This Bridge is Old, Like You! - A July 2017 and April 2018 TR *Completed + New TR Link Posted

[amazingact21]

Landon is definitely your Disney buddy
I adore that first photo of you all finally getting into a park and heading down MainStreet

He is also very cute both with and without his glasses.
Poor wee Evie finally making it out of her buggy to have some fun only to fall . Definitely not fair. I hope things got better for her once she got into her first ride. I know you only got the one photo of both kids together on Main Street but it is a very cute photo . Evie looks ready to conquer the world ( or at least the park)

It's been a lot of fun to watch Landon grow up and develop his own love for Disney. I know he might change his mind as he gets older, so for now I'm enjoying watching him react to the parks the same way I do.
Evie rarely goes in strollers - she's a great walker - so she was a little miffed to be trapped in one all morning.

Hooray for morning routines! It sounds like a lovely morning, even with the hiccups and poor Evie skinning her knee.

On the subject of point and shoot cameras, I got a Sony RX100 a couple years ago and it's great. From what I read, it's the closest you'll get to a DSLR in a point and shoot. It has a greater range for apertures than my old camera.

As much as I love a good character breakfast buffet, I appreciated having our normal routine in the mornings. Life would get hectic the minute we left the room, might as well enjoy the normalcy while we could!
I wish I had done my research before buying a point and shoot camera. Probably would have discovered that brand and been happier with my purchase.

Well I personally think your crappy camera got some good shots! I love how excited Landon was to be in MK! Sorry about Evie's fall, I'm sure it was not fun at all to be carrying her around.

Honestly, I don't know who enjoyed Walt Disney World more, Landon or me. He was so happy to be in the Magic Kingdom; it was fun for me to watch his excitement!

 

[amazingact21]

I use a point-and-shoot, but I've also never had a DSLR. I've seen DSLR pictures and the quality is definitely a big difference ... but the little one just works better for me. Sorry that the p&s didn't work out for you!

I love that Landon was running for the castle as soon as you got in. The Disney Spirit is strong with that one!!

Poor Evie ... falls are never fun. I'm glad she was mostly okay ... and sorry you had to carry her around, that must have been rough,

I think just knowing I had a better camera at home was what irked me the most. When I was looking through all the photos after the trip, I couldn't help but catch myself going, "If I had the good camera, that wouldn't have been blurry." Or "I would've taken more shots on Main Street if I had the old camera."

Yes! The Disney Spirit is strong with Landon!!! Kid is going to turn into a bigger fan than Alex and me combined if we're not careful.

Well Hallo just found your TR and am following along. Sounds like it's going to be a wild read.

Welcome! Thanks for reading my report and following along; I appreciate it!

Ooh, this is a cool hack!

Oh my gosh, cutie! But I'm so used to seeing him with his distinguished spectacles that I hardly recognized him here!

I'm sorry this didn't work out for you! It's a constant struggle for me, because I like taking better photos with my DSLR (not that mine is particularly advanced, but still better than the alternative.) But I also like not being burdened by a big camera and multiple lenses. I'm sure it's 10x more of a struggle when you're also keeping track of your kids at the same time. I bought a Canon powershot point-and-shoot a couple of trips ago, and I'm actually pretty okay with it. I think it's actually pretty good for a little guy, and the lack of quality is sometimes worth it for the increase in vacation-quality-of-life. But I'm sorry this wasn't the case for you and the camera you bought!
I can't imagine who wouldn't want to do that! Sounds like heaven!

About the only way I can eat plain yogurt is with some Crystal Light added in. Changes the flavor completely!

To be honest, Alex and I rarely see Landon without his glasses, on either. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is get dressed and that involves putting his glasses on. Then at night, he takes them off before bath and bed, and aside from reading him some bedtime stories, he's in the dark and I don't see his face! They've become a part of him, really.

Ugh? That's the wrong reaction! Your kids understand the importance of Rope Drop! That's something to be celebrated!!!!

I know, I know. But waking up in time to make rope drop is one thing. Waking up an hour BEFORE we need to wake up for rope drop is entirely unnecessary.

and when all else fails, you're still in the room so just dunk her in the bathtub quickly!

