GADISNEYGIRL
<font color=red>Maelstromer!<br><font color=purple
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2003
- Messages
- 1,227
Cast: Rhonda/Mommy, age 30, WDW Veteran; Mark/Daddy, age 32, WDW Veteran; Wesley, age 2, quickly becoming a WDW Veteran
This is extremely long, please forgive me!
Background: Like most of you, we love Disney. We love ALL things Disney! We are waiting for our invitation to move to Main Street. Heck, we would live anywhere they would let us! Our son also loves all things Disney-I've never known a toddler who knew more about the characters. We ordered the planning video just so he could watch it--and he does, almost constantly! As you can tell by my signature, we are planning a (weekend) trip to Orlando in September. We went last September (first trip for DS). Original plan was to wait until he was 6 to take him. Ha. Did we really think WE could wait that long??? At any rate, decided we'd go again this fall. Every road trip we've ever taken has been spent planning our next trip to WDW. (Sound familiar?) Two weekends ago we had a pretty rough road trip, but we still planned away! That weekend, we knew we had to travel to Atlanta (70 miles north) to do a wedding (Mark is a pastor), but during the week prior, found out that Mark's grandfather had suffered a massive stroke. Though he lives in GA, he was in TN at the time of the stroke, so a plan took shape. We would drive to TN after the wedding Saturday night, even though it would mean missing a Sunday at church--congregations can be funny about that sort of thing! We would head back to GA on Monday. Plan worked fine, or so we thought. Thinking it would help Granddaddy feel better, we took Wesley to the hospital to see him. It DID seem to brighten his spirits. But we didn't really think of how Wesley would react to all of this. He was somewhat nervous in the hospital, but he has had a minor hospital experience himself, and we thought it a result of that. After returning home Monday night, though, we realized that somewhere along the way, we had lost "our" little boy! In his place was a whining, crying, screaming, tantrum-throwing little monster. This was all new to us--Wesley has NEVER done any of those things! So we chalked it up to him "finally hitting the terrible 2's". By Thursday, I'd just about reached my limit. I started looking online for info about tantrums. Guess what I found? Sudden behavior like that is often caused by stress or anxiety. OH BOY! Can you say GUILT??? Why, oh why, did we take him into the hospital room? Did we think he was KIDDING when he said he was scared? About the time I was thinking all of this, Wesley said, I want to go to DizzyWold! I want to see Mickey Mouse! It was too crazy. Mark wasn't even home yet. I had already started cooking dinner, for crying out loud!!
Pre-trip planning: About 5 minutes later, Mark walked in the door. I related all I had learned (re: tantrums/behavior), we expressed our guilt together, then I said, Do you want to go to Disney World? His mouth dropped open slightly, and he said, Are you serious? I think so!, I replied. He said--You know you never have to twist my arm to go...but how are we going to pay for it? Ah, yes, reality. Had I forgotten that our checking account was empty, because we just paid Uncle Sam every thing that we had--and then some?!? And yet--isn't our child's emotional well-being worth more than money??? Of course it is! Yes, we have enough space on my (Disney) credit card to pay for 2 nights at All Star Movies. And we already have tickets... now, how will we eat while we are there? Oh, good, we have space on another card that should cover food, provided we eat lightly... Mark picks up the phone. Are you sure?, he asks. No, I replied, but I really want to go. And if it helps Wesley, then it will be worth it. Mark begins to dial. I begin to panic. Done, the reservations are made. Now we have to go, because the CM tells Mark that if we were to cancel now, we lose our money. I don't know if that's true, but that's what Mark told me, anyway. Do you have any idea what time it is? 6pm! We live 5 hours from Orlando. Mark tells Wesley, who is still whining, crying, screaming, throwing a tantrum and being a little monster, that we are going to see Mickey. Miraculous! The crying stops. He smiles. He GRINS! He laughs! (Yes, it IS worth it!!) He runs to his room to help me pack. In 7 minutes (I'm not kidding) we had a suitcase packed for the three of us. Another 4 minutes, I had Wesley's diaper bag and toy/book bag ready. I even remembered to take his plush Disney characters for Mousekeeping to play with. During those 4 minutes, Mark got our small cooler ready. Then, we took about 10 minutes to get our cats prepared--meaning, moving their food/water/litter box out to the porch so they don't leave us any "Welcome Home" gifts in the house...while Mark did that, I watered my garden. Oh, yes, did I mention that in the middle of this I had also called the bank and realized that I wrote our 2 tax checks from the WRONG account (that is, NOT the account that I had the money saved in), and one of them had CLEARED. I continued my panic. Then got control of my head, and quickly wrote a check from the correct account to the other account to deposit on our way out of town. Mark buckles the still smiling Wesley into his carseat, we drive to the bank, drop the check into the night deposit (why in the world didn't I check the account before 5pm???), Mark drops me off at the front of Kroger--to get huge bottles of water, batteries for the camera and some caffeine for me for the road. I don't normally drink caffeine, but thought I'd better have some for the late night--while he pulls around to the gas area to fill up. I meet him at the car in about 5 minutes, and we are on our way.
