March 11th, 2009 - WDW Day 7

Contrary to any plans and even backup plans we might have had, the second to last day of our trip was deemed a Magic Kingdom day, for the most part. There were still so many things we could do there, and it was a doable (albeit not simple) trip without transferring out of the stroller.

We woke up, got ready to take on the day, and headed to the International Gateway. After a quick visit with our favorite CM Cynthia, we headed through the park to the exit. When we reached the Fountainview Cafe (or whatever it is now... bakery?), I was finally able to get a fork and enjoy my chocolate Mickey Cake from the Boardwalk Bakery (breakfast keeps getting less healthy by the day.... ). It was spectacular, even half-melted! We exited the park as most people were just heading in, and the girls napped almost the whole way. This is why we take "the long way"

After a quick dart into the Emporium where I finally found a shirt I had been trying to track down in the right size, we hit Fantasyland. We picked up a FP for Peter Pan and rode Dumbo.

Somehow, it was already nearing lunch time! We ate in Pinocchio's Village Haus, despite it not being our favorite (by any stretch of the imagination), because it was right there and it was time to eat :-P. It actually was better than we had remembered!

When we got our receipt from Pinocchio's, we saw we still had 5 Counter Service credits left. Huh? After some conversation, we realized that we had "made up for" being one CS credit short (since it goes on nights, not days, of vacation) by paying OOP at the Spoodle's Pizza Window, but had also "made up for" it by not eating a CS meal on race day. And by splitting a meal during the 3:00 Parade. Whoops! We also had 11 snack credits left, which we NEVER have a problem getting rid of. We decided that it was no wonder we had commented on feeling notably less "stuffed" than we had on previous trips... we had been eating normally, and not DDP-style!

After lunch, we rode and enjoyed Peter Pan's Flight, though I can't for the life of me understand why the lines are always as long as they are. I like it, but it's certainly not my favorite dark ride, and yet EVERY time the lines are significantly longer than the rest. But I digress...

We skipped to Adventureland (not literally) to see about the Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise, but the lines had already gotten pretty long. There was no wait for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, so we rode those instead. Let me just say forget DVC! This might be Disney's best kept secret! I'm not about to replace anything on my list of my favorite rides, but they are WAY cooler than Dumbo, for all the hype that elephant gets!

The girls were getting quite sleepy at this point, so we put them back in the stroller and did a few Treasure Hunt questions before starting toward the exit. We stopped for our last Dole Whip, and sat in the shade while the girls slept. Have you ever noticed the "porches" above Aloha Isle and the adjacent buildings? They are very sweet, and I most definitely want to sit up there sometime and enjoy the view. Not that you can, but you know, on one of those hypothetical "If you could sit anywhere in the Magic Kingdom for an afternoon ... ?" type questions.

We caught part of the "Move It, Shake It... Party" as we were leaving, which looks very cute. Perhaps we'll have to schedule it in our October trip, when the girls are a bit bigger!

We said a sad goodbye to the Magic Kingdom as the girls slept (too sad to admit we were leaving, I'm sure! ) and boarded the monorail to start our long journey back home. {Can I add, by the way, that EVERY time we rode the monorail this trip it smelled like urine? Odd. And a bit disturbing. But mostly frustrating, because EVERY time I panicked that we must have forgotten to change the girls any time recently, which was never the case. Really weird.}

Back in Epcot, Zach walked quickly ahead to grab a Crepe from France. We weren't the least bit hungry, but kept forgetting that we wanted to try one - and had the credits to spare! We caught up with him and boy, am I glad we got the thing. It was heavenly!

When we reached the hotel room, the girls went down almost immediately for a nap, while Zach and I started the never-pleasant task of packing

It had been our plan to take the girls to the beach (in front of the Beach Club/Yacht Club) sometime during this trip, but it hadn't happened yet. We thought that we figured out the PERFECT opportunity! Before dinner tonight, we would put on the absolutely adorable outfits and do a little photoshoot!

So the girls picked this afternoon to sleep for over 2 hours. Well, I thought, the white balcony might do?

An improvisation sure, but still a very sweet result!

We finished our photo session and changed quickly to make our dinner reservations at the Studios. We had purchased a Fantasmic Dining Package when we heard the show was going down to (then) two times/week, and just decided to keep the reservation even though we knew we wouldn't be able to enjoy the show. () We enjoyed our meal at Mama Melrose just fine, and even got to try an appetizer (each) because of the dining package. Boy, as great as that was when the dining plan first started, talk about a lot of food! I had forgotten!

