May 10, 2011: WDW Day 8

Because someone made a super early breakfast reservation immediately following a super late night, we were up well before the sun. I was up even earlier, fighting with the airline check-in lady at WDW, and by about 715 we were up at the Carriage House checking our luggage for our flight (with no trouble - as I had told her. When will people understand that I'm usually right in WDW?! ;)). We were at the TTC by 7:30 and in the park just a few minutes before 8.

We grabbed a picture (or 12, loved the photopass chica there!) in front of Cindy's castle before heading over to Crystal Palace for our reservation. I have to say, other than Tigger, the character interaction here was bad. And we're never totally sold on breakfast buffets for our family, so it will once again be a while before we do breakfast here. The girls enjoyed it though, a fact for which I have very little evidence because I had some sort of issue with my camera, apparently. Did I mention manual settings for 75+% of this trip? Well this particular morning it was on auto, so I have no idea what happened or who/what to blame. But you'll just have to take my word for it, Emmersyn and Hartley liked the food, liked the characters ok, and loved getting Piglet's and Eeyore's autographs to round out their Pooh & friends set. :)

After breakfast, we waited just a few minutes for Tiana and Naveen to arrive, which made the girls' day. We hadn't met them before, and they were downright charming. For real. And we already knew their costumes are gorgeous. (Apparently, they made my day, too?)

We also rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and "it's a small world" again before it was time to head to the Harmony Barbershop for ... drumroll, please... first haircuts!

The girls were so, so good - and adorable. We chose to send Emmersyn first, because we know our kids and how Hartley's anxiety works. She was awesome, and really seemed to have a great time. :)

When the neighboring stylist (in a barbershop?) was finished it was Hartley's turn, but she - quite humorously - opted to wait for Ivette, because Emmersyn had already tested those waters. That was fine with us, and with the staff, and with the people waiting behind us, I'm sure. When Emmersyn was finished, it was Hartley's turn. At which point she changed her mind ;) ... but we avoided a meltdown thanks to Ms. Minnie Mouse herself. Or, rather, a replica of her that does a great dance. Literally.

Hartley was fixated with this toy and sort of enjoyed her haircut (what she noticed of it), but even once she had to give up the toy she was quite proud of how brave she had been and how beautiful she - and her sparkles - looked when it was all said and done!

They each got "First Haircut" ears (which they now get to play with in their dress-up boxes) and certificates, and I have to say it was every bit as great as I thought it was going to be -- and well worth the wait to time it with one of our trips!

As promised, Emmersyn and Hartley had lunch at Cosmic Ray's ("The Sonny Eclipse restaurant") though Zach and I were hardly ready to eat after our buffet breakfast just a few hours earlier. I'll never argue with that place though, if for no other reason(s) than to watch the girls dance and hear the surprisingly sweet ballad, "Bright Little Star", in the middle of Sonny's otherwise corny show.

While the girls napped, Zach and I took turns on Haunted Mansion. We usually skip it and opted to ride this time to check out the new, interactive queue. It was cool enough, but the ride SERIOUSLY does nothing for me. I texted Zach throughout because, until the updated hitchhiking ghosts during the last 30 seconds, I was bored out of my mind. Hehe. To each his own!

Next I headed for a Dole Whip (that I didn't share with anyone!) while Zach rode Pirates of the Caribbean and wandered Adventureland a bit. I enjoyed relaxing in the shade near Aloha Isle in Adventureland, where I had just spotted one of the last people Emmersyn had been oh-so-desperate to see... and her surprise guest!

We were first in line, and the girls were thrilled to say hello to Ariel again... and meet Eric!

After we said our goodbyes to Ariel and her prince, we also said goodbye to Cinderella's Castle and the Magic Kingdom for this trip. Since we had the time, we were going to spend half a day each in the MK and in Epcot on our last day, which couldn't have been more perfect!

It was just before 3 when we got to Epcot, which meant we only had a few hours. We walked on Spaceship Earth which the girls always enjoy, but were disappointed to see not see Emmersyn in the special ending. For whatever reason her face missed the face-detection, and a clipart dude was in her place. She was totally bummed!

We ate at Sunshine Seasons for "Lunch #2" (aka Zach's and my lunch, but the girls found Lunch #2 sooooo funny!), hit up Club Cool for one last round of "girl pop", and spent a lot of time in Innoventions.

It was a seemingly unproductive afternoon at Epcot other than those few things and some time spent in Mouse Gears picking out the perfect souvenir for each girl, but it was perfect. We ended the day sitting here:

... and eating one of these:

There was dinner at McDonald's and a search for a gas station and a drive to an airport. There was a bit of a snafu checking the carseats for a few minutes, and then a trek through security. Those parts are never fun to remember, though, right?

