It's the Final Countdown! MLC's TR (Jan12-19/2017)

[marcyleecorgan]

Link to Pre-Trip Report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/getting-my-disney-tantrum-on-ptr-jan12-19-2017.3584865/

Part One:
Countdown: January 12, 2017: LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAVINNNNN ON A JEEEEEEEEET PLANE at 9AM:


So we chose not to surprise the small person - she doesn't deal with transitions well, much like her mother. We didn't really show her many videos, we just told her, "Disney World for your birthday" and left it vague. But nonetheless she was bouncing off the walls, excited about everything! For almost two weeks I had to put up with constant exhilaration.... but now, it's the morning of the flight.

It's six something in the morning. None of us are morning people. So we're pacing around the dark kitchen, luggage piled around us, waiting for the taxi-cab, peeking out the windows every 0.2 seconds. I think there's already a bruise on my leg from the number of times I've bashed into a suitcase. Taxi rolls up just as we are calling the dispatch office to find out why they are late. Taxi delivers us in record time to airport. DH realizes... he left his CPAP in the kitchen.

Panic ensues . DH leaves us in the airport with all the luggage and passports, running out for a second taxi. Thankfully we live within 10 minutes of the airport, BUT rush hour has started now. I pace and whine and pace and whine and have an anxiety attack when DH finally re-appears, with mere minutes left in the "window" we built into travel time to allot for security. 45 minutes of toxic stress, whoo-hoo!

Through security, into concourse, get through all the duty-free shops... as soon as they announce the starting of boarding our flight, that's when my DD decides she MUST have the smoothie she proclaimed she earlier didn't want.

Okay we're all on the plane now, it's all good, we're trapped in a small metal cage with the 100+ odd others going to Orlando.... Direct flight from Westjet, this should only take 4.5-5 hours. I may have mentioned I have motion sickness issues. Okay well on flights they are extraordinarily special. What usually happens is that my nausea turns into indigestion and heartburn,which transforms into a special kind of acid reflux. All I can tell you is that it feels like some has jammed a knife into my heart and the pain is utterly non-endurable. I moan and cry until I pass out from my pain tolerance threshold.

Needless to say, air travel is not my favorite way to travel. I pop a Gravol in my mouth, gulp it down and read the packet. It says that it's "NEW! all natural" and that basically, I've just eaten overpriced ginger candy I could have grabbed at any Asian market. *sigh* When did they change this formula? this won't do, I need real DRUGS.

Okay the other part of the air travel I hate is the anxiety. Lots of people have this, so I won't go into much detail. Only that it takes every fiber of my self-control to not panic over the fact that once the engines turn on, there's no "slowing down, pulling over, waiting just a minute"... there is NO escape until Landing. And now the Gravol doesn't come with the extra chemical that turns you into a Zombie? Whaaat? How will I keep myself from driving the other passengers nut-ba-zoinkers over my inability to deal with being in an airplane?

Somehow the flight passes un-eventfully. I gasp in relief and begin to fret about how we make our Magical Express bus on time. I barely remember the Orlando international airport, except that DD was following instructions marvellously! We waited in a very short line and waited for our bus to arrive. When it did, we sat up front to watch the cartoons - I don't typically let DD "veg out" in front of screens, so this was all a novelty to her - a TV in a giant bus? WHOA! with no car seat to be squished into? Oh this vacation is truly magical all ready!

I check a peek at DH - he is checking Facebook on his phone AUUUUUUUUGH. I hope the palpable tension of delight and expectation is starting to creep into his mind.... I can feel how excited everyone is for this bus to get to WDW... Okay we countdown annnd we are now INSIDE THE BUBBLE! YES! I've been bouncing off the walls since we got on the airplane so it's nice to be able to channel that appropriately.

Now DH starts to look interested... he watches the roads, the traffic, the signs.... We are at Port Orleans French Quarter before one knows it... it's just at sunset and the trees all have rosy glows atop them, soft jazz music is snaking through the humid breeze, it smells of DISNEY... I could throw myself to the ground and sob in delight - except that might make quite the impression on the doorman! LOL

But first, before we're allowed to do anything, we have to call my mother and let her know we are here now, and that she can bring over all the non-perishable food and water she bought for us. She and her best friends from elementary school (My aunts, essentially) are staying off-resort somewhere - they plan on celebrating at Birthday Breakfast but can't stay any more than one day. we have the Standard Dining Plan but nobody has any idea how much food that is going to be yet.