Finally, the trip (Thursday night): We stopped about 15 miles out of town to grab Krystals from a drive-thru (our traditional road trip fare). We have the Resort CD playing, of course. Wesley is still smiling. About 45 minutes later, and still no Mickey Mouse, the smiling stops. We try to explain that we ARE going to see Mickey, but it is a long drive. The 2 yr old is not grasping this concept. We steel ourselves for a miserable drive, and for that matter, weekend. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea! At 8pm, we ditch the CD for Survivor on the radio (we're hooked). At 8:45, Wesley is asleep. That's about his normal bedtime, so we were happy. At 9, after Alicia was voted off, we switched back to the CD and started planning Friday's schedule. (We are both off work on Fridays, that's why this quick trip planning was so feasible.) Wesley slept off and on for the remainder of the trip. He had frequent wakings and bouts of crying--again, very out of the ordinary for him, but that's how he had been all week. Mark and I continued planning, revising the plan, feeling guilty about Wesley, hoping Wesley would not be a monster for the weekend, grumbling over the tolls required to travel on the turnpike, wishing we lived in south GA, rather than central GA, to make it a faster trip to WDW (we are appointed, so don't have any say over where we live--although we will always be somewhere in the southern half of GA), and planning some more. At last, at last!! The signs begin to appear. We are soon (soon??) driving into the All Star resort, where the guard gives Mark a hard time about his FSU hat (he's an FSU grad), because the guard, apparently, is a Gator. We pull up to ASMo at midnight, and Mark goes inside to check in. Wesley wakes up, and I ask if he knows where we were. DizzyWold! he replied--Where's Mickey Mouse? Oh boy--now I had to explain that Mickey was asleep and we would see him tomorrow. We're in Fantasia, Building 5. I think the room number was 5717. This is a preferred room (standards were all booked). I don't know why!! Well, I do know why-it is closer to the pool, the food court, etc. But for us the location was terrible. No quibbles from us, due to the circumstances, but we would never choose this location. We had to walk about 6 miles from the parking lot. Well, maybe a 1/4 of a mile...but it sure seemed farther! Wesley is now wide awake, but we were expecting this. We dump our stuff in the room, and take Wesley around to show him the pool, and Sorcerer Mickey, and the Sorcerer's hat (although Toy Story 1 & 2 are his all time favorites, he does love Fantasia, also, so this worked out well). Then we convinced him that since Mickey was asleep, we should go to sleep, too, so we can see him first thing in the morning. Amazingly, this worked. We had two doubles, and I ended up sleeping with Wesley (again, VERY out of the ordinary), but we figured it would be easier, and it was. Before too long, we were all dreaming of a magical Disney day...
Friday, Park Day: Mickey called to wake us up at 7. Wesley slept right through it--and also through our showers. I finally woke him up while Mark went to grab some breakfast. He dressed in his Buzz Lightyear shirt and some shorts, and his Buzz Lightyear shoes. He wanted to know when we would see Mickey. Mark returns with breakfast. He said, I just had two experiences that made me KNOW I was at Disney. First, I paid $20 for breakfast. And second, the music is everywhere!! (These are perhaps the things that, respectively, we hate and love the most about Disney!) But after thinking about it, the $20 wasn't SO bad, because it included two croissant/sandwich things, a bowl of grits (Wesley's standard breakfast fare), a decaf coffee for me (Mark brings Diet Mtn Dew with him everywhere), and two chocolate milks for Wesley to have during the day. Still. Only at Disney!! We left a little something for Mousekeeping, double checked the diaper bag, and started the hike back to the car. Wesley balked at this--no, no, want to see Mickey Mouse! Why on earth would we have to drive MORE to see Mickey Mouse? We find that it is easier to drive our car than to rely on bus transportation, especially with the stroller. So...off we go, park at EPCOT, just miss a monorail, wait about 5 minutes for another one. Wesley could see the topiaries in front of EPCOT as we waited, and he was excited about that. Monorailed to TTC (a very nice family sharing our seat offered Wesley a bag of fruit snacks), transferred to the MK monorail, and at last we were there! We arrived at the very end of the Park Opening, but Wesley got to see Mickey, and that was the important thing. Headed down Main Street, thinking Wesley would just be in awe of the castle (the only thing he builds with his blocks or LEGOs is a castle, although sometimes it is Cindy's, sometimes Belle's, sometimes even Mickey's--and of course it is always different!)...but Wesley was in awe of something else--the horse drawn trolley! Is it Bullseye? he asks me. It might be, I replied. We head to Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear. Wesley was very excited to see Buzz! He was less excited about the ride itself. (My scared, he told me--even though at home he loves Zurg. Go figure. This scared thing is also something we've been doing for only a week. Apparently we REALLY traumatized the poor kid!) After the ride was over, he wanted to know where Buzz and Zurg went. (This theme will continue throughout the day!) Then we saw Buzz (the REAL Buzz Lightyear) in front of Cosmic Ray's. A picture with Dad and Wesley--last year I got to be in that one. Although not as intimidated by the characters as last year, he still doesn't want to get too close. Off to FantasyLand. Pooh is first, this is tame, we're sure he'll like this one. Hmmm..."My scared" of this one, too. (Keep in mind that