Emmersyn and Hartley were excellent on the late flight (leaving at 9pm!), and fell asleep pretty quickly - as we had hoped they would, but never expected.

Eventually we made it home (very, very late), and then we waited a million-and-a-half years for the folks at the Dayton airport to give us our luggage, despite being the only people in the airport. You know, the norm there for baggage claim.

Since then, we've celebrated some birthdays, gone to Kings Island, gone to the Community Center, fought a lot, swam a little, and done a bunch of other things that I'm behind on sharing... but I promise I will. I needed to do this though, so I can get our photobook made and our memories "published", before they fade away.

Because, as always, we made great ones together.

December 6, 2011

May 9, 2011: WDW Day 7

Well, it had arrived -- our last full day. Of course, by leaving really late on departure day that meant less, since we had almost two full days still. Score! :)

As usual, the plans for the end of our trip had a lot of room for discussion. We had planned on doing Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom before dinner at the neighboring Polynesian Resort, but instead opted for a quick visit to the Animal Kingdom followed by lots of downtime at the hotel. But first things first...

At Animal Kingdom, it was an Extra Magic Hours day so we were in just before 8am. First, we had a great ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris (so decided to give away our Fastpasses instead of a second ride).

Next we headed over to Dinoland USA. We rode Triceratop Spin, Hartley got hurt walking (again. of course, right? poor girl! Counting down the months until dance class!), and finally it was time for the boneyard to open. If you recall (and I don't blame you if you don't), we've yet to check out this play area because it's always insanely crowded with rambunctious kids. That day though, since the park had literally just opened to most guests and they would be trampling one another for a Safari ride or trip on Expedition Everest, we shared the place with just a handful of others... and Emmersyn and Hartley loved it!

We took another walk through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, this time with two awake girls, and then headed in for the 10:30 showing of Finding Nemo: the Musical. We were so excited that the girls were finally going to get to see the show, just knowing they would love it! While Hartley was a bit nervous, they did both love it (after "skipping" just a moment or two at most!). And after all, what's not to love?! It was great to see it again after a several year break!

Before leaving the park we sat for lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue. As always we were joined by ducks pecking at our toes for food, but this time there was literally a crane or something stealing food off of tables when people weren't looking. Isn't there some sort of "bird in distress" call they can play or something in this particular area....? Just sayin'.

Lunch was delicious, but Hartley and Emmersyn were exhausted. We knew we'd have to keep them up until we got back to the hotel if we wanted any attempt at a nap, so it was time to bolt.

Back at Saratoga Springs, Zach and the girls went for a nap/walk while I packed and did laundry. It was a bit trickier than usual with the entire day ahead of us tomorrow after checking our luggage, but I was not about to complain about extra vacation time!

After the girls woke up, we went for a swim at the Congress Park quiet pool. Still (and I'm now writing this weeks later), that particular afternoon - and the nearby playground we ran out of time to use, the beautiful grounds, etc that we love so dearly about SSR - has me wondering if we made the right choice for our December reservation. I think we'll be back though, even after that, so I'm sure it's ok. ;) But I digress...

The swim was fun. A lot of fun. The girls were hilarious trying new tricks, and were incredibly brave - even moreso than a few nights earlier. This summer should be a blast!

Eventually (after a great, "down" afternoon - definitely the right choice!) it was time to get ready for dinner. We arrived at the Poly a bit early, so we took some time to walk around. I really do love that place! Who am I kidding? Apparently there is only one resort that I don't love, which is a pretty good track record for any vacation destination I'd say.

For the first time ever, we were checked in at Ohana and seated relatively quickly. Emmersyn and Hartley enjoyed the Coconut Race, though I do think they would have enjoyed the Maraca Shaka Parade even better if the timing would have worked out. It was going on just as we were finishing up, but still - dinner there is always wonderful, and it was even moreso with girls at such a fun age who really got into it - the singing and celebrating, the kids activities, the theming. Can't wait to try Aulani .... eventually! ;)

Stuffed and happy, we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the evening activities. We had a bit of time to kill so we checked out the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, where Emmersyn and Hartley were excited to hear their names called out with the first joke of the show! Next we rode the TTA, where Hartley belted out "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", making her Daddy and I quite proud.

Given the crowds, we had to get our parade spot a bit earlier than usual. Nobody minded though since it was so late (darn late sunsets!), and Hartley and Emmersyn especially loved playing while waiting for the parade to start. They loved it so much, in fact, that Emmersyn was nothing short of broken-hearted when it was time to give the "spinning hoops" back.