Ugh, if she didn't react like a cat getting dropped in water every time I probably would have. Girl HATES bath time.

How is he getting along with it? Is it something that can improve or will he always have glasses? He seems like he must be so used to them that they don't phase him much.

He gets his eyes checked every 6 to 9 months and at the last appointment his prescription improved a tiny bit. A doctor told me once that the eyes muscles continue to strengthen and grow until around the age of seven or eight, so Landon has a chance of getting better by then.
But from a mom's perspective? His script is so strong as it is that while I think there's a possibility his prescription will go down again, I think he'll always need glasses. When he does reach that 7/8 age range, the doctor's will probably start discussing with us whether or not we want to surgically correct the problem, but that's a bridge we won't have to cross for another 3-4 years.

At least it isn't as busy and a little more confined at the Poly than it is at the parks.

Gotta love those monorails!

It's called multiple kids. No time for pictures. Memory maker is your friend.

The classic "mom" look!

I would much rather go through the Poly security check than the ones at the park!

There's something about kids and monorails that fascinates them.

Very true. My pictures took a turn for the worse once I had two kids to chase after. If I had three like you? Forget about it...

 

[vamassey1]

Oh, if I have my way, I'm not moving back to the states until I see Scotland! While there won't be any James Frasers running around, I still want to see the sights and lay eyes on the places the book series have described so vividly.

You better make it to Scotland so I can see it through your eyes. It looks so pretty in everything I have seen so far.

My mom and I had decided before the trip to eat breakfast in the room to save some time and money. For the kids, I had brought yogurt and Cheerios and for myself I went with my go-to snack. Granny Smith apples, Greek yogurt mixed with flavored drink powder, and coffee.

Another great idea. I've never put flavored drink powder in my Greek yogurt, but I do put a packet of sweetener in it.

he only downside to the whole setup was the fact that Evie didn’t have her booster seat so she wore more of her yogurt than she consumed. Probably used a whole roll of paper towels on that girl…

And if any of you guys are curious why Mr. Landon Man has worn glasses since he was 5 months old, I managed to snap a picture of him without his spectacles.

He looks totally different without the glasses. I can see now why he always has them on.

We’d shared half a pot of coffee, (don’t you judge us!)

NO judging here.

I had made the difficult decision to leave our good dslr camera back home in Germany.

I understand why you did this. I found my camera to be really heavy in May, but I don't know if I could leave it behind. I dreamed the other night I didn't bring it and woke up in a panic.

Landon’s favorite game during our trip was watch the monorail arrive and announce which color we had got.

That's a good game for while you're waiting.

If this picture doesn’t prove that my son is a Disney lover like the rest of us, I don’t know what will. Landon was so, so, so excited to see the Cinderella’s Castle that he wanted to let go of my hand and run down the street.

I love this!

The bad news was that her knee was now scratched and bloody.

Poor Evie. Disney has not been good for her so far.

 

[amazingact21]

You better make it to Scotland so I can see it through your eyes. It looks so pretty in everything I have seen so far.

Another great idea. I've never put flavored drink powder in my Greek yogurt, but I do put a packet of sweetener in it.


I understand why you did this. I found my camera to be really heavy in May, but I don't know if I could leave it behind. I dreamed the other night I didn't bring it and woke up in a panic.


Poor Evie. Disney has not been good for her so far.

I am tentatively planning Scotland for Veteran's Day Weekend 2018...

I'm sure sweetener works great, too. Anything to tame the bitterness of the yogurt.

Oh no! In my opinion, toting around the extra weight is worth the ability to get the pictures you want. (I'm bringing our good one to Ireland this weekend.)

I get the feeling Evie won't start liking Disney until she's much older and can ride all the coasters...

 

[amazingact21]

July 21st, 2017 Part 2:

It was 8 in the morning and approximately a sunny 120 degrees Fahrenheit and I was surrounded by two sweaty, heavy kids. Past time to get to our first ride of the trip.