we did all of this last year, and he loved it.) Snow White's Scary Adventures was closed, so we didn't have to decide about that one. After the Toy Storys, Peter Pan is his favorite movie. Of course he'll like Peter Pan. Nope, my still scared. Small World? Getting on the boat: My scared, Mommy! But guess what? He wasn't! He LOVED Small World. I'm sad that it will be closed when we are back in September. Okay, done with FantasyLand. We are heading to Haunted Mansion, which has always been one of Mark's favorites. We went on this against my better judgement. Come on, if he's scared of Peter Pan, you think he'll LIKE HM? Well, it didn't really matter, he held my hand over his eyes the whole time. After that we were going to Pirates of the Carribean, because he calls the song "The Captain Hook Song" (from the CD). I figured he'd be scared of it, too, but what the heck, I'll put my hand over his eyes again. (I assure you, we don't -intentionally!-traumatize our child regularly!!) As we approach, see a line for Peter Pan and Wendy. Hook and Smee are also there. We hop in line. He's really excited about this! When it's our turn, of course, he turns shy. This is typical for him, and that's okay. Mommy and Wesley pose for a picture with Peter and Wendy. Peter pushes Wendy out of the first picture. She nudges her way back in for the second. We were very disappointed in Peter. He was rather obnoxious, and didn't seem to be very good with any of the kids. Oh, well. Wesley decided he didn't want a picture with Hook and Smee, so we took one of just the two of them. At this point, we decide to skip POC, because we want to make the first show of Goofy's Country Jamboree. (Woody and Jessie are here, you know.) Wesley really liked this. He didn't do much dancing, except in my arms, but he enjoyed seeing the characters, and they weren't so close as to frighten him. Also, an added surprise: Bullseye is here now! After that, we started towards Toon Town. First stop, Minnie's House. Pluto was out in the gazebo, but we didn't wait in line to see him. Wesley waved from a distance. We went in to see Minnie, Chip and Dale. The other options were the Pooh characters and Cinderella. We hoped to see Pooh at EPCOT, and didn't care so much about seeing Cindy. He really likes Minnie (we all do), but he was still feeling a bit shy. Next we went to Mickey's House, which Wesley loved. Then we stood in line for Mickey. Wesley was feeling very shy then, and the CMs in there were sort of rude, rather like they were herding cattle. We posed for a pic, and they were rushing us out, and Wesley turned around and said, Bye Bye Mickey Mouse! (Mickey didn't hear him.) We stepped outside, and he said, I want to see Mickey again! But who was outside? Jasmine, Aladdin, Smee, Rafiki, Friar Tuck, Meeko, some of the Country Bears...I think there were more, we couldn't see them all. Smee was closest, and we did get a pic with him...then we waited to see Jasmine and Aladdin. Just as we stepped in line, the CMs said it was time for the characters to go. Jasmine and Aladdin didn't leave, so we stuck around. We were the last ones they saw before they had to go "get Abu out of trouble." Wesley actually gave Jasmine a hug. Mark said it was because Jasmine is a hottie. LOL! Then we went back through Mickey's House and back in to see him. Wesley was a bit more comfortable this time. We were in a different room with much nicer CMs and I think a nicer Mickey, too. Anyway, after that pic, Wesley said, I love you Mickey Mouse! The CMs and every mother standing in line went, Awwwwww!!! I cried. (My prerogative as a mommy!) Mickey heard him and blew him a kiss. Yep, THAT is why we came! Now it is lunchtime so we head to Cosmic Ray's. This was the only time the little monster showed his face the whole weekend. Wesley was tired, and it was so crowded in there...he didn't want his lunch (we had brought him a PBJ), he wanted mine (we both got a Big Dipper)--but he didn't want to eat it, he just wanted to hold it--and he didn't want me to eat it! We ate as quickly as possible, and decided it was time to go to EPCOT. Last time, he fell asleep on SE, and we were able to explore the WS a bit while he napped. Before leaving MK, we stopped by Guest Relations and made a PS for the Ice Cream Social at the Garden Grille. We hit the jackpot this time, he fell asleep on the monorail! Just inside EPCOT, we saw Jiminy Cricket. We've never seen him before. We got a picture of him with (the sleeping) Wesley. Then Mark wanted to go in Ice Station Cool. Bad idea. Wesley woke up. But after a 20 min nap (he normally gets 2-3 hours!), he was in a great mood! Power nap, I guess. Our PS was at 3:10, and it was about 2:30. So we decided to go to The Living Seas, because Wesley loves watching fish. As we approached, there was Nemo! Another pic with Wesley and Daddy. Has anyone else seen Nemo? He's on wheels--but apparently (according to the CM) there really is a person in there! Anyway, Wesley loved watching the fish, as usual. Then we headed to the Land for our PS. I realized I was getting a little dehydrated, and I wasn't feeling my best. After some water, I was a new person! We loved the Garden Grille (it was our first time here). The Ice Cream Social will be a tradition for us now. Mickey, Chip, Dale and Pluto all for the bargain price of $6.95 per adult??? Also, it is much more private feeling than any other dining experience, especially a character meal. And we loved the changing scenery! Wesley had a great time. Mickey even colored with him. He interacted a lot more with the characters here. Now it's time to go to World Showcase! We got very lucky...happened up on Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore in Great Britain, Belle and Beast in France, and Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco. Wesley kissed Pooh and friends on