Disney Recap Days 4&5: Animal Kingdom and Epcot

Day 4 of the trip was our day at Animal Kingdom. We arrived at the park, and per instructions from all of our Disney savvy friends, we went straight to get our Fast Passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari. Well, I went to get the Fast Passes while the rest of the party waited in lines to get character autographs and photos.

The safari was every bit as cool as we’d been told. The animals were amazing. We didn’t see any lions or tigers, but the rest of the animals were out for us to see. After the safari, I went on ahead for fast passes to Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom’s roller coaster), while everyone else stopped for lunch.

After lunch, we decided to ride the Kali River Rapids.

Evan is all about water rides. Pressley has always said in no uncertain terms that she does not like to get wet in her clothes. She tolerated Splash Mountain Falls at the Magic Kingdom because she was wedged in between 2 adults who took the bulk of the splashing, and she stayed relatively dry. So, we thought since she tolerated that, she’d probably be ok on the Kali River Rapids. OH, but we could not have been more wrong.

When the WALL of water came down over her and GranNan, she started crying and wailing hysterically. She cried, “I don’t EVER want to ride on this ride EVER again!!” And, we felt kinda bad for the other people sharing our boat because it was a bit of a buzz kill.

After the ride was over, she was still pretty hysterical, and those clever Disney marketing people had strategically placed a merchandise cart right at the exit of the ride – conveniently selling smocked halter dresses in all different sizes. So, Pressley got a new dress out of the deal, and the rest of us got some relief for our eardrums.

Pressley had been having a fit to get her face painted, so we squeezed that into the day. Evan decided he’d get his painted too. They looked adorable!

We also loved the Everest ride and the Jungle Expedition Parade. So, our day at Animal Kingdom was a big success.

That evening, we ate dinner at the Benihana in our hotel lobby and began planning our strategy for our last day. I had planned to go to Hollywood Studios, so I picked up a brochure so we could plan our attack. I quickly realized that the roller coaster there had a height restriction that would prevent Pressley from riding. As much as our little girl hates getting wet, she is an adrenaline junkie when it comes to speed and height, so I knew that would not go over well.

So, I did what every well-educated person would do in the same situation: I put the question out to my FB peeps to find out whether we should do Hollywood Studios or Epcot. The input had me leaning slightly back in favor of Hollywood, when Evan suddenly developed an opinion and said he wanted to go to Epcot. So, Epcot it was for our final Disney day.

It could not have been more perfect. It seemed like there was less space to cover there – and a lot of attractions are air conditioned. So with tired kiddos (and quickly fading adults), it was just what we needed. The kid favorites were Soarin’ and Test Track (I don’t know why we didn’t figure out that Test Track would basically turn us into crash test dummies for a few moments. My neck is still not the same….) We also rode Mission Space. Twice. Once on the “easy” side, and at the kids’ insistence, once on the “more intense” side. I’ll take the easy side next time, please. I’m too old for more intense. The more intense experience spins you so fast that it “pulls about 2 Gs” – whatever that means. I know one thing it means. I’ll not be dumb enough to do it again… You know when they provide motion sickness bags right next to your seat, you might be in trouble. I’m happy to report that no one needed any bags.

All in all, it was the perfect trip. We had a ball. We learned a lot for next time. And, we convinced Corin that there should be a next time. Win!

Disney Recap Day 3: Enjoying the magic

The day following our first day at the Magic Kingdom was scheduled to be a non-park day. Corin and I were scheduled to go hear a timeshare pitch at 8:15, so mom and dad came to the hotel and took the kids to breakfast and then the pool. I think everyone needed a morning to decompress, so it was a very good use of our time. The kids had a ball swimming.

Corin and I returned in plenty of time to relax at the pool a bit and still make it for our 1:30 lunch reservation at the T-Rex Café. On the phone (over a month ago), they would only give me a reservation for four, but we thought we’d see if they could accommodate our party of six. They did. And actually seated us on time, too.

