The trip that launched my OCD....COMPLETE!!

[TikiGoddess]

Just a little backstory:
I have been to Disney 5 or 6 times over the years (both World and Land), but this was my first trip as a grown up (at least I think I'm a grown up now). AND more importantly my boys' first trip...AND perhaps most importantly (is that even grammatically correct?) the beginning of my obessive compulsive disney planning disorder or what I refer to as OCDPD.

We decided to vacation in WDW in January of 2005 so that only left 10 short months to plan...whatever will I do?? I know, I'll troll the newly discovered dis boards until the wee hours of the morning causing my beloved dh to question my sanity and my ability to count.

Anyway our trip begins Oct. 1, 2005, but first your colorful cast of characters must be introduced:

Me: generally type B mom and wife who has been transformed through a nasty bout of above mentioned OCDPD and what I believe to be Disney magic into a uber trip planner and general trip Nazi.

Dh: During this truly magical trip I dubbed him Grince. I will get into that later.

DS 4: Fearful of strange things such as Indiana Jones show, yet rides Tower of Terror. Never met a stranger or a character he didn't like- for the most part...anyway, we'll call him Woody. He'll eat anything you put in front of him-except mashed potatoes. (yes, I know, it's the Dan Quayle spelling...look it up, it's correct).

DS 2: General conniseur of monsters. PICKY, PICKY eater. Fearless and a little more than hacked that he can't ride the big stuff. We'll call him Buzz.

Day 1

Started out as one of the scariest rides we rode on this magical journey. With a 6:50 am flight and an hour and fifteen minute drive to the airport we got an early start. We left the house at 4:15 since our airport counters don't really open before six, but little did we know there was a flash flood heading our way. After our hour and fifteen minute drive turned into more like 2 hours we arrived at the airport soaking wet and stressed. I couldn't believe after 10 long months of planning, I would be foiled by missing our plane. This would not do for uber planner....thankfully they ushered us right on the plane and we took off soon after.

I have to say that the flight there was ten times more stressful than any other thing that happened our entire trip. It was my fault really...after 10 months of pumping a 2 & 4 year old up to immeasurable heights of anticipation, I should have expected it. Are we there yet? Is that Disneyworld down there? Why is there so much hair in that man's ears? But I digress. Other than the impatience of the little ones and the general hyperactivity between plane changes, we made it there with no problems.

Upon arrival to the Orlando airport, I immediately tuned in my eagle eye for the big handed ME people. I obviously needed the expert eagle eye of Mel Happyhaunt because not only could I not see them, my seach was fruitless. UNTIL, I read the small print on the ME ticket...ah yes, you are supposed to continue down to a certain area, clearly the big handed mouse people would not be waiting right outside OUR plane to personally escort US to the ME. I'm not sure what I expected...I think magical thoughts got in the way.

ANYWAY, we moved down to the correct area and got settled in to the bus. The video was cute and kept the kids occupied, although I think they now expected Chip and Dale to carry our luggage to our room followed by a sword fight with Hook at the pool. No such luck. We got checked in at ASMo and decided to try to rest before dinner. They were still running on fumes though and we got the little one down about 20 minutes before we needed to leave so we pretty much psyched him out on the nap thing. Take a nap! Just kidding...let's eat. We headed down to the bus area blissfully unaware that we had to ride a bus to a park and then catch a bus to AKL for our Boma reservation. Luckily we met a very nice bus driver who was going to AK and he ran us by AKL...thank you magical bus man whoever you are!

We arrived a little bit early for our reservation so we decided to check out AKL...very cool resort. We liked the animal lookout areas where we saw giraffes and zebras. Don't know if it would be worth the extra $$ for us since we're all day park people, but still, if I had the money to blow, I might just blow it here. On to Boma...I made the reservations because of the rave reviews on the dis board and while it was good, I wasn't completely overwhelmed. Our waitress was TERRIBLE. She came and took our drink orders and asked if we were on the dining plan (which we were) after receiving our drinks we didn't see her for the next hour and a half. We finally had to flag another server down to get our ticket. Luckily we did not have another experience like this. Woody dug the kids buffet and chowed down. Buzz only ate french fries and chocolate chip cookies- a foreshadowing of things to come. On second thought I should have titled this trip report, how to survive 7 days on french fries and dessert alone. It can be done people. I now know what the Supersize Me guy felt like. Dh began earning the GR in Grince, but more on that later....back to the room to shower and sleep...or so we thought!

