The Juice Box

Tomorrow is my son's first day of Kindergarten. I can remember how it felt to hold him in my arms in the hospital, looking at his tiny, perfect face, but suddenly we are here.

Kindergarten.

Like a good little Type-A parent, I have exhaustively studied bus schedules and lunch menus, planned afterschool activities, and plotted every moment of Wednesday like an intricate dance, who will pick up, drop off, meet here, collect there. I've practically earned college credits in "Kindergarten Prep", so adamant am I that nothing will go wrong for my little man on his first day of school. In order to be on time for the big yellow school bus, I will lay out everything the night before: clothes, lunches, backpack. I will be prepared, because he is my baby, and I am his Mommy, and he is going to Kindergarten.

Planning out his lunch was easy. Yogurt, granola bar, scooby snacks, lots of little things to choose from, so he wouldn't go hungry in the big cafeteria, or need to figure out how to order a hot lunch on the first day. Lots of things that are his favorites, so he will feel comforted and loved in his new school, with the new kids, and the new teacher. And of course, a juice box, because that is what the big kids drink at Kindergarten.

Except there are no juice boxes in the fridge. I am standing in the door of the refrigerator, moving boxes and cartons and tupperware, faster and faster because there has got to be a juice box. How can we not have any juice boxes? For the love of God, where are all the juice boxes?! I finally unearth a lone box, slightly crushed and with no straw. It's the only thing I can find.

And I start to cry.

I am his Mommy, and it's my job to make him ready for this day, to give him everything he needs when he walks through that door, and I can't even give him a juice box. How will he know where to get a drink, we haven't set up his account yet for him to buy milk, he's got a bit of a cough, what if he gets a tickle in his throat? How could I have spent all that time reading and planning and preparing, and not even remembered a simple juice box? It feels like the worst thing in the world right now. I am the worst parent in the world right now. I don't even have a juice box to give my baby on his first day of Kindergarten.

My husband, ever the fixer, immediately starts making suggestions. We can find another straw. We can go to the store in the morning and get new juice boxes before the bus drops him off. We can send him with a bottle of water. In the end, I decide I will do them all, because it's the only thing I can do. I won't be able to stay in the classroom, or make the kids play with him, or make him like his teacher and feel happy, and make him learn what he'll need to, and tie his shoes and help him use the potty, and kiss him if he falls down and hurts himself, and give him a hug for good measure.

Instead, come hell or high water, I will get him a juice box.

Leaving Florida

Man, never again will I attempt a trip report. Too much for me, and to escape the overhanging obligation to finish, I abandoned the ol' blog yet again. Suffice it to say, we made it out alive, and moved on to many other things :)

Day 6: Into the Boneyard

After a busy morning at Epcot, we had a low-key afternoon planned. In my continuing quest for new things at Disney, we were tackling another parade, this time at Animal Kingdom. I have often heard that this is one of the best parades at DW, so I was VERY excited. As we headed through the gates, we saw Timon, a "friend" that Griffin had made while watching the Festival of the Lion King.

We had a little bit of time to kill before setting in for the parade, so we decided to be gluttons for punishment, and take Griffin into the Animal Kingdom playground, the Boneyard. Why do we never learn our lesson?

The Boneyard is themed as an archaeological dig, with rope and net bridges, jeeps, sand to dig, and tons of tunnels and slides. I am not in love with letting Griffin play in crowded places where I can't necessarily see him all the time, but I figured we could manage as long as he stayed in the netted areas. That lasted approximately 30 seconds, at which point he discovered the end of a crazy slide protruding from the rock face. The construction of said slide was through the wall, which meant that I could not see, from the end of the slide, where the start was. A helpful mom pointed out the stairs to climb up, on the opposite side of the park. Griffin was begging and pleading to go on the slide, but I was at an impasse. If I walked with him to the top of the slide, I would not be able to see where and when he came out. If I stayed at the bottom, I could not be 100% sure that he would make it to the top.