So Mom brings us four collapsible box-bags of food. I have no clue how we would manage to eat it all. There were enough snacks for 3 Disney-going families! And Mom even thought we had a freezer in the room so she packed some frozen stuff. NO NOT THE MOVIE. Don't even mention that movie -we all hate it. Except the snowman. We like Olaf. Needless to say, after unpacking all the food, I didn't even want to eat anything or go to the pool or do anything. Socializing with three people, two of whom I haven't seen in over a decade and a half, was more the order of the night.

Okay, bedtime in a hotel time, it's getting past 10pm. Anyone who is a parent knows how fun this is, if you don't travel with your kids often. Lots of bed-jumping, lots of hushing, lots of empty threats... I mean there is not much you can threaten your child with, when you're at Disney, over 4000 kilometres away from home and a good place to Time Out. Finally after eleventy-twelve-niner questions about the red light over there (that's the A/C) and over there (that's the smoke detector) and over there (that's Daddy's CPAP) annnnnnnnnnnnd over there (that's the TV) and two potty trips and a desperate want to down a shot of gin (also thoughfully provided by Mom).... bedtime happened.

I hate alarms. So much that I usually wake up before them.

Up Next! The first visit to the Parks!

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Part Two:
Friday January 13th - the BIRTHDAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

We're off to see the Wiz-Crystal Palace, to meet some Winnie-the-Pooh!
Get on your shoes, Magic Bands, do you have the camera - put ON your SHOES!
ADR is at 8:30 everyone, let's move, let's go, can't be late you know!

So like I said, I hate alarms. So I woke up a few minutes before it. At least this ensures I get bathroom time first! I don't like that the bathroom door in a Standard POFQ is so tight that it bangs into your knees if you don't walk around to the shower side first - I will spend the week always getting hit by someone who opens the door, without remembering the space concern.

Anyway... dragging my family out the door will be an epic battlefield each and every morning. None of us are morning people - it's a lifetime of early-shift work that enables me to coast on auto-pilot for the next two coffees. Made even easier by not having to drive or be responsible for anything! We slowly crawl down the stairs and past the pool and through the food court area, lamenting that the menu looks sooooooo good but we have ADR at Crystal Palace at 8:30 am. Mmmmmm breakfast buffet....

We stand in line for the bus, eagerly twitching and excited. We know we have to meet up with Mom and her friends at the restaurant but naturally, first, it will get complicated. I thought that by checking in at our hotel, this activated everything . I was wrong, so there was frustration at having to wait in line for Guest Services to figure out our tickets while I am practically hyperventilating and starting to cry when the lady demands our passports (which are locked in a hotel safe). She kindly verifies us and reminds us that next time the passports will be needed.

So off we go. And then, we have to halt outside the Mickey Meet & Greet area because my DH has finally decided that we need MemoryMaker. Like, right NOW, so he abandons us at a lightpost and runs inside, unbeknownst to me, as I am talking to my DD. Somehow while I am standing there amongst milling throngs of thousands, holding a child, trying not to cry, my Mom finds us and we miss the beginning of the morning parade while also clustering together far enough away from the parade that my DH can find us ... ten minutes later. Good grief.

Heading through the craziness of the Hub on the way to the restaurant, we take some PhotoPass shots, and get to the Crystal Palace doors just as DD announces her need for the washroom. For already the 3rd time this morning. Oh well. she has to wait until we get INTO the restaurant. Hope this trip doesn't start with yet more new underwear... We have to wait about 15 minutes and then we are seated - or rather, I run DD to the washroom, my family finds a table and orders more coffee. DH rushes off to the buffet to get food for himself and DD while I drink coffee and chit-chat. Seeing a theme here? Notice how there's a lot of coffee?

- Crystal Palace-8:40 am: our server's name is Kyle and he talks FL sports with my mom's friends who are local and know about FL sports. Food looks great but then again I LOVE breakfast buffets. Okay I just love breakfast. And lots of coffee!

