotbutton for this mama. Apparently it needs to be.

For five minutes, five FULL minutes, we watched other riders go scooting past us while both the entrance Cast Member and myself tried to make my boy understand that he needed to stand up straight. He was too excited, or tired, to manage this.

The CM looked at me and said, “I can see that he’s tall enough. But I can’t let him through unless I see his head hit that mark.”

At last, at last! He stood up properly for just long enough. The CM was glad. I could tell by the way she heaved a giant sigh of relief as she ushered us into the standby line.

Like rats in a cheese-maze, we wended our way through. Still no wait! Into the pre-show we go.

This is pretty clever. I’m not the hugest Aerosmith fan, but their music is fun. Put it this way, I wouldn’t buy a CD, but if I hear one of their songs on the radio while I’m driving, I’ll crank it up.

We like the preshow, especially the part where the manager says, “Listen Sal, I’m gonna need a bigger car. Make it a stretch. A super stretch!”

Because Conor SWEARS that she said “Listen, Saladhead.”

For the rest of the trip we heard this:

“Listen Saladhead, I’m gonna need…” (dissolves into giggles).

“Listen, Saladhead, I’m …” (full-on laughter.)

“Listen, Sa –“ (silent, shaking uncontrolled fit of amusement.)

He liked the ride, too.

We both did. So much so that when he said “Can we do it again?” I, the Meanest Mother in the World, said, “Sure!”

And we got to the entrance.

Again.

I started to give my “stand up straight and tall” speech, when the CM approached.

She said, “I remember him. Go ahead.”

The line had extended to be about a five minute wait. Another CM remembered us, too and wanted to know how we’d liked the ride. I told him it was awesome (clearly ... I mean, we DID get right back on for another go-round...) though the music wasn’t as loud as I’d expected. He smiled and said he’d “take care of that.”

Minutes later, emerging from the ride with our eardrums bleeding, Conor and I agreed that it was “way” more fun with the music cranked up.

Way.

 

[Grammyof2]

Mai Tai say that I need to recap to remember what this TR is about

Oh yeah, I do remember you, a true Maelstromer.....The never ending battle for someone besides Mark and Rhonda to actually finish a report

Loving it

Scalpers at Disney

 

[HaleyB]

Great installment Kimmie.

I'll finish mine if you finish yours

 

[javamom]

Saladhead!!! Love it!! Maybe if I read this one to the kids, I can stop hearing ... "brains on a bun....."!!

 

[jamal]

Kimmie baby,

Love Saladhead! I can so hear Conor hearing that when the lady calls Sal about the stretch.

We are soooo finishing these TRs before our next trip. We can't help it if a Viking summer got in the way, right??

 

[magicmama]

Great installment!!!
It reminds me of the time my son and I went to MGM ---
I'm not a big roller coaster fan but sometimes I will get on one. I wasn't so sure about the Rockin Rollercoaster but my son insisted that it was a very short ride and you only went upside down once. He finally talked me into it. But after he got me on the ride & we were going so fast, we went upside down more than once!! I was screaming and my son laughed the whole time!!!
It was a wild experience for me!!

 

[Turtle]

Yay! Love seeing new installments!

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Kimmie ~
Excellent installment. I was posting earlier, and then had a kid interruption.

Can't wait to see the pictures and all. Get with it!

Amy

 

[kpk89]

We said “Later, dudes!” to Steve Tyler, Saladhead and friends, off to do something fun for the girls. Remember I said MGM wasn’t one of my favorite parks? Well, now that they’ve added some thrill, and I’ve grown up and added some kids, it’s a pretty cool place to be. There’s lots for the wee ones to enjoy here.

We started with Playhouse Disney Live On Stage. It sure was nice of them to put a playground in the queue area.

The show was cute. Don’t we look like we’re having fun?

By the time we finished that, the Animation tour was open. We should have wanted to see the whole tour, but really we wanted to meet the Incredibles. And the nice lady in the expensive animation art store said we didn’t need to do the whole tour, just go in the out door and get in line for the Incredibles there.

We continued with the age-old tradition (3, 4 days now?) of Sydney not wanting anything to do with the characters, and Piper decided to join her. But Conor met Mr. and Mrs. I, and Frozone.

Mr. Incredible attempted to win over my girls, but I think his muscles intimidated them. Either that or his creepy permagrin.

Oh, and I wanted to thank Disney for not making a Frozone Halloween costume. Really. Because that’s what Conor wanted to be, soooo muchly, that Halloween. There were none out there. Dash, Mr. I., and the rest, sure! No Frozone. And I have no sewing skills. Well, I do, but they are sad, rather than mad. He ended up deciding to be Sportacus. Which I got on eBay. You cannot tell me that an Icelandic health hero from Lazytown has more appeal than a DISNEY character.

So. One for Conor, one for the girls. One for Conor, now it’s time to do something the girls will enjoy more fully.

The Voyage of the Little Wermaid. Mermaid. Sorry. Piper calls her the little wermaid. And Nemo is Meemo. By the way. Don't try to tell her differently. And she also informed me that the guy in the wetsuit who took Meemo is a "scooper diver." Because he scoooooped up Meemo!