Let me back up a bit, Uber planner or UP had requested the Toy Story building waaaaay back in the day (I have to say, I don't get the request thing with no guarantees- couldn't it be first come first serve?), but upon arrival was not granted my wish, so I requested once again to be moved there which they did. However, the CM was new and in training and wasn't sure how to tell the ME to change the label on the bags. We get back to our room around 8:30 and our bags are not there...mind you we checked in at 2:00. We called down to the front desk only to find that they did not know where our luggage was. It was lost and they would look for it. An hour later, after hearing nothing, I called back once again. The luggage had been found and was now out for delivery. Had I known they had found it, I would have picked it up myself as it took another hour and a half to receive it. TIP ALERT: Tell them you will come get it yourself instead of letting it make the rounds. So at 11 we had our luggage got into bed and went to sleep. Luckily Buzz and Woody had turned in my earlier. Turns out it was in our original room in Mighty Ducks the whole time. I hate when your luggage sees more action than you do...

Day 2
Morning breaks and Buzz and Woody cannot believe we are actually in the world . UP says that while I'm glad you are excited please get clean and dressed because we have a PLAN! We eat b-fast in the room and head to MGM...yay! We got there by 9 according to ...you guessed it...the PLAN!
This park is UP's second fave, but the Grince has never been here. We spend a minute figuring out the whole stroller rental extravaganza and rent a double for 6 days. Meanwhile, Woody spends some of his easy unearned money (bequeathed to him by the grands) on a Pal Mickey. TIP 2: The mickster will keep little ones occupied in line, but be prepared for repetition of corny jokes from said mickster and his handler. TIP 3: If you're gonna do the stroller rental, rent it for the entire time you're there. It saves money, but more importantly TIME! We head straight to the Muppets 3D because...it's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time to get things started on the Muppet Show tonight... Loved this show as a kid. All the way there and before we ever left the comfort of ASMo, Woody is complaining about the Muppets...doesn't want to see them, has never heard of them, blah, blah, blah. Ten minutes into the show, the same Woody is guffawing (love that word, use it three times in a sentence and it's yours). Loved that show. Good as I remembered.
We mosied on over to Star Tours (which, if you are from God's Country~Oklahoma, you are allowed to mosey...everyone else has to just walk). Woody and I rode it first. He did okay, but was a little nervous. The Grince and Buzz waited patiently for the child swap. Upon swapping a pattern emerged. Turns out Woody wants to ride everything first with his Mommy and then is too scared to ride a second time with the Grince...I tell him it's birthing rights and that he'll (the Grince) have to get over it. While waiting for the Grince to emerge from his intergalactic tour, I notice the Woodster is tearing up. What's the matter, I ask. He proceeds to tell me that he's just really worried that the Grince, aka Daddy might not make it back from outer space as we were really lucky to have. He says we almost didn't make it back and he sure hopes we'll see him again. At that point the jig is up and I have to confess to him that the ride was not real. He clearly doesn't believe me no matter what I say and continues to try and bravely hold his tears back until the Grince arrives energized and cofused as to what all the tears were about. Catastrophe solved. Dad's alive, we shall ride once again!
We decide to try to find our restaurant so we know where to go when our reservation comes up. On the way we pass Indiana Jones, but the show has already started so we move on and pledge to return. We find the restaurant (Prime Time) and decide to ride the Great Movie Ride until it is time to return. On the way we run into Stitch...now I'm not crazy about him as he is kind of rude, but Woody loves him. Buzz wants nothing to do with him as he does not resemble a french fry or a sweet of any kind. Thus begins our quest for autographs. I have to admit Stitch was funny and even made the zerbert sound at me which I found amusing.
On to the Great Movie ride. I remembered this ride as being one of the best. That just goes to show that either I was a very impressionable young person or I am in the early stages of memory loss. It was just Okay...I agree w/other posters that the whole hijacking thing is kind of silly. And our CM resembled Richard from the first season of Beauty and the Geek (yes I watched that show...what about it??) He was an unlikely hero at best, but every dog has it's day so I'll go with it.