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd... suddenly my DD figures out what a Character Meal is when she spots Tigger. Oh wow, so much excitement and happiness from one small person. I hope with all my heart that my DD's reactions to the Characters affirmed to the CM's helping, that we think their job is AWESOME and it is so special that they get to do this for a living.

Crystal Palace food is a hit with the whole family - I don't think Mom and Friends had any expectations and as I have mentioned, if there's coffee and bacon, I'm happy. DD is brought a cupcake for Birthday Dessert - she is so overwhelmed after Winnie the Pooh and friends that she only eats the icing. I'm too full to possibly finish the cupcake either. Actually I think we might need a Segway to put my bloated self onto. Slowly lurching back out into the sunny Florida heat... on our way to It's a Small World.

Ok so apparently IASW was a childhood bucket list goal for one of my Aunties. I fondly remember this ride and I love dolls so I could probably deal with getting stuck on the ride as I wish it moved more slowly anyhow! And DD was getting the hang of "not jumping up and trying to grab everything within reach". Ahhhhhhh a nice relaxing opener to the Magic Kingdom. This could be a trip I don't dread every last minute of! Everyone is so HAPPY and NICE!

So then we didn't have FP+ until later that morning - I had wanted to give plenty of time to the family members who would have to pace themselves. Off we wandered through Fantasyland... rode on the carousel which was fun but I get dizzy trying to remember the experience. Still need to find something we can wait in SB line for under an hour... Aha! We turn around and there is Mickey's Philharmonic! With doors swinging open NOW!

At Mickey's Philharmonic, we find out that one of my Aunties has severe astigmatism/lazy eye, so 3D films don't work for her. And my other Auntie decides it's her favorite attraction. My DD is a little scared and has taken off the 3D glasses and is huddling in DH's shirt... huh. I am riding high on my Disney addiction at this point. If I had space to dance and not jostle people, I was dancing and singing.

But somewhere in the vicinity of Pinocchio's Village Haus, we all have to sit down and rest finally. And take more bathroom breaks.

A woman who was obviously using DAS tried to explain to us that we should try to ask for it, because all three of my older party members have issues that COULD be used to get one . We explained the program to Mom and Friends, because the other visitor's comments totally confused them.

They are all adamant that if it doesn't bypass waiting in line, there's no point to DAS. 'Waiting in line over there is just as bad over there', they say... We have someone who can't see properly, someone with several replaced body parts, and another with cerebral palsy. But they refuse the DAS and are okay with pacing themselves, so I just resign myself to a slower trip day. Hmmmm, what can we do tomorrow that we can still squeeze in?

Slow walking pace... we are at Tiki Room. There is a lot of standing and a lot of people giving up and sitting all over the queue area rather than the line to the doors. Family also sits. DD is not sure how much more patience she can muster for this theme park experience so she is getting wiggly and yelling. The show is not much like what I remember as a child at all. But still it was cute and I felt more relaxed after the quiet and darkness. Had another sloooooooooooow walkabout to see how long SB waits were, splitting up the party when necessary, and came up with Country Bear Jamboree.

Which was, well, Country Bear Jamboree. Charming little bears.

-Pirates- 2:35pm Finally! A FP+ ride! Oh I am so grateful that we have some planning and spare time to get to everything because I have no idea how it takes so long to GET to POTC. Shuffle. Shuffle. I know I know I should be more patient, but I am feeling the pressure to commando the Park. Okay so I am not really thrilled with the newer POTC because I liked the old song but overall, it was a nice touch of nostalgia. I would love to try and re-ride this but not sure how much of that will happen with the low-key pace we have adopted. Hmmmmmm...

DD is melting in the heat. The Photopass pictures are funny, she is very clearly still adjusting to the FL heat. At this point, we are starting to snack on the junk food in our bag - not realizing how much food we actually had on Dining Plan. Mom has brought three giant bags of MORE stuff for us all "just in case". Holy moly. Anyway, they want to rest and we need to get to our FP+ for Splash Mountain so they said to just head off and they would catch up along the way to watch us go down the big drop.

Got to Splash a little too early to enter the line, so we sort of meandered until we realized that we were somehow front row to the afternoon Parade! WOW! So I took many, many photos. And back through the milling mob to the FP + line for Splash.