My mom was in the lead and she took us to an attraction Landon said he really wanted to do the day before when we told him about the vacation.

The teacups.

I gave Evie to my mom because I knew Landon would want me to spin and I wasn’t sure how Evie would react to the ride.




Landon chose a green cup and we settled ourselves inside.




You ready for this, kid?


Landon enjoyed the spinning at first, laughing and giggling, and then like a light switch being turned off he stopped smiling and said to me, “I don’t like this anymore.”

Afraid we were going to have a mess on our hands, I slowed the cup down and we spent the rest of the ride going a safer, slower rotation. Ironically enough, we got off the ride and met back up with my mother she told us that Evie loved the teacups and kept telling her, “More! More!”

“I think you have a thrill junkie on your hands, Alicia,” my mom commented to me as we walked to our next ride.

I needed to see this side of my daughter for myself, so I swapped kids with her and we walked right on to Dumbo.





Evie wanted to make sure she was in the picture, too.




I was trying to record a video to send to Alex, and Evie kept saying, “Cheese,” and then asking to see the picture. Had to switch modes really fast and take a few pictures or she would have been heartbroken.


(You can see where she fell and skinned her knee here.)


The ride started and I raised our Dumbo as high as it would go and Evie squealed in delight.



Then I let it drop and she broke into the giggles.

Evie loved Dumbo!

So much so that she threw a massive fit when we got off which carried on when she realized we weren’t going on it a second time.

Whew.

That is one opinionated little girl.

Much as my mom and I tried, we couldn’t convince her that there were more exciting and wonderful attractions to experience.

Somehow, someway (just kidding, we pulled out some animal crackers) we got her to settle down as we walked farther into Fantasyland. I noticed that the Ariel meet and greet only had a five minute wait and that was too good to pass up. Besides, Evie had donned her Little Mermaid shirt for the day. It was fitting we let her see the princess.

We walked in and were the only guests in line which made for a very long and interactive session with Ariel. Landon walked right up and sat down next to Ariel, completely blown away by her tail and her long red hair and the grotto itself.

Evie?





Hard to see in the picture, but she wore this “What the heck is going on?!” expression. She kept looking Ariel up and down, then looking at me, thinking, “Why am I sitting next to this stranger?”

What am I missing?

Meanwhile, her older brother was carrying on quite the conversation.

They talked about Scuttle and her hair and at one point Landon shouted, “I have your movie!!”

And I have absolutely no idea why he was doing this, but Landon kept answering with “A couple times.”

Ariel would ask, “Did Prince Eric teach you how to be brave?”

And Landon would reply, “A couple times.”

“Have you seen Flounder?”

“A couple times.”

“Did you swim here from afar?”

“A couple times.”


Yep, those are my kids. One’s giving Ariel the stink eye and the other’s so overcome with awe that he can’t think coherent thoughts.

They’re smooth, ya’ll.

When we got the kids down and they were waving goodbye, Ariel called out to Landon: “See you later…a couple times!”


You would think that would be the most memorable character interaction Landon had during the trip, but surprisingly it wasn’t.

Just wait.

The Rapunzel one will be worth reading.


Walking back outside, I noticed the area was still empty and thought I would maybe grab a couple photos when there wasn’t guests milling about.

Then I remembered I had toddlers with me and ended up with photos like this:




My mom turned to Under the Sea and saw that the attraction was just as short as the meet and greet. She suggested we ride it now since we were there, and I agreed.




She sat in a clamshell with Landon while I kept Evie and we journeyed into the ocean. It started out great, Evie spotted Ariel and kept laughing in excitement. I pointed out the colorful fish and coral:



And I thought to myself, “This is going perfectly. What an amazing first day. Why was I worried?”

And then…

Then we got to Ursula.

Mean, scary, Ursula who is big and in the dark and appears to be looming over our clamshell.

Poor, poor Evie.

She screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

She clutched my shirt and tried to crawl into my lap and started shaking from terror and even the sight of Ariel and Eric and King Triton at the end couldn’t stop the crying.

We got out of our vehicle and my mom looked over at us nervously.

“Was that Evie?”

