Day 3: June 8, 2007 - Star Wars Weekends

Today is the day we have all been looking forward to – Star Wars Weekends at MGM. We woke this morning at 6:45am and got dressed and headed down to eat breakfast at 7:15am. We ate quickly and were in line for the bus to MGM by 8:15am. The line was very long and it was already very hot and humid outside – probably the hottest it’s been here so far. Already sweating, we boarded the bus after watching 1 already fill up and pass by us. We were on our way to meet Ryan’s favorite Star Wars characters. Today was his day – okay, and Bret’s, too.



We spent maybe 10 or 15 minutes waiting to get into the park and the magic had already begun. Star Wars theme music played from every direction. Ryan was already more than excited. He didn’t like the delay, but we stopped for a picture in front of the big hat anyway.



We headed straight for Star Tours and rode with only a 10 minute wait.



Ryan was nervous because of his experience with Thunder Mountain Railroad yesterday, but he did get on and seemed to enjoy it. The ride let us out at the gift shop and we browsed, pulling Ryan away from the action figures that he already has hundreds of that are so much cheaper to buy at Wal-Mart. (I’m cracking up here because I left the hyphen out of the word Wal-Mart and spell check caught it. Did you know that word was in the dictionary?) Anyway, he settled on a navy blue t-shirt that says Jedi Academy on it and talked us into letting him use his Disney Dollars to buy a Storm Trooper costume. It was a bit pricey, but I figured it could double as his Halloween costume this year as well.

Here’s a picture of him in it from later on this evening.



We left the store and continued on in the park and stopped at the Muppets 3-D show. It was nice and cold in there and there was no wait for the show. It seemed there was never any wait for any of the shows – very impressive. The show was cute although I’m so brain dead right now that I can’t seem to remember much of it other than the fact that we’ve found Disney’s 3-D shows amazing. I’d love to know how they do it.

Next, we walked through the Streets of America set and got some great pictures of the kids.



The Lights Motor Action Stunt Show wasn’t starting until 11:50am and the big kids (adults included) wanted to find some rides so we headed over to Aerosmith’s Rock n Roller Coaster.



The standby line was (ouch) 85 minutes. I wanted to Fast Pass it and come back later but was out voted. So we stood in line. Then we stood in line some more. And more. Finally we reached the inside of the building and were next to load. Now I’m not sure why I didn’t realize this before, but I’m just finding out 2 minutes before getting on the ride that it loops upside down. I’ve done rides like this before, but it’s been a loooong time – and I have to pee. Badly – and I have no choice but to get on. The 0-60 mph in 2.78 seconds was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Wow – and I had managed not to pee my pants. I even started rocking out to the music during the ride. (Don’t tell anyone…LoL) Once the ride was over, we unloaded and went to check out the picture screens to see our take off pictures. OMG! I didn’t realize Ashley’s jaw could come unhinged and her mouth could open that big. I just looked plain scared and in pain. Way too funny.

We had talked the big talk of going on Tower of Terror, but all chickened out instead. It was time for the Stunt show to start so we headed over there to meet back up with Bret and Ryan who were doing their own thing while we waited in line.





On our way to the Stunt Show we found we had missed the Star Wars parade. It had started at 11:15am and was already in full swing as we walked back. I guess I thought it was the same as the 3pm Stars and Cars Motor Parade. We decided right then and there that we were changing our plans for tomorrow and were going to make sure we saw the Star Wars parade.

We got to the Stunt Show and the guys were all amazed by the action. I though it was cool, too but was starting to get hot and tired. We were in definite need of a cool break so we headed over to Toy Story Pizza Planet Arcade for some lunch. The lines were long and moved very slowly and we couldn’t find a table that we could all sit at, so we let the kids sit while we stood and ate. The pizza was good, but even counter service in the parks is so expensive. Could have really used that Dining Plan!

With full tummies and ready to go again, we headed back to the Star Tours area to see if the kids could get picked for the next Jedi Training Academy.



They didn’t get picked and were pretty bummed, but they all went nuts when Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out. The crowd went crazy. I went crazy and I’m not really all that into Star Wars. It was so life like and the little Padawan Learners looked so cute up there fighting Darth Vader and Darth Maul.





We did get to see the Disney’s Stars and Cars Motor Parade. The kids loved seeing all of the characters and I was really impressed with how well they really pay attention to their fans.