On to lunch. We checked in at the Prime Time and were seated in Cousin Richard's section. He was pretty funny with the other tables, but I felt like he thought his type of biting wit wouldn't do well with the young ones at our table. Little did he know that Woody has known the definition of sarcastic since age 2. Anyway, it was fun to listen to him w/the other tables and our food was GREAT! We will definitely be back. Buzz deemed the french fries and ice cream good enough to eat, but wouldn't touch the hot dog w/a ten foot pole or his hand or anything else. Everyone else ate their way to gluttonly and not for the last time on this trip either!

 

[TikiGoddess]

We decided we needed to let our over abundance of food settle before another ride so we caught the Indiana Jones stunt show. This show completely freaked out Woody. He was convinced we were all going to catch on fire. I will say this, this trip made me wonder what I'm doing wrong as a parent that my child would think I would take him to something where he might catch on fire. "Come on sweetie, it's just a possibility...we're not sure you'll spontaneously combust!" Why would he think that??...oh well, this was a huge surprise to us that this actually scared him so we cut out of there early. We went to find Buzz and Woody (the real ones), but they were not following the schedule that day for some reason At this point it is hot...I mean Africa hot and we decide to head to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. On the way we are completely distracted by the air conditioned allure of Sorcerer Mickey's photo opportunity. Finally a character that Buzz found as appealing as said french fries. We got a really cute picture with him and moved on to Jojo and Goliath and Donald Duck. Donald is one of Woody's favorites and he was thrilled when Donald wrote Donald Duck #1, little did he know that he says that to all the kids . At this point we got distracted from the PLAN and headed into the Animation show. I'm not sure what happened to my structured plan, but I'm glad it happened as I thought the show was a real jewel (I stole that term from my grandad). Anyway, if you haven't seen it , check it out...Mushu is hilarious. And as we left that part we ran into none other than Chicken Little and Abby Mallard...this was pre release of the movie so we were way excited. These characters were great, they chased the kids and slid down the hand rails. We had lots of fun with them, but Buzz, finding neither deep fried nor topped with sugar, had nothing to do with them. I give Abby Mallard extra credit though, she did everything short of pledge her undying love to him and he would have none of it. Very cute and hyped us up for the movie. We went on to try the computer interactive thing that tells you which character you are most like. I have no shame in admitting that I was most like Lady Tremaine. Okay, I was hoping for Belle or even a funny sidekick like Timon, but I got Lady Tremaine. I can deal with my truth (as Oprah would say). The Grince in spot on accuracy was matched with Cogsworth...love it! What engineer shouldn't match up with him. Woody's was Aladdin, also a good match and Buzz was Captain Hook.. also not a bad match...that one is a little mischevious! We skipped out on the drawing class, but will probably hit it next time. Oh, I've left out a very important part of this day. Buzz also had some not so hard earned money burning a hole in his pocket. On the way in, he spotted a Tinkerbell doll that he had to have. It was like a Barbie with wings. I told him he shouldn't buy it right away, but keep looking at other stuff...maybe MANLY stuff...I'm just saying... Anyway, on the way out of the animation building you got through this animation shop. Every cel remotely having anything to do w/Tink earned his praise. He pronounced her his girlfriend...case closed.
On to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We liked it. The kids thought the rain was cool and Ariel had a very pretty voice. The best part was an older couple next to us. They were having the best time and were so lovey, dovey-cute!

