Disney

the Disney World vacation chronicles: days 5 & 6

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Catch up!

Day 4
Days 2&3
Day 1

Day 5:  Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Dexter woke up twice during the night, whining and running a slight temp but quickly went back to sleep.  I don’t remember what time the boys woke up for the day Tuesday, but it was nothing out of the ordinary.  Since we had family suites at Disney’s Art of Animation resort, we were equipped with all that we needed to make breakfast.  We had a small fridge and freezer and a microwave.  We ate breakfast in the room every day except for Thursday, when we had our character meal at the Contemporary Resort.  We had protein/fiber bars, frozen breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal, and cereal with milk.  It was nice to not eat “out” every meal and also to save a few bucks.  On our pool days, like this day, we also had ham or turkey sandwiches and chips, along with carrots or grapes, for lunch.

We woke up well aware that our vacation was halfway over.  When you plan and look forward to something for SO LONG, it’s hard not to constantly take notice of how quickly time is passing by.

“I’m a ghost!”

Luckily, everyone woke up feeling fine and fever-free.

our Cars-themed room

Uncle Bob is gonna getcha.

Or are we gonna get Uncle Bob?

Theo cozy on the couch for naptime.

And Dexter resting peacefully in Grammy’s bed.

The pool wears them out – we should really get one of those.  Oh, except the part about how we come home from Florida in October and have to start wearing coats…no thank you!
We decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner and to shop around a little more since we were so tired the first time we went. I wanted to pop in the Art of Disney store since the boys were content in their strollers and it was relatively uncrowded. 

We loved that Peter Pan print in the middle and it got me daydreaming of a fun basement remodel (or basement finish, as our case would be) with pale gray walls, white baseboards, neutral furnishings and pops of color from tasteful Disney artwork.  

Theo’s favorite villain – Maleficent.

Waiting in line for dinner at Earl of Sandwich.  One of the best meals we had there!

Decisions, decisions. 
Dexter photo-bombed my sandwich pic. 

It was a perfect night!

Nearly impossible to get a decent pic of these two together. 

We didn’t want to stay too late because we had another big park day coming up and we hoped the boys would get some good rest.  I was leery about Dexter because we didn’t know why he got so sick the night before.  Lack of sleep, overheated, dehydrated, some combination of all those?  Don’t know.  But we wanted to do anything we could to prevent that from happening again. 
Day 6: Wednesday, October 9, 2013.
Getting Spiffy in a Jiffy before our big day at Hollywood Studios!

We are huge dorks, so we designated this day as Monsters, Inc shirt day.

Oozma Kappa!

Try to pay attention, kids.

Cute little hand-holding cousins waiting for Toy Story Mania.
One of my favorites – The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show.

Watching Spencer defeat Darth Vader.

Hallelujah!  About a 45 minute nap!

Intense concentration at the Beauty and the Beast show.

Might as well ride that Toy Story ride again!

Fruit bar!  He chose this over a Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream bar.  Clearly not my child.  So I got the ice cream bar. 

This ride – The Great Movie Ride – broke while we were on it. Phooey.

Studio Backlot Tour

Ready to eat at Pizza Planet.

In line to meet Buzz and Woody.  For 45 minutes.  A very long 45 minutes.  I think this might have actually been the longest we waited for anything.  But it was worth it.  You know why?

Because after we left and started walking towards Fantasmic, Theo said “you know what mommy? It was fun meeting Woody and Buzz.”  Yes. It. Was.

Fantasmic. My single most favorite thing at all of Walt Disney World. I was geeking out and more excited than anyone else.

Another successful, super fun day.  For more candid photos of the trip, search Instagram user mommyinthemidwest or hashtag: #1stmcdanielfamilyvacation (then follow me there and say hello!).
Stay tuned for more,
~C~

the Disney World vacation chronicles: day 4

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Get caught up by clicking below:

Days 2&3
Day 1

Monday, October 7, 2013.