After the parade, we stopped in a gift shop and bought Ashley a blue tie dyed Disney t-shirt and then headed back to our resort for a refreshing swim in the pool. We had pretty much wilted in the Florida heat and needed a break desperately.

By 4:30pm, we had been swimming in the Hippy Dippy pool for about 15 minutes when from a close distance you could see a storm moving through. Thunder was rumbling and now there had been two lightning strikes. The lifeguards closed the pool and we headed upstairs to our room to get dressed.

We ate dinner again at Everything Pop. As I said before, the food there is great and with our refillable resort mugs, we’ve been saving a bundle on drinks and getting our money’s worth out of them as well.

Skyler and Ryan finishing up their dinner.



The space shuttle was scheduled to launch tonight and we heard that we might be able to see it so we headed over to the top floor of one of the 80’s buildings to see if we could get lucky. We did! It was one of the most amazing experiences we’ve ever had. When will we ever have an opportunity like this again. I am so glad my kids got to witness it. (Although I did pray that nothing would go wrong resulting in us having to explain a horrible tragedy to our kids.)



At a little after 8pm we arrived at the Magic Kingdom and grabbed a spot on the sidewalk on the corner of Main Street right outside one of the little candy shops. We had great seats for the Spectro Magic Parade which was starting from right around the corner. We all really enjoyed seeing the brightly light floats holding all of our favorite Disney characters. The parade lasted about a half hour and we decided to stay put and wait for the Wishes fireworks show.





As the park began filling up even more, we left our corner on the sidewalk and sat down right smack in the middle of Main Street to wait for the fireworks to start. Ryan was already tired and not looking forward to another night of fireworks, but we had really been looking forward to Magic Kingdom’s huge show so he had to make do. He fell asleep with his head in my lap and my hands over his ears 10 minutes before the show started. Everyone stood up as the sky started lighting up and Ryan and I were the only ones left sitting on the ground. All I could see was the top of each colorful blast in the sky. I tell you – the things we do for our kids. Everyone is enjoying the show when all of a sudden someone walks over and stands right in front of me and I can no longer see ANYTHING. Ugh. And if that’s not bad enough, another person tries to squeeze past her completely stepping on Ryan and falling over us. My hand went up to shield us as she started to fall, but thankfully Bret had seen it happen and caught her before she landed on us. I feel really bad because my first instinct was to react to my child crying (more out of fear than pain I later learned) and I snapped at her. She was really truly sorry and I could tell she felt really bad which made me feel like an even bigger idiot. But everyone was fine and no one was hurt so no harm done, right? I did pretty much miss Wishes though, so that’s a big bummer right there.

(Warning: I gave up on my hair the second day there. I lost the battle against the Florida humidity.)



Bret was nice enough to take some pictures of it for me. LoL.



The show was now over and tonight was Magic Kingdom’s EMH night and we had already gotten our bracelets upon entering the park earlier, so we headed out to Tomorrowland so Ryan could ride Buzz again, but the line was still really long so we walked over to Fantasyland and checked out Mickey and Minnie’s houses.



Ryan then discovered Pooh’s Playful Spot and was suddenly wide awake and running around like it was 12pm instead of 12am.



Once we were able to pry Ryan out of there, we went and saw Mickey’s Philarmagic. I have never seen a better 3-D show in my life. The wind blows in your face and you smell the scents of all the yummy looking food that floats right up to your face.

Next we rode Peter Pan’s flight and then It’s A Small World – a song I will probably never get out of my head now, but a cute ride nonetheless. Both kids were wiped out by now so we were making our way to the exit when we passed Tomorrowland and Ryan suddenly perked up and said, “Let’s go ride Buzz Light Year!” So we did.



And then we left – after taking a picture with the Indian on the way out for Grandma who has been teaching Ryan about Indians lately.



The day doesn’t end here though. We left the park at 1am and got on a shuttle that would take us back to our resort. We had already planned to sleep in tomorrow morning since we were staying up so late tonight. The bus was standing room only. Now you would figure that this late at night when you see two kids standing on a bus, holding on to the pole, one nodding off to sleep and the other one sliding down to the floor with his father holding him upright against his leg, that someone would get up and let them sit in a seat. Nope. We got a lot of “how cute smiles” but no one offered up their seat. Now our neighbors who had caught a bus a bit earlier had better luck. Their driver told everyone on the bus that they were to give up their seats to children and pregnant woman. We did make it back, though Bret had a crick in his neck the rest of the night while sleeping. I don’t think the kids have ever stayed up that late before.