the nose, and gave hugs to everyone else, even Beast. We wandered on around, stopped to look at the veggie garden in America, took an awesome pic of Wesley with the Mickey and Minnie topiaries there... kept going around, checked out the Iron Chef merchandise in Japan, rode Maelstrom (Wesley initially said he was scared on this too, but then decided he liked "the slide"). Checked the time, decided we'd better finish up in Future World. Rode SE...eventually Wesley liked this one, as well. I think it is really the noise that scares him on the rides--they really are loud, and he is fairly sensitive to that. It's not quite so bad on SE, especially since it wasn't playing right in HIS ears. Went back to Living with the Land, but the line was pretty long, and Wesley was kind of bored with it last time. Besides, we're getting hungry. We had decided to eat in Morocco (GREAT decision!), but stopped to ride in Mexico (another hit for Wesley--maybe because it is so similar to Small World?). All the way back to Morocco...note to self: buy new shoes before returning in September. We ate at the Counter Service place, since we were going cheap (as cheap as possible!) on this trip. Food was fabulous. It's our new favorite in the WS. Hope to try the nicer one in September. By now it is nearly 8pm, and we decide we have enough money to spring for Beaver Tails on our way out. Mark got Maple and Chocolate, I got Cinnamon Sugar. They were good, but I doubt we'll ever get them again. Mark really wanted creme brulee, but the lines for food in France were crazy. By the time we actually got out of the park, it was 9pm, because we spent about 15 mintues letting Wesley play on the "stars" in the sidewalk. That was probably his favorite thing all day! I figured he would go to sleep in the car, but he didn't! We got back to the room, found all his friends "watching tv", he got a bath, then watched Monsters, Inc and Toy Story 2 bedtime stories. I decided that he could sleep alone that night, and he did fine, slept through the night for the first time in almost a week. We were tired and achy (ouch, those feet HURT!), and we slept great, too.
Saturday, Downtown Disney and trip home: Wesley woke up around 8, and we were up soon after. Got ready and had the car packed by about 9:30. Wanted to go play in Andy's Room for a bit. Wesley loved this last year, but didn't remember it. He loved it again! We are definitely requesting Toy Story section for September. Then we headed to Downtown Disney. We weren't really in the market for a lot of souvenirs this trip, but we did find some small tumblers for only $3 each, and since he has to be off the sippy cup by August for school, we thought that was a good investment. He's thrilled with them. We ended up eating at Rainforest Cafe, where Wesley was again "scared" by the gorillas next to our table--but he loved the elephants. Who knows?!? Okay, it is time to say goodbye, and head back to GA. Wesley is less concerned with the goodbyes than we are. We HATE to leave Disney! He was perfect all the way home. Slept for about an hour, then laughed, giggled and played the rest of the way. Now THIS is the little boy I birthed!! We stopped for dinner at Sonny's BBQ (one of our favorites), and he was soooo well behaved, to have been cooped up in a car for 3 1/2 hours. We got home around 7pm, and I took him out to swing while Mark hooked the camera up to the TV so we could see our pics on the "big screen". He loved watching the pictures, and now wants to watch the "Mickey Mouse People" (the pics) instead of the "Mickey Mouse Video" (the planning video). Granted, we've only been home 2 days, but he is back to his happy, smiling, playful self. No tantrums, no whining. And he is talking about seeing Mickey, Minnie, Buzz, etc in September. This morning he said, Mommy, I miss Mickey Mouse! And I said, So do I, sweetheart! So do I! Mark overheard, and wanted to know if I was *sure* we couldn't go again before September. Well, I am pretty sure...But you never know!
Magical Moments: Wesley telling Mickey that he loved him; Mickey coloring with Wesley at the Ice Cream Social; Mark and I realizing that taking it slow may be even more fun that going "Commando-Style"; Wesley's delight while playing with the "stars" at EPCOT; finding a great new restaurant (Morocco) to eat in every time; Wesley's absolute joy when we arrived in Andy's Room...plus many, many others!
Afterthoughts: Sometimes it seems that spontaneity dies with parenthood. But even before Wesley came along, we never did anything quite like this! Total time from initial "planning" to arrival: 6 1/2 hours. It CAN be done! (Well, I guess it depends on where you live...) Although this is not something that we will do often (if ever again), this particular time, it was well worth it--for us. We are planning a 10 day trip for Wesley's 4th birthday (2 more years), so until then, these little weekend trips will "tide us over." We know that on that big trip, we will be able to do "everything"-so for now we are enjoying being able to take it slow, enjoying all those little things that make Disney, well, Disney! Character dining has become a must for us. If you are limited on time or money, consider the Ice Cream Social. No matter how magical Disney has always been for you, when you are with a child, it becomes that much MORE magical! Remain a parent when it comes to safety issues or real discipline problems, but allow your child to see that YOU are as excited as they are. And lighten up! EVERYONE should happier at Disney World, you included! (This is probably not for anyone on here, but for all those harried parents we saw yelling at their kids for something like taking an extra minute to look at something, when the parent was in a rush to get somewhere else!)
Here's to everyone getting to see Mickey again real soon!
Thanks for reading!