In the end, I compromised by walking him about halfway to the stairs, watching him as far as I could see, and then running back to the end of the slide to wait and pray that he came down. After 5 full minutes of waiting for him to emerge, I was really starting to panic, craning my head to try and see the stairs, and wondering what had ever possessed me to allow this in the first place. The helpful mom from earlier said "Is yours in the Buzz Lightyear shirt? He came down another slide a few minutes ago, and ran back over to the stairs."

WHAT?!

Apparently, there were multiple slides available, and with no way of knowing where he would finally appear, I jogged back and forth among the four slides that I could see. Finally, my little Buzz Lightyear wearing devil emerged. I scooped him up, and carried him right the heck out of there. My nerves could not take it another minute.

Really, Disney, I love you, but what would possess you to make a playground like that?

After the trauma of yet another "cool" playground, it was time for the parade! Grammy had staked out a nice little viewing area for us, with a great view of the celebration. This truly was incredible. Rather than motorized floats, each "animal" that marched past was a giant puppet, walked or biked by a person through the streets. Hard to describe, but really amazing, and totally worth the trip into the park. For someone who is not a "parade" person, I really loved both of them.

And then it was time to go home and get some rest, and get ready for our LAST DAY at Disney World.

Day 6: Now, with PIctures!

After a nice, early night, we were all raring to go nice and early for our Extra Magic Hours at Epcot. As I may (or may not) have mentioned, EMH are a special perk that allows Disney resort guests to enter the parks earlier, or stay later, than garden variety tourists. Poor Uncle Matt! We were out of our room by 7:30 AM, and at the Epcot gates 10 minutes later.

My number one goal was to get Griffin onto Test Track, a super fast, super cool car ride. The last time we ventured down, he was 2, and 6 inches too short. This time, he was 4 years old, and a physician verified 40 inches tall. That would be our first stop.Well...technically, my brother and Ted would run over to Soaring to secure Fast Passes for my parents and brother to ride, and to Mission Space for the two of them to ride.

As Molly would be too little to ride the Test Track, I knew she and I would have some time to kill, so we moseyed over to a coffee cart to get Mommy an iced coffee (and a giant M&M cookie, if we're being totally honest. Vacation!!). While in line, Molly decided to play a quick game of "Shoes and Socks Off" (also known as "Piggies in the Car"). As I fantasized about my imminent caffeine fix, I had no idea that the folks behind me were trying to point out Molly's fallen sock. Apparently, they determined that the reason I wasn't responding was because I didn't speak English, so they tapped me on the shoulder, and did a wonderful pantomime while shouting "SOCK!" Hee.

Once we got that straightened out, it was off to Test Track to wait for the gang to finish. I shared my cookie with Molly (vacation!), and watched her scoot around, looking adorable.

Griffin came off the ride with a huge smile on his face, and I asked if he wanted to go again with me. He agreed to show me how it was done, and I caught this as we started out:

After everyone had their fill of Test Track, we split up into smaller groups, allowing Ted and I to sneak onto Soarin. We met up again outside a place called the Character Connection, which was set to open in 10 minutes. As it sounds, Character Connection is a place where people go to find all kinds of Disney characters. I thought that it would present a great opportunity to catch up on some of my missed photo ops from earlier in the trip.

Grammy, Poppy, Molly and I all settled down to wait, while mean Ted and mean Uncle Matt took Griffin for a Disney Rite of Passage: Beverly. There is a small shop in Epcot that allows you to taste free samples of Coke products from around the world, and the Italian soda, Beverly, is quite famous for it's strong, bitter, liquid aspirin taste. The Rite: Tempt some poor newbie into tasting Beverly, while you film it for posterity. I was happy to skip the ritual this time, especially since both grown men taped it.

They returned just in time to hit Character Connection, where Molly was able to grope everyone's nose, and Griffin was able to give all of his "friends" a big hug:

If my muddled memory serves, Grammy and Molly went shopping while the rest of us went to ride "Maelstrom", a fun, if strange, jaunt through Norwegian history and folklore. While waiting to reunite, Griffin said "Mommy, take pictures of me making funny faces!" Done:

Day 5: Who Knew Drill Sergeants Were So Much Fun?