Day 2: June 7, 2007 - Our First Full Day At Disney World

Our plan was to wake up this morning at 6:30am this morning and we actually stuck to it.

The Tooth Fairy did indeed find Ryan at Disney World and left him a two dollar bill under his pillow.



However, it was pretty slow going and we didn’t make it down to breakfast until 7:30am – a half hour later than we had planned – but that’s okay. We ate breakfast at Everything Pop and once again the food was great and very filling.

We got to Magic Kingdom at 8:30am to take advantage of their EMH hours and were definitely not prepared for how amazing the park is. We took our turn being awestruck, camera snapping tourists and snapped away.







Then we headed straight for Tomorrowland and saw that the standby time for Buzz Light Year was only 10 minutes long and Ryan really wanted to ride it so we hit that one first. We all really had a great time on it, especially Ryan who still says that it’s his favorite ride in all of Disney World. He beat my score my almost a thousand points – I wish I could say that I wasn’t really trying, but unfortunately my aim is pretty off.

Ryan wanted to keep riding, but Ashley really wanted to try out Space Mountain, so we promised him we’d come back and headed on over to find that Space Mountain also only had a 10 minute wait. I just love this early morning non busy park benefit! Bret and I did a baby swap with Ryan because we didn’t want to turn him off of roller coasters just yet (more on that one later), so Ashley got to ride twice, which made her morning.

Next we made our way over to Tomorrowland Indy Speedway which also barely had any wait. Bret rode with Ashley behind me and Ryan, who insisted on driving until he found that he couldn’t steer the thing. Bumping along the track started freaking him out so I had to take over from the passenger seat. It was a lot of fun, but Space Mountain was still definitely mine and Ashley’s favorite so far. (Bret’s not big on rides, but he’s a good sport about it anyway – unless it come to spinning tea cups!)





By this time, our neighbor friends were up and at ‘em and met up with us in Tomorrowland. The kids all wanted to do Buzz again and the line was still next to nothing so we rode it two more times.



We were ready to leave Tomorrowland, but first stopped at the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor Comedy Club. Once again there was barely a wait and we sailed on through. The show was very entertaining and it’s amazing to see how well the characters interact with the audience. They seem to be right on cue every time. We figure there’s got to be a comedian behind the stage who’s saying everything.

Our next stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but first we grabbed Fast Passes for Splash Mountain since both had 80 minute waits already and it was only 10am. I couldn’t believe I was standing in line for so long and it really tested Ryan’s patience. We learned that he has none when it’s hot and he’s bored. He was nervous about the ride and I was sure it couldn’t be that bad. After all, it’s only a train ride and he loves trains, right? Hmm…



So 80 minutes of waiting later in the hot and humid sun, we finally got on the ride. Ryan cried the whole time and I felt bad for pushing him to do it. In fact, I didn’t care for it myself too much either. It was very rough and jerked around a lot. It didn’t help that I had one arm around him and could barely hold on myself. Unfortunately, this would predict how he felt about all rides to come. I strongly believe we should have started out slow for him, but everyone really wanted to ride the thrill rides before it got even busier. I really can’t blame them – I just shouldn’t have pushed him to ride it.

So now Ryan’s nervous about all rides and we’ve have these Fast Passes for Splash Mountain at 12:30pm. I had heard that this was a much tamer ride, so he agreed to do it. We warned him ahead of time that there was one big hill at the end and then it would be over. He ended up loving it! It really slows down and eases a scared kid’s mind with all of the fun things that they have to look at as you float through the inside of the mountain. We eventually reached the incline that promised what was to come on the other side and I told Ryan to put his head down against the padded front inside part of the boat and he did fine. Yipee, I don’t win the worst mother of the year award after all!



At this point, both kids were hot, hungry and exhausted so we decided to split up from our friends and head back to the resort. We did stop at The Hall of Presidents on the way out to check it out and cool off in the air conditioning. I do have to say I am very impressed with how many places you can find to cool off in the parks – even the restrooms! Ryan particularly loved this show since he’s just learned about some of the earlier presidents in school this year. We snapped a picture of him in front of George Washington to email to his teacher when we get home.





