We'd rather be freezing at WDW than warm at home! LAH LAH's DEC '10 TR! *FINAL 1/18*

[LAH LAH]

"IDIOT". DID I REALLY JUST SAY THAT?​

Block Party Bash was over and after all those good party vibes we were really ready to tackle the rest of the day!! There was only 1 thing I HAD to do on this trip. I talked about it for weeks, I youtubed it, I needed to experience it...and it was only 2 and a half hours away!!! I promised my kids that after the Osborne Lights we would head back to POP to swim. But I had to see those lights!

Michael was ready to buy his souvenir and Elsa has always wanted to go on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play set so we hatched a plan. I dropped Michael off at the Star Tours gift shop to start creating his double sided light saber with strict instructions to wait for me to come back. I walked Elsa over to the play area and off she went to try it out with strict instructions not to leave the area. I figured by the time I walked back to get Michael he would be done and then we could swing by and pick up Elsa. Well, Michael was not done. Just a few minutes later he finished and as we walked out of the store Elsa walked in.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

She never, never, never disregards strict instructions. Apparently the play area was geared for much smaller kids and she just up and decided to ditch it and join us. I'm gonna have to chalk this one up to being over tired because this was really out of character for her to disobey. I am thankful the timing worked out because it would have been terribly scary to have to search for a child in any of the WDW parks!

We moved on.

We watched the Muppet's 3-D movie and then headed back over to the Great Movie Ride. Same gansta, same over acting, same disappointment. Boo.

We had time for just one more ride and all agreed on Toy Story Mania! This was my chance to check one more off of the Disney Bucket List. I just had to beat Michael and I did, I did!!!! On our way out we passed a green army guy as still as a statue. A whole group of people were standing around and trying to determine if he was real or not. I encouraged Elsa to go and kiss him on the cheek. She tried twice, couldn't reach, turned to me and said "He's just too tall". When she looked back at him he very slowly and robotically leaned over and Elsa kissed his cheek. The crowd loved it!

It was 5:30 so we headed on over to stake our spot for the Osborne Lights! While we waited we got some hot chocolate and tried to warm up:

And then it started, in all it's ADHD glory! It was phenomenal!

It was amazing! I thought all the light dancing happened at one time and was surprised that it stopped with the announcement that it will start up again in a little bit. I wanted to stay. The kids did not. This my folks is what one calls the beginning of the end.

They were gracious, they were patient, but they wanted to go back and go swimming. We stayed for another song.

We took a few pictures:

And then we started walking through, taking in the lights for the last time. I had wanted to stay for all the songs, but could see the kids were anxious to go. They never outright said it and had smiles on their faces, but it was obvious they weren't head-over-heels in love with it like I was. So I linked my arms through each of theirs and we started heading out. We were almost to the end of the street when another song came on!!!!! I say "Let's walk slowly!" and Michael may or may not have said "No, let's walk normal!"

UH OH

Then I may or may not have snapped. I had waited for this, planned for this, talked about this for weeks. They knew this was high on my list. It wasn't like we just happened upon this and thought it might be nice. THIS WAS MY THING I WANTED TO DO!!!!

I sped up and Elsa said: "Wait? Why are we going so fast?" and I may or may not have said: "We aren't going fast, we are walking normal". I turn around to see Michael oblivious and slowly stolling along. I turned around and may or may not have said: "Oh, no you don't! You had better start walking faster!" He glared at me and started speed walking right past us and kept right on going till he was almost out of sight. I whistled for him and he stormed back...and then I may or may not have said: "Stop acting like an idiot!"

Ok, we all know I did say it.

By this point Elsa and I are crying and Michael is m.a.d.!!!

So there we are in the back of the bus at 6:30 pm and I can't stop crying. Michael on one side, Elsa on the other side and me crying in the middle. I talked to them seperately about why I was so upset and they both felt bad. I apologized to both of them for for reacting so badly and they apologized for rushing and for taking the joy out of it.