When in Disney, there are generally a couple of times when it's universally accepted that there will be few lines: first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and during the parade. As a result, I've never really watched a lot of parades at Disney World. There are people that sit down on the sidewalk and wait for an hour to get a good spot, but that's never been me.

On this vacation, I decided it was important to me to try some things I'd never done before, so parades went on my list. I thought the kids might really enjoy it, and even if I hated them, at least I was hating them in the Florida sunshine. With that in mind, we headed into the Disney Hollywood Studios on the afternoon of Day 5 to catch the "Block Party Bash".

We were cutting it a bit close to the start of the parade, and people we already lined up on the sidewalks in anticipation. We grabbed a map, and tried to figure out where we should be. Having never done this before, I decided that we should go to the very end of the parade route, and then we'd be sure to see everything as it went by. We grabbed a bench near the "Star Wars" area, and started to wait out the last few minutes. Thank goodness a friendly cast member walking by mentioned that the Block Party was not really a parade in the traditional sense, and that if we stayed where we were we would miss the whole thing.

Thank you, Anonymous Cast Member! Your tip allowed us to move down the street and grab a spot in the midst of the action. Instead of travelling continuously, the parade floats stopped, and all kinds of dancers and acrobats and performers took to the street. The music was pumping, and Griffin felt the urge to DANCE! He let loose and boogied to the disco classics pumping out of the speakers. If I was more technologically inclined than I am, I would include a clip of the video, because you know I didn't get any pictures!

The Block Party was "directed" by one of the little green Army men from Toy Story, and he was a hoot! Cracking jokes, ordering people to shake their rumps. It was delightful, although he looked VERY sweaty in his green makeup. I thought it was so cool that we were standing right next to the guy directing the whole thing, until the party packed up and moved on. I realized that each float had it's own Army man, and we were not quite as special as we thought.

After the parade, we experienced the sheer, unmitigated nightmare that is the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground. In theory, what could be more fun? The set of the classic 80's movie turned into a fun playground for kids! The reality: pure terror. This playground has tunnels and caves and multiple entrances and exits to each section, allowing children to disappear into its depths with no way for a parent to know where they would emerge. In a word, hell.

Ted took Griffin into the playground in good faith. Griffin quickly banded together with a group of other children, all of whom realized how much fun it was to HIDE from their parents inside. My poor husband had to band together with other parents in order to herd the children into a manageable space and separate them.

After the trauma of the playground, we just went home and went to bed!

Day 5: Mouse at the Table

Ah, Day 5. I remember you fondly, because it was our "sleep in" day. Instead of waking up early and hustling to a park, we would have a leisurely morning, and a delicious breakfast at Chef Mickey's, in the Contemporary Resort.

The cool thing about Chef Mickey's is that it's a character breakfast, so while you eat your Mickey-shaped waffles, characters come to your table to say hi and pose for pictures. Chef Mickey's has the old school Disney gang: Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and the man himself, Mickey Mouse. What a great way to relax, and meet the characters in style!

Now, any parent of small children will probably agree that meal times can be...somewhat less than relaxing: cutting food, answering questions, refilling drinks, getting new food, assuring each child that their sibling does NOT have something better on their plate, and of course, trying to get a bite of your own breakfast into your mouth. Add five roaming characters into that mix, and you have your answer as to why I only ended up taking one photo:

In fact, I came back from my first pass at the buffet to find that the Big Cheese had already been there! And I missed it! What you can't see in this photo is the "paparazzi gallery" consisting of my parents, my brother, and my husband. Though my own camera skills failed, we have LOTS of video documentation.

After breakfast, we took a spin on the monorail, then headed over to Downtown Disney for a little bit of shopping. One of the fun things about DD is the Lego store, and it's larger than life Lego sculptures. Molly, my little dog lover, found the lifesized Lego dog statues to be particularly captivating:

Finally, we had made reservations at a restaurant called DINOSAUR for later in the week, and Ted took Griffin over to check it out:

Day 4 Continued: It's a Wash!