Though he showed very little expression, Evan loved the T-Rex Café, which is full of life-size dinosaurs that roar and move around periodically. After lunch, the kids even got to “dig for dinosaur bones” just outside the restaurant until it was time to go on to the next thing. Evan later said that digging for bones really wasn’t that much fun since you didn’t get to keep any of the bones you dug up, but his behavior told a different story. I think he had plenty of fun.

After the bone dig, it was onto the much anticipated Bibbity Bobbity Boutique (“BBB”) for Pressley and the LEGO store for Evan. For you non-Disney goers, the BBB is a salon where little girls can go to be made up like princesses. Several people had told me it was a must for Pressley. What they did not tell me (but I should have known) was that it was a bad idea to schedule it for nap time when I was planning to skip her nap.

Having been sick the couple of days before and having had a HUGE day at the Magic Kingdom, and a big morning at the pool, the poor child was pretty wiped out by the time we got to BBB. Mom and I watched her makeover with much trepidation. What was that look? Was she about to cry? Pass out cold? Laugh? We didn’t know. I had meant for this to be such a fun and special experience for her and she seemed to be not enjoying it in the least.

In the end, the smile in the mirror when the makeover was all done was enough to let me know that she did indeed enjoy it very much – the result at least. And then we went back to the hotel where she promptly fell asleep.

When she woke up, she was rested and ready to go, so we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom. We had originally planned to buy three day passes, but when we realized that the 5 day pass was only $6 more than the three day, it seemed like a no-brainer. So we were able to do a half day at the park on our “non-park day.” Let me tell you… going to the park after 5 is the WAY TO GO. Lines were SO much shorter. The weather was cooler. The kids were less cranky. It was ALL good. We were finally able to relax and enjoy the magic.

We even managed to stay until after dark to catch the Electrical Parade, which I remember being one of my favorite things as a kid. Pressley thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Evan did too, but again, with the lack of expressions, it is sometimes hard to tell. He is his Daddy’s boy.

Watching the Electrical Parade

Evan wanted to go on one more ride after the parade, and he seemed to have the stamina to do it. Pressley (and GranNan and Poppy) on the other hand, seemed to need to go on home. So, the four of us left, and Evan and Corin stayed behind for one more ride on Splash Mountain Falls. Turns out, we made the right decision. We got straight onto the monorail, had a very short wait for our bus, and were back to the hotel pretty painlessly. But by the time the boys left, the fireworks had ended and everyone else was leaving, so it took them a while. Evan fell asleep the moment he sat down on the bus, and poor Corin had to carry 65 lbs of dead weight down the LONG hallway to the elevator and up to our room.

Leaving the park (with one last bit of ice cream)