I would love to say we made it back to the room and all was honky dory. It wasn't quite like that. Michael got into his swimsuit and off he went. I was mad he decided to still go swimming after all of this! I made Elsa get into hers as she wasn't going to go because she felt bad for not wanting to stay for all the lights. I was mad at her for not going after all of this. (obviously I was a mess!) She only swam for 10 minutes or so and then she started shadowing me and trying to make me feel better. I did some laundry and started on our postcards. Michael surprised us all by going to the comissary by himself and ordering us all a pizza and bringing back drinks and such.

We went to bed at 10 and hoped the extra sleep would make it all better...and thankfully it did.



I can easily recognize now how tired we all were, and it seems a bit over dramatic at this point, but they were real emotions and I figured it is part of the trip. The good...the bad...the ugly...right?!

(I am not sure we will ever stay out till 1:40 am at a park again)


Next Up: A NEW DAY, A CLEAN START!

 

[jenjolt]

We all have moments like that and like you said you guys were tired and that factored greatly into the reactions!!!!

Glad you still have some great memories from that day!! Love the picture of your dd and the green solider man!! TOO CUTE!!

Can't wait to hear what happened next!!!!

 

[MEK]

In my TR I just gave a title to what you just described. It's called the Day 3 Meltdown. I didn't give it that name. A Castmember did. It's usually seen on Day 3 of three full park days. I can see what it happened a little sooner for you. Your first park day was like 2 full days.

Anyway, like Jen said, it happens to the best of us. I have certainly had my fair share of Day3 meltdowns. But it sounds like you all discussed it as adults and everyone got past it.

Osbourne lights - ADHD - great description!

 

[LAH LAH]

We all have moments like that and like you said you guys were tired and that factored greatly into the reactions!!!!

Glad you still have some great memories from that day!! Love the picture of your dd and the green solider man!! TOO CUTE!!

Can't wait to hear what happened next!!!!

Thanks for your encouragement! That green soldier moment is high on my list of favorites.

In my TR I just gave a title to what you just described. It's called the Day 3 Meltdown. I didn't give it that name. A Castmember did. It's usually seen on Day 3 of three full park days. I can see what it happened a little sooner for you. Your first park day was like 2 full days.

Anyway, like Jen said, it happens to the best of us. I have certainly had my fair share of Day3 meltdowns. But it sounds like you all discussed it as adults and everyone got past it.

Osbourne lights - ADHD - great description!

Apparently we are over achievers...we melt down early!

 

[LAH LAH]

A NEW DAY, A CLEAN SLATE!​

We all woke up well rested and that was a huge relief. We brushed off the frustrations of the lights and were ready to go, go, go! Today was our Animal Kingdom day with a high of 49. Orlando's freezing temps were no match for us! We were warm and ready in our Under Armour, scarves, hats, fleece lined crocs, and gloves.

The tree in the POP lobby:

The Animal Kingdom tree. Loved the wooden animals!

Let me tell you it was only about 30 degrees at this point and the wind was whipping. B-double R-double R! Today was cold, but it was tolerable. We shivered, we huddled, we rubbed our hands together, and we all breathed sighs of relief when we entered a heated ride or market! But our title says it all. We would soooooo much rather be cold at Disney than warm at home!

The Tree of Life!

The kids chose It's Tough to Be a Bug for our first ride and that was ok with me as I love a good 3-D picture! But not before a good gorilla picture!

Try as I might, I just can't sit back for this show. I know...I am such a wimp. I understand they are just plastic pokey things, but they actually feel like bugs! So for this one, Michael and I sit right at the edge of our seats for the whole show! Elsa gives it her all until the spiders...and then she sits way forward until the show is over.

We split up as Michael wanted to ride Dinosaur and didn't want to ride Primeval Whirl, I can't ride Dinosaur and wanted to ride PW, and Elsa couldn't be talked into riding Dinosaur and PW is one of her favorites! So seperate rides it was!