One of the benefits of visiting Disney World in January is that nightfall comes at a reasonable hour, which means that the fireworks shows are at 8:00 PM instead of 10:00 PM. Wishes, the fireworks extravaganza at the Magic Kingdom, is truly spectacular. I knew that Griffin would be dazzled, and I wanted to plan one night at the Magic Kingdom where we could watch it together. Day 4 was that night.

On the spread sheet.

In real life, the weather up to day 4 was hot and slightly humid. We knew it had to break sometime, and it broke on our way into the Magic Kingdom on Wishes evening. Literally, we had no sooner walked into MK, when the skies opened up and the rains came down. What started as a moderate sprinkling turned rapidly into buckets of "liquid sunshine" dumping all over us. We ran into the first place we saw, the Monsters Inc show, to make a plan. The plan: go to the Monsters Inc show (hey, I never said it was a brilliant plan!).

After the show, we had a quick "huddle" to decide what to do. I had some ponchos, which were basically clear plastic garbage bags with hoods, and Molly had her "bubble", a plastic rain guard that enclosed the front of her stroller. I was not confident enough in the protection of the ponchos and bubble to keep the kids in the park, especially since there were rumors that the fireworks show was going to be cancelled anyway. It was decided that Ted, the kids, and I would head back to the room with my mom, and my dad and brother would stay and brave the rain.

It was a disappointing end to my magical Wishes plan, but fortunately I know that we'll be back again, and maybe bext time Molly will be able to stay awake and enjoy it too.

Day 4: Hakuna Matata!

This is one of those days that would have really benefitted from me completing my trip report a little bit closer to the trip. When I look at the days spread sheet entry, I can tell you that we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom in the morning. When I try to think back to what we did and when we did it, it gets a bit fuzzy.

I know for sure that we did the safari, because there was a giraffe with anger management issues that tried to storm our "jeep", much to the kids' delight. I know for sure that we did NOT do Expedition Everest, because it was closed when we ran over there. I know for sure that we saw the Festival of the Lion King, because it's my favorite show on property, and I would have stamped my feet and cried if we didn't get to see it.

Surprisingly, we went into the Tree of Life to watch It's Tough to Be a Bug. I really thought that we were going to skip it, because it can be a bit unsettling for kids who don't know what's coming. However, we talked to Griffin about the show, and told him a bit about what would happen, and he decided he wanted to try. And he really loved it, so what do I know?!

Day 3 Addendum

So, I just looked at the spread sheet schedule of our trip (yes I make one every time, and if you laugh it's at your own risk!), and I forgot to mention that we ended the day at MGM with a trip to one of our favorite Disney Restaurants: Prime Time Cafe. For the second time in as many family trips, I was force-fed vegetables by the waitstaff. More importantly, Griffin had his first chocolate shake!

We also spent some time at the hotel playground, where I actually dusted off the camera and took a few photos:

Day 3 Continued: Happy Birthday, Boys!

I should probably mention that Day 3 was my dad's birthday. Since my brother's birthday was but a few short days after the end of our trip, we planned a joint birthday celebration for Saturday night. No parks, no navigating, just a nice dinner with the family in our beautiful villa.

My mother whipped up some lasagna and a nice salad, and we sat down and toasted the birthday boys. The finale was an amazing "Haunted Manion" themed cake that my mother had special-ordered from one of the Disney bakeries. The cake itself was incredible, with panels that mimicked the wallpaper of the Haunted Mansion, and a delicious edible chocolate coffin on top. If you think I got pictures of the cake...you obviously have not been paying attention. I know my mom got some pictures (and for what she probably paid for the cake, she should get an freaking autographed picture with the baker and Mickey Mouse!), but alas, I have none. So you'll just have to take my word that it was wonderful!

While Ted and I got the kiddos to bed, my mother and brother went to the quaintly named "Community Hall" to see what board games might be available for us to play. In my family, board games can be a blood sport, so I was a little nervous to see what they'd come back with. What I did not expect was the Indiana Jones-themed Game of Life. In my innocence, I had no idea that there was an entire subculture of board games devoted to Indiana Jones.