At this point the Grince was just tired...call it jet lag, call it difficult, call it whatever you like. I called him a cross between my handsome Prince and Grumpy hence the Grince. Hey a rhyme...what do you know!
Anyway, we thought it might be a good time to sit down and catch the Stars and Motorcars parade. We were right on Hollywood Blvd. so it worked out great. The Grince showing his princely side decided to stand behind us while we sat on the curb. He's tall (and skinny) and knew he could see fine from back there. We sat and waited for about 30 minutes and the parade begins...okay whirlwind trippers, I feel your pain. I too believe that if you want to see a parade you should sit your tukkus down and wait if you want a good seat. As the parade gets going, the cutest thing happens, Woody puts his arm around Buzz and starts pointing out all the cool things coming down the street. I turn around to tell the Grince to get a good pic and I am met by a very meaty, yet feminine arm. Clearly not the arm of my manly, yet slim Grince. Confused, I look around only to see he has been crowded out by a LATE COMER who wanted to see the parade, but didn't want to pay the piper. I made a comment about how he must be having a hard time seeing and wow, that's weird since we waited for the parade for so long and no one was there before and said LATE COMER kind of scoots over. The Grince not loving conflict would never say something to LC, but the UP, well, that's another story. It burns me up that some people think basic decorum and the rules don't apply to them That said the parade was good an we head on to that looming nightmare...the Tower of Terror. At this point it's a walk on! Woody decides he's going to ride it much to my terror. All the way on I'm telling him...look it's really pretty scary, are you sure? I don't think you're going to like it...do you want to get off? No, No and No. Listen, Woody talks nonstop and when the kid is quiet- I worry. From the minute we got on until the minute we step off he is mute in silent terror. I felt AWFUL for him. He doesn't seem too traumatized afterwards, but doesn't want to ride again with the Grince. Then he tells me that Star Tours was way worse. Okay.

On to Rockin Roller Coaster. At this point the Grince has really earned his GR and is tired of riding second. I tell him go on and I'll go next. He rides it, loves it and says he's going to take Woody and Buzz while I ride and get a snack. He should be back in 30 minutes. I get in line and stand there 10 min. without the line moving. Then people start coming off. It's broken! I don't get to ride it. That's what I get for pleasing the Grince...no ride for UP.
And, no cell phone to call the Grince and tell him I'm sitting the RNR area waiting. So, I head to the shops. I run into the boys coming back and we decide to check out Playhouse Disney, at which point they both begin singing Playhouse Disney, that's where I want to be, that's where I want to be over and over, fairly loudly. At this point the Grince, grinces out and tells them to STOP....I ask him where you can sing that song over and over without being annoying if not on the way to Playhouse Disney itself. I can tell the end to day two is coming soon. We hit the show and it is cute and high energy, especially for the last show of the day! We head to the ABC commisary where the nicest thing I can say is that Buzz liked the fries....and he still wanted the Tink Barbie. I figured if a 2 yr. old can stick to his guns for a whole day then a manly Tinkerbell Barbie with light up wings it is! Back to ASMo where the boys bid the real Buzz and Woody good night and called it a day! More to come...

 

[labdogs42]

And our CM resembled Richard from the first season of Beauty and the Geek (yes I watched that show...what about it??)

I watched that show, too! So, are you rooting for Josh this season? He kinda reminds me of Richard!

ZZUB hooked me in with his My Fair Brady reference and now you've gotten me on the Beauty and the Geek one. Who's trip report will reveal that I also loved to watch Temptation Island? I'm a reality tv junkie and these trip reports are good for keeping my buzz going when I'm away from my Tivo. Thanks for the fun trip report, I can tell it is going to be a good one already!

 

[dismom9761]

Great trip report!!I am looking forward to reading more.I hope you got to go back and ride RnRC.

 

[Stepht5]

I'm loving your report!

 

[TikiGoddess]

I watched that show, too! So, are you rooting for Josh this season? He kinda reminds me of Richard!