Evie responded by letting out another wail and hugging my neck tighter.


Well. Crap.

I’d just scared the living daylights out of my precious little girl.

She was so upset that she wouldn’t let my mom hold her and no amount of snackage could get her to sit in the stroller. She consented to the baby carrier, eventually, while the rest of us walked towards the other side of Fantasyland, a little unsure how to proceed after this new turn of events.

We still had a lot of rides we wanted to go on, but we also didn’t want to make Evie’s fears worse.

Who would have guessed Ursula would terrify my youngest?


Up Next…Is That Your Babysitter?

 

[krysenchips]

Oh no! Poor Evie! That Ursula part is scary, I can see why she was frightened. I hope it didn't put a damper on the rest of your day! Just go on more thrill rides with her. That should cheer her up! The little adrenaline junkie.

Landon is adorable with those 'a couple times' comments. He is the perfect Disney Fan!

I love reading about your trips and give you major kudos for taking your two littles on this adventure.

 

[afwdwfan]

Landon enjoyed the spinning at first, laughing and giggling, and then like a light switch being turned off he stopped smiling and said to me, “I don’t like this anymore.”

Uh oh... Glad that one didn't turn out to be a disaster.

Ironically enough, we got off the ride and met back up with my mother she told us that Evie loved the teacups and kept telling her, “More! More!”

“I think you have a thrill junkie on your hands, Alicia,” my mom commented to me as we walked to our next ride.

That's awesome!!

Then I let it drop and she broke into the giggles.

Evie loved Dumbo!

So much so that she threw a massive fit when we got off which carried on when she realized we weren’t going on it a second time.

Whew.

That is one opinionated little girl.

Well, I'm glad she enjoyed it... but as for the opinionated little girl part. We've got one of those. I feel your pain.

Yep, those are my kids. One’s giving Ariel the stink eye and the other’s so overcome with awe that he can’t think coherent thoughts.

They’re smooth, ya’ll.

When we got the kids down and they were waving goodbye, Ariel called out to Landon: “See you later…a couple times!”

Well. Crap.

I’d just scared the living daylights out of my precious little girl.

She was so upset that she wouldn’t let my mom hold her and no amount of snackage could get her to sit in the stroller. She consented to the baby carrier, eventually, while the rest of us walked towards the other side of Fantasyland, a little unsure how to proceed after this new turn of events.

We still had a lot of rides we wanted to go on, but we also didn’t want to make Evie’s fears worse.

Who would have guessed Ursula would terrify my youngest?

There's just no way of knowing what will cause that reaction sometimes. Seems our kids are often scared of things that seem pretty tame, yet when you prepare them for something you think will scare them... no big deal.

I guess it is time for some Small World and carousel action.

 

[missangelalexis]

"I don't like this anymore" Poor Landon!

I'm glad Evie was enjoying the rides...maybe even a little too much given the hysterics after Dumbo. Ahh that Ursula, I can see her being scary to a toddler. I hope she ended up bouncing back after that scare!

 

[disgeek009]

I love Landon's interaction with Ariel. Hilarious!

And poor Evie being scared by Ursula! It's so hard to predict how toddlers will react to things. At least she was with you in the clamshell and not your mother. Could you imagine if she tried to get to you then?

 

[Steppesister]

Had no idea you'd started a new one! I will TRY to catch up before I leave tomorrow, but....

I did sub in and will for sure when I get back if I can't.

 

[SarahDisney]

Your kids are awesome. I was cracking up through half of this update. Landon and Ariel ... she must have been so confused ...

Poor Evie, though ... Ursula can be pretty scary. I hope it didn't put too much of a damper on the day.

 

[MeghanEmily]

It was 8 in the morning and approximately a sunny 120 degrees Fahrenheit and I was surrounded by two sweaty, heavy kids. Past time to get to our first ride of the trip.

Ughh. Summer in Florida. I didn't have to do it with kids, and that was bad enough. You're a champ!

Landon enjoyed the spinning at first, laughing and giggling, and then like a light switch being turned off he stopped smiling and said to me, “I don’t like this anymore.”