I have to tell you I just don't understand the rest of DinoLand. Why in the world would I spend all this money to enter Animal Kingdom and then shell out more money for stinky carnival games? Needless to say, we don't.

We decided to eat an early lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Our pop-tart and cereal bar breakfasts were doing very little in the "keep-you-filled-up" department. The Cast Member took our order then she took our picture. CMs are a big reason the magic is so alive for us at Disney! It is a rare, rare occasion that we find a grumpy one...and this makes us happy.

Michael got a Po-Boy (he loved it!) and Elsa and I got cheeseburgers:

YUM!!!

On our way to the Safari

We were taking our good ol' time getting around the park and that was working just fine for us! We made it to Kilimanjaro and it was a delight, as always! We saw lots of animals. Apparently they like the cold weather. It was a great Safari, and you will be happy to know we helped save the baby elephant. Hee hee hee

Next up for us was Flights of Wonder. We had to hightail it to the show, but we walked in just as they started. How's that for timing?! No waiting for one of our AK favorites...this was a good day!

(taken in January 2009. Same guy different shirt and bird!)

Next UP: ♫ BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! ♫

 

[jenjolt]

What great pics in front of the trees!! I have done Disney cold...but it is much better than Disney hot...well at least to me LOL!! I alway bundle up like an eskimo!!!

YAY for no waits!! That is the best part of any park day!!!!

Still haven't seen the Flight of Wonders I will have to do that some day!!

 

[mothermouse]

sorry about the temps love the xmas decorations that kick food looks good too

 

[LAH LAH]

What great pics in front of the trees!! I have done Disney cold...but it is much better than Disney hot...well at least to me LOL!! I alway bundle up like an eskimo!!!

YAY for no waits!! That is the best part of any park day!!!!

Still haven't seen the Flight of Wonders I will have to do that some day!!

I highly recommend Flights of Wonder! You will fall in love with the birdies

sorry about the temps love the xmas decorations that kick food looks good too

The food was almost more than we can eat! I am not sure if we can do Disney again without the food plan. We are spoiled!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm sorry about the light meltdown, we all have them in Disney. I know I have and I know I'll have more in the future. But I'm glad you didn't let it bring you down for long!

The po-boy looks really good, I'm going to have to keep that in mind for a food choice at AK.

 

[LAH LAH]

♫ BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! ♫​

We had all huddled together for Flights of Wonder and tried to stay warm on those metal bleachers. Wowzers! Thankfully my scarf was super long and stretchy...so Elsa and I used it as a make-shift blanket.

Off to Everest we went! I was nervous about this ride. I knew it didn't have a shoulder restraint, but I remembered it as being more of a smooth ride. Seeing as it is one of my favorites I didn't want to have to add it to my "can never ride again" list.

I took the above photo of the kids and really liked the look of it. I just wanted to be in it too. So I showed the picture I took to the cast member and asked for one similar to it, explaining for more of a close-up with a focus on our faces and the mountain. He looked at the picture I took with the camera, fiddled with the zoom, and this is what we got:

Never fails.


Expedition Everest was a total success! My back and neck felt fine and I knew this was an A-O-K ride for me! Michael had taken to riding by himself this vacation. In previous years Michael was glued to my side and fearful to ride without me so it was a wonderful thing for Elsa to get all this "ride-with-mom" time.

We were chilled to the bone when we stepped off the ride, but that didn't stop us from getting right back in line and riding it again! Michael and Elsa asked to ride it for a third time but I knew we wouldn't make it across the park for the Festival of the Lion King if we lingered here any longer.

On our way to the FotLK we passed Pocahontas wearing Uggs. Now I am pretty sure these were not a staple way back then.

As we were being seated for FotLK we were given the treat of sitting in the front row! Michael thought that was too close so he chose to sit at the top of the bleachers in our section. There's that independence thing again. Elsa was among the many kids picked to participate and she loved it!