-Splash Mountain-4:05pm. Oh I hate rides. I hate motion sickness. This is just gonna be awful. I dread the entire queue, all the while pretending to be happy and excited for DD. The last thing we want is for her to hate rides too! I longingly watch the Chicken Exit sign as we walk past it... Okay I change my mind. Aside from the drop, it is not the worst thing ever. It had happy singing animals! I could maybe do this ride again... mayyyyyyyyyyyyyyybe.

As we are exiting the ride, we finally see our family members. Both of us have lost battery power to our phones so this meeting up thing is truly old-school. Our group tries to decide if there is anything that everyone can ride. We decide there really aren't any rides, but Mom and Friends agree to watch us holler our lungs out on BTMRR - as we make our way through the looooooong line, it begins to RAIN!!!!

From what I remember of BTMRR, I do not want to remember it. The restraints were painful. I hate rollercoasters, as I hate clinging to a piece of metal in panic. And the rain made everything so slippery. I gave myself some good bruises hanging on for dear life. And everyone looked back at our car (in the very back no less) with bemusement as I screamed and screamed and screamed and had a full-out anxiety attack, in which I gifted everyone with yet MORE screaming. Soooooo embarrassing...

So everyone knew I was NOT getting on that ride a second time anytime soon. Even my Mom said she heard me. It was still raining, and I was very glad for the advice to bring Ziplocs of all sizes. We started shoving everything in the Ziplocs and filling up my backpack with them because quick-wick clothing just doesn't work if you have maps and wallets filling the pockets.

At this point, the rain became much more of a delightful refreshment and more of a steamy jungle. And we were NOT on Jungle Cruise so this was not helpful. My glasses were covered in streaming water, our shoes were filling up, and we had not considered ponchos. Mom and Friends decide they have had more than enough Disney in the Rain, plus they look forward to a three hour drive home later that evening. Hugs and kisses and wandering back through the Hub, still pouring rain...

We are crossing one of the bridges when a CM runs up to us and hands us a free bag of cotton candy. Outdoor concessions are closing due to wind and rain, and CM's are Pixie Dusting anyone they can find braving the outdoors with Mickey Balloons and cotton candy. SWEET. Food for the bus!

Oh the humidity.... I had forgotten. We sort of wilted on the seats and panted slowly while waiting to arrive at POFQ. It was still pouring rain as we made our way to Building 5.

Upon entering the room, I realized we are still cleaning up the massive present opening and social gathering from Arrival Night. I feel bad for our housekeeper so we have stacked and clearly labelled TRASH and RECYCLE bags by the hotel door. We hope they recycle, anyhow... I will have to deal with the balloons and ribbons later... *sigh*

We all sort of crash and nap and rest for a few hours, until we venture out to the food court through YET MORE RAIN. I enjoyed my meal and so did everyone else. Watching the raindrops through the windows, sitting at barstools and relaxing to jazz music was... otherworldly. We don't often get this feeling as a family!

Then we must have crashed into bed, because I don't remember much after the nice walk back to the hotel room in the drizzling rain.

 

[luckylady]

Bummer on the rain. One thing I found out about BTM if you want slow ask for the front, the back,as you found out, is the fastest part of the train. I'm a chicken front for me or middle. Jackpot on free cotton candy. Yum. Can't wait to see if the rest of the trip turns out better for you.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Day Three: EPCOT Day One, or... Let's Forget It Happened
​

So the plan with this day is to See As Much As Possible. And my mom will be there and EPCOT is her favorite park. Oh and I will make everyone wait for me because I am riding Figment TWICE! YEAH! Expectations! Oh yeah!

Don't worry, the enthusiasm won't last long.

Mom calls us around 8:30 or so to remind us that the drive is long and she will call us when she is at the parking lot. She knows the bus won't take long to drop us off, so at least one portion of our party will have made it through security. In reality I think we really all got ourselves through the gates at rope drop. Thankfully no later than that! DH gathers maps for the scrapbook.

First things first, I spot Daisy! And we are the first in line to meet her!

DD was overwhelmed with amazement - the architecture was totally blowing her mind, I could tell. We kept moving along through Future World, in hopes to get in a much shorter line for any other M&G's, and scored! Mickey and Minnie and Goofy at the Character Spot were under 10 minutes wait so we quickly got that out of the way. And cue my DD's questioning about, "where's Donald?"