I have some experience with the Game of Life, which is a pretty straightforward spin the wheel, read the card sort of game. Unless you are playing the Indiana Jones-themed version, who's Byzantine rules were excavated and translated by Indiana Jones himself. Quite seriously, it took the four adults and Matt (heh) 45 minutes to puzzle out the rules of play. We did have a lot of fun playing, even though everyone stole my relics and my money and beat me soundly.

Not that I hold a grudge!

Day 3: Go Go, Power Rangers!

Poor Uncle Matt. Still on California time, and faced with Extra Magic Hours, he was forced to get up at the equivalent of 4 AM. It was no mellow wakeup either, with his neice and nephew hopping and popping all over the place. He was a trooper, for sure.

This morning brings us to Disney Hollywood Studios, which Griffin had been waiting for ever since he found out that the Power Rangers lived here, and frequently made "personal appearances". Before we would get to meet the Rangers, we needed to make a plan for Toy Story Mania. I mentioned earlier that if you want to do Dumbo without a long wait, you have to do it first. This goes triple for Midway Mania, which is one of the newest rides in the World, and the only ride I was unable to hit on my solo adventure. In a nutshell, our plan was "Follow the crowd to Toy Story, and pray we don't have to wait an hour".

We did not need to wait an hour, but we did wait for awhile, enjoying the ambiance of being tiny people in a world of oversized toys. Before long, we got our 3D glasses, and got ready to board our car. The idea behind the ride is that it is a 3D shooting gallery, and each person gets their own little shooter. Uncle Matt and I were seated side by side, with Molly on my lap. This put me at a disadvantage, game-wise, as Molly desperately wanted to play too. She would grab my gun's pullstring and hold it as tightly as she could (just like she saw me doing), making it impossible for me to use the gun to hit the targets. Oh well, I still got a higher score than my mom :)

*****The first 3 paragraphs were written in early February. It's now early April, and I can't pretend that I can remember the details of the trip the way I could in February. Trip report fail!****
I was a little nervous about taking Molly to Disney World at such a young age, wondering if we were really biting off more than we could chew. My fears were mostly unfounded, as she rolled with everything Disney could throw at her, and more. The one true breakdown I can remember happened on "Power Ranger Morning". We were making our way over to the place where the You Know Who's are known to show up, and we saw Lightning McQueen and Mater posing for pictures with practically no line. Even though Griff is basically over his "Cars" phase, he still wanted to say hello, so Ted gamely got in line.

Poor Molly did not want to wait in line. She wanted to head straight to LMcQ, and no mistake. The only thing standing between the baby and her goal was two Photopass photographers, 20 other visitors, and me. When I tried valiantly to keep her from plowing straight through the crowd, she turned all the fury her little body could muster, and shrieked! Loudly, and endlessly, until I physically picked her up, held her down and strapped her into her stroller, at which point she almost instantly...fell asleep. Poor baby!

Because of the rage-nap, Molly missed the Power rangers entirely. Griffin, however, was first in line to meet the yellow PR, who gave him a huge hug, and posed for numerous pictures. By the second meet and greet, I had caught on to the Rangers' M.O. They would pose the visiting child into some sort of ninja-style crime fighting pose, and then bust out an identical pose, usually with a corresponding musical cue. BAM!

Needless to say, our boy was in heaven, although surprisingly shy with the Rangers. Here are some of the radical, crime-fighting, ninja style poses we saw that day:

Day 2 Continued: Why the Navigator Should Always Wear His Glasses!

Upon our return the room, the kids napped, and the adults quietly heckled golfers from our balcony. Just the kind of quietly refreshing afternoon we needed to get us ready for a fun evening at Epcot.

As mentioned, my sainted husband was the designated driver for the group, my beloved dad in the navigator seat. The entire Disney complex is very well signed, made to assist hapless tourists in navigating the World. However, signs are only helpful when folks have the appropriate vision correction devices, so once again the chorus of backseat drivers chimed in "helpfully". Between the GPS, the Google Maps application on my iPhone, and the street signs, we finally washed up at Epcot.

