Touring Plan, Smouring Plan, I really didn't get that stroller for you trip report

[luvmy2babies]

I'm about to try to get some sleep because we fly home tomorrow, but thought I'd go ahead and start it.

We had some ups and downs, but mostly ups. I learned some tough lessons, but I never made the same mistake twice.

The trip had a lot going for it and only 1 count it 1 melt down the entire week the morning I waited way too long to give ds his breakfast.

We didn't get to do all we had planned, but probably not many people do. I took the advice given here and let the magic happen instead of being driven by some schedule.

Other than stomach issues that sidelined me on Tuesday afternoon and dd Thursday morning, it was a drama free trip. Ended up cancelling both reservations I had on Thursday, so we had a few dining credits left, but it's all good. Lessons I can take into the next trip.

Dd is going home with a full autograph book, including signatures from 8 princesses. Didn't get Rapunzel, but dd doesn't know who she is yet. Ds loved the characters and he got to meet Handy Manny.

For highlights, I would say nothing would beat the moment dd caught her first glimpse of the castle. It was already dark out and it was of course covered in Christmas lights. OMG, what a sight that was. What a sight the whole place was.

Dd tugged on my arm and said, "mom, you made my dream come true." That would be the first of 2 times I had tears in my eyes. The 2nd time was actually this evening in our final moments in a park. More on that later.

I have no idea how many pictures I took. I know I took at least 400 on my camera and then my camcorder has the capability of taking photographs as well, which came in very handy when my digital camera's battery died while we were looking at the Osborne Lights It was much easier to have just one thing in my hand anyway.

Let's see some points to mention. I found the crowds quite managable, but then my crew wasn't out for some of the big attractions that had the long lines. I should mention we never rode Dumbo but did ride the imitations Alladin Magic Carpets and Triceratop Spin. Dd and I agreed we didn't want to stand in long lines. The only long line we stood in was the line to meet Jasmine and Alladin in Morocco.

That brings me to my other point. The reason dd didn't have me standing in those lines was because we had all those character meals. Such a great way to meet characters. They don't have Tiana in one (I imagine the size of that dress makes it too difficult) but when we showed up at 10:00 and her line was closed, the CM said come back at 10:15. We grabbed fast passes for Winnie the Pooh and came back at 10:10 and were the 2nd family in line. She was stunning.

Transportation went well. Only had to stand once and we were pretty rested after going home early the day before and sleeping in. We had pretty good timing. Only once did I wave a bus on because I didn't want to stand up. But except for the first night we always left the park we were in around 7 or so.

I enjoyed the OSR stroller very much, and people wrestling with Gracos and such were wowed when I simply grabbed that strap and lifted it onto the bus holding dd by the hand with ds strapped to my chest. No one enjoyed it as much as dd. I will admit, part of the attraction was that it was big enough to hold her if she got tired. Sunday night and Monday she was golden. Tuesday, she was in the thing unless I refused to let her ride in it. Wednesday I got her out of it, by getting her on the Kim Possible mission in World Showcase (really fun). Thursday I let her stay in it because she was getting over stomach issues. Today she was in it off and on.

Sometimes the crowds were more manageble with her in it. On the way to the bus I had ds in the Ergo so I was ready to board the bus anyway. Thankfully she isn't heavy and the stroller was very easy to push with ds in the carrier although I'm sure I looked quite loaded down (and some people commented that I did) I didn't feel loaded down most of the time and was not sore at all during the trip.

That brings me to the Ergo. I don't usually say this about any baby product.

BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!!!

I better sleep now. Here's what I plan to write about. Just the first five posts.

1 Travel time: How I got through the airport alone with a baby and a little girl.

2 Arrival: Mommy, there's Cinderella's castle

3 My First Hard Lesson: A Wrong Turn in Fantasy Land and we end up Turning in after midnight.

4 Day 2: Magic Kingdom, Crystal Palace and the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights

5 Day 3: Chef Mickey's, Toontown, and the I get a little too friendly with a trashcan

Thanks in advance for reading.

Oh, and I would totally do this over. In fact, I'm already thinking about the next one. Thinking of trying Pop Century next time. I'd love to try that new one as I'm thinking of coming back in 2012, and the drawings look amazing. I'll have to see what they are charging.