That didn't last long though, because parades at Disney World - especially the nighttime parades - have a way of cheering you up. Both girls smiled and waved nonstop at the floats, and loved the parade as much as the last time.

When it was through, we walked behind ("We're in the parade!") to secure our spot for Wishes, and the new castle show, "The Magic, the Memories, and You". Which, might I add, was really lame. I was so bummed... but Wishes didn't disappoint! And neither did the girls' headphones. :)

Getting home after the evenings festivities was a disaster (something about stupid Polynesian boats and even less useful CMs at the monorail station), but eventually we made it back. It was a magical night, but it was going to be a super short one, and a really, really early morning. Until then!

 

May 8, 2011: WDW Day 6

Happy Mother's Day to me! We had had a good night, a slow and enjoyable morning, and hopefully hadn't forgotten anything as we planned to be at Epcot for the entire day.

I tell you what, Disney World was the place to be on Mother's Day - almost as if it was a holiday that got a lot of attention! ;) I got doors held for me and first dibs at the mug station, all while dads and sons (after instruction) and Cast Members alike wished me a happy day. How sweet!

At Epcot, I got a "beautiful flower", and we waited in line for Rope Drop.

The girls had fun interacting with Mickey and friends before the countdown, and just after 9 we were in line at Character Connection to spend some more time with them.

Our next stop was Pixie Hollow to pay a visit to Tinker Bell and Terence. It took Emmersyn a little convincing that she was allowed to see Terence ("I'm not a boy to see him" :)), but both she and Hartley were awesome when it was their turn.

First, Hartley dashed up to them. "Oh, Terence," said Tink, "it looks like she's a little fast flyer! Did you see how quickly she flew up here? And now, she's so excited she can't keep her feet still!" "And what kind of talent do you have?" she said to Emmersyn.

"I don't know," Emmersyn replied shyly. "I think she might be a dust fairy like Terence, she has been using her pixie dust all week to make us fly!" I told them (it was true).

And then Tink let Emmersyn try on Terence's dust satchel - so, so fun! ("I don't have a dust satchel at home, but I can use my princess purse as pretend! It fits me!")

To our surprise, after seeing Tink and Terence both girls agreed without question that they also wanted to wait in line again for Rosetta and Vidia instead of going somewhere else.

Next, there was a request for Living with the Land again, so we hit that one more time before heading to World Showcase for lunch and naptime. We also rode "the Donald boat ride" (creative names Hartley comes up with, no? :)) and hung out in Mexico a few minutes.

Lunch was from Kringla in Norway, and was as delicious as we had remembered.... and we finished up just in time to catch Mulan! The girls were so excited, and I was just thrilled the crowds were starting to die down (for our last few days), making it possible. While the girls napped, Zach rode Maelstrom and we both took our turns riding Soarin'. Then we had an awesome naptime while the girls slept an hour and a half and we found lots of great spots to sit and relax in the shade and soak up our favorite places.

Once Hartley and Emmersyn woke up, we rode Journey Into Imagination w/Figment ("skipping" the blast, of course!), and played in the updated Imagination Pavilion. Then we enjoyed a double scoop snack from Fountainview. Since I have erased the memories of fighting with evil children, it sort of seems like each day was better than the last. It really was a great trip, and we still had a few days left!

We stopped at Club Cool for another round of "girl pop" (so cute :)), then listened to Off Kilter in Canada and rode across World Showcase Lagoon for fun and to kill some time. A little after 4, it was time to make Emmersyn's day. For about 24 hours now she had been asking to meet Aladdin and Jasmine. Unfortunately Aladdin was busy getting ready for the parade at the Magic Kingdom, but we made half of her wish come true! :)

 

(Might I add, by the way, that the girls' memories never cease to amaze me. Looking at the world showcase Lagoon they said, "That's where the fire goes before the fireworks show!", and immediately upon entering the Japan pavilion, "I want to go in the store and see the Hello Kitty toys!" Unreal!)

Dinner at Teppan Edo was pretty good. Honestly not any better than Benihana (which we already find a mediocre value) but the girls were intrigued enough. We did catch Myuki on the way out, and were so excited that the girls got to choose an animal for her to make!!

 

Unfortunately - I'm assuming due to our ridiculously litigous culture, but someone correct me if I'm wrong - she's not able to give them away any more, but the girls were happy enough to get pictures with them.

 

Then the perfect day ended. :) In the middle of an epic meltdown, Zach took the girls home while I walked to the beach club to pick up our photoshoot CD, watched part of the Davy Jones Flower Power concert which FINALLY lined up correctly with our trip(!), and watched Illuminations.

