Day 4: June 9, 2007 - Hot, Humid and Exhausted In Animal Kingdom- But, Hey! No Rain Today!!!

Last night was a very late night. It was about 2am by the time we fell into bed and gave in to exhaustion, so this morning we decided to sleep in. I’m not really sure what the plan was for in regards of when to wake up, but I think it was something to the effect of whenever we could pry our eyes open and still make it to MGM to try and catch the Star Wars parade we missed yesterday and maybe give the Jedi Training Academy one more try.

We woke up at 9:15am to the sound of my cell phone announcing that I had a text message. It was my mom responding to a picture text I had sent her the night before. We got out of bed and quickly dressed and were ready to go. However our friends next door were still dragging from their late night so we waited until they were ready and went down to eat breakfast at 9:45am. (I am so glad I took detailed notes while I was there or I’d never remember all of this right now.) Things were moving pretty slowly and we didn’t make it to the gate at MGM until 11am. By the time we were ready to enter the park we heard the parade already starting. Bummed and not sure what to do, we quickly decided to head out and go to Animal Kingdom instead.

We got to Animal Kingdom at noon and it was packed and already blazing hot and the air was dripping with humidity. The kids had their water misting fans that we had found at Walgreen’s back home and they paid for themselves in minutes.



Before going through the gates we found that Chip and Dale were giving out hugs so the kids got in the short line to take their turn. Ryan said they were excited to see him because they remembered him from the parade at MGM yesterday. Ashley was almost as tall as them.





Bret and the kids and I went off on our own to Dinoland and had good luck with the lines there. Ashley and I rode Primeval Whirl, which was a blast while Bret and Ryan went and rode TriceraTop Spin, which Ryan loved and Bret handled well too since there was no spinning involved.



While in line for Primeval Whirl, Ashley and I almost got to experience a Magical Moment. A group of twenty or so in front of us in line were directed in a different direction and awarded a Magical Moment lanyard and pin. Then the next group of twenty received the same. We were in the group of the next twenty or so and getting really excited when they lifted the rope – and sent us on our merry way in the OTHER direction. The other direction! Can you believe that? (Sigh) At least we got to witness someone else having a Magical Moment.

We next ran into a couple of cute looking dinosaurs.



Our next destination was over to Dinosaur where we met up with Teri, Scott and the kids. They rode the ride while I took Ryan over to the Boneyard to play. I sure wasn’t going to push him to do that one. They came back saying it was pretty scary. Bret said that Ashley kept her head down most of the time.



We were ready for some air conditioning next so we headed over to Finding Nemo The Musical. The kids and I thought it was a great show, but Bret fell asleep during it, saying that he though it was boring. We’ll just blame that one on heat exhaustion.



We decided to eat lunch at Restaurantasaurus, which is pretty much a McDonald’s – just more expensive and with a very long wait for your food. The food was good and after eating we were reading to take off again.

Next we contemplated if we had the guts to go on Expedition Everest. We were planning on getting a fast pass for that and then waiting in line for Kali River Rapids. That is until we got a close up of Everest and heard the Yeti roaring and the people on the ride screaming. And wouldn’t you know it? They closed down the ride for some reason or another as we were walking past it, so we took that as a sign to keep on walking.







The wait for Kali was another long one – 80 minutes. Everyone wanted to ride it and the fast pass time was for 6:30-7:30pm. That’s the thing about those fast passes – unless you get them in the morning, they either give you return times hours from now when you have plans to be elsewhere or they’ve just plain run out of them. The other thing is that when you’re in the stand by line and the fast pass line starts to fill up, it brings your line to a complete stop while they load those people. It was great when we used it on Space Mountain, but just too hard to plan for when you’re with a group of 8 people that all want to do different things. So we got in line and waited for Kali. It actually only took 40 minutes to get through and we did get incredibly soaked. The ride was fun but didn’t last long enough. If we had fast passed it, Ryan could definitely have ridden that one.



While we were waiting for Kali, Bret and Ryan were off with Bret back in Dinoland in his favorite place there – The Boneyard.



They rode TriceraTop Spin again and even found Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore without anyone else in line. Ryan got a bit ticked off at Tigger though, because he poked him in the eye. Poor Tigger.



We all met up again and took turns seeing It’s Tough To Be A Bug. Great show, but it would have freaked Ryan out.





After the show, we left the park, but stopped at the Rain Forest Café so Quentin and Skyler could get some souvenirs.



Exhausted and overheated, we went back to the resort and stayed in the pool all evening. Teri and I ran into Everything Pop and brought dinner out for everyone. (I know we probably missed out on a lot of other great food, but it was just easier to eat there and it’s where we happened to be each time without having to wait in long lines for food in the parks.) The kids swam a bit longer with Bret and Scott (Teri and I were freezing at this point).



We headed back upstairs and bathed the kids and were getting them ready for bed when the worst thing possible happened. We couldn’t find Ryan’s blanket anywhere. He hasn’t slept without it a single night in his life and the heartbreak and hysterics were already beginning to start. We had left it in the bed and I had this sinking feeling that housekeeping had gathered it up with the bedding when they came in to clean the room earlier. I called down to Housekeeping and was told that there was nothing they could do about it because they send their laundry out to be cleaned elsewhere and that I could check with lost and found in the morning. Have you ever had a child try to go to sleep thinking his blanket is lost forever? Not a lovely sight. I tried nicely to explain to her that this was an emergency and that we had to find that blanket! I was surprised at how rude she was to me. I kept asking her if there was some possible way it was still there somehow and what the chances were of it being returned and she became very impatient with me. Ryan was full out crying his heart out at this point and I couldn’t take anymore. Feeling helpless I told her I’d call in the morning and check back. After hanging up the phone Ashley grabbed a pillow off of the chair by the table and guess what was under there? Yes, the blanket. I was relieved (as was Ryan) but still put off by the way the lady had talked to me on the phone – as if some poor little boy hadn’t lost his blanket there before. I never did give my name or room number so I didn’t see the point in calling her back so we tucked a relieved and overtired Ryan into bed and hit the showers and turned in ourselves. This lack of sleep and pure exhaustion was getting to us. But behold – tomorrow was to be the day of all days – more Star Wars for the kids – and Bret & Scott, too.

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.