 

[bean24]

Just popping on to see if you posted yet. I have been following you PTR glad to hear it went well.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Well, I'm glad we had an afternoon flight. It was a pretty laid back morning with the exception of the search for ds' birth certificate which by the way no one asked for on either flight.

So we got to the airport and I parked the van. I got the two suitcases and carseat out of the back, then let dd out and put ds in the Ergo. I charged dd with pulling the 20in upright and I had the 28in and the carseat bag. My first blunder was putting my backpack in with the carseat. It was just too much for me really. Once we got to security and they had me take it out, I figured out it was much easier to deal with if I wore the backpack.

To get through security I wore crocs and had dd in tennis shoes with velcro closure. Ds wore only socks from home. I put his shoes in the carseat bag and put them on him once we were at the gate.

Once we checked the bags, all dd had was her backpack. So it was pretty easy for her to slip her shoes off and put her stuff on the conveyer belt. I stepped out of my crocs, put them and my backpack up there, took the Ergo off and tossed it in the crate with my shoes and one of the workers took the carseat bag because here at home it was too big for the machine and had to be inspected by hand.

When I got it back, I decided it was more efficient to wear ds up front and the backpack on my back and drag the carseat bag behind me. One lesson for next time I travel with a carseat. Get the bag with wheels. When I got home today I realized that thing has seen it's first and last flight. It had several holes from being dragged on the floor, but I just couldn't carry it.

I was actually after the one with wheels, but Toys R Us was out of them and genius here waited until the last minute just knowing the R Us stores would have whatever she needed.

Boarding went pretty much as normal. There was some confusion on me gate checking the carseat bag without the carseat in it. They were telling me I'd have to check it as luggage because once I removed the carseat it just bacame another bag. I also had some sweatshirts, a blanket and the sheets for the pack-n-play in there. I wasn't aware of this not having done it. I thought because I needed the bag for the seat, I could gate-check it like it was a stroller. I was trying to by pass baggage claim, but when they realized where I was going, they said they'd bring it back up for me. Crisis averted...for now.

I walked down to the plane with the bag open and the top of the carseat sticking out so when we got to the end, I just pulled it out and zipped the bag up and got on the plane. The Scenera is perfect for this. It was light enough for me carry it in front holding my arms out past where ds was hanging and not hurt anyone. I put it in the window seat, put my backpack on the floor and put ds in the seat I'd be sitting in and had dd sit down in the aisle seat. It was a little tricky getting the seatbelt through, but I had it installed in about a minute or two.

Dd entertained herself with a coloring set while I strapped ds into the seat. Take off was uneventful. I let ds drink some formula and by the time we got to cruising altitude, he was out cold and didn't wake up until we landed in Orlando. Dd colored the entire time and her ears only bothered her on the descent.

We landed on time about 3:30. Once we landed I did the typical parent with little children thing and let most of the other passengers off first. Then I told dd to go over to the seat across the aisle and I repeated the departure process in reverse. Put my backpack in dd's seat,t ook ds out of his seat, and put him in the Ergo, put my backpack on, grabbed the carseat and we were out of there. The bag was there so I worked it in, zipped it up and we were off to the Magical Express check-in. Other than me getting in the wrong line once, it was no big deal. Gave the driver ds' carseat and got on the bus without incident. It was 3:50.

Being at All-Star Movies of course we were the last stop. We stopped at CSR, then Sports, then Music before getting to our destination at about 4:45. Thank heavens for online check-in. There were so many people the regular check-in line wrapped quite a bit and then a guy came out and said it was taking even longer because they were going through system changes. Dd watched the large TV in the lobby while I stood in line. The lady from Garden Grocer called while I was waiting telling me they'd made the drop.

We were in building 1, a 101 Dalmations building directly to the right of the main building if you are facing the hotel. We had room 1912, which is on the 3rd floor. We got our packet and were off to the room. A CM had taken the carseat bag, so my load was a bit lighter. While were in the room, I transferred a few items for transit and were in line for MK at about 6:15.

It would be an interesting evening. I'm glad we ventured to the park that first night. It was beautiful. More on that in the next post. I need some sleep.

Oh, and it appears after making the necessary deletions I have over 560 pictures on my digital camera. That doesn't include the pictures I took with my camcorder. It also doesn't include the pictures dd took with her new "to her" camera. I think she took close to 200.

