Are You Frickin’ Kidding Me? An Aug/Sep Surprise Trip... (12/01) Hakuna Matata

[pkondz]

(don't worry PrincessK is the only one who didn't get sick).

Sorry you got sick, but thank goodness for that!

Over the holidays PrincessK has been able to sleep as much as she wanted. Getting around 11 hours of sleep consistently every night.

Good!

She ran around and laughed.

: This news makes me feel like running around and laughing too!

We played with a few routines and moved some things around and the last couple of days we worked on a schedule that had her in bed by 7 pm. This means that when she gets up at 6 am during the week she will still be getting 11 hours of sleep.

Oh, that sounds good.

The good news is this schedule is maintainable all but 2 nights. Those are the nights that she has gymnastics and basketball. I believe that if I plan well I can still get her to bed on those nights by 7:30 which isn't too bad. I am really hoping that this will give us a balance between allowing her to do the activities that she loves and still get the sleep she needs.

Fingers crossed. We will see how this week goes.

It really sounds like you're getting a handle on the logistics. Very happy for you guys.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

It is so good to hear! I hope the schedule helps!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Really enjoying the trip report! PrincessK is so sweet. Im looking forward to reading the rest of your story. You are a great storyteller! Sending positive vibes to the north!

 

[frenchieSteven]

Such an amazing TR, brought tears in my eyes twice, on the post where you arrived in Disney World and the surprise is revealed, and on that last real life update. Hope PrincessK will be okay very soon and that BGirl find her way too.

 

[ForeverDance]

It really sounds like you're getting a handle on the logistics. Very happy for you guys.

Thanks. We probably should have made a better attempt at the logistics earlier, but since it was temporary I guess we really just didn't give it too much thought.

It is so good to hear! I hope the schedule helps!

So far so good. I didn't manage to get her to bed by 7:30 on Tuesday. It was right about 8. However, she woke up in a great mood the next day and last night I had her in bed at 6:45 so I think it should still work out.

I hope the schedule works out, and isn't too draining on you all. It's been a tough season for colds and flus around Christmas all over!

The schedule is actually not so bad. PrincessK is actually liking it because she has a bit of control over having time to play. If she eats quickly enough and gets ready for bed without dawdling then we have time to play. Monday we played for almost a full hour. It was great.

Really enjoying the trip report! PrincessK is so sweet. Im looking forward to reading the rest of your story. You are a great storyteller! Sending positive vibes to the north!

Thanks so much!

Such an amazing TR, brought tears in my eyes twice, on the post where you arrived in Disney World and the surprise is revealed, and on that last real life update. Hope PrincessK will be okay very soon and that BGirl find her way too.

Sorry about the tears... but fair warning there may be some more tear inducing moments ahead.

 

[ForeverDance]

Hakuna Matata
August 26, 2015 – Part 1


I’d like to say that after our first magical day I bounded out of bed ready for another amazing Disney adventure.

That did not happen.

The alarm went off at 6:00 am and I felt tired.
Very tired.

I guess the long first day got to me a little more than I realized.
But we were in Disney and soon I was out of bed and getting ready.

After getting dressed I opened the door to the room where PrincessK was sleeping soundly.
I turned on the light and she didn’t move.

I guess the long first day tired her out as well.

Grumpy and I were completely ready before PrincessK stirred at all. And even then, she wanted to stay sleeping.
I felt kind of bad for her. She was obviously very tired.

So I did what any good mother would do.... I begged and pleaded.

“Pleeeeaaaaase PrincessK I know you’e tired. But I have a special breakfast planned. I promise you can come back and go to sleep afterward if you’re tired. Please sweetie. You don’t want to miss this. “

She reluctantly agreed.

It was a bit of a struggle to get her ready and get her breathing done but at 7:15am we were heading out the door.

We arrived at the bus stop and decided that we would grab the bus for EPCOT. The Magic Kingdom bus had just pulled up but the line was really long. Since our breakfast was at another resort either would work but we just didn’t feel like dealing with a big line of people.

Have I mentioned yet that I’m not a morning person?

We strolled over to the EPCOT stop and hopped in line.

A bus pulled up almost immediately.
In fact, we were on our way before the Magic Kingdom bus finished loading.

Score one for us!

We arrived at EPCOT and made our way over to the Monorail, only to turn around and walk all the way back to the bus stops.
Apparently the Monorail did not run at that time of morning.

Who knew


For some reason PrincessK was really worried that not taking the monorail would mean we wouldn’t make it to breakfast.