This is extremely long, please forgive me!
Background: Like most of you, we love Disney. We love ALL things Disney! We are waiting for our invitation to move to Main Street. Heck, we would live anywhere they would let us! Our son also loves all things Disney-I've never known a toddler who knew more about the characters. We ordered the planning video just so he could watch it--and he does, almost constantly! As you can tell by my signature, we are planning a (weekend) trip to Orlando in September. We went last September (first trip for DS). Original plan was to wait until he was 6 to take him. Ha. Did we really think WE could wait that long??? At any rate, decided we'd go again this fall. Every road trip we've ever taken has been spent planning our next trip to WDW. (Sound familiar?) Two weekends ago we had a pretty rough road trip, but we still planned away! That weekend, we knew we had to travel to Atlanta (70 miles north) to do a wedding (Mark is a pastor), but during the week prior, found out that Mark's grandfather had suffered a massive stroke. Though he lives in GA, he was in TN at the time of the stroke, so a plan took shape. We would drive to TN after the wedding Saturday night, even though it would mean missing a Sunday at church--congregations can be funny about that sort of thing! We would head back to GA on Monday. Plan worked fine, or so we thought. Thinking it would help Granddaddy feel better, we took Wesley to the hospital to see him. It DID seem to brighten his spirits. But we didn't really think of how Wesley would react to all of this. He was somewhat nervous in the hospital, but he has had a minor hospital experience himself, and we thought it a result of that. After returning home Monday night, though, we realized that somewhere along the way, we had lost "our" little boy! In his place was a whining, crying, screaming, tantrum-throwing little monster. This was all new to us--Wesley has NEVER done any of those things! So we chalked it up to him "finally hitting the terrible 2's". By Thursday, I'd just about reached my limit. I started looking online for info about tantrums. Guess what I found? Sudden behavior like that is often caused by stress or anxiety. OH BOY! Can you say GUILT??? Why, oh why, did we take him into the hospital room? Did we think he was KIDDING when he said he was scared? About the time I was thinking all of this, Wesley said, I want to go to DizzyWold! I want to see Mickey Mouse! It was too crazy. Mark wasn't even home yet. I had already started cooking dinner, for crying out loud!!
Pre-trip planning: About 5 minutes later, Mark walked in the door. I related all I had learned (re: tantrums/behavior), we expressed our guilt together, then I said, Do you want to go to Disney World? His mouth dropped open slightly, and he said, Are you serious? I think so!, I replied. He said--You know you never have to twist my arm to go...but how are we going to pay for it? Ah, yes, reality. Had I forgotten that our checking account was empty, because we just paid Uncle Sam every thing that we had--and then some?!? And yet--isn't our child's emotional well-being worth more than money??? Of course it is! Yes, we have enough space on my (Disney) credit card to pay for 2 nights at All Star Movies. And we already have tickets... now, how will we eat while we are there? Oh, good, we have space on another card that should cover food, provided we eat lightly... Mark picks up the phone. Are you sure?, he asks. No, I replied, but I really want to go. And if it helps Wesley, then it will be worth it. Mark begins to dial. I begin to panic. Done, the reservations are made. Now we have to go, because the CM tells Mark that if we were to cancel now, we lose our money. I don't know if that's true, but that's what Mark told me, anyway. Do you have any idea what time it is? 6pm! We live 5 hours from Orlando. Mark tells Wesley, who is still whining, crying, screaming, throwing a tantrum and being a little monster, that we are going to see Mickey. Miraculous! The crying stops. He smiles. He GRINS! He laughs! (Yes, it IS worth it!!) He runs to his room to help me pack. In 7 minutes (I'm not kidding) we had a suitcase packed for the three of us. Another 4 minutes, I had Wesley's diaper bag and toy/book bag ready. I even remembered to take his plush Disney characters for Mousekeeping to play with. During those 4 minutes, Mark got our small cooler ready. Then, we took about 10 minutes to get our cats prepared--meaning, moving their food/water/litter box out to the porch so they don't leave us any "Welcome Home" gifts in the house...while Mark did that, I watered my garden. Oh, yes, did I mention that in the middle of this I had also called the bank and realized that I wrote our 2 tax checks from the WRONG account (that is, NOT the account that I had the money saved in), and one of them had CLEARED. I continued my panic. Then got control of my head, and quickly wrote a check from the correct account to the other account to deposit on our way out of town. Mark buckles the still smiling Wesley into his carseat, we drive to the bank, drop the check into the night deposit (why in the world didn't I check the account before 5pm???), Mark drops me off at the front of Kroger--to get huge bottles of water, batteries for the camera and some caffeine for me for the road. I don't normally drink caffeine, but thought I'd better have some for the late night--while he pulls around to the gas area to fill up. I meet him at the car in about 5 minutes, and we are on our way.