More later.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I forgot to mention that before getting in line for MK, we stopped at the desk outside and picked up the stroller. As promised, it was right there waiting. It was unfolded and ready for occupancy and there was a rain cover underneath.

I kept ds in the Ergo though so we'd be ready when the bus came. The buses were pretty consistent, but our first wait was, according to the people around me that had been there before, a bit long.

I really don't know if it was, but it probably felt longer because we literally saw 2 buses come for each of the other 3 parks while we stood there. 2 Epcot buses actually pulled in within 2 minutes of each other and some people got out of the MK line and went to Epcot instead.

I think we waited 20 minutes, but we were not first in line, so I think the people at the front of the line might have waited 30 minutes. When the bus showed up, it was jammed packed but every single person on board got off. We got on and got seated and were on our way. It was really sinking in, but dd did a good job of sitting calmly, just kept asking if we were really going to see the kingdom.

We pulled in, got out, I opened up the stroller, put ds in and we headed to the front gate. Went through bag search and to the ticket area. Dd wanted to put her own ticket through, so I let her, then immediately took it back from her and put both tickets in my wallet. We walked for a bit and could see parts of the castle, but the whole place was beautiful with all the lights and the Christmas soldiers, dd started snapping pictures and so did I. We worked our way around the corner and I was actually looking down at her when she saw it.

Even in the dark (such as the dark was as the park was well lit), I could see the sudden change in her expression when she got a full straight on view of the castle. She tugged me with her right hand and pointed with her other hand..."Mommy, mommy, there it is...I see the castle!!!" I was just as excited as she was. What a glorious sight that thing was. All the months of planning, all the years of dreaming, were all running through my head at that moment.

She said, "Mom, you made my dream come true."

Took some pictures and some family shots with the photopass guy and just kept walking towards it and taking more pictures. There were a lot of people but it wasn't bad. My plan for tonight didn't include any attractions but only to look around and eat, but Philharmagic had no wait, so we parked the stroller, got ds out and walked in.

That show was awesome. Dd laughed and ds sat in awe and clapped. When we came out IASW had a 10 minute wait, so we rode that next. Ds had fallen asleep during the wait, but woke up midway through the ride and kept turning his head because there was so much to look at.

We ate dinner at Columbia Harbor house and it was busy, but they were fast. After that we kept walking around taking pictures. We parked the stroller and walked through a couple of stores and I scoped out where Tiana would be for the next day.

Here's where I got a bit turned around. I knew it was 9:00 because MSEP was starting. Now, remember I hadn't planned on seeing this one, but dd said she wanted to see it, so we kept walking at the direction of the CMs until I found a spot that was being used as a walkway until the parade got there. We stood near it and as soon as the CM put up the rope and cut off the walk-way, we jumped up to it and dd had a front row view. I stood behind her. We enjoyed it and I filmed some of it.

Then it was time to go back to the stroller, but I was still a bit turned around. Tried just heading for the castle, but kept going in a circle. Finally found the right path and then...

BOOM...POP....POW...POW. I look up and Wishes has started. I start picturing us trying to get up the next morning, but the look on dd's face took all that away. So we wouldn't make rope drop the next day. Not the end of the world. We stood and watched. Once it was over, I found Columbia Harbor House again and went straight to the stroller.

I let dd get in it so we could move quickly. I stopped for an autograph book because I somehow managed to leave the one I ordered from the Disney store at home. I got the princess one with a place to sign on one side and a sleeve for a picture on the other and the matching pen, which was not available online.

We headed to the bus stop and each All Star had its own bus for the night. Still the line wrapped around a few times and ds fell asleep and so did dd. The buses were coming 2 at a time for each All Star and it was the 3rd set when we got on. When we got to our room it was past midnight.

Oh well, we saw some fireworks.

Groceries and bags had arrived of course, so we got cleaned up and went to bed. My daughter was exhausted, but said it was a great night, so I concluded it was a great night. Every other night though, we were on the bus going back to the hotel by 7:30.

Up next, The Tiana or Die plan: MK during the day, more Fantasy Land, my first experience with the fast pass system and the quest for Tiana.

 

[Applemomma]

I'm in! Nothing better then those "Good Mommy Moments" when you know you scored big with your kids is there?

Interested to here what you thought of Garden Grocer? I'm thinking of using them next trip.

Can't wait to read more....