The bus ride back was exactly typical, and even though nothing went "wrong" it took almost an hour to get home and reminded me why I NEVER take busses in WDW. Ugh.

All in all though, an entire day and evening at my favorite place in the world leaves little to complain about.

 



 

May 7, 2011: WDW Day 5

So is our trip half over, or do we still have 4 days left? Yeah, the second half always goes quicker than the first. And the trip is never quite long enough... but it certainly was going well, other than some (truly) evil behavior from a little girl or two.

That Saturday morning, we were leaving a bit early for Extra Magic Hours on our only day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I was feeling a little bit of stress at the latter fact, but it was just the way the planning had worked out. It would be ok though, as it would be our most perfect DHS day to date - with everything just sort of working out, in a park where that doesn't often happen, at least not to us.

It didn't start out so perfectly though. As we were walking in (and thankfully not any later), we realized we had left the autograph books in the hotel room. Considering this is one of the best parks to see a few characters without much wait, this wasn't ok. Zach went back to get it (best Daddy ever), while the girls and I hung out inside. The plan was to get Toy Story fastpasses, etc but it just wasn't worth fighting the crowd at this particular park, with how little there was to do at this EMH with two not-yet-3-year-olds.

Thankfully Zach returned by about 810, so we had hardly sacrificed much of our park time. We said hello to Daisy and Donald (decked out for Hollywood), blew kisses to Minnie as she walked by for her break, and visited with Stitch. From there we headed over to the Animation Courtyard, where we also said hi to Handy Manny (and talked about our favorite tools) before hitting up Starring Rolls Bakery for our now-traditional, completely unhealthy Butterfinger Cupcake breakfast.

At least, that was the plan. But that was before my sweet little clumsy girl (remember the story about her ballerina mother? You do if you know us in real life!) did a faceplant on the cement and left us instead administering first aid, (quite literally) assessing whether her nose was broken or just otherwise bleeding and swelling, cleaning up my broken heart, etc. It was an awful, awful while. Two moments to smile about? Emmersyn's concern for me, and Hartley's reaction: "Oh no! I have red spit like Mama had!" Hilarious (now).

Thankfully she recovered - emotionally, at least - relatively quickly (and left us more confident nothing was broken), so we stuck around and continued our day with the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show. The girls were extremely brave, quite proud of themselves for "skipping" the dark parts. Yay, coping skills! :) As soon as it was over we hustled across the courtyard to the revised Playhouse Disney Disney Jr Live on Stage show, which the girls "looooooooved".

Finally, it was time for our cupcake.

Next we tried to play on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playset, but it was entirely too crowded. A recurring theme, I know. The girls were having a blast but they were ok to leave for Toy Story Mania when it was time for our fastpass. They loved "helping", though they were admittedly less than helpful. I even lost to Kyle in accuracy, which never happens in those games! I blame my driver, for sure.

Lunch was at Backlot Express, where the girls were stoked to get a big cup of Blue Juice (Powerade). After lunch they fell asleep immediately, which meant it was my cue for a round or two of the Animation Academy! Recognize these guys?

We had every intention of Zach giving it a shot this time too, but the girls just so happened to wake up just in time to catch the Beauty and the Beast stage show. We have wanted so badly to work this one in the last few trips, but the times offered are just never conducive to their schedules, even if it were our first priority. When Emmersyn and Hartley woke up at 1:50, we booked it to the show and found seats just in time. They loved it, as we knew they would!

After the show, we even found an available spot in the shade for the new Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun parade, beginning shortly thereafter. We had planned to swing back to Pixar Place for a visit with Buzz and Woody, but the day had gone too perfectly. Why tempt fate? :) Instead, we watched - and thoroughly enjoyed - the parade, and called it a day at the Studios.

After our nearly-perfect day at the Studios (you know, minus the autograph book snafu, and, oh yes, the potentially broken nose...), we headed over to Downtown Disney for some souvenir shopping. The girls had a lot of fun exploring, especially Once Upon a Toy.

We talked a lot about potential souvenir options, because we're pretty well caught up on things we've "always" gotten in the past - park DVDs, character figure play sets, Mr. Potato Head pieces, etc. We scoped out some options for our pins this trip, and Emmersyn and Hartley continued to pose for pictures anywhere they felt appropriate.

Eventually, it was time for our dinner reservation at Raglan Road. This was a new restaurant for us, but we had been eager to try it after hearing rave reviews the past several years. Let me just say, the Irish Soda bread and Guinness reduction dip won us over immediately. Our steak and mixed grill were also excellent, and the Thin Chips (with gorgonzola, truffle oil, parmesan, etc) were to die for. Dessert was pretty bad, actually, but the food was so delicious that even this sweet tooth left feeling satisfied. We'll definitely be back!