“Momma will we still be able to have our special breakfast?”
“Of course honey, we’ll just take a bus”
“But will the bus get us there?”
“Yep”
“But will we be on time?”
“Yep.”
“But how do you know???”
“I guess I don’t really... but well Hakuna Matata”
“What’s that???”

And that’s when it occurred to me that she had never seen Lion King

Grumpy and I spent the rest of the wait singing Hakuna Matata.
By the time the bus came PrincessK had picked it up and was feeling a little more relaxed and problem free.


Even with the transportation mishap we arrived at our destination early so we decided to check out the resort gift shop before checking in for breakfast.

This was a big hit with PrincessK.

She ran around the store picking everything up. “Look mommy! I love it!”
Then she’d put it back and run to the next thing “Look daddy! I love it!”

Look at this…
Look at that…

It was quite cute.

At one point she found a doll that she did not put back immediately. It was a “switching doll”. With Anna on one side and Elsa on the other. She really loved it. And it took a bit for us to convince her to put it down.
Eventually we were able to extract PrincessK from the gift shop and headed up to check in for breakfast.

Apparently there is no issue with checking in 20 minutes early at O’Hana.
In fact, they took us in almost immediately.

We had never eaten at O’Hana before and while we enjoyed our meals, the characters were the best part.

Despite the fact that PrincessK had never seen Lion King, she watched Lilo and Stitch a lot.


Hey Lion King came out before I had children!
I know it was re-released in 2011 but that was 3 days after PrincessK was born!
Cut a girl some slack!


Moving on.

PrincessK loved Lilo and Stitch so I was looking forward to seeing her reaction though I was a little nervous since these would be her first “non-face” characters.

I didn’t need to worry.


Lilo arrived first and PrincessK was ecstatic to see her. If Lilo’s lack of voice threw her off, it didn’t show.

Stitch arrived immediately after and he was hilarious.

Exactly the type of crazy behaviour you would expect from him.

Fortunately he did manage to settle down enough to take a couple of nice photos with us.

Whatever tiredness PrincessK had been feeling earlier was completely gone by this point. She talked excitedly about how crazy Stitch was.

“Did you see what he did with my book?”
“His naughty level is a little up today!”
“It’s about this much I think” (showing us with her hands and napkin)

She turned around to see what he was up to next… and spotted someone else.

“Mommmmmyyyy that’s Mickey!!!!”
“Look, look, that’s Mickey!”
“Right there!!!”


It was so cute.

She had the lady at the table next to us in stitches.

It only took about 5 minutes for Mickey to make it over to us, but I think it felt like an eternity for PrincessK.

After a visit with the main mouse it was time for the parade.
PrincessK thought it was the greatest thing that she was allowed to parade around the room all by herself and she danced and shook her little noise maker fiercely.


Again the lady next to us was laughing. She leaned over to me as she was getting ready to leave.
“Your daughter is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen”.




Once the parade was finished PrincessK came strolling back over.


She had just sat down when Pluto came by.

PrincessK couldn’t stop giggling as he signed her autograph book.

At this point Grumpy and I had both finished breakfast but, as you can see from the picture with Pluto, PrincessK had barely touched hers. We asked her to finish her breakfast and she poked it around a bit.

“PrincessK you need to finish your breakfast so we can get going”
“Where are we going?”
“To a park or back to the room to sleep if you want”
“To a park”! (surprise, surprise)
“Okay then you need to finish up”
“I’m full”



“Can you just finish the bacon and the milk?”
“I don’t have to eat the rest?”
“Nope”
“Alright”

And with that she went to work on the rest on her bacon and milk. She thought she was winning but we knew we were. There is lots of fat and calories in bacon and milk… especially if you add coffee creamer to the milk


Grumpy and I had some more coffee and chatted while PrincessK ate her bacon. She wasn’t quick about it, but she did eat it without complaint so we were happy.

We left Ohana about 9:35 am and made our way over to the monorail. Unfortunately a train was down.
What is it with us and trains?

It took quite a while for the monorail to get running again but PrincessK was happily twirling and dancing around the platform so we had no issue with the wait.

Eventually the train did come and we were on our way to Grumpy’s favourite park.

 

[irene_dsc]

Again the lady next to us was laughing. She leaned over to me as she was getting ready to leave.
“Your daughter is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen”.

That pretty much sums up my reaction to this entire update, right here!

Plus, I'm amazed you remember all that with so much detail after all this time!

 

[ForeverDance]

That pretty much sums up my reaction to this entire update, right here!

Plus, I'm amazed you remember all that with so much detail after all this time!