 

[luvmy2babies]

I'm in! Nothing better then those "Good Mommy Moments" when you know you scored big with your kids is there?

Interested to here what you thought of Garden Grocer? I'm thinking of using them next trip.

Can't wait to read more....

Oh Garden Grocer was excellent. I had everything I ordered and the items were double bagged in case I had to move them.

The only thing was because of the available selection I ended up over-ordering, but mostly on the baby stuff. Like there was no middle ground on some items so in order to have enough I had to order too much. We also didn't snack in the parks or in the room nearly as much as I thought we would, but I was basing that on how we snacked on previous vacations. We really weren't hungry. Dd might ask for a snack, eat two crackers and be done. Or she'd normally have two Caprisun drinks at once, but that wasn't the case last week.

Ds also decided on this trip he didn't like baby food anymore.

I'd definitely use them again though with the lessons I learned this time.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Just popping on to see if you posted yet. I have been following you PTR glad to hear it went well.

I'm glad to have readers. I promise I will post pictures to this report. I have to get them uploaded to photobucket, but I hope to do that tonight...at least enough of them to put in this report.

 

[luvmy2babies]

The day started early. Ds was awake as usual at 6:30. He wasn't having the pack-n-play, so he was in bed with me. I didn't set the alarm the entire trip. He's taken over his father's position of being the human alarm clock in the house. I called his father a human alarm clock because he would automatically get up at 4am every morning without fail. Came from his time in the military.

Anyway, dd was still out cold no surprise, so I changed and fed ds and got our things ready for the day. Ds craved bottle after bottle and after 2.5 I was a bit nervous. I was going to give him oatmeal when we ate in the food court before leaving. I'd come to regret giving him those later.

At 8:30, I figured it was time to get dd up so I just pulled the covers off and said "Wake up girl, you're at Disney World." To this she responded, "Am I going to see Tiana?" I told her she would only if she got up. She sprang to action as only she could…slowly.

Dd wasn't hungry so we had a snack in the room and were on the bus to MK by 9:30. Ds was suddenly less than his energetic self. He laid his head down on my chest. I thought he was going to take a snooze, but no. Burp…SPLASH! All that milk was now on him, me and a little on dd's arm. Poor thing. It took every single wipe I'd brought with me for the day to get us cleaned up. Since ds was in the Ergo, I got by far the worst of it. Thank goodness for the baby care center.

We arrived at MK familiar with the routine from the day before. The extra shirt I had for the day was my Crystal Palace shirt but in fear of another puking incident ruining it, I stopped at the shop inside and got myself a new shirt and we headed to the bathroom so I could change. I removed ds' shirt and just left him in his undershirt and pants as it was quite warm.

It was now almost 10:00 so I headed to where I thought Tiana might be. I had read behind the Christmas shop in Liberty Square and that was accurate. We walked right up to her meet and greet area. The line was short, but closed as she was heading in for a break. I like how they do that. Would not be fun to get in line and stand there only to get close and have someone say "Sorry, they're going for a break." The CM said she starts again at 10:30, so if you come back at 10:15 you should be in a good spot. Go get a fast pass for something and come back."

"Yeah, good idea." Dd wanted to ride Peter Pan, but the wait was 50 minutes the night before. I told her about fast pass and that we'd ride it the next day. So my first fast pass. We went into Fantasy Land and found the machine. Line was already 50 minutes. Fast pass said 11:35 to 12:35 and a Surprise Fast Pass also popped out for Philharmagic for 12:55. Cool.

We headed back around and got back to the spot at 10:10 and were the 2nd family in line. Tiana was just going in and asked us if we were going to wait there for her. Both girls said yes of course and she thanked them. She stayed in character even going to her break calling Prince Naveen "baby" as she talked to him as they walked. She was absolutely stunning, but boy did that dress look heavy.

The CM let us in to the queue after she'd gone in. During the wait other people came and the photopass lady took pictures of the girls. These would be magic pictures of them with a frog. 3 pictures. One with the hand out holding the frog. One with a surprised look toward the frog and I think one with the lips out about to kiss the frog. My little diva got the poses down fine.

It was about 10:40 when Tiana came out, dd got her autograph book and pen ready. She was wearing her Tiana shirt I got from the Disney store, which was miraculously not a victim of ds' puking episode.