I have to admit, I watched the first season during the marathon week. I haven't seen the second season, however, I am more embarassed to admit that I did watch every episode of My Fair Brady. Right now I am obsessed with Project Runway and Celebrity Fit Club 3.

I'm just glad someone is reading! Thanks for the replies!!

Dismom9761, I never did get back to RNR...don't think I've let the Grince forget what my sacrifice on his behalf has cost me...it's gonna be one of my first stops on our next trip!

Gotta go labdogs...I have to start dinner so that I won't miss that other inexplicably Emmy shunned show Wife Swap!

 

[Punkin's Mom]

Love the report! I wish mine could be even half as witty. Oh well, I guess we all have our gifts.

By the way, have you found a cure for OCDPD? I, too, am inflicted with it - so badly that I'm continuing to plan even though we're already back. Weird.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reports ~ Can't wait for more.

 

[TikiGoddess]

Before I start day 3, I must say that I noticed the night of day 2 that our sheets had not been changed. How? you might ask? The first night we were there Woody inadvertently dumped half a playground full of sand out of his shoe into the bed...the bed I was sharing with him. While I appreciated the exfoliation properties, I did not find it conducive to magical disney sleep

Day 3
We wake up and I instruct Woody to completely demolish the bed linens. He does this with great gusto and we move on to breakfast in the room and getting ready to go. Now, staying true to my disease, OCDPD, I consulted the schedule...it was an EMH day at Epcot and I fully intended for us to be there. We arrived at the gates at 9:30. Getting into this place took FOREVER! Epcot was by far the most crowded park on our trip, but we did meet a cool couple from Boston...love the accent. They were very nice, even offered us a seat on the bus...gotta love those yankees (okay, I know you THINK noone really calls people from back east yankees anymore, but I actually do have small town friends that do. Of course these are the same people who are infuriated that people think we still live in tepees in OK). Anyway, we get in the park and run straight into none other than Pluto! That is one cool dog. He was hiding behind those marble things and jumped out at us. Even Buzz deemed this worth laughing at...and Pluto was not packin' fries! We got some pictures while the Grince headed over to the stroller rental. Before he returned we got pics with Pinnochio, Gepetto, Goofy and Max. I have to admit, I did get a hug from the Goof and had the Grince not returned with the stroller just then, I might have boarded that double decker bus never to be seen again. Yes, Goofy is one of my true disney loves. Ahhh what could have been...

We moved on to Future World and headed straight for Test Track. The line was already loooong. So we got a fastpass and hotfooted it back to the Universe of Energy just in time for it to start. This ride is LONG! But we enjoyed it and this is where Buzz began his grading system of rides with scary parts. It went something like this. "Buzz, did you think that was scary with the dinosaurs?" "No, but the dinosaurs were roary so I liked it." Okay, we don't know what that means, but he wasn't scared. We head back to TT to use our FP and the gods are smiling on me for missing RNR the day before because Woody wanted to ride w/me first. Or so I thought, the gods can be fickle. Apparently this was the day I decided to take my oldest on a ride that would kill him by driving him headfirst into a brick wall. (Insert evil laugh here) We get on the ride and all is well until we see the wall that we might just be about to run into and he freaks! We're gonna hit the wall, we're gonna die, we're gonna hit it. I want out! I want OUT NOW! I assure him over and over..we're not going to hit it, it will open, I promise! Do you think I want to hit a brick wall? He finally calms down after we indeed do not hit the wall only to freak out again when the outside fast part comes. Is it really a good thing to be his riding partner of choice? We get off the ride (which in my opinion is not as great as I expected it to be) to find the Grince ready to go and GUESS WHAT.. Woody wants to ride it AGAIN! I said, are you sure? You thought you were going to die....he says, "Aw mom, it wasn't that bad." Aw shucks....I'm glad we made the guy next to us think he was going to pee in his pants in sheer terror. Great, go again. Let the Grince deal. I'm cool .