It was extremely sunny and hot as we exited the Character Spot, though, and DD quickly converted a park map into a sunvisor as we began to discuss what to do next. Mom started in on, "we should buy DD a hat", followed by endless commentary on how much beverage she should be drinking for hydration. And here's a giant sports drink coming out of Grandma's purse! WOW um we are not here for Marathon Weekend....? So naturally DD starts to chug the drink that we Parental Units made a face about. CHUG CHUG CHUG.

Distracted, I jumped up and down shrieking about Figment so everybody followed me to the Imagination Pavilion. Oh so pretty... *dancing around in excited circles*

Okay Figment's New Ride is hokey and cheesy. Much like the cloying cheese and macaroni that WDW serves. But still, we consume it by the pound. Next, Figment gift shop... oh boy thank god I talked myself into only ONE hoodie. I could have bought one of everything, because there wasn't a whole ton there... to my sadness.

After this we headed across the Pavilions to Living With the Seas and Nemo. And the bathroom! FOUR TIMES BEFORE WE ACTUALLY GOT TO THE AQUARIUM. FOUR. And DD is terrified of the auto-flush toilets, so I am struggling to find a place to stand while covering the sensor, but that is if I can even GET her in the stall in the first place, what with everyone else flushing and water whooshing and doors banging...

and what does Grandma do every chance she gets? Waves the sports drink in DD's face and babbles about dehydration ; DD happily takes the opportunity to CHUG CHUG CHUG.

I vaguely recall the old ride at the aquarium but Nemo was also entertaining. *shrug* Took our Photopass pics outside, joked about the seagull sculpture, waited in line with a very very very wiggly and leak-prone DD....

I was trying to remain calm about our very-long to-do list, and Mom was starting to feel frustrated with how much walking we had done already. Hint, Mom: we have barely started walking in EPCOT, if you wanted to rent a wheelchair, you should have said something BEFORE we got all the way into the NEMO section... AUGH

I was starting to get frustrated with how many times we had to stop for the bathroom. We were on our thirteenth break of the morning. Since I didn't know what rides anyone would be interested in, I didn't make any FP+ for this day. Yes, someone just slap me right now. With Goofy's shoe. Twice.

DD finally had had enough of adults dragging her around. She pretty much grew tree roots and planted herself in front of an aquarium window. Until the show with the diver and the compression tank started... she was fighting us to get closer and closer. Finally after an exhaustive struggle, we stood to the side and waited until the presentation was done. Then DD bolted forward to the front of the tank area, and the CM asked her if she was interested. Big grin, lots of nodding. So he asked if she wanted to help! So she helped the CM and the diver go through the whole process again with pushing all the buttons and refilling/emptying the tank. Then she took a picture with the diver! They explained to her that she could earn a scuba license and come back and swim with them in the aquarium... oh boy... this motivation is still going 10 months later!

By this time, Mom needed yet another break. And I wanted desperately to book an ADR so we could eat something sitting down. We figured out pretty quickly that the World Showcase was closed until 11am, and none of the International Food and Arts tents were ready yet either. And now we have hangry adults. This day gets whiny and pathetic from here. I totally will not fault you for closing this chapter of the Trip Report and waiting until Day Four.

Because of the anxiety and stress pounding down upon me, I have a total brain fart and forget my PIN on my CC. This is how we will book ADRs on MDE... ARGH oh my... let's just say I have pretty much a meltdown outside the aquarium. I don't even know what exactly happened but I think DH took DD to the washroom for the 15th time (before he launched into saying hurtful things) while I sat on a bench and wailed as if I had accidentally killed my own dog. Tragically over-reacting to not remembering a PIN. Keep hitting me with that Goofy shoe I mentioned...

Next... Mom lost her patience. She was hungry, she was tired, she wanted us to SHUT UP AND START HAVING FUN. And she needed to buy DD a hat! Didn't I make ANY plans for the day? Finally I let her buy a sunhat for DD, just for something to fill the time with NON-COMPLAINING. It's hot and sunny and this is starting to become the most UnHappiest Place on Earth.

We trudged to the World Showcase and rushed everyone through Los Cabelleros. "where's Donald?" Raced back outside, just in time for the Donald M&G to close for the day. Remember my DD's only other Disney goal that she has mentioned has been to take a photo with Donald. Okay... cue meltdown from the 5 y/o.