Dd was a bit shy when it was her turn, but she did respond to Tiana really well. She was matter-of -fact answering her questions and smiling, rocking from side to side. Tiana loved the shirt, which brought another shy smile-more rocking. This is how she looks when she's having a dream moment, but trying to be big about it. She smiles and rocks side to side to stay calm. I had the camcorder in one hand and the digital camera in the other. She was so happy that Tiana was the first to sign her book.

I guess she had some nervous energy about meeting Tiana because as soon as we were out of that line, she was famished. I was hungry too. It was nearly 11, so we went back to Columbia Harbor House for an early lunch. Hooray, an early lunch was part of my plan, since our dinner at Crystal Palace was an early one (3:35). We both had the fish platter and apple juice and ds, now famished had some food I'd brought in for him and a french fry he managed to grab. Nice introduction to table food.

When that was done it was time to ride Peter Pan. Before that, we went and grabbed, fast passes for Winnie the Pooh. Return time was 2:20 to 3:20 and another fast pass for Mickey's Philharmagic popped out as well.

Riding Peter Pan reminded me of people asking me if I should have brought someone with me to hold ds while I took dd on bigger rides. She did mention wanting to ride Splash mountain until she actually saw it run. She must have made me promise several times not to take her on any scary rides. We rode Peter Pan and ds loved it. Dd loved it too but it took her a minute to get comfortable in the dark. Not sure when she'll be willing to try bigger rides.

After Peter Pan I noticed the Carousel had a very short line, so we got on that practically walk-on. Dd picked a horse and I strapped her in and I stood next to her holding ds on the back of it. Thankfully it didn't go up to high. They both really enjoyed it.

Got off that and redeemed the fast passes for Philharmagic. Loved it again…even getting wet.

To pass the time until Winnie the Pooh, we went to Adventure Land. We rode the Magic Carpet ride. It was a 20 minute wait and while we were in line I saw that Jungle Cruise had a 6 minute wait. At least that was what it looked like. I thought okay, we'll get on that after this. Magic Carpet ride was fun and we got splashed by the spitting camel. We were in front and two older children got in behind us…a boy and girl who looked to be about 8 and 10 respectively. The boy was sulking because he wanted to drive the carpet and his sister was trying to console him telling him he should be glad he got to ride it.

Dd changed her mind about driving but it was too late to switch places, but not knowing the child I wouldn't want him driving the thing up and down too fast for my children anyway. Still I tried to move the thing around enough to make it fun for him. Every time I moved it, his sister would make a big deal out of it and he did appear to have fun. She'd say stuff like "look how high we are…we're higher than anybody else." Then I managed to get us up just in time to get camel spit, which made everybody laugh and ds smile.

We got off that and headed for Jungle Cruise. Surprise! I hadn't seen the whole sign. It wasn't a 6 minute wait. It was a 65 minute wait. Fast pass return was during dinner and after dinner we were going to DHS, so we just moved on. We stopped for a little rest before heading over to Pooh. I changed ds and gave him a bottle and snack and we both rested our feet.

Got over to Pooh and was really thankful for the fast pass map. So many people had no idea the machine was over by Philharmagic and the standby line was really long. Of course leave it to my child to be disappointed we were in the fast pass line. They had these walls with honey running down where you could make pictures by touching it. They were visible to everyone, but they were only accessible in the standby line.

The Pooh ride was good and ds loved it immediately. Dd again loved it, but took a minute to get comfortable with the dark. The ride did stop midway, but Tigger talked us through it. A little drama at the end. One of ds' bottles fell out of my bag and onto the track as we were getting out. The lady in the pot behind us started yelling because she thought their pot would run over it. My concern was for the ride not the bottle. A CM retrieved it with a grabber and we were out of there.

It was getting close to time for the parade. Since we'd gotten a late start I had not taken the 90 minute break I'd planned. We got to the front of the castle and there was room to get dd close right behind a seated child. She wanted to see the parade but was not feeling patient. I told her I didn't mind leaving, but if we did we would not be able to get back to this spot. A man had already come over and five minutes later squeezed his wife in and I could see they were just waiting for dd to lose her patience and for us to leave. Every time she turned around to me, the woman inched over. What her problem was with just leaning back against her husband's chest, this widow can't imagine.