We stopped in the newly-expanded Lego store and would have loved to have played, but on a Saturday night especially, I'm sure, it was insanely crowded. There was hardly room to walk, let alone navigate the stroller and chase after our two increasingly tired girls. We didn't mind a quick walk-through anyway, as we had promised the girls some time in the splash fountains before we left and it was getting a bit late. Of course, we had forgotten the "good" fountain gets transformed into a dance floor for a kids' dance party (which the girls' were shockingly not that interested in!), and the other fountain they were very wary of. Fine with us, we weren't devastated by the prospect of NOT having to strip the girls down in the van, dealing with wet denim, etc.

Admittedly another half day or so at the Studios during this trip would have been ideal, but given that that didn't work out, we really couldn't have asked for a better result by the end of the day.

May 6, 2011: WDW Day 4

Now we were talking. We (even I!) had a GREAT night of sleep. Six plus two hours, with just a 30-minute "trouble spot". We got ready for our photoshoot in plenty of time, with no drama. It was a good morning :)

We met our photographer, Shannon, at the Beach Club. She was very sweet, and we had a session twice as long as we were supposed to. The girls were fairly cooperative, despite Hartley's goofy smiles at first. Once she stopped trying so hard, though, we all had fun. Our favorite part was discovering the "snow" (or, rather, sand :)), that at first freaked the girls out. Apparently they had forgotten their previous experience (not that they loved it then), but they quickly got over it and had a blast playing.

After our shoot, we had made a decision to forgo our plan for Epcot that morning to take things slower. Since it's my favorite park and I never feel like I have enough time there I sort of had palpitations doing so ;) but it was totally the right decision. We went back to the hotel for a little while, got ready for the day, and headed to Animal Kingdom later that morning.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) because we still can't change our wiring and can't just sit around watching TV or twiddling our thumbs on vacation, we were actually there not long after the park opened anyway. Oh, well! More time for things we usually have to skip :)

We wandered in, took a few pictures, played at the Kids Discovery Station, and waited for the 11am Festival of the Lion King show. The girls loved it as always, and even on the dark and admittedly pretty scary "Be Prepared" number, there was just a bit of timidity - not so much as a single tear.

After the show (during which it apparently had rained), we had lunch at Yak & Yeti under a nice umbrella table while it drizzled enough to get us wet but not quite enough to cool it off or thin out the crowds. Still, in between the showers the sun was shining and at least it wasn't cold! :)

The girls napped right around 1 (without a fight!), while Zach and I walked on Everest via the single rider line, and walked around Asia. It cracks me up that they can sleep right here:

 

Emmersyn and Hartley woke up right around the 1-hour mark as always, and we finished Pangani Forest Exploration Trail as they were waking up. At about 3 we got our usual spot for the parade and munched on some Cinnamon Almonds. The girls were absolutely in awe of Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. It had been quite a while since they had seen it, and they couldn't get enough!

 

After the parade we had just enough time to get over to Rafiki's Planet Watch before it closed.  Hartley was stoked to see Rafiki and Jiminy Crickiet, Emmersyn not so much. (Seriously? 5th trip, and NOW she's shy?)

... but they both loved Pocahontas!

For two weeks prior to our trip though, they had been talking about the petting zoo ("Affection Section"), so that's where we headed next. They loved brushing the goats, petting the sheep (which was very soft after a recent haircut! "Like I'm going to get a haircut!" says Hartley.) We also looked at skeletons and skins, vet offices and labs, etc before returning on the train back to Africa around 5pm.

Dinner was at Tusker House, and once again it did not disappoint. The variety of food is so great (and some unique things we love), but we also love the service, the less-crowded, more-spacious setup, the atmosphere - it remains highly recommended in this family!

Since Hartley and Emmersyn were still in great moods, we went for a swim in High Rock Springs pool and did some laundry. The girls were so great in the pool, and we had so much fun. At first they were a little scared (duh), but in no time at all they were doing all sorts of "tricks" -- some much more, um, real than others. Really though, they were going under water, going down the slide by themselves - we were pretty impressed considering they didn't even want to get in the splash fountains the first few minutes of the visit!

After just over an hour, it was time to head in for the night. Even washing hair and doing our nighttime routine as quickly as possible, we weren't in bed until shortly after 9pm. The girls fell asleep in record time though, and a late bedtime was certainly worth our time together in the pool. And the parks. And on the beach. *sigh* Vacation is great.