Now we have an hangry crying grandma, the hangry crying grandchild and wait for it... Mom and Dad aren't too far behind... more screaming at each other through Mexico.

We try to walk a bit more but the crowds for International Food and Arts are starting to pile up. We didn't understand that we *could* have used our Dining Plan Snack credits at the tents, so we just continue on, yelling at each other and being generally persnickety. Sorry Disney neighbors if we caused you irritation during your visit. I know, the Goofy shoe you're holding, it's starting to get worn out from all the beatings, but hey, there's more...

At one point we stopped to break and people-watch, whereupon we saw several other families having breakdown moments. Most of them were just about as unmagical as our was getting. Okay clearly there are a LOT of expectations from everyone here. At this point, my mom sighs and says, "I want to leave and go home." Then DD totally loses any shred of self-control she had left, given that this was illustrated to her as a "Grandma Day". Nope, Mom won't wait until after our lunch reservation, now is now is enough. Whee! I love five-person tantrums!

FINE. More walking to the entrance, some hugs and, "I'll call you." DH and I are on very thin ice with each other right now, being that we NEEDED SO MUCH for Grandma to watch the Small Human color or, or... something while we try and wrap our brains around this crazy change in routine and figuring out this MDE thing so that we can make some kind of sense of this Park.

So looking much like the Duck Family, squawking and raving, all we can do is angrily go to the ADR I had made for lunch around 1:30pm. Yeah... I had an ADR for 4 people at Garden Grill but Mom just could not stand to be in our presence for any longer. Whatever, I know she had gotten very little sleep the night before, and it was a long drive to EPCOT, but it would have been nice had she been able to attend LUNCH with us. *siiiiiigh* Cost wasn't a factor as we had figured by now that we could "comp" with a meal credit from our personal party's Dining Plans, but we had just absolutely reached our limit of socialization.

Garden Grill was great and lovely and wonderful and I appreciate that Chip and Dale and Pluto and Mickey came by multiple times to make sure we got as much interaction as we wanted... which meant that DD ate virtually nothing. YAY wasted dining credit. Okay granted we got a LOT of character interaction but I knew DD would be begging for snacks as soon as we left the building. Which totally happened! Bonus: we could have used a TS credit on Grandma! By this time, DH and I were about ready to push each other into the lake.

Then there was another argument about what we were doing next and what do you mean, you made no FP+ for this day? How are we supposed to know what to do? More anger... so we stomped through the line for Spaceship Earth in a bad mood. Now this is one of my favorite rides but DD took a nap and missed the whole thing. LOL We played with the videos and the games until we were ready to drag ourselves elsewhere.

I seem to recall about 2 more bathroom breaks before we ended up going on Living With the Land but to be honest, it was more meltdown as we criss-crossed EPCOT, charging our battery packs and snarking more at each other while we tried to plan our rapidly-dwindling day.

Ah, Living With the Land .... one of my favorite rides, but not my favorite ride to get in a screaming match with my loved one on! There was a threat to leave the boat ride while it was in motion. There was shrieking. It was ugly.

So again we went outside and stood at opposite ends of the Pavilion and glared at one another until Adult Time Out was finally accomplished. Part of the fight I think occurred because I kept asking DH to check MDE - he is the one with the cell phone, I am not. He didn't realize until after this fight, that you pretty much need to live on MDE while on-property to make the most of your time.

Okay, so once we stopped behaving like rude animals to each other, we had about 15 minutes to rush to our ADR for dinner at Tokyo Dining, which was right at fireworks time. Too bad we were 2 minutes late to the ADR because DD had to use the washroom ONE MORE TIME on the way from the Land Pavilion to Japan in the WS. That meant that we had to wait by the hostess station for TWENTY FOUR minutes while others with ADR's who had showed up on time were seated.

Oh did I mention that lunch was hours ago... and at least three disagreements ago, so my DH was in no mood to deal with anymore nonsense. So of course the MDE app would go down... causing more frantic anxiety and whisper-yelling. I am a little worried that everyone can hear my growling stomach and I'm not getting any nicer. Yay for more snapping at each other in a restaurant, my finest dining manners, right?