During dinner we "planned" (very loosely) our next several trips (you have to, you know, with DVC and APs! Or at least, we justify it as such.... ). We also talked with a very sweet family from Toronto, with whom we shared our Reserved Seating pass. It was their first trip and the boys were very excited to see it, so hopefully they were able to enjoy it as much as we usually do!

Since it was still early, we ALL headed to DTD. Via car. Together. We picked up "Create Your Own" treats at Goofy's to enjoy later (YUM!), looked for some good books that we didn't already own (I'm a little obsessed, to say the least, with Children's books), and picked out our last 2 pins (the girls' first!).

The girls went down like angels in the evening, and Zach and I set back to packing (what we could do quietly, and in the somewhat dark room). Despite the first day feeling long enough for ANY vacation, our last day had come and we were absolutely not ready to return home!

Next: March 12th, 2009 - WDW Day 8

March 10th, 2009 - WDW Day 6

Well, today is (was) the day! The story behind the "Are you 23?" promotion was going to be announced, and we were actually on property for "the big reveal"!

Too bad some of the CMs didn't even know what it was, for at least half the day. Apparently we would have done better finding out by NOT being in the land of the mouse, because I had to call home to find out what it was all about. Talk about a let down! (Not the actual concept, which I find intriguing, but the excitement of actually finding out what it was )

Anyway, on to what actually did happen on property that day...

At about 6am, I was wide awake and realized that the girls hadn't so much as made a peep. They didn't even have their usual 20-minute conversation at 5am! Since they were still sleeping soundly, I got up and got ready and went for a walk on the sleepy (and still cold!) boardwalk. I ate a chocolate chip croissant on a bench while I watched more motivated people than myself work out, including a group of college-aged men doing serious team training of some sort. Mmmm.... chocolate chip breakfast.

I brought my dear husband a mug of coffee like the charming wife I am, which is saying a lot considering I didn't even have the first clue how much of this or that to put in it. I hate coffee. HATE it, and he doesn't actually drink it all that often. Thus, the dilemma. He drank it though, so it was either tolerable or he is just sweet. Both are possible.

As I was walking back to the room, I saw two girls, seemingly sisters, doing carthweels on the perfectly manicured boardwalk lawn. At 7:00 in the morning. I realized how much I am looking forward to ALL of the memories we'll make on the trips to come, not just making a mad dash to ride Dumbo or experiencing Space Mountain for the first time, but just hanging out. Together.

I must admit, this was much more the speed of memory-making I had been anticipating when daydreaming about the current trip. ALL of our moods were improved when the girls didn't act like crazy babies!

So finally, after all of this about which I have rambled enough, we were ready to start our day We took a very nice stroll to the Studios, and got there about 20 minutes before the park opened.

Cast Members everywhere were begging people to audition for the American Idol Experience, but this just wasn't going to be the trip for that sort of thing! Besides, we had a long-overdue date with Buzz and Woody!

After the opening sequence, it seemed the entire crowd was headed toward Toy Story Mania. Still, thanks in large part to the remarkable set-up and efficiency on Disney's part (seriously -- SO impressed!), we had fastpasses in hand and were on after a 10-minute wait in the stand-by line. What a freaking awesome ride.

While waiting for our FP time to come up to ride again, we walked through the Journey into Narnia attraction. It was still early, so they let us go through with the stroller (shhh....) which was nice, since the girls needed a nap. They slept, I very much enjoyed the walk-through. I must admit I was a bit envious at the thought of the Pevensie children getting to shoot scenes all over the globe. Those are some seriously blessed little kiddos!

Zach and I both took another spin on TSM (without the girls this time, as they continued napping), and I was - yet again - the more accurate of the two of us. (We'll leave it at that.)

When Emmersyn and Hartley woke up, we headed to Woody's Photo Shootin' Gallery. As is often the case, I'm impressed with the things Disney put in place to entertain us as we waited to meet Buzz and Woody.

The girls loved this meet & greet despite being hungry and crabby. Once again, thank you, Cheerios.

We headed to the Backlot Express for lunch in search of the Chicken Fingers I had talked myself into the day before, but it wouldn't open until 11:30. (Ridiculous). To pass the time, we wandered the Streets of America and enjoyed what seemed to be MUCH lighter crowds (throughout the whole park) than we had encountered on previous days! All this, to discover that the Chicken Fingers I so fondly remembered had been replaced by much less tasty Chicken Nuggets. Sorry Addy They were still good, but it wasn't the CS experience I had been looking forward to. To top it off, where did all the dessert choices go at all of the restaurants? Not that ANYONE needs dessert with lunch, but if I'm going to get it while on the DDP, I prefer having more than 1 option. I'm sorry, 1 option + 1 sugar-free option.