Animal Kingdom is only open until 5pm so we planned to exhaust every possible option in the park and then hop on over to Magic Kingdom to meet up with the rest of our gang and catch the 8pm electric light parade together.

A very cloudy start to the day with predictions of scattered thunderstorms all day. Boo.

First things first, a photo op with Rafiki.

The boys shared a snack while my mom and Ryan rode Dinosaur.

The boys played at the Boneyard Dig playground while mom and I rode the nearby Triceratop Spin rollercoaster.
This was the first day that we used our Magic Bands to reserve FastPass+ times for rides before arriving at the park. We had some trouble managing the members of our party on the smartphone app, but concierge was able to figure it out for us eventually.  My mom was never able to log in to accept my invitation to manage her activities but it didn’t matter once the front desk at the resort pushed whatever buttons they needed to push.  So a brief description of the Magic Bands – rubber/plastic wristbands that act as your room key, credit card, and FastPass+ tickets.  You use them in collaboration with the phone app.  They are still in the test process with this, so there were minor glitches here and there but cast members were understanding and accommodating.  The biggest problem with the whole thing (that I experienced) was that the app was VERY slow.  The wi-fi on property does not have the capacity needed for quick, efficient use.  That being said, I was able to make our selections and manage any changes that needed to be made throughout the day. 
For park entry, you hold your MagicBand up to a post and this links up to your fingerprint.  For charging to the room (which is backed up with your credit card of choice), you hold your MagicBand up to a device that is similar to any credit card swipe machine, then use a pre-identified pin number to verify.  The same technology is in place on the hotel room doors and ride turnstiles.  I liked using it for Fast passes because in the past, you went to the ride and if it was very popular, you might not be able to return with your fast pass for 4 hours.  When you select your attractions and times on the app (you can choose up to 3 per day), you can go back into the app and change either the attraction or the time to better suit your needs if you see that you are moving faster or slower through the park than you anticipated.  
This is how we received our MagicBands in the mail.
Overall, I really liked the MagicBands and think that they have the capacity to be SUPER awesome once the minor kinks are worked out. It was really nice not having to keep up with paper fast passes. The size is adjustable and one band really does fit all.  I was a little concerned that the boys would not tolerate wearing them or would lose them, but they were fun, comfortable, and fairly secure.  They didn’t take their MagicBands off without asking first and really enjoyed them.

The boys LOVED the Finding Nemo show. 

Tree of Life
We had a fast pass for the Kilimanjaro Safari and I was pretty happy about that as it started to sprinkle.  It’s a long ride and we were under cover (sort of) on our safari bus. 

But then it started pouring and all I could think about was how our helpless little strollers were sitting there soaking up the rain.  Along with the boys’ backpacks – which contained the boys’ changes of clothes. And Dexter’s diapers.  UGH.

It continued to rain after we got off of the ride and we quickly found cover and some lunch.  It was delicious. We found a quick service place in Asia that served amazing egg rolls and tasty sweet & sour chicken, honey chicken, and beef lo mein.  The best part of it all was that the boys LOVED it. They chowed down and although the portions were very generous, we wished we had more once it was gone.  The rain stopped as we finished eating.  We were all wet from walking in the rain. The strollers literally had puddles in them.  The diaper bags were dripping.  I threw away a couple of Dexter’s diapers but the ones on the inside of the stack were mostly dry.  His spare outfit was drenched.  

Waiting for ice cream after the Lion King show.

Rushing to see the Bug’s Life show before the park closed. 