Finally, the trip (Thursday night): We stopped about 15 miles out of town to grab Krystals from a drive-thru (our traditional road trip fare). We have the Resort CD playing, of course. Wesley is still smiling. About 45 minutes later, and still no Mickey Mouse, the smiling stops. We try to explain that we ARE going to see Mickey, but it is a long drive. The 2 yr old is not grasping this concept. We steel ourselves for a miserable drive, and for that matter, weekend. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea! At 8pm, we ditch the CD for Survivor on the radio (we're hooked). At 8:45, Wesley is asleep. That's about his normal bedtime, so we were happy. At 9, after Alicia was voted off, we switched back to the CD and started planning Friday's schedule. (We are both off work on Fridays, that's why this quick trip planning was so feasible.) Wesley slept off and on for the remainder of the trip. He had frequent wakings and bouts of crying--again, very out of the ordinary for him, but that's how he had been all week. Mark and I continued planning, revising the plan, feeling guilty about Wesley, hoping Wesley would not be a monster for the weekend, grumbling over the tolls required to travel on the turnpike, wishing we lived in south GA, rather than central GA, to make it a faster trip to WDW (we are appointed, so don't have any say over where we live--although we will always be somewhere in the southern half of GA), and planning some more. At last, at last!! The signs begin to appear. We are soon (soon??) driving into the All Star resort, where the guard gives Mark a hard time about his FSU hat (he's an FSU grad), because the guard, apparently, is a Gator. We pull up to ASMo at midnight, and Mark goes inside to check in. Wesley wakes up, and I ask if he knows where we were. DizzyWold! he replied--Where's Mickey Mouse? Oh boy--now I had to explain that Mickey was asleep and we would see him tomorrow. We're in Fantasia, Building 5. I think the room number was 5717. This is a preferred room (standards were all booked). I don't know why!! Well, I do know why-it is closer to the pool, the food court, etc. But for us the location was terrible. No quibbles from us, due to the circumstances, but we would never choose this location. We had to walk about 6 miles from the parking lot. Well, maybe a 1/4 of a mile...but it sure seemed farther! Wesley is now wide awake, but we were expecting this. We dump our stuff in the room, and take Wesley around to show him the pool, and Sorcerer Mickey, and the Sorcerer's hat (although Toy Story 1 & 2 are his all time favorites, he does love Fantasia, also, so this worked out well). Then we convinced him that since Mickey was asleep, we should go to sleep, too, so we can see him first thing in the morning. Amazingly, this worked. We had two doubles, and I ended up sleeping with Wesley (again, VERY out of the ordinary), but we figured it would be easier, and it was. Before too long, we were all dreaming of a magical Disney day...
Friday, Park Day: Mickey called to wake us up at 7. Wesley slept right through it--and also through our showers. I finally woke him up while Mark went to grab some breakfast. He dressed in his Buzz Lightyear shirt and some shorts, and his Buzz Lightyear shoes. He wanted to know when we would see Mickey. Mark returns with breakfast. He said, I just had two experiences that made me KNOW I was at Disney. First, I paid $20 for breakfast. And second, the music is everywhere!! (These are perhaps the things that, respectively, we hate and love the most about Disney!) But after thinking about it, the $20 wasn't SO bad, because it included two croissant/sandwich things, a bowl of grits (Wesley's standard breakfast fare), a decaf coffee for me (Mark brings Diet Mtn Dew with him everywhere), and two chocolate milks for Wesley to have during the day. Still. Only at Disney!! We left a little something for Mousekeeping, double checked the diaper bag, and started the hike back to the car. Wesley balked at this--no, no, want to see Mickey Mouse! Why on earth would we have to drive MORE to see Mickey Mouse? We find that it is easier to drive our car than to rely on bus transportation, especially with the stroller. So...off we go, park at EPCOT, just miss a monorail, wait about 5 minutes for another one. Wesley could see the topiaries in front of EPCOT as we waited, and he was excited about that. Monorailed to TTC (a very nice family sharing our seat offered Wesley a bag of fruit snacks), transferred to the MK monorail, and at last we were there! We arrived at the very end of the Park Opening, but Wesley got to see Mickey, and that was the important thing. Headed down Main Street, thinking Wesley would just be in awe of the castle (the only thing he builds with his blocks or LEGOs is a castle, although sometimes it is Cindy's, sometimes Belle's, sometimes even Mickey's--and of course it is always different!)...but Wesley was in awe of something else--the horse drawn trolley! Is it Bullseye? he asks me. It might be, I replied. We head to Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear. Wesley was very excited to see Buzz! He was less excited about the ride itself. (My scared, he told me--even though at home he loves Zurg. Go figure. This scared thing is also something we've been doing for only a week. Apparently we REALLY traumatized the poor kid!) After the ride was over, he wanted to know where Buzz and Zurg went. (This theme will continue throughout the day!) Then we saw Buzz (the REAL Buzz Lightyear) in front of Cosmic Ray's. A picture with Dad and Wesley--last year I got to be in that one. Although not as intimidated by the characters as last year, he still doesn't want to get too close. Off to FantasyLand. Pooh is first, this is tame, we're sure he'll like this one. Hmmm..."My scared" of this one, too. (Keep in mind that we did all of this last year, and he loved it.) Snow White's Scary Adventures was closed, so we didn't have to decide about that one. After the Toy Storys, Peter Pan is his favorite movie. Of course he'll like Peter Pan. Nope, my still scared. Small World? Getting on the boat: My scared, Mommy! But guess what? He wasn't! He LOVED Small World. I'm sad that it will be closed when we are back in September. Okay, done with FantasyLand. We are heading to Haunted Mansion, which has always been one of Mark's favorites. We went on this against my better judgement. Come on, if he's scared of Peter Pan, you think he'll LIKE HM? Well, it didn't really matter, he held my hand over his eyes the whole time. After that we were going to Pirates of the Carribean, because he calls the song "The Captain Hook Song" (from the CD). I figured he'd be scared of it, too, but what the heck, I'll put my hand over his eyes again. (I assure you, we don't -intentionally!