Afraid we were going to have a mess on our hands, I slowed the cup down and we spent the rest of the ride going a safer, slower rotation.

Bless his heart! You may have saved the situation just in time!

Then I let it drop and she broke into the giggles.

Evie loved Dumbo!

So much so that she threw a massive fit when we got off which carried on when she realized we weren’t going on it a second time.

Whew.

That is one opinionated little girl.

Oh no! How sweet that she loved Dumbo! She was off to a great start!

We walked in and were the only guests in line which made for a very long and interactive session with Ariel. Landon walked right up and sat down next to Ariel, completely blown away by her tail and her long red hair and the grotto itself.

Evie?

Hard to see in the picture, but she wore this “What the heck is going on?!” expression. She kept looking Ariel up and down, then looking at me, thinking, “Why am I sitting next to this stranger?”

Ahaha it's a legit question! Nathan has the same expression as Evie in character M&Gs.

They talked about Scuttle and her hair and at one point Landon shouted, “I have your movie!!”

This is such a common phrase! As someone who's friends with princesses, I can't count the number of times I've been having a conversation with a 2-7 year old that's completely unrelated when they suddenly interrupt with "I HAVE THE MOVIE OF YOU!" Sometimes this also continues into: I-have-the-doll-of-you, and-the-lunchbox-of-you, and I-have-a-Frozen-bike (which I suspect doesn't pedal very easily if it's frozen!!), etc.

Yep, those are my kids. One’s giving Ariel the stink eye and the other’s so overcome with awe that he can’t think coherent thoughts.

Great combo!

When we got the kids down and they were waving goodbye, Ariel called out to Landon: “See you later…a couple times!”


You would think that would be the most memorable character interaction Landon had during the trip, but surprisingly it wasn’t.

Just wait.

The Rapunzel one will be worth reading.

Haha I love this! Landon's character interactions are totally a highlight of this TR

Then I remembered I had toddlers with me and ended up with photos like this:

Mean, scary, Ursula who is big and in the dark and appears to be looming over our clamshell.

Poor, poor Evie.

She screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

She clutched my shirt and tried to crawl into my lap and started shaking from terror and even the sight of Ariel and Eric and King Triton at the end couldn’t stop the crying.

We got out of our vehicle and my mom looked over at us nervously.

“Was that Evie?”

Evie responded by letting out another wail and hugging my neck tighter.


Well. Crap.

I’d just scared the living daylights out of my precious little girl.

Oh no! Poor Evie! It's interesting what kids are totally cool with and what will send them straight into the deep end. I hope things didn't derail too much after this point. I want you to get your thrill junkie back!

 

[khertz]

I was trying to record a video to send to Alex, and Evie kept saying, “Cheese,” and then asking to see the picture. Had to switch modes really fast and take a few pictures or she would have been heartbroken.

Paxton used to do that all the time when he was that age!!! I have sooooo many videos of him saying "Cheese...CHEESE...lemme see!!"

Poor Evie being so scared of Ursula after loving the thrills!! You just never know what will terrify the little ones like that.

 

[amazingact21]

Oh no! Poor Evie! That Ursula part is scary, I can see why she was frightened. I hope it didn't put a damper on the rest of your day! Just go on more thrill rides with her. That should cheer her up! The little adrenaline junkie.

Landon is adorable with those 'a couple times' comments. He is the perfect Disney Fan!

I love reading about your trips and give you major kudos for taking your two littles on this adventure.

I didn't even think about Ursula before I hopped on the ride. Landon never got scared when he was a baby, so the thought never crossed my mind.

Thanks! I am happy I decided to take this Florida trip and made all these Disney memories with my kiddos.

Well, I'm glad she enjoyed it... but as for the opinionated little girl part. We've got one of those. I feel your pain.
I guess it is time for some Small World and carousel action.

Every time I read about your DD having a meltdown or not cooperating in your updates, I tell myself I'm getting a glimpse into my future. Evie has now reached the, if I tell her no she falls face first onto the floor and bawls hysterically, phase. I'm sure the, 5 year completely fed up with park touring, is waiting for me in a few years...