When we finally caught up with Michael at the exit I knew something was wrong. I thought maybe the show was too overwhelming and he needed to just get out of the building, but that seemed odd as he has seen this show before and liked it. We stood aside and let the others file past us. I figured if this was too stimulating then walking with a couple hundred people wasn't going to help the situation at all. Once the crowd was gone and we started down the path, Michael was still lagging behind and trying not to cry. He finally lifted his pant leg and showed me why he was so upset. A humungus bruise was forming on his shin. Apparently someone bumped into him when he was coming down the bleachers causing him to fall and bang his shin. I didn't take a picture, but it was ugly and obviously painful.

The plan was to make it to the parade route near the first aid station so Elsa can hold our spot while we had Michael's leg looked at. Thankfully it was nothing more than a big nasty bruise. The nurse secured an icepack on his leg and sent us on our way. This is a true testament to how much his shin hurt. There is no way anyone could have talked me into walking outside in that 40 degree weather with a bag of ice strapped to my leg, yet he took it like a pro!

We joined Elsa for the parade and were happy we didn't miss it! This was our first time seeing the AK parade. It was cute and I loved how they incorporated so many families in it!

Expedition Everest was calling our names again so we rode it two more times in a row! Michael finally talked Elsa into riding Dinosaur with him and we decided this would be our last ride today as this was our only chance to make it back to POP by 6pm to do the Hustle in the lobby!

As we made our way to the exit we happened upon some characters:

Michael and Tigger have matching orange feet!

Next Up: DO THE HUSTLE!

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

What a fun day at AK!

I always think that there isn't much for us to do there, and then we blink and the day is over! I might need to start planning multiple days in AK!

 

[Jennifer48]

I'm sorry to hear about your meltdown. We've all had it, just hurts to admit it.

Your AK day sounded great with the exception of Michael's chin. Hope that didn't hurt later on in the trip!

Ooh the Hustle in the lobby, I hope you made it!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Am enjoying your TR so far. Meltdowns happen when on holiday - am hoping I am able to keep the bad side of me locked away when we go!

on riding everest so many time! Michael sure sounds independent and mature for his age...am glad his leg was ok and it wasn't anything serious.

Looking forward to reading more and seeing the hustle!
TanzUnited99

 

[LAH LAH]

I'm sorry about the light meltdown, we all have them in Disney. I know I have and I know I'll have more in the future. But I'm glad you didn't let it bring you down for long!

The po-boy looks really good, I'm going to have to keep that in mind for a food choice at AK.

I have had minor meltdowns at WDW...for us, this one was a doozy!

What a fun day at AK!

I always think that there isn't much for us to do there, and then we blink and the day is over! I might need to start planning multiple days in AK!

We want to do the trails next time! So much to see, so much to do

I'm sorry to hear about your meltdown. We've all had it, just hurts to admit it.

Your AK day sounded great with the exception of Michael's chin. Hope that didn't hurt later on in the trip!

Ooh the Hustle in the lobby, I hope you made it!

It was harder to type (and publicly admit) then I thought it would be.

Am enjoying your TR so far. Meltdowns happen when on holiday - am hoping I am able to keep the bad side of me locked away when we go!

on riding everest so many time! Michael sure sounds independent and mature for his age...am glad his leg was ok and it wasn't anything serious.

Looking forward to reading more and seeing the hustle!
TanzUnited99

It was great to see the maturity in Michael this trip! He has PDD and a smattering of some other issues and Elsa usually has to ride by herself and take the role of "older sibling", but not this trip! It is so nice to see growth in your kids, and a chance for Elsa to be her age!

We are month out from our trip and Michael still has a bruise on his shin. Ouch! But I am thankful it wasn't worse!!!!

How exciting! Your first trip in 8 months! WOOT WOOT!!!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Awwww, poor Michael! That's awful. I hate bleachers because I'm always fearful I am going to fall, which is why I normally skip Lights, Motor, Action! I'm glad it was nothing serious!