-traumatize our child regularly!!) As we approach, see a line for Peter Pan and Wendy. Hook and Smee are also there. We hop in line. He's really excited about this! When it's our turn, of course, he turns shy. This is typical for him, and that's okay. Mommy and Wesley pose for a picture with Peter and Wendy. Peter pushes Wendy out of the first picture. She nudges her way back in for the second. We were very disappointed in Peter. He was rather obnoxious, and didn't seem to be very good with any of the kids. Oh, well. Wesley decided he didn't want a picture with Hook and Smee, so we took one of just the two of them. At this point, we decide to skip POC, because we want to make the first show of Goofy's Country Jamboree. (Woody and Jessie are here, you know.) Wesley really liked this. He didn't do much dancing, except in my arms, but he enjoyed seeing the characters, and they weren't so close as to frighten him. Also, an added surprise: Bullseye is here now! After that, we started towards Toon Town. First stop, Minnie's House. Pluto was out in the gazebo, but we didn't wait in line to see him. Wesley waved from a distance. We went in to see Minnie, Chip and Dale. The other options were the Pooh characters and Cinderella. We hoped to see Pooh at EPCOT, and didn't care so much about seeing Cindy. He really likes Minnie (we all do), but he was still feeling a bit shy. Next we went to Mickey's House, which Wesley loved. Then we stood in line for Mickey. Wesley was feeling very shy then, and the CMs in there were sort of rude, rather like they were herding cattle. We posed for a pic, and they were rushing us out, and Wesley turned around and said, Bye Bye Mickey Mouse! (Mickey didn't hear him.) We stepped outside, and he said, I want to see Mickey again! But who was outside? Jasmine, Aladdin, Smee, Rafiki, Friar Tuck, Meeko, some of the Country Bears...I think there were more, we couldn't see them all. Smee was closest, and we did get a pic with him...then we waited to see Jasmine and Aladdin. Just as we stepped in line, the CMs said it was time for the characters to go. Jasmine and Aladdin didn't leave, so we stuck around. We were the last ones they saw before they had to go "get Abu out of trouble." Wesley actually gave Jasmine a hug. Mark said it was because Jasmine is a hottie. LOL! Then we went back through Mickey's House and back in to see him. Wesley was a bit more comfortable this time. We were in a different room with much nicer CMs and I think a nicer Mickey, too. Anyway, after that pic, Wesley said, I love you Mickey Mouse! The CMs and every mother standing in line went, Awwwwww!!! I cried. (My prerogative as a mommy!) Mickey heard him and blew him a kiss. Yep, THAT is why we came! Now it is lunchtime so we head to Cosmic Ray's. This was the only time the little monster showed his face the whole weekend. Wesley was tired, and it was so crowded in there...he didn't want his lunch (we had brought him a PBJ), he wanted mine (we both got a Big Dipper)--but he didn't want to eat it, he just wanted to hold it--and he didn't want me to eat it! We ate as quickly as possible, and decided it was time to go to EPCOT. Last time, he fell asleep on SE, and we were able to explore the WS a bit while he napped. Before leaving MK, we stopped by Guest Relations and made a PS for the Ice Cream Social at the Garden Grille. We hit the jackpot this time, he fell asleep on the monorail! Just inside EPCOT, we saw Jiminy Cricket. We've never seen him before. We got a picture of him with (the sleeping) Wesley. Then Mark wanted to go in Ice Station Cool. Bad idea. Wesley woke up. But after a 20 min nap (he normally gets 2-3 hours!), he was in a great mood! Power nap, I guess. Our PS was at 3:10, and it was about 2:30. So we decided to go to The Living Seas, because Wesley loves watching fish. As we approached, there was Nemo! Another pic with Wesley and Daddy. Has anyone else seen Nemo? He's on wheels--but apparently (according to the CM) there really is a person in there! Anyway, Wesley loved watching the fish, as usual. Then we headed to the Land for our PS. I realized I was getting a little dehydrated, and I wasn't feeling my best. After some water, I was a new person! We loved the Garden Grille (it was our first time here). The Ice Cream Social will be a tradition for us now. Mickey, Chip, Dale and Pluto all for the bargain price of $6.95 per adult??? Also, it is much more private feeling than any other dining experience, especially a character meal. And we loved the changing scenery! Wesley had a great time. Mickey even colored with him. He interacted a lot more with the characters here. Now it's time to go to World Showcase! We got very lucky...happened up on Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore in Great Britain, Belle and Beast in France, and Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco. Wesley kissed Pooh and friends on the nose, and gave hugs to everyone else, even Beast. We wandered on around, stopped to look at the veggie garden in America, took an awesome pic of Wesley with the Mickey and Minnie topiaries there... kept going around, checked out the Iron Chef merchandise in Japan, rode Maelstrom (Wesley initially