"I don't like this anymore" Poor Landon!

I'm glad Evie was enjoying the rides...maybe even a little too much given the hysterics after Dumbo. Ahh that Ursula, I can see her being scary to a toddler. I hope she ended up bouncing back after that scare!

I felt pretty bad about Ursula. It never occurred to me some of the attractions might frighten her. I had gone into the trip recalling Landon's reactions and didn't account for the differences between the kids. That was my mistake, unfortunately. At least she enjoyed Dumbo before I traumatized her!

I love Landon's interaction with Ariel. Hilarious!

And poor Evie being scared by Ursula! It's so hard to predict how toddlers will react to things. At least she was with you in the clamshell and not your mother. Could you imagine if she tried to get to you then?

Oh dear, if Evie hadn't been in my clamshell she probably would have caused the ride to stop!
Landon comes up with the craziest stuff to discuss with the characters!

 

[amazingact21]

Had no idea you'd started a new one! I will TRY to catch up before I leave tomorrow, but....

I did sub in and will for sure when I get back if I can't.

No worries! You have a lot (and that's an understatement) on your plate right now!

Your kids are awesome. I was cracking up through half of this update. Landon and Ariel ... she must have been so confused ...

Poor Evie, though ... Ursula can be pretty scary. I hope it didn't put too much of a damper on the day.

Every time Landon starts up a conversation with someone, be it character or cast member or fellow guest, I always stand there with a little bit of fear. There's no telling what's going to come out of his mouth...

Ahaha it's a legit question! Nathan has the same expression as Evie in character M&Gs.

This is such a common phrase! As someone who's friends with princesses, I can't count the number of times I've been having a conversation with a 2-7 year old that's completely unrelated when they suddenly interrupt with "I HAVE THE MOVIE OF YOU!" Sometimes this also continues into: I-have-the-doll-of-you, and-the-lunchbox-of-you, and I-have-a-Frozen-bike (which I suspect doesn't pedal very easily if it's frozen!!), etc.


Haha I love this! Landon's character interactions are totally a highlight of this TR

I wish you could meet Landon while you're friends with some princesses. I'm sure the interaction would be memorable. Landon likes to leave an impression.

Paxton used to do that all the time when he was that age!!! I have sooooo many videos of him saying "Cheese...CHEESE...lemme see!!"

Poor Evie being so scared of Ursula after loving the thrills!! You just never know what will terrify the little ones like that.

Haha, kids and their cameras. Evie's new thing is she wants me to take a photo in selfie mode so she can see herself. When I tell her to say "cheese" and the camera isn't facing her, she tries to grab the phone. I have about fifty deleted pictures of Evie's hand reaching for me.

 

[amazingact21]

Hi guys! Hope you all are enjoying the month of November and are getting ready for the holiday season. Alex and I took the kids to Ireland earlier in the month and are planning on hitting up our first Christmas market of the season later this week.



Ireland was beautiful, but Alex and I wished we could’ve toured the area without kids. They were very whiny and uncooperative and at one point I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “This is why we take you guys to Disney more than anywhere else. Because at least there you’re happy!”

Such is a parent’s lot in life, though. Maybe one day Alex and I will be able to return and see all the sights we missed!

And in other news, my sister in-law is getting married next April. Hooray! (And 3 out of our 4 family members are actually in the wedding.) This means we all get to fly back to Florida next spring. Unfortunately, Alex only gets so many days of leave from work and we want to reserve the majority for European traveling. Not to mention Landon is in school and cannot miss more than a few weeks, so all that means it’s going to be a somewhat short vacation.

But not short enough to perhaps sneak in one night at Disney…

And if we’re only doing one night, we might just splurge and stay somewhere really, really nice.

Nothing has been decided at this point, but it’s safe to say Alex isn’t going to be in the Orlando area and not step foot on Disney property at least once. After all, by next April it will have been two years since he last went to WDW…

So stay tuned for more news on a 2018 visit to the world!