We reached the resort around 2:30pm and headed straight inside to eat lunch. Luckily, we had brought snacks to the parks with us, so the kids weren’t as ready to pass out from hunger as they said they were. After eating, we headed upstairs to change into our suits and swam in the Hippy Dippy pool for awhile. The water felt so good and it was a great way to unwind and recharge.

Once we were dry and wearing clean clothes (because I am the queen of over packing, I have been told) we caught the bus back to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Teri, Scott and the kids. From there we caught the monorail and headed over to Epcot. When we stopped to transfer to the one that would take us to Epcot, we had the kids get in line to sit up front with the driver. Only four people can sit up front, so we sent the kids up there while we rode in the car behind them. They loved every minute of it and the ride to Epcot was a pretty good distance so they got a nice long ride.

Ashley takes a break while waiting for the monorail.







Once we got to Epcot, the sky was looking pretty dark and we figured rain was on the way. Our intentions were to see Illuminations, but we had time so we headed over to The Land and ate dinner at Sunshine Season Food Fair. I had what had to be the best sandwich of my life there. I highly recommend the Turkey & Muenster Chipotle Sandwich. It’s served on Foccacia bread and was to die for. Their side of pasta salad there is really good, too. I’d have to say Sunshine Season’s is my favorite counter service by far.

So we’re leaving The Land to head out for Illuminations and of course it’s raining again by now and I had taken the rain ponchos out of my bagallini to make room for other stuff. It’s a very comfortable bag to carry but doesn’t hold much when you’ve got the rain ponchos and you’re empty refillable cups from the resort inside of it. Luckily our friends all had rain ponchos so we used their umbrellas and the rain soon turned to a drizzle and then stopped. Illuminations were unbelievable and a definite must see! Ryan isn’t a big fire works fan though and I had to cover his ears the whole time while he had his face buried in my side. We stood right up front on the lake where they are set off from and leaned against a railing the whole time. You could feel the heat from the ball of fire that’s blaze is so huge that you can feel the heat from it. We did get some falling ash that came our way, but nothing that wouldn’t shake off.



After the fireworks, we were engulfed into the crowds of people leaving the park and made our way back to the shuttle. Surprisingly we were on the second bus out and headed back to our resort. The kids were too tired for baths, but we figured they had swum earlier in the day and we were finding that the weather in the evenings there was very comfortable. (Aside from the rain that seemed to pop up every time we went to Epcot.) The kids feel asleep instantly and Bret and I took our showers and were soon passed out ourselves.

Day 1: June 6, 2007 - On Our Way To Orlando!

Bret and I woke up earlier than planned at 6:30am and got ourselves ready before getting the kids up at 7am. The kids rushed into the living room to find that Tinkerbell had left them a surprise for their first trip to Disney World.

Tinkerbell had brought the kids each Disney t-shirts to wear today and some activity books and snacks for their very first plane ride.

We sent the kids to their rooms to get dressed and Ryan came running out excited because he had realized that he had lost his tooth while he had been sleeping. We found it on the floor and carefully packed it into one of our carry on bags so that the Tooth Fairy would find her way to Disney World tonight.

It was still early, but we headed out anyway at 7:30am, dropping the dog off at a neighbor’s house and stopping at McDonald’s for a quick breakfast. We arrived at the airport in Bloomington, IL at 9am. Our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 11:26am, but the time went by fast as we check our bags and went through security. Ryan thought they were crazy for wanting us to take off our shoes and asked the security guy a million questions. He was so worried that they weren't going to let us get on the plane.

We made our way down to our gate and the kids passed the time watching planes land and take off.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as we boarded the plane since this was the first time flying for the kids, but they were so excited about it that they never once got scared. The view from the plane was absolutely beautiful!


We arrived in Atlanta on time and only had a 42 minute lay over so we rushed to the other side of the airport to our departing gate and made it just as they were making the final boarding call. Whew!

Once reaching Orlando, our plane was put into a holding pattern due to a storm that had just reached the area, so we had to circle Orlando for 30 minutes before being given clearance to land. We landed at 5pm and looked around for the Disney cast members with the big white Mickey gloves that we had heard about, but they were no where to be found so we asked someone for directions to the Magic Express Transportation (ME) counter and headed that way, taking pictures on the way.