Ya know, upon further review Dexter doesn’t look so good here.  
Then there’s this photo…taken about 30 minutes later on the bus to Magic Kingdom. 
It rained again the whole time we were on the bus and stopped as soon as we arrived at Magic Kingdom.  Lucky timing for that at least.  And friends, that’s where the photos end for Monday, October 7th.  Unless you saw this on Instagram:
You read that right.  When we got to Magic Kingdom, we went straight to Monsters Inc Scare Floor and while we were waiting to go in, I was holding Dexter. I kissed his forehead and thought “does he feel hot?” Seconds later, he puked all over me – and then did it again while I was standing there in the shock of this horror.  Two words:  EGG ROLL. Of course this occurs as the doors are opening to the attraction and we’re all scrambling and standing there like “what now!?”  I told them to go on and I would get myself and Dexter cleaned up.  Everyone went into the scare floor and I looked around.  Lots of closed doors and no cast members.  So I found an emergency exit and wandered around in my puke-covered clothes, carrying my puke-covered toddler at arm’s length while my mind raced and I tried to figure out my first step. 
We went over to stroller parking and I got out the wipes.  I tried wiping us both off the best I could.  Not super effective.  I stripped Dexter down to his diaper (classy) and wiped him off with wipes.  He was crying the whole time.  I dumped the puke out of his shoes and tried to wipe them out.  I put wet clothes from the diaper bag on him and sat him in the stroller, then ran into the nearest gift shop to buy the first shirt I could find in my size.  Went to the bathroom to change and rinse out our disgusting clothes.  
So. Gross. 
If you know me well, you know that dealing with puke has been one of my greatest mommy-duty fears from day one. Not spit up, but real, smelly, grown-up food puke.  I can’t take it.  I’m not sure how I powered through this situation, I guess because I had no choice  Poor Dexter literally slept the rest of the night in the stroller while Theo rode Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean.  After that, we decided to go home.  I waited awhile to leave because I wanted to make sure Dexter wasn’t going to throw up again. Can you imagine that?  On a crowded bus with nowhere to go and no way to get out? We missed the parade.  I felt so bad as we were leaving.  Like we were these parents that were just trying to rush to get a good spot in line for the bus.  Dexter slept all the way back to the room and went to bed immediately when we got back.  No more puke!
Stay tuned for Day 5 and more,
~C~

the Disney World vacation chronicles: days 2 & 3

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Click Day 1 to catch up.

Saturday, October 5, 2013 – we woke up to a 6:45 alarm (sleeping in compared to the day before) with a plan to get to the bus stop by 8:30 since Magic Kingdom opened at 9.  It was Ryan’s vision to make sure the boys saw Cinderella’s castle – their idea of Disney World from seeing it at the beginning of all their favorite movies – first and foremost.

In the lobby of the resort before heading out.  Toy Story shirt day!
Just inside the admission gate.
Magic Kingdom is super decked out for Halloween right now because they are hosting Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party several nights a week.  Call me a spoil sport. Call me a party pooper.  Call me a tightwad.  I just couldn’t justify spending an additional $60 per person for a parade and some candy.  Plus, the boys didn’t even have costumes at that point.  And one more thing, the party is from 7 to midnight. When we were planning our trip, I assumed the boys would be passed out by 8pm.  Ha.  Haha.  Anyway.
Ryan’s sister, her boyfriend, and our nephew didn’t fly in until Saturday around noon so Nana and Pop Pop skipped the parks to greet them.  We flew down a day earlier because we knew we’d want (and need) a day to rest between each park day.  Lifesaver.  So anyway, that’s why Ryan’s family is not going to show up on this day. 
There we are in front of that famed, beloved castle.  The boys’ eyes really did light up when the castle came into their views.  It was pretty sweet and well, you know, magical.  For lack of a better term.
We only planned to stay long enough to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and The Haunted Mansion but of course the boys had other plans.  Dexter wanted to ride the carousel.  We’d planned to stay for an hour or so before riding the monorail over to Epcot for the rest of the day. 

