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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~