July 21st, 2017 Part 3:

If there’s one attraction in all of the Magic Kingdom that could bring a smile to a toddler’s face it is Small World, and because a certain little man in our group has a deep rooted love of the ride, that was our next stop.



Evie cried during the first half of the ride, but then she settled down and watched as we drifted from room to room. She wasn’t overly thrilled with her current predicament but neither was she screaming. Honestly, I think she kept waiting for another scary animatronic to pop up round a bend.

Her trust in me was gone!



Now there was a sight I had grown used to seeing.

*Funny aside here. Throughout our whole stay in Florida Landon was confusing people left and right. Whenever he needed to say thank you, he would go, “Danke” and sometimes “Cheers” in place of goodbye. I can’t tell you the number of times people stopped what they were doing to process what they’d just heard. It was pretty funny. Even better was when we were talking to someone in Ireland and we had told them we were Americans, and then Landon busted out his German phrases. Poor guy was so confused!*


After It’s a Small World, we all found a shady spot to sit by the Tangled bathrooms and took a few minutes to relax. The kids ate some animal crackers and my mom and I drank a bottle of water. The goal was to let Evie completely decompress with the hopes that she would be willing to try more attractions.






I walked Landon around the bathroom area trying to find some of the hidden details that were around (like the various Pascals) but all we managed to see were a bag of apples, one of them half-eaten.



And a hoof print in the ground with Maximus’s name on the shoe:



No Pascals spotted.

Drats.

When Landon and I rejoined my mom and Evie, our Fastpasses for Peter Pan’s Flight had come due. I wasn’t positive Evie would like this attraction but really wanted to ride it the first time this trip with Landon, so my mom was a champ and told me she’d handle Evie for me.




Landon loves all things Peter Pan, probably wishes he could BE Peter most days, and he had specifically asked me to ride this earlier in the morning. He had watched the movie almost every single day leading up to our Florida trip and was going to see the ride in a whole new light this time around.

We took off in our ships and all I heard was, “Mom! There’s Nana! Mom, look it’s Big Ben, we’re flying to Neverland! Mom, Hook, I see Captain Hook!”

And mixed in with all those happy proclamations was one very ticked off one year old behind me.

“Mom, did you see Mermaid Lagoon?!”

“AAAAGGGHHHHH!”

“Mom, I can’t believe we saw Wendy.”

“UUUUGGGHHHH!”

“Mom, it’s Tiger Lily.”

“NNNNNOOOOO!”

“Mom-“

“MOMMY!!!”

Whew, boy.

I got Landon safely out of the vehicle and walked us back to the sidewalk, then saved my mom from further toddler wrath. Evie wasn’t really scared, she was just mad. Wow oh wow, she got in my arms and gave me one heck of a glare. It questioned why I ever in a million years thought she’d like that and reprimanded my poor parenting skills and lack of sound judgement.

Evie was not a happy camper.

And meanwhile Landon had taken hold of Nana’s hand and was recounting every little thing he had seen, begging her to let him ride it again. She had to promise him over and over again that he would get another opportunity to go on Peter Pan’s Flight but it just wasn’t going to be right away.

There was no way either adult was going to stand in the 60 minute standby line to take Landon again…


My family made ourselves comfortable back at the Tangled bathroom so my mom and I could discuss what came next and to let Evie cool down. (Both literally and emotionally. Sweet girl was sweating up a storm and stomping around in a fury.)

It was only about 10:15 and our next FP wasn’t active until 10:45. Evie clearly needed some more down time and the last thing we wanted to do was walk around aimlessly in the heat. I checked the MDE app and realized we were sitting next to a character meet and greet location that Landon would love to experience, so I asked my mom if she’d hang back with Evie while I walked Landon over and got in line.

No arguments came from her and within ten minutes of our departure, my mom snapped a picture of Evie’s latest state:



Good. Hopefully a nap would do her wonders.


Landon was first in line for the character meet.



Did you guess he was waiting for Peter Pan?

Made sense, right?

We had just visited his island, might as well say hello to him. You know, since we were in the neighborhood and all.