Theo almost backed out from riding the Haunted Mansion.  Theo!  The one who loves ALL things scary. Guess when it comes down to it, he’s not so tough.  After the ride, he said “I don’t think I want to ride that again.”  After talking and joking about it, he changed his mind and couldn’t wait to go back to Magic Kingdom.  Dexter was scared during the ride but afterwards said he liked it.  Dexter, mister cutie, would cover his mouth with his hands every time he felt frightened.  It was adorable. That night, Theo told Pop Pop all about the Haunted Mansion and said his favorite part was when the scary voice said “there are no doors, no windows, and no way out!”

They both loved the Buzz Lightyear ride. 

On our way out of the park, we stopped to watch a show with Mickey and all his pals right in front of the castle.  The boys were so captivated, we couldn’t bear to leave until the show was over.  
On the monorail to Epcot.
We got there around lunchtime and ate at The Land so we could secure some FastPasses for Soarin’, one of my all time favorite rides at Disney World.  We rode just about every ride there that the boys could get on before making our way around the World Showcase.  
While they were not super cooperative for a photo with Nemo & Friends, they did love The Seas, including Turtle Talk with Crush, the Nemo ride, and other activities & sights.  We stayed here for quite some time.

Showing off some souvenirs.
When I told people when we were going to Disney, I had a few excitedly ask if we were going for the Food & Wine festival at Epcot.  I guess that should have been a sign to me, but I just shrugged it off.  I didn’t realize what a draw it would be and how it would influence crowd sizes around the World Showcase.  Yikes.  I don’t mind crowds, but when it’s shoulder to shoulder and 90 degrees outside and I’ve got a stroller or two, no thank you.  We waited about 30 minutes for the ride in Norway and maybe 20 for the boat ride in Mexico. Clearly the crowd was not there to ride rides but to jam up the walkways and eat and drink their faces off.  The boys fell asleep after the ride in Norway and I was relieved to get out of the World Showcase and head back towards The Land to use our Soarin’ fastpasses.  My anxiety level went from an 8 back down to a 2. 

Stopping in Mexico for a meet ‘n greet with none other than Donald Duck!

We took turns riding Soarin’ while the boys continued to nap and afterwards set off to meet some more characters. The boys loved the characters – Dexter ran right up and hugged them while Theo was a little more tentative. But neither of them were scared, which is a question I’ve been asked a lot.

Kissing Minnie. ha!

True love.

Not sure what the boys were more excited about – the fact that we let them sample Coca-Cola products from around the world or the way these products tasted.  They sampled and sampled and sampled some more.  You can sort of tell the Dexter’s eyes were watering – not used to that carbonation!

We would have stayed for Illuminations, Epcot’s fireworks display, but we were done doing everything we wanted to do by about 8:30 and the show wasn’t for another hour and a half.  I thought we might make it back over to Epcot without the boys so us grown ups could ride Test Track but that never happened.  We still had a great day.  The boys’ behavior, overall, was great!
Day 3: Sunday, October 6, 2013
Ryan’s sister and family were ready to hit the parks so they went to Animal Kingdom while we lounged at the hotel, playing legos, swimming, and napping throughout the day.  I believe this is the day that the boys slept in until almost 9am. NEVER HAPPENS in real life.  
Just watching cartoons in Grammy’s bed. 

Swimming at the Big Blue Pool and playing at the adjacent playground.  It was hot! The concrete would burn dry feet.

Sunday night after Michelle, Bob, and Spencer rested up, we headed over to the Wilderness Lodge to enjoy a fun and interactive dinner experience at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.  Our server was very much into his role, playing pranks and practical jokes on us throughout the meal.  I failed to take many pictures, but the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge is breathtaking!

A thorn between two roses?

Mr. Hot Stuff, with his very own vanilla milkshake.

Michelle’s pretty drink.

Just before we left, the server asked Nana if she wanted “a little more tea.”

Snail sighting at the resort.
After this, we headed back to the room to rest up for another long and action-packed day at the parks.

For more candid photos of the trip, follow me (mommyinthemidwest) on Instagram or search hashtag: #1stmcdanielfamilyvacation 

Stay tuned for more,
~C~