Funny enough I generally don't have that great a memory but as soon as I pulled up the pictures and started looking at the notes it just all came back to me. It was such a great experience, and she is just such a joy that I guess it's just stuck.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[pkondz]

The alarm went off at 6:00 am and I felt tired.
Very tired.

Ah yes.... the Disney alarm.

Grumpy and I were completely ready before PrincessK stirred at all. And even then, she wanted to stay sleeping.
I felt kind of bad for her. She was obviously very tired.

So I did what any good mother would do.... I begged and pleaded.

No other parent has ever done that.

“Pleeeeaaaaase PrincessK I know you’e tired. But I have a special breakfast planned. I promise you can come back and go to sleep afterward if you’re tired. Please sweetie. You don’t want to miss this. “

She reluctantly agreed.

Nice wheedling. Good style and form.

Since our breakfast was at another resort either would work but we just didn’t feel like dealing with a big line of people.

Can't blame you.

Have I mentioned yet that I’m not a morning person?

I think that became clear at the first couple lines of this update.

A bus pulled up almost immediately.
In fact, we were on our way before the Magic Kingdom bus finished loading.

Score one for us!

Score!

We arrived at EPCOT and made our way over to the Monorail, only to turn around and walk all the way back to the bus stops.
Apparently the Monorail did not run at that time of morning.

Who knew

Deduct 1 point from your score.

And that’s when it occurred to me that she had never seen Lion King

Parenting fail.

Grumpy and I spent the rest of the wait singing Hakuna Matata.
By the time the bus came PrincessK had picked it up and was feeling a little more relaxed and problem free.

She ran around the store picking everything up. “Look mommy! I love it!”
Then she’d put it back and run to the next thing “Look daddy! I love it!”

Look at this…
Look at that…

It was quite cute.

I'm impressed that she would put them back.

Hey Lion King came out before I had children!
I know it was re-released in 2011 but that was 3 days after PrincessK was born!
Cut a girl some slack!

Totally understand. Slack granted.
Although I do feel a bit sad that PrincessK has never seen Sleeping Beauty.
Or Pinocchio.
Or Dumbo.
Or Bambi.
Or Cinderella.
Or Alice in Wonderland.
Or Peter Pan.
Or Lady and the Tramp.
Or Sleeping Beauty.
Or 101 Dalmations.
Or.... shall I go on?

Sure!

Or Mary Poppins.
Or The Jungle Book.
Or The Aristocats.
Or Winnie the Pooh.
Or The Rescuers.

Okay. That's enough.



Nah. More.

Or The Little Mermaid.
Or Beauty and the Beast.
Or Aladdin.

Lilo arrived first and PrincessK was ecstatic to see her. If Lilo’s lack of voice threw her off, it didn’t show.

Such a cute picture!

“Did you see what he did with my book?”
“His naughty level is a little up today!”
“It’s about this much I think” (showing us with her hands and napkin)

awww... too cute!

“Mommmmmyyyy that’s Mickey!!!!”
“Look, look, that’s Mickey!”
“Right there!!!”


It was so cute.

She had the lady at the table next to us in stitches.

I would've been too!
PrincessK is absolutely adorable.

PrincessK thought it was the greatest thing that she was allowed to parade around the room all by herself and she danced and shook her little noise maker fiercely.

Well, sure. I wouldn't mind doing that myself.

Again the lady next to us was laughing. She leaned over to me as she was getting ready to leave.
“Your daughter is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen”.

She's right.

“PrincessK you need to finish your breakfast so we can get going”
“Where are we going?”
“To a park or back to the room to sleep if you want”
“To a park”! (surprise, surprise)
“Okay then you need to finish up”
“I’m full”



“Can you just finish the bacon and the milk?”
“I don’t have to eat the rest?”
“Nope”
“Alright”

Yes. <high five>

There is lots of fat and calories in bacon and milk… especially if you add coffee creamer to the milk

We left Ohana about 9:35 am and made our way over to the monorail. Unfortunately a train was down.
What is it with us and trains?

You're bad luck. At least with trains. Sorry. Harsh reality and all.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

It's nice you to see you back updating. I hope things are going OK now for your family.

I loved the 'Ohana breakfast. Our last tip was the first time we had done it and it was worth it. My youngest DD loved Stitch especially. The food was great, but you can't really mess up Mickey waffles. My only small complaint was the waitress was a bit off, it was hard to get seconds of bread and waffles. But I would definitely go back. Princess K's reaction to Mickey and the gang is fantastic. It makes it all worthwhile when your kids are so happy.

 

[Shayana]

I just found this post and read everything in one sitting! I hope PrincessK is feeling all right now, and I hope BGirl is doing well dealing with the changes and finding out who she is without basketball. Maybe she can help coach a team for younger kids?