The Grince comes off and says, "Did he freak out about the wall the first time? Cause he was going crazy!" Yes dear, he did, but you don't like to ride alone soooo..... To this day Woody says he shall ride Test Track once again. I think it's his version of Russian roulette. We head on to ride Figment and the Grince decides he better go check on FP's for Soarin. It's not even noon yet so I figure we'll get on Soarin' soon after...wrong! We get in line for Figment and it is basically a walk on which is good because there was a large group of foreign students behind me who went around me and everyone else to get to the front of the ride. I don't think they understood the line there, but that's okay. We met a nice couple in front of us and they got a big kick out of Buzz and Woody's response to the ride. We loved Figment! But Woody says he'll never ride it again all because of the skunk...okay. This was one of Buzz's favorites because as he said "Figment is funny everywhere." I'm sure you'll be using Buzz's reviews to determine which rides you will do so take notes.
The area you come out in is a big hit. The boys especially love those blocks you jump on that make the noise of the picture. It was like crack for kids. I couldn't drag them away from it. Finally, after jumping on every sound at least three times I get them to move over to the music conducting thing...they love this too. I am thinking that there is no way the Grince has any idea where we are since he's never been on Figment and doesn't know where it feeds out too. After many moons and quite a few arias we get to the gift shop. The Grince finds us there and wonders where we've been. I tell him in the crack house and he doesn't understand...oh well. We go over to Honey I Shrunk the Audience to stand through what has to be the longest preshow area of all time. Yes, I know Kodak is footing the bill and the video is very nice, but could we at least sit during this photography extravaganza? We finally get seated in the show and it is a big miss for us. None of us really enjoy it. At this point we are hungry! The PLAN calls for lunch in France, but that is too much of a hike so the Grince suggests eating in the Land. Now, I am the first to admit that I did not want to deviate from the plan, but once again I'm glad we did.
We had lunch at Seasons and it was THE best counter service we had our whole trip. They were out of kids' meals so Woody got a veggie plate he loved. Oh, and have no fear, Buzz got to have his beloved fries...and something chocolate. Okay, I know you're thinking...why don't you at least offer him something else? We DID. We offered him turkey (which he loves at home) off of our sandwiches, we offered him bananas (which he'll usually eat) we offered to let him live in one of the parks if he would eat ANYTHING else...but the boy is stubborn. He said the fries were good, oh and he did eat a couple of chips here...progress?
On to the World Showcase. We decide to start with Mexico. We head in and hit El Rio del Tiempo. Oh yes, the river of time. The river of time to put your feet up in air conditioning and check out Mexico of the 1970's. Buzz deemed it "the best ride we've gone on!" Woody said the fireworks were "amazing". I'm thinking we could have hit our local theme park and saved big $$, but whatever. It was relaxing. We check out the marketplace where the boys try on sombreros. Best picture EVER! We go back outside in time to see the double decker bus go by loaded with characters and then it starts raining. Not just sprinkling, POURING. We run back in to Mexico and down to the ride. "Hola! We're back!" yells Woody. The CMs seemed to enjoy this and we take another ride down the river of time to do this somewhat lame ride once again.
When we come out the rain has slowed so we take off for Maelstrom at Norway. The mickster tells us that a maelstrom is a whirlpool. Good to know. We ride and Woody does NOT like this one. Buzz says, "It's okay, but the monsters are too hairy." I'm just waiting for his call from Birnbaums now.
We decide to try and hit the American Adventure and check out some of the countries before our dinner reservation. We time it just right to hit the drawbridge when the giant Illuminations Earth thing is passing under so we have to stand here for awhile. I take it upon myself to people watch. There are some very interesting outfits here. I should people watch more often. I mean REALLY interesting. I'll just leave it at that. We finally head on over to America and as we are listening to the singers, Buzz says he needs to go to the bathroom. The Grince says he'll take him. Meanwhile it is time to go into the show and the Grince and Buzz have not returned. I call him and he says go on w/out them. So we do. The show is very good. I've seen people post that it is too pro America and candy coats our history. That's probably true, but I'm not sure Disney is the place to debate American politics. Listen, the Grince goes to China all the time and it is not just like the China at Epcot....let it go. We come out to find Buzz and Grince munching on popcorn and drinking a coke. Buzz immediately points out to me that Tink is on the coke bottle. And here is where the Disney magic comes in...I ask the Grince if he used snack credits for them (not because I'm the dining plan nazi too, but because he kept forgetting to use them for snacks) and he says, "I did for the coke, but when the CM saw how excited Buzz was over Tink, she gave us the popcorn for free!" Top that you disney magic people ! Well, it was now time for our 5:30 FP for Soarin' so we hoofed it back to the Land. Woody loved it and promptly came out and told Buzz (who couldn't ride it) that Tink was in it. I noticed the Grince took off rather quickly with Woody in tow for his turn. He may be grumpy sometimes, but he's no dummy. Buzz was completely incensed that he was not big enough to ride a ride starring his girlfriend. Where is the justice in Epcot, he wondered!
We got off Soarin' just in time for our ADR at Coral Reef. Our anniversary was in a few days so I had booked this place for our anniversary dinner. We were not disappointed. The seated us on the first tier and the boys were mesmorized by the tank. We had great food and probably our best waiter of the entire trip. Our dessert was awesome too. The chocolate wave...and it said Best Wishes on it. YUM! We decided to call it a day as we were all exhausted. We headed out of the park and took what turned out to be my favorite pic of the trip. More to come...tomorrow MK!