The line at the ME counter moved quickly. (Only one person from each party is allowed to go through the line.) We got in line for the bus and were on our way to the resort a little over an hour after our plane landed. With three stops at other resorts, we pulled up at Pop Century, but were pretty bummed because it was still pouring outside with no sign of letting up.

These are some of the pictures of the resort from our last night there, but I figured they would work better here.


Check in only took a few minutes and then we were on our way up to our room in one of the 60’s buildings to drop off some of our carry on stuff and wait for our friends who had gotten there earlier in the day and were on their way back from Magic Kingdom to meet us at the resort for dinner.

Once meeting up together, we buried ourselves under our rain ponchos (thank goodness we had them) we headed down to Everything Pop for dinner.

Waiting for the elevator – we were on the 4th floor in building 5. Teri had turned in for the night since they had gotten up at 3am to catch their flight out and Bret took the picture.

I’m not sure what I had been expecting in terms of counter service food, but the food is really good there. I had the Chicken Penne Alfredo, Bret got chicken strips and fries, Ashley got a cheese pizza and Ryan got the kid’s Mac n Cheese with grapes and a chocolate chip cookie. He’s a really hard kid to feed because he doesn’t seem to like anything. He didn’t like the Mac n Cheese because it wasn’t Kraft, but we thought it tasted fine. Instead he filled up on his grapes, cookie and Bret’s fries. They really do give you a lot of food.

With full tummy’s we decided to hop on a bus for Downtown Disney. We had originally planned to start out at Magic Kingdom, but with the rain still pouring down from the sky in buckets we decided to let the kids build their light sabers at Once Upon A Toy instead. Plus, I know Bret and Scott were pretty excited about making their own, too. Maybe more so that the kids.

Ryan and Quentin were the first to build their light sabers. They spent the time waiting once they were done dueling with them and knocking over innocent passerby’s while they were at it. (Ok, not really. But it sounded good, didn’t it?)

Ashley works on hers.



Bret and Scott were the most excited about building their double light sabers. I’m still not sure who this trip is for – them or the kids.



We would have loved to see more of DTD, but the rain wasn’t letting up and we were ready to turn in for the night in hopes of getting to Magic Kingdom in time for EMH in the morning.

We're back...

Our trip to Disney World was so much fun. As soon as I can catch up on unpacking and getting all of our pictures in order, I'll post more about our vacation.

36 Hours And Counting, If You Want To Be Specific!

We're almost there - at the final stretch! I'm not excited or anything.

I've packed, repacked and repacked some more. We just have way too much stuff and I've tried to downsize, but I swear we need it all. Every one of us has our own suitcase and I'm not sure if the kids will even be able to pull their own through the airport. We could go with less clothes and do some laundry at the resort, but really - this is suppose to be a vacation, isn't it? We already have 4 suitcases and two carry-ons. I'm fighting the urge to add a 5th suitcase. Bret thought we would be able to fit it all into one suitcase. Is he serious?

I've decided that I won't be bringing the laptop with us after all. Internet connection is an extra $10.95 a night at the resort and honestly I don't think I'll have time to do much with it anyway. So instead of trying to fit a laptop in with our carry-on stuff, I'm just going to go buy a teeny tiny memory card for the digital camera that will take up so much less space. Then we'll be sure to not run out of memory and I'll have hundreds and hundreds of pictures to share with you all when we get back - unless the humdity is unforgiving to my hair, of course. (Ha)

Oh, and we won't be talking about the ugly Crocs I just bought for myself and Ashley that I said I would NEVER buy. But after hearing about how many people wear them to Disney, I have to admit they sure are the most comfy shoes ever. Ok, (sigh) they're growing on me.

I'm sure I'll be running around tomorrow as if I've lost my head or something, so until I get back - see you next week!

Happy Birthday, Blog

A little late, but it's hard to believe it's been a year since I started this blog last year on June 1. Below I put together some highlights from the past year. (Click on lines below to view that post.)

We leave on Wednesday morning for Florida and I have no idea if I'll have internet access while we're there. If so, I'll try to post some pictures. Have a good week!

* * * * *

Ryan gets his hearing aids.

"Is that what you do all day?"

I knew they'd do it eventually!

Ryan goes to kindergarten.

Ashley first Cubs game.

Ashley learns about her heritage.

The biggest snow fall in a long time.

Two new babies!

Ryan's Star Wars fixation develops.

When someone says something really nice about you.

Because you've booked a vacation.

Yet again, because you've booked a vacation.