Each time dd would turn around I'd say, do you want to leave and not see it…"No." Finally it came out that what she wanted was to sit down, but there was no room to sit down and be able to see and to make room for others I'd folded up the stroller. Given everyone was already there and her standing at the last minute wouldn't obstruct anything I told her to sit right where she was until it started. Once that happened there were no more complaints from her.

A band came by and we thought the thing was starting, but then the bubble guy came out again and it was another 10 minutes before the parade started, but we did enjoy it. Crystal Palace was in sight and good thing because it was 3:25 by the time the parade was over and time to get over there. I noticed the clouds had rolled in, but in my haste, I parked the stroller and we went to find out where to check in.

Once we checked in, I still didn't think to go back. We had the autograph book and camera after all. My camera showed the battery to be low. Another lesson I learned. I had to charge the thing every night. I was used to having a camera that ran on AA batteries. Fortunately dd had my old camera and my camcorder takes pictures, so I wasn't worried about not getting pictures. I slipped our Crystal Palace t-shirts and waited.

Once we got inside, we couldn't go 2 feet without one of the employees saying something about those shirts. They thought they were so cool. I'll post pictures of them later. I took pictures of all the shirts after I finished making them. I think they were from RustManfan's photobucket.

Next Post: Crystal Palace, I learn another lesson and my son shows his patience.

 

[Applemomma]

Great update! I love that your ds's first solid food was in the Magic Kingdom! Too funny!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We just got back a couple hours ago but now that the kids are going to bed, I wanted to read a bit about your trip. Glad it was all you had hoped for. I am anxious to see your photos to see if we ever saw you. We were at Sports but rarely shared busses but did a couple times. We found the weather to be perfect as expected but surprised by the light crowds. In our past Thanksgiving trips it has been busier.
We drove straight though (left Disney at about 6 last night and got home about 5:30 tonight) so I am so tired and everyone goes back to work and school tomorrow so off to bed I go here soon, but will look forward to more tomorrow.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Just a few as I'm still getting them onto photo bucket.

I aplogize in advance for the size. I usually set them to medium, but for some reason photobucket isn't allowing me to resize.

Elijah on the plane

Ariana on the plane

Ariana and her "first time seeing Cinderella's Castle" smile

Ariana and Tiana and Naveen

Ariana and Elijah on the Carousel

 

[stich626]

Your children are adorable! I cannot wait until I can take my niece and capture the smile from the castle!

 

[AKL LOVER]

I can't see all of your pics...boo But I am waiting to hear more about your trip. So glad you guys had such a good time!

 

[tlmdisney]

Beautiful family!

 

[bigal'sdaughter]

Your kids are so cute! We are going in January and DS will be 10 months too! I am really looking forward to your tips! I am about to buy a Beco and we are working on sitting in a restaurant highchair..... as for real food ... at 8 months he has already grabbed a fry or 2...

 

[JZCubed]

My family's dreams come true this Friday.

See y'all there!!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Thanks all, the picture of them on the carousel is one of my favorites. Ariana reached back and put her arm around the baby, smiled and said, "Isn't this fun Elijah?"

It was one of those moments where I was so glad I didn't listen to people who told me to leave him behind and there were several more.

Sorry for the lag in updating. Trying to get pictures loaded.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Still loading pictures, but thought I'd go ahead and do the next installment.

Okay, so when I left off, we had just seen the Magic Kingdom Celebrate parade and were heading to Crystal Palace for an early dinner.

Our reservation was for 3:35. We'd eaten lunch at 11:00, and had not had anything since, so we were ready to eat.

We got seated and before I could even get ds into his high chair, Eeyore was there to meet dd. Fortunately I'd given her the autograph book and pen. She handed it to him and he signed it. That gave me enough time to get ds into the highchair. I got a good picture of them.

Tigger was there less than a minute later. I love Tigger and this was a really good Tigger. He was bouncing around the restaurant and children would get up and bounce with him. Dd didn't, but she was busy trying to get her brother involved in the process. She really is a great big sister. In some of my pictures she's looking at ds smiling instead of the camera.

Piglet was there in seconds. Whoever was in the suit was great. Really sweet with both chidren. Elijah loved it and was looking at Piglet smiling.

So before we even made the first trip to the buffet all the characters had come by except Winnie the Pooh. I was amazed. Pooh was not in sight, so I put ds in the Ergo and we went to the buffet. I tried to get enough food so I'd only have to make at the most 1 more trip.