 

[LAH LAH]

DO THE HUSTLE!!!​

Stopping for the character pictures had put us in a bit of a time crunch as we really wanted to do the Hustle in our lobby. We had taken a picture of the steps and took to learning them while waiting in line today!

The bus dropped us off at POP at 5:40! We did it! We were going to do the Hustle. Michael and I waited in the lobby for it to start while Elsa ran back to the room to drop off a bag. She literally ran and made it back to the lobby at 5:50 with sad news. Her money was missing. She had saved $15 to buy some sovenirs for her teachers (did I tell you how awesome my kids are yet?) and her pocket was unzipped when she was running and it was gone. I told her it was ok, we would figure it out, and it really wasn't something to cry about and she said "Mama, I wasn't crying". She sure looked like she had been crying.

I felt bad about the loss of money and assured her I would help fund her sovenirs for her teachers...but right now it's time to do the HUSTLE!!!!

It was great! Right at 6 pm they made an announcement that it was time to do the Hustle. Cast Members everywhere dropped what they were doing and joined us in the lobby. It was awesome!

I was too busy doing the Hustle to really take some pictures so we took this one with an enthusiastic CM!

With that done it was time to eat:

Elsa's mac-n-cheese:

My chicken noodle soup:

Michael's nacho supremes:

After dinner I pulled Elsa aside and asked her why she was still crying about the money and she said "Mama, I already told you I wasn't crying, but I really don't feel good". Oh. That's not good!

Our original plan was to walk around Down Town Disney but it was flipping cold and I figured the water whipping off the lake would be miserable so we went to plan B. Go to The Grand Floridian and see how the other half lives. Elsa was ok with this but we first went back to the room to get Elsa some tylenol.

We took the bus to MK and hopped on the monorail and it was super fun to see the monorail route. We have only ever taken it from the Transportation Center and Epcot. Fun, fun, fun!

And then we were there. Holy Guacamole! This was fancy shmancy! Elsa was mortified that we were entering this fabulous structure in our outfits. She kept asking if she should remove her hat and I told she was A-O-K to wear it.

The Gingerbread house!

Our lobby does the Hustle...this lobby has live piano music!

Even the bathrooms are Hoity Toity!

What is up with this weird, huge birdcage thingy?

That was an experience! On the way back Elsa was really feeling poorly and kind of slumped on me for the monorail ride back. When we got back to POP we dropped Michael off at the arcade and Elsa and I went back to the room. She just wanted to soak in the bath as she was having chills. I felt so bad for her. Michael ran out of arcade credits within the half hour and joined us back in the room. Elsa took some more tylenol and we all went to bed...hoping for the best!

Next Up: GIVE ME AN E. GIVE ME A P. GIVE ME A C. GIVE ME AN O. GIVE ME A T.

 

[LAH LAH]

Awwww, poor Michael! That's awful. I hate bleachers because I'm always fearful I am going to fall, which is why I normally skip Lights, Motor, Action! I'm glad it was nothing serious!

This really made me laugh!!!! Hahahahahaha

 

[MagicShell]

I just read your report so far. It is making me rethink planning our trip for around the same time this year because of the cold. I HATE cold weather. It sounds like you all made the best of it though. It looks like you all were having a great time. Your kids are so cute. I love their smile, and your also. I can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[Lady Lallie]

This really made me laugh!!!! Hahahahahaha

They are scary! I always feel like I'm going to slip right through...though I can handle the FOTLK ones, they are teeny bleachers.

 

[TanzUnited99]

2 updates in one day!

The hustle sure looks like fun! Thanks for the photo of how to do it...can start practicing now as am not the most coordinated person

Oh no...poor Elsa losing her money and then feeling . Hope she doesn't feel ill for too long. GF looks good but don't think I'd want to stay there - will be paying a visit in September. Think I will have driven my partner mad by then talking all things Disney! Bless Elsa for asking if she needs to take her hat off lol.

TanzUnited99