said he was scared on this too, but then decided he liked "the slide"). Checked the time, decided we'd better finish up in Future World. Rode SE...eventually Wesley liked this one, as well. I think it is really the noise that scares him on the rides--they really are loud, and he is fairly sensitive to that. It's not quite so bad on SE, especially since it wasn't playing right in HIS ears. Went back to Living with the Land, but the line was pretty long, and Wesley was kind of bored with it last time. Besides, we're getting hungry. We had decided to eat in Morocco (GREAT decision!), but stopped to ride in Mexico (another hit for Wesley--maybe because it is so similar to Small World?). All the way back to Morocco...note to self: buy new shoes before returning in September. We ate at the Counter Service place, since we were going cheap (as cheap as possible!) on this trip. Food was fabulous. It's our new favorite in the WS. Hope to try the nicer one in September. By now it is nearly 8pm, and we decide we have enough money to spring for Beaver Tails on our way out. Mark got Maple and Chocolate, I got Cinnamon Sugar. They were good, but I doubt we'll ever get them again. Mark really wanted creme brulee, but the lines for food in France were crazy. By the time we actually got out of the park, it was 9pm, because we spent about 15 mintues letting Wesley play on the "stars" in the sidewalk. That was probably his favorite thing all day! I figured he would go to sleep in the car, but he didn't! We got back to the room, found all his friends "watching tv", he got a bath, then watched Monsters, Inc and Toy Story 2 bedtime stories. I decided that he could sleep alone that night, and he did fine, slept through the night for the first time in almost a week. We were tired and achy (ouch, those feet HURT!), and we slept great, too.
Saturday, Downtown Disney and trip home: Wesley woke up around 8, and we were up soon after. Got ready and had the car packed by about 9:30. Wanted to go play in Andy's Room for a bit. Wesley loved this last year, but didn't remember it. He loved it again! We are definitely requesting Toy Story section for September. Then we headed to Downtown Disney. We weren't really in the market for a lot of souvenirs this trip, but we did find some small tumblers for only $3 each, and since he has to be off the sippy cup by August for school, we thought that was a good investment. He's thrilled with them. We ended up eating at Rainforest Cafe, where Wesley was again "scared" by the gorillas next to our table--but he loved the elephants. Who knows?!? Okay, it is time to say goodbye, and head back to GA. Wesley is less concerned with the goodbyes than we are. We HATE to leave Disney! He was perfect all the way home. Slept for about an hour, then laughed, giggled and played the rest of the way. Now THIS is the little boy I birthed!! We stopped for dinner at Sonny's BBQ (one of our favorites), and he was soooo well behaved, to have been cooped up in a car for 3 1/2 hours. We got home around 7pm, and I took him out to swing while Mark hooked the camera up to the TV so we could see our pics on the "big screen". He loved watching the pictures, and now wants to watch the "Mickey Mouse People" (the pics) instead of the "Mickey Mouse Video" (the planning video). Granted, we've only been home 2 days, but he is back to his happy, smiling, playful self. No tantrums, no whining. And he is talking about seeing Mickey, Minnie, Buzz, etc in September. This morning he said, Mommy, I miss Mickey Mouse! And I said, So do I, sweetheart! So do I! Mark overheard, and wanted to know if I was *sure* we couldn't go again before September. Well, I am pretty sure...But you never know!
Magical Moments: Wesley telling Mickey that he loved him; Mickey coloring with Wesley at the Ice Cream Social; Mark and I realizing that taking it slow may be even more fun that going "Commando-Style"; Wesley's delight while playing with the "stars" at EPCOT; finding a great new restaurant (Morocco) to eat in every time; Wesley's absolute joy when we arrived in Andy's Room...plus many, many others!
Afterthoughts: Sometimes it seems that spontaneity dies with parenthood. But even before Wesley came along, we never did anything quite like this! Total time from initial "planning" to arrival: 6 1/2 hours. It CAN be done! (Well, I guess it depends on where you live...) Although this is not something that we will do often (if ever again), this particular time, it was well worth it--for us. We are planning a 10 day trip for Wesley's 4th birthday (2 more years), so until then, these little weekend trips will "tide us over." We know that on that big trip, we will be able to do "everything"-so for now we are enjoying being able to take it slow, enjoying all those little things that make Disney, well, Disney! Character dining has become a must for us. If you are limited on time or money, consider the Ice Cream Social. No matter how magical Disney has always been for you, when you are with a child, it becomes that much MORE magical! Remain a parent when it comes to safety issues or real discipline problems, but allow your child to see that YOU are as excited as they are. And lighten up! EVERYONE should happier at Disney World, you included! (This is probably not for anyone on here, but for all those harried parents we saw yelling at their kids for something like taking an extra minute to look at something, when the parent was in a rush to get somewhere else!)
Here's to everyone getting to see Mickey again real soon!
Thanks for reading!
When my oldest son "graduated" from nursery school I made a quick Disney World Weekend decision and took whatever I could get. It ended up being a weekend at the Beach Club and one of the best trips we ever had.
He's 16 now and we're still going to Disney but now with his 3 year old brother. You sound like you had a wonderful time and who cares if you son will remember these trips or not. You will.
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