Anyway. The Little Wermaid. I personally don’t benember much of this show because I spent the duration watching Sydney’s face for signs of nervous breakdown. She didn’t. Even the Ursula part. A slightly horrorstruck look crossed her visage, but other than that, not a blip of breakdown.

Yet she is terrified of Mickey Mouse.

Okay, something for the girls … right. Conor’s turn again. Lights! Motors! Action!

Could there BE an attraction more perfect for my boy? (Okay, besides Test Track and the Indy Speedway?)

Fastpasses grabbed. That stadium is blinkin’ huge, but I had heard (read) that a FP is a good idea. Uh, ok. I didn’t want to take a chance.

Lunch at the Studio Catering Co. Y’know, it wasn’t bad. I don’t care what they say.

And then.

The Boiling Hotbox of Fast Cars and Oh, Yes, Let’s Add Flames!

Getting into the stunt show was not a fastpass. Even though we had one. There’s a lot of Florida sunshine jamming down on that place. Which is full of asphalt and other heat-attracting things.

And, whose idea was Pin Trading, anyway? Because we were in. We were ready! To turn to corner from PeopleStandingintheBlazingSunWaitingtoGoIntotheStands to People In the Stands. In the shade.

When Conor spotted a CM with a lanyard. Ushering the crowd to their rightful places. In the SHADE.

He asks her to trade. We fully expect her to suggest that he wait until after the show, since she’s clearly busy waving her arm and pointing people up into the aisle.

She says, “Sure!” and bends down to let him get a look at the lanyard.

Hundreds of people go by us.

Chaos ensues. Because the usher CM is busy pin trading and people are no longer climbing into the “right” aisle. They are going wherever the heck they please.

Conor doesn’t make snap decisions, did I mention that? His pin trading is a long and thoughtful process.

Thousands of people go by us.

Literally!

The place seats 5,000.

Doug is getting impatient. And melting. We all are. We are all of Celtic heritage and do not belong out in this much pelting sunshine for so long. It didn’t SEEM this hot and sunny when we were in the rest of the park. But it is, and our pasty white faces are now redder than red. I resist the urge to remind Doug that pin trading was his idea. (Well, for our kids anyway. He did not come up with the overall concept. TFI.)

At last Conor chooses his pin, Piper is thankfully still determined to keep the four princess pins she started out with, and the nice CM turns back to the task at hand. We have missed our chance to sit in the middle section toward the front, and now must hike off to neverland, left side, waaaay up. Behind a pole.

The show is loud, hot, and (in my opinion) boring. The rest of the crew seemed to enjoy it. The fire part sort of freaked them out a little. For 3.2 seconds, until they realized that the fire was part of the show.

Following the Hotbox Follies, in which we at least got to sit in the shade but it was still about a hundred and fifty degrees in the stands, we decided we were done.

Except for the ice cream.

We made our way leisurely toward the exit, stopping for ice cream, and a quick game of “Daddy and Piper impersonate each other.”

Can you tell who is who?

At the bus stop, Piper the nature girl decided to befriend a tree. It was, as luck would have it, just the right size for her to wrap her little arms around.

Meanwhile, Conor continued cracking himself up to himself.

“Listen, Saladhead,” bwahahahahaha!

Back at OKW, a little pooltime was in order. We splashed and played and waterslid and “Watch this!”d and escorted Piper to the bathroom numerous times. And took this.

My peeps. My pastywhite, loveable little family. I adore them. Truly, truly.

And so ends another day in the neverending trip report from more than a year ago.

Tomorrow is a very important day.

Conor’s 6th birthday!

We have plans. Big plans.

 

[HaleyB]

The Voyage of the Little Wermaid. Mermaid. Sorry. Piper calls her the little wermaid. And Nemo is Meemo. By the way. Don't try to tell her differently. And she also informed me that the guy in the wetsuit who took Meemo is a "scooper diver." Because he scoooooped up Meemo!

That reminds me of some adorable arguments between Max and Sophia over how to say the work 'breakfast'

Sophia: I want some brepdist.
Max: No Sophie, it is breadpist not brepdist.
Sophia: No it is brepdist.
and so on.

Your pasty white family is adorable.

 

[AshClan]

Two installments! Thanks Kimmie!!

I love to ride RnR with my son. It was his fave, too, until Mission Space (Sinise). He's still trying to convince me to join him on that one.

Pics are precious. Pasty white but adorable Especially loved the one of Sydney laughing her little head off!

Thanks for making the time to give us some updates! You have less than a month and a half to finish. Git R Done!!

 

[aGoofyMom]

Wow Caught up on this one too! Great installment - I love the pics especially your pastywhite lovable little family. Aww...

 

[Clare D]

Meanest Mama thank you for updating your trippie. I have missed you and your humour over the past few weeks. I have been catching up whilst DH watches the golf (yawn)

The pictures of your family are beautiful.
Clare x