Peter must have gotten a little lost along the way, because he was almost ten minutes late, causing Landon to be super impatient. He kept saying he didn’t want to meet Peter and he was sick of standing, but I convinced him to stick it out because I KNEW he’d love the interaction.

And it completely paid off. Peter bounced up and told his handler that he was going to open the chain that was blocking the entrance. He asked Landon what the password was and when Landon answered with “Okay?” Peter told him he was right.

“It was anything but please!”

Then Peter got down on his level and gave Landon a big hug and asked him to walk with him.

“Who is that girl with you? Is that your babysitter?”

Landon laughed and said yeah.

“Well as long as she’s not your teacher. Those are the worst!”

Peter went on to crack jokes about math and classes, but unfortunately I don’t remember the specifics. Honestly, I was too happy to pay attention to the conversation at hand. Landon had a huge smile on his face and kept trying to take long looks at Peter, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Peter was his idol! And there he was, talking mischief with him.






How can people not like Disney, guys?! It was pure magic, watching my son talk to this character he had come to know so well. And while Peter Pan might be Landon’s inspiration, he wasn’t even Landon’s favorite character from the film! If he got this excited over Peter and Ariel, what was going to happen when we met his Number 1? The mom in me wanted to rush over to that location and see it right it that second.


But wait!

I had to reign my giddiness in for a second.

Because Landon and I had Fastpasses that were active.

Time to say goodbye to Peter and head over. There would be no missing this attraction. I had waited years for this opportunity to come around again, and for the first time I was going to take my oldest with me.

This was something I had called dibbs on during Landon’s first trip to the world.

Alex gets first rides on Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain with the kiddos. I get Everest and this.

Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!


Up Next…You Need to Retire those Shorts. Never Let them See the Light of Day Again.

 

[MeghanEmily]

at one point I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “This is why we take you guys to Disney more than anywhere else. Because at least there you’re happy!”

I think Nathan thinks the same thing about me! haha

I'm sorry the kids were so unhappy on your trip to Ireland! Hopefully you'll get to go back someday and experience it as adults, or with the kids when they're older. It looks beautiful!

*Funny aside here. Throughout our whole stay in Florida Landon was confusing people left and right. Whenever he needed to say thank you, he would go, “Danke” and sometimes “Cheers” in place of goodbye. I can’t tell you the number of times people stopped what they were doing to process what they’d just heard. It was pretty funny. Even better was when we were talking to someone in Ireland and we had told them we were Americans, and then Landon busted out his German phrases. Poor guy was so confused!*

That's hilarious!! I love that your kids have already seen so much of the world at such young ages!

And mixed in with all those happy proclamations was one very ticked off one year old behind me.

“Mom, did you see Mermaid Lagoon?!”

“AAAAGGGHHHHH!”

“Mom, I can’t believe we saw Wendy.”

“UUUUGGGHHHH!”

“Mom, it’s Tiger Lily.”

“NNNNNOOOOO!”

“Mom-“

“MOMMY!!!”

Whew, boy.

Oh nooo!!

How can people not like Disney, guys?! It was pure magic, watching my son talk to this character he had come to know so well. And while Peter Pan might be Landon’s inspiration, he wasn’t even Landon’s favorite character from the film! If he got this excited over Peter and Ariel, what was going to happen when we met his Number 1? The mom in me wanted to rush over to that location and see it right it that second.

This is amazing! I can't wait to see his reaction to his favourite!

Alex gets first rides on Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain with the kiddos. I get Everest and this.

I have a feeling I know where this is going...

 

[Lesley Wake]

Oh, he is sooo cute! I want a little buddy like Landon to take to Disney!

 

[cindianne320]

Ooh- quite the cliffhanger! Can't wait to see where you are headed and hear more about your Character meets. But oh poor Evie. (I hear you- my dd dislikes most rides and throws tantrums like the best of them!)

 

[SarahDisney]

As much as I hate waiting in lines, I think the moments like Landon's interaction with Peter Pan. How could anyone not see the magic of Disney after hearing a story like that? I'm so glad that Landon had such a great time with Peter!

Evie, on the other hand ... poor girl sounds like she was just not having a good day. That's rough.