Finally we get a table... finally. We order all the sushi we can and quickly inhale it. So cute that the children's plates are shaped like little trains! Then the girls came over to the table and sang "Happy Birthday", presented our DD with some origami and wrote her name in kanji on her Celebration Button! She has a Japanese name, so we were quite charmed by the experience.

Then the fireworks started as we were paying for our meal, so we went out onto the balcony. Things were starting to seem better, although most things were now closing up, and we were whisked back to the buses with the crowds, which was very stressful.

At least I was prepared about having to cling to the bus pole and tell my DD not to let go of my knee for any reason! It was a crowded, foggy bus full of people who didn't want to leave yet.

Ahhhhhhhh... once again, we came to our room and found that the pool area was closed, the sun was going down, and it was time to shower and relax in our hotel room until the next morning.

Which would have worked quite nicely until my family started sending "innocent planning" phone texts about the party - translation, "what can we manipulate you into doing so that we don't have to go the extra mile?" My Mom wanted to pick us up in the MORNING to go over to Grandmom's until some undecided time in the evening. My Grandmom unrealistically wanted us to try and finagle a refund from Disney and spend the rest of the week in her offsite timeshare. They both needed firm guidance that this was OUR vacation and we were making our OWN schedule. But try telling THEM that... So what else would DH and I do but continue to stir each other up and lay into each other until 3 in the morning??? YAY adulting!

Out of sheer exhaustion we passed out (on the CARPET) until the following morning, where we spent the morning crafting an exhaustive text to my family informing them that we were ONLY going to this Birthday Party at the Offsite Timeshare AFTER we were done with Disney for the day. Ticket prices being what they were, DH wanted every scrap of value of Park time he could get. This was how he decided to forego a side jaunt to Cape Canaveral as well as LEGOLAND during this trip. So it was ALL DISNEY ALL THE TIME.

Still with me? I promise, it gets MUCH better from here!!! Up next: Disney's Hollywood Studios and the UnBirthday Party

 

[marcyleecorgan]

DAY FOUR: Hollywood Studios, or, What Do You Mean It's Not Called MGM?​

We started this day with some hope of enjoying ourselves. We knew that this was the day that my Grandmom had planned for the Un Birthday Party at the Offsite Timeshare, so we had planned on DHS really being a half-day Park. We were hoping to relax at the resort pool and such before heading over to this offsite place.

Let's just say for the sake of argument, we went to our Hollywood & Vine breakfast buffet (which was great - GRAVY bacon coffee, I'm happy), we had great Character Interaction, and then... things should have just hit the cutting room floor, in film terms.

We saw the Muppets.

We saw the Little Mermaid show.

We saw the Indiana Jones show.

We hastily were dragged by DD through the Walt museum and she finally melted down... outside the queue for the Moana M&G. So we missed Moana. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAURGH

And with that, DD was completely and utterly DONE with Parks for the day. I think the fact that it was super hot and sunny really did her in. There were two miserably sunny and hot days while we were at WDW, and this was unbearable for her. Back on the bus, we went to the Resort and played at the kids water splash area and swam until Mom was coming to pick us up. Definitely I think we all needed the downtime and mental prep that I knew dealing with my family was going to be.

The Un Birthday Party!!!​

Which version of events would you like?

The one where my child opened all the gifts in five minutes, practically exploded with gratitude, shoveled three pieces of Hello Kitty ice cream cake in her face, wore out 2 noisemakers, charmed the H.E. Double Hockey Sticks out of all present, and hundreds of photos were taken?

Or the version where my Mom snuck DD out of the timeshare and drove off with her to meet up with my Aunt, who was given bad driving directions and needed help, and my DH almost had a Papa Bear Rage Moment when he realized DD was missing and all I could tell him was, "She's with my mom." That was a very long and terse 10 minutes...

See, the other half of arguing with my family about when they can pick me up is, WHEN CAN WE LEAVE??? We had hoped for 9pm or so... but it was almost 11pm when we stumbled back into the Resort. Boy oh boy we all needed some sleep after the past two days being so intense and awful.

I think we ate some snacks and figured out the TV channels but eventually we fell asleep. Very quiet hotel, the French Quarter is. We could only sometimes hear someone else's toilet flush... the unit above us maybe? But that was like in the dead of 2 am...

Tomorrow: Our Waterpark Day - heading to Blizzard Beach!​