 

[TikiGoddess]

Love those big sombreros!

Best picture ever of all my boys!

 

[Cinerama]

Great report and very cute pics! I'll be looking for more!

 

[tinawv]

I am really enjoying your trip reports. Your boys are really cute.

 

[OhMari]

I was just going to ask you to post some pictures, and then I saw that you did at the end of your report. Please say you have a few pictures of yourself. Thanks for reporting and keeping your report in one thread.

OhMari
Moderator/Trip Reports Board

 

[TikiGoddess]

Hey Punkin's mom, I've actually been reading your report and enjoying it! Keep it up. I'm sad to say that there is no cure for OCDPD. It wanes upon your return from WDW, but comes right back like a nasty habit a month later! That's why I'm already planning my trip for Jan. 07. Good luck with it. It seems you know the symptoms well! It seemed like we saw a lot of the same characters too. (just thought I'd mention that from your report). Also, I'm glad to know I need to bundle up at the end of Jan. We were sooo hot in Oct.

Minniespal, thanks for the kind words...by the way I am so impressed with your weight loss! How are you doing it? That's some amazing will power...does it rub off? I could use some!

Tina and cinerama, thanks...I think they're cute too, but I made them so what do I know??

OhMari, we'll have to see on my pic....I don't like many of myself I'm afraid! Thanks for reading!

 

[Punkin's Mom]

TikiGoddess, could it be that we are actually soul mates? I feel a connection on a Disney level that no one in my family could (or wanted to) fulfill.

Thanks for reading my report (yours is much better)! I too came home already thinking about the next trip. Mary and I are going to take Kate back this December - twice in one year, I may just go over the edge!

By the way, while OCDPD is a chronic condition, the best times of our whole trip were when we stuck to the schedule. When we ditched the plans we didn't get anything done! (Is it over the top to print a tiny schedule and wear it around your neck on a badge lanyard? No? Whew!)

 

[Punkin's Mom]

Heeeeellllllloooooooooooo!!!!! Tiki Goddess - are you out there? Don't make me go up to Oklahoma to kick your a**. I'll do it. Git to writing.

 

[javamom]

Great report, made me laugh, love that Grince reference. Your family is adorable. My kids are goofy eaters too. I swear my daughter can subsist on cereal and pbj's. These are the only things that I can be sure that she eats every day. Cereal she gets at home, the pbj at school because she won't eat the "hot" entree ever and "opts" for the pbj. Anyhow, can't wait to hear more!