However, one thing is driving me crazy(er)... What happened to the beach shoes you bought PrincessK?? You put them on the edge of the tub so you wouldn't forget them, but then you left the next morning without looking at the tub!

 

[Saphire5742]

Glad to see another trip update

Have I mentioned yet that I’m not a morning person?

Well you coulda fooled me...
Neither am I but vacations away are an exception

Lookin ready to start another magical day

Grumpy and I spent the rest of the wait singing Hakuna Matata.
By the time the bus came PrincessK had picked it up and was feeling a little more relaxed and problem free.

That's the spirit!

Stitch arrived immediately after and he was hilarious.

Princess K looks like she's having a blast. Glad the breakfast was such a success

Adorable family photo

Whatever tiredness PrincessK had been feeling earlier was completely gone by this point. She talked excitedly about how crazy Stitch was

That's fantastic

“Mommmmmyyyy that’s Mickey!!!!”
“Look, look, that’s Mickey!”
“Right there!!!”


It was so cute.

I LOVE watching kids getting excited over the characters. And yours is the cutest thing, even just from the pictures. Couldn't stop smiling throughout

 

[ForeverDance]

And bravo for everyone managing to get up - such a struggle for me, even at Disney!

Usually I'm pretty good on vacation at least for the first few days, but that morning was just really hard.

 

[ForeverDance]

Totally understand. Slack granted.
Although I do feel a bit sad that PrincessK has never seen Sleeping Beauty.
Or Pinocchio.
Or Dumbo.
Or Bambi.
Or Cinderella.
Or Alice in Wonderland.
Or Peter Pan.
Or Lady and the Tramp.
Or Sleeping Beauty.
Or 101 Dalmations.
Or.... shall I go on?

Sure!

Or Mary Poppins.
Or The Jungle Book.
Or The Aristocats.
Or Winnie the Pooh.
Or The Rescuers.

Okay. That's enough.



Nah. More.

Or The Little Mermaid.
Or Beauty and the Beast.
Or Aladdin.

I have to admit, I thought we were doing pretty well until you provided me with the list. I mean we did have some on DVD from when BGirl was little (though most were on VHS and long gone), and then we have been picking them up in the last few years when they've been re-released. I really felt like we had a huge collection (it does fill an entire drawer) but there are some that you are right about:

Pinocchio
Dumbo
Bambi
Lady and the Tramp.
101 Dalmations.
Winnie the Pooh.
The Rescuers.

And for the record... I went home and found Lion King online after that trip

She's right.

You're bad luck. At least with trains. Sorry. Harsh reality and all.

It's true. It's really not fun when you live in a city that is designed with train tracks criss-crossing it

 

[pkondz]

Pinocchio
Dumbo
Bambi
Lady and the Tramp.
101 Dalmations.
Winnie the Pooh.
The Rescuers.

And for the record... I went home and found Lion King online after that trip

Of those, the ones that (IMHO) are must sees are Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmations. And then Winnie the Pooh.

 

[viaggiamo]

I am sooooo happy that you are still here and doing updates.
Sending huge hugs from the other side of the world to you and your lovely family. I hope your older daughter is relaxing and enjoying life, they have so much pressure on them, and your little one is just adorable.

 

[ForeverDance]

It's nice you to see you back updating. I hope things are going OK now for your family.

Thanks! Things are pretty good right now. PrincessK is still battle that nasty bug but with our new schedule her personality has been fantastic again which really just makes me thrilled.

I loved the 'Ohana breakfast. Our last tip was the first time we had done it and it was worth it. My youngest DD loved Stitch especially. The food was great, but you can't really mess up Mickey waffles. My only small complaint was the waitress was a bit off, it was hard to get seconds of bread and waffles.

We didn't have any of those problems at O'hana but we have had that at other places. It's definitely annoying.

But I would definitely go back. Princess K's reaction to Mickey and the gang is fantastic. It makes it all worthwhile when your kids are so happy.

 

[ForeverDance]

I just found this post and read everything in one sitting! I hope PrincessK is feeling all right now, and I hope BGirl is doing well dealing with the changes and finding out who she is without basketball. Maybe she can help coach a team for younger kids?

Thanks for joining in.

PrincessK is doing pretty good now. She's getting much better sleep and it's definitely showing.
BGirl is still wandering a bit lost but she has mentioned massage therapy which I think she'd be great at, so hopefully this is a good sign.

However, one thing is driving me crazy(er)... What happened to the beach shoes you bought PrincessK?? You put them on the edge of the tub so you wouldn't forget them, but then you left the next morning without looking at the tub!