It was also here that Emmersyn got her first french fry! Poor Hartley is just too sleepy at all the wrong times, no?

After lunch we headed over to see how the waits were for Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. Thanks to Rider Swapping, we had planned to use 1 FP for each of them and get to ride both, for the first time in AGES! It had literally been years since I had ridden RNR between being there repeatedly when it was closed, then being pregnant. For this reason, it clearly took precedence. Besides, the wait was only listed at 10 minutes!

True to form on this trip (one direction or another), the listed wait time was way off. I have no idea what happened, but we waited nearly 10 minutes to take off while sitting in our limo, and waited another 10 sitting in the limo before exiting. This was in addition to a line that, in and of itself, was about 20 minutes. So nearly an hour later, I rejoined Zach and the girls and we realized we wouldn't be able to do TOT. Zach rode RNR (much more quickly!) and we headed back to the hotel.

A few random BWV things I thought I'd pass along - if you're curious (especially as an owner, I might imagine), they painted all the trim, etc and cleaned the carpets while we were there. I'm not sure if anyone really wanted to know, but there it is

Also, and this is probably going to enlighten you all about nothing more than how slow we are, the carpet is so much fun! We had obviously seen the Mickeys that welcomed us every time we stepped off the elevator --

But it wasn't until about halfway through the trip that we noticed the other things mixed in the floral print. So cute!

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

... oh wait, which is me!

Apparently, I wasn't really meant to do DTD the way I would have liked on this trip. While Zach and the girls rested/napped (have you gathered that I don't nap? Or even really rest, for that matter, if I can help it! ), I planned to try yet again to make it back. For whatever reason, I was completely delusional that afternoon. I thought that somehow, the busses might provide a better opportunity to do so than trying to deal with parking again. I'm not sure why I would be so ignorant....

I know this is another one of those "to each their own" things, and that some of you wouldn't be caught dead driving on your vacation. I, however, loathe the busses. I hate waiting on someone else to get me where I want to go. I hate the fact that there's no set schedule. I hate wondering if you'll get a seat (not that it even usually matters), lugging all your stuff around instead of having it sit nicely in its own place in the car, etc. On my solo trip in 2007, I was forced to ride the busses because the penalty for renting a car "under age" () would have been more than the car rental itself. I had more than ample opportunity to confirm that my hatred is real, and yet there I found myself, waiting on the bus.

And waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

I kid you not, and I know this to be true because I talked to my mom on the phone the entire time I was waiting and the call log doesn't lie, I waited FORTY-NINE minutes for the DTD bus to arrive. FORTY-NINE. FORTY-NINE! I have no idea what happened, but that is never acceptable. What is it, a few miles? I could have walked!

Once on the bus, we went TO Downtown Disney, FROM the Boardwalk, VIA...... wait for it.... the Magic Kingdom! No roads were closed, no explanation given. We just went the scenic route. Perhaps this is why it took close to an hour for the bus to make its initial appearance........?

Let me just say that a) I'm beyond thrilled that I didn't have the girls with me and b) the $10 I spent on a cab ride back was the best $10 I have EVER spent at WDW.

Thank you for letting me rant, that was nice

My time at DTD was enjoyable, productive, everything I needed it to be. I did well shopping, and then returned home to the happiest babies I could have asked for! We played for a little while and then got ready for dinner. We were meeting John (from Owner's Locker) in France that evening afterwards, so of course the girls had to change into their Marie dresses! So sweet, if I do say so myself

We enjoyed a lovely dinner outside at the Big River Grille & Brewing Works, and cracked up as the girls (especially Hartley) stared everyone down that walked by on the Boardwalk. People-watch much?

They also enjoyed the birds, when we were safe under the canopy and didn't have them swooping onto our heads!

After dinner we went on a Treasure Hunt in Morocco and Japan, before it was time to meet up with John.

We had a wonderful time meeting him and several other OL families... such a nice gesture on their part! We can't say enough great things about them in general, and our experience with the Locker in particular. I would highly recommend it to anyone who frequents WDW, especially if you fly. And no, nobody is paying me to say that.

When we got back to the room, the four of us played and cuddled on the bed, and we talked and talked about future trips. After the girls went to sleep (easily, I might add) Zach and I finished the night lamenting (a little bit) about how little time was left, and savoring the remaining minutes of another lovely day.

Next: March 11th 2009 - WDW Day 7