Then dd asked me a question that would change the rest of the day.

Is that rain?

Sure enough, it was raining and not just drizzling…raining. Unfortunately I had not put the rain cover over the stroller before we went into the restaurant. This was my one moment, another adult being along would have come in handy…someone to run out there and cover it or someone to watch the children while I did it. Any other time I might have been really bothered. I shook it off. Now had it been struck by lightening and burnt up that would have been another story. But then I did buy the insurance.

About 5 minutes later, we ended up requesting another visit from Tigger. Dd dropped her book and when she picked it up and started turning to get to the page Winnie the Pooh would sign, she noticed there was a blank page between Eeyore and Piglet where Tigger's autograph should have been. I could see an imprint though. We concluded he'd signed with the ink pen retracted. He came back through eventually and we got it.

But we were still waiting on Pooh.

And it was another 45 minutes before Winnie the Pooh made it to our table. I'd paid the bill so once we finished with him, we could just vacate the place immediately and we would need to. Did I mention ds also had a major poo of a different kind. He got the face. You know the face when you know your child is "going". Tense, relax…tense, relax.

Oy! The final 5 minutes it took for Pooh to arrive were the longest of the trip. No doubt the stroller was getting soaked and when I checked the mess was creeping upwards and would no doubt ruin ds' undershirt. I'd heard some boys don't care about that and true to this statement ds sat smiling and clapping despite what was going on in his pants.

Pooh arrived just after I saw the first hint the diaper was indeed a blow-out. We got his autograph, snapped 3 pictures. I put the book in my backpack, grabbed ds and we high-tailed it out of there before ds could leave a scent. And when I picked him up, I knew it was just in time.

Our saving grace was that the baby care center was next door. But by the time we got there, ds' clothes were a lost cause. Fortunately there was no wait for a changing table. Biggest changing table I've ever seen and I needed it. Dd watched tv in the next room while I dealt with the mess. Getting a baby's clothes off after a blow-out makes it look even worse. I couldn't get his shirts off without getting the stuff up his back. Only his socks and shoes escaped the mess. I looked and realized...no ziplock bags.

I had a decision to make. And I made it. His pants were off a $3 table at Wal-Mart and he had 2 more pair just like them. Undershirt was a cheap onesie and the Crystal Palace shirt had served its purpose, and would be too small by our next trip anyway, so I wrapped it all up in the paper they put on the changing table and tossed it. Then got a new piece of paper to finish dressing ds.

After dd and I each used the restroom we left. It had stopped raining by the time we got out of the restaurant, but the stroller was indeed soaked. I just carried ds in the Ergo and pushed the stroller to the exit.

We were going to DHS to see the Osborne Lights so we headed to the monorail station. Dd was really curious. I told her it was like the shuttle at MCO but we'd be on it longer. She was excited. Once we got to the platform, there was a train coming in headed for the TTC. We stood for the ride and enjoyed it. Got off at the TTC and headed to the DHS bus stop. We were first in line for the DHS bus. Actually it was us and one other family at first, but more people came.

We had a great time at DHS that evening. More on that later. I was up late using the hotel's blow dryer on the stroller. Lesson learned. Next time it got cloudy and I knew we'd be away from the stroller for a while, you better believe I covered it up.

Next Post, hopefully some pictures from Crystal Palace

 

[luvmy2babies]

Photobucket was giving me fits, but I finally got these loaded.

Here's some of the shots from Crystal Palace. Character interaction here was wonderful, particularly Piglet and Tigger.

First the shirts that made us famous. Took us forever to get to our table cuz the hostess kept calling her co-workers over to look at it. This one I posted bigger to show the detail.

dd with Eeyore

The children with Tigger

Two shots with Piglet. 2nd one is bigger to show ds' smile.

Finally, Winnie the Pooh (ds with the "I have poo in my pants" face)

A good meal I would do again, maybe a late breakfast next time around 9:30 so we can watch the opening show before hand since we didn't see it this trip.

Next post, our night at DHS. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get my pictures loaded. I had to take pictures of the Osborne Lights with my camcorder because right after we got to the area, my digital camera died. The camcorder actuall took very good photos though.

 

[dmoore718]

Love, love, love it!!!!! You are doing a great job, Mommy!!!! I'm so happy that you could give your kids a magical trip!!! It sounds like you all had a great time!!!!