 

[TikiGoddess]

I'm back!! Sorry, I was out of town last week and I've been battling the allergy stuff this week...it sucked all the creativity right out of me.
Punkin's Mom, I'm writing, I'm writing, please don't kick ANY part of my anatomy
hee hee
Java mom, Does the food thing not wear you out?? I'd give my right eye for him to eat an apple...well, maybe just my eyebrow, but still!

Day 4

All you commando types can rest easy because the first day we arrived at MK before opening. We went through the bag check and then headed to the roped off area. Right in front of us was a grown woman with her kids, her husband and her mother. Minutes before the happiest place on earth kicked off it's song and dance, this delightful group decided to get in the world's biggest argument which culminated in the woman huffing off and pouting in the corner. And cue the music, Welcome the Magic Kingdom! The show was fun, but the mike didn't work. It was like watching a foreign film without the subtitles. At least we could extrapolate that they were glad we were there and that we could come on in and dance down Main Street. So we did. Woody was disappointed that we didn't catch the confetti that shoots out so next time we know to stand up front.
Our day started with a visit to the hundred acre woods(or the Crystal Palace for you technical types) for breakfast with Pooh. The food was good and our server was very informative. Woody chowed down on the fruit and waffles.
The Grince and I ate our fill and Buzz drank milk. (They don't serve fries for breakfast). I spent approximately 20 minutes begging him to eat a banana. I'm sure the people around us thought we owned stock in Chiquita. We were lucky enough to see all the characters and get their autographs. Tigger was surprisingly lackluster. I'm a Tigger fan from way back so I was a little sad, but miraculously after the world's shortest break, he came back bouncing and hoo hoo hooing all around.
***POTENTIAL MAGIC SPOILER AHEAD- READ AT YOUR OWN RISK***

As we're eating Woody looks as if he is contemplating something. I ask him what's up and he says, "Mom, what is that line down Pooh and Tigger's back?"
And in an oscar worthy performance....I say, "It's where their fur grows together!" We sit in silence as he ponders this and then he shrugs and says, "yeah, that makes sense." I would like to thank my college roomate, who after two timing her men for over a semester, taught me to lie without batting and eye, I would like to thank my brain for being just off enough to think of this somewhat feasible response and I would like to thank Woody for still being childlike enough to believe this. Okay, moving on.
***MAGIC SPOILER ALERT OVER***

We booked it like Jackie Joyner Kersee and Carl Lewis' love child to Dumbo and got in a fairly short line. In front of us was a family with four stairstep boys. They were the best behaved group of brothers I've ever seen and I took their picture for them. I was thankful they weren't mine (I can barely handle two boys), but I was still impressed. We headed on over to Pooh which ended up being a favorite and got stuck for the first of three times. "I'd rather be hoppin' than stoppin', but please stay in your seats!"
We headed onto Peter Pan and then IASW. The rehab on that ride was great! Buzz sang the entire time...surpisingly he wasn't faint from his lack of food. We scooted on over to my now all time favorite attraction, Mickey's Philharmagic. We get in the theatre and the poor CM announces at least 5 times to move on down. Please move to the end of the row. Do not stop in the middle of the row, When you get to a row, please go to the very end. Well, of course our row was the problem row. The people in front of us sat down in the middle. After standing there for what seemed like an eternity, I said, "I think you're supposed to move to the end of the row." Honest to God, they looked up and said to me,"We know, but we want to sit in the middle." OH...I SEE! I forgot it was Mr. and Mrs. Rude day here in the Magic Kingdom. I said, okay and proceeded to climb over them when the people behind us shamed them into submission and they moved on down.

More tomorrow from the Magic Kingdom and the smelliest man alive....

 

[Tigger2252]

Great report. I love the save at Crystal Palace! Isn't it great when they are still young enough to believe pretty much anything you tell them? When my dds were younger and questioned rules or decisions I made with a big "Why?" I would tell them it was written in the Mommy Handbook so it must be done. They bought that for years!

 

[zachnlucy]

Hey there. I just found your report today and have totally enjoyed it! Keep it goin, k?