Disney Recap Days 1&2: A rough start

[Edited to add: I have added paragraph breaks in appropriate places to this blog post at least 6 times. Every time I hit "publish" they disappear. I do apologize for the seemingly endless blocks of text. I tried...] Our much-anticipated trip to Disney got off to a rather rocky beginning. We were supposed to leave on Tuesday morning, bright and early to begin our adventure. However, when we tucked little P into bed on Monday night to start dreaming her big Disney dreams, we realized that she was BURNING UP with fever. We gave her some Advil and hoped for the best. She climbed into bed with us sometime in the middle of the night, still radiating heat like a furnace. So, first thing Tuesday morning, I high-tailed it to the pediatrician. Without an appointment. Because the phone lines don't open til 9, but I know the office opens around 7:30 or 8. So, we were there at 8. The check-in ladies were not at all happy with me. When I said we didn't have an appointment, but would like to see any available doctor because we were on our way out of town, the lady placed her hand on a sign that said, "We strongly discourage walk-ins (and an extra fee may apply)," looked down her nose at me and said, "We strongly discourage walk-ins." I sweetly replied that I could see that, but we were on our way out of town and my daughter was approximately the temperature of the sun. She sternly said that she would put me down for our doctor's next appointment time (which was 8:45... FINE...still better than calling at 9 and hoping for the best), and we were seen at around 8:25. The pediatrician (and her nurse) could not have been nicer, and when I apologized profusely for the walk-in, she just kinda rolled her eyes and said, "I know you. It’s not like you do this all the time. It’s fine." HAHA!, mean check-in ladies. And no additional fee was applied. And little P did not have strep despite our worst fears and the memory of the e-mail that came from the school nurse a few days earlier warning that someone in the Safari room had been diagnosed with strep. It was apparently just a random virus that needed to run its course. So we were off. An hour and a half later than planned, but we were pretty pleased that it wasn't longer than that. The trip was rather uneventful, thankfully. We were to meet my dad (who'd been on a golf outing) in Valdosta, and he arrived at the designated meeting point about 2 minutes after we did. And that was our only stop. Once we got to Orlando, we had to pick up our tickets and find our hotels. So we did that, and then mom and dad came over to meet us at Downtown Disney, which was right across the street from our hotel. That's when things started to go downhill again. The kids saw the Rainforest Cafe and wanted to eat there. So, despite the fact that I'd been denied a reservation weeks ago, we decided to check in and see what were the chances.

Corin was told that if he purchased a VIP pass (for just $15!!), we could be seated around 7:30. SCORE! So, we laid down the 15 bucks and wandered off to look around and wait for our name to be called. When Corin went back to check at 7:30, they said they were running about 20 minutes behind and that even people with reservations were being seating 20 min late. But, hey, we had a late lunch, so we were undeterred. So, I took the kids to ride the carousel. When we checked back in 20 minutes later, we were told it would be approximately 25 MORE MINUTES before we would have a table. Seriously?

Ultimately, Corin went and got his $15 back (which was handed to him as he heard his name called, BTW), but mom and dad and I and the kids were already in line to order some dinner at the Wolfgang Puck Express. We should've done that from the very beginning. Oh, well. Live and learn. The next morning (oh, yeah. I'm still going...), we woke up at 7 to catch the 7:30 shuttle from our hotel that would deliver us to the park by 8:00 in time for the 8:20 princess breakfast that Pressley and GranNan and I had reservations for. I had been telling Pressley about the wonder of the princess breakfast for WEEKS. So, obviously, we missed the 7:30 shuttle. Our options were to drive the car (20 minutes), wait for the 8:00 shuttle, or call a cab (15 minutes to arrive, 20 minutes to drive). The choice was obvious: our best bet for making the breakfast was to drive the car, right? Corin got directions from the concierge and we were off. I will skip the part where we were both on the phone with divorce lawyers (no, not really) and get right to the part where we walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom at 5 til 9. Luckily, mom and dad had been making friends with the check-in ladies at the castle (who were, by the way, much nicer than the check-in ladies at the pediatrician) who told them that we should not worry about being lost. We should just get there when we could get there and they would get us seated at the breakfast. So, hallelujah, we didn't miss it!

The rest of the day was a blur of running hither and yon to try to figure out the best way to work the fast pass system. We really did ride a lot of rides and see a lot of stuff before the kids quit on us around 4:30. It takes a village to take two kids to Disney, so I was really grateful to have my parents with us. They did things like take the kids and feed them while I waited in the hour and twenty minute line to ride Dumbo because there was no fast pass, and dernit, it's a classic!

We stopped for ice cream on the way out thinking that there may be some revival, but alas, it was not enough, so we called it a day.

We went to dinner "off property" because the last thing we wanted to do was wait in another line, so we checked out a restaurant recommended by my cousin: Cafe Tu Tu Tango. We used to have one of these in Atlanta, but it was lost in the great demise of Buckhead. It was just what we needed: immediate seating; tapas that came out as they were ready, so we didn't have to wait long at all; good food; good service. And, there was even a belly dancer!

Stay tuned. More recap posts on the way...