Travelling with a one and four year old, our Disney nights were not destined to be crazy. This night was no different. We all rode Spaceship Earth together, then Grammy and Poppy and I took the kids over to "find Nemo". Afterwards, while we waited for Ted and Uncle Matt to finish their "Mission: Space", Griffin and Molly checked out the fish and manatees in the aquarium. They also climbed inside Bruce the Shark's mouth for what should have been the perfect photo opportunity, but which Mommy (and her iPhone) whiffed.

As a matter of fact, let me state for the record that the terrible photo of the kids and Bruce was the first photo that I took on our vacation. I know, I know, I am a horrible mother! But the first day was such a whirlwind, I just didn't really have a chance. After that, I resolved to take more pictures every day, and it was a resolution I (mostly) kept.

I will spare you the details of the ride home, except to say that if you don't have your vision correction devices on, and it is dark out, and you are trying to read signs, you are probably up a creek.

Day Two: Zip A Dee Doo Dah!

The kids "slept in" until 6:45, and Griffin's first question was "Can we go downstairs and see Uncle Matt?"

Poor Uncle Matt. He had arrived at 9:30 to the relative peace of just my mom and dad (as no one in my immediate family can stay up past 9 PM, adults included). Crashed out in the living room, he was totally exposed to Hurricane Griffin. After stalling upstairs for another 20 minutes, the Hurricane descended, and the general chaos began.

It is family tradition that our first park is always the Magic Kingdom. Though we had decided to use the rental car to travel around for the most part, due to the strange parking situation at Magic Kingdom (which requires you to park, then take a monorail or boat to the park itself) we would be taking the bus. Fed, bathed and dressed, we all trooped off to catch our ride to the magic.

It is no secret that I don't do lines. I will criss-cross the park as many times as it takes to do the things I want to do without a wait, but I know that not everyone in the party enjoys that type of day, and I was prepared to compromise. The one thing that was not negotiable was the first ride: Dumbo. Some people run for the thrill rides first, but the cold hard truth is that if you don't get to Dumbo ASAP, you are looking at a line.

It was decided that my husband and I would run to Fantasyland, while Grammy, Poppy and Uncle Matt headed over to Tomorrowland. It would be Molly's very first ride, so I was pretty excited to see how she would enjoy it. Even though we had hustled ourselves there as quickly as we could get there, we were still facing about 20 minutes of wait time, which proved to be a little too much for our princess. It was decided that she and Daddy would hop out of line and find somewhere to run around, while Griffin and I waited for our flying elephant. In retrospect, this turned out to be a great idea, as she got some one on one playtime with Uncle Matt, but at the time I was a bit sad that she wouldn't make it on the ride.

No matter. Griffin and I secured a green Dumbo, paid our peanut to the ticket collector, and enjoyed our 2 minute flight. We waved to the family below, including Miss Molly, and landed far too soon. Having tamed the great elephant, we were ready to make a plan for the rest of the morning. We enjoyed some of Fantasyland's fine offerings, including Winnie the Pooh (which turned out to be Molly's first ride, and a wonderful one, as she loves Pooh and Tigger and the gang), then moved back to Tomorrowland, where the thrill seekers among us did Space Mountain, and Grammy bravely took both kids solo on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.

Griffin had been ready to try Pirates of the Caribbean since we ran into a little pirate (with sword) at the bus stop that morning, so our next stop was Adventureland and Pirates. Like all Disney rides, our pirate ship deposited us squarely in a gift shop filled with pirate booty, guns and swords. All around us were little Jack Sparrows, hacking each other, their parents and innocent bystanders to pieces with their plastic buccaneer swords. Just like that, we had our first carrot: be a good boy, and at the end of the week you can buy a pirate sword. Thank you, Mickey Mouse!

It had been a fun and productive morning, and the little ones seemed to be holding up well. I thought we could fit in one more ride before heading back to the room, so we moved the travelling circus to the Haunted Mansion. Approximately three minutes into the ride, the whole thing broke down, so our "five more minutes" turned into "forty-five more minutes". We were finally released with a fastpass and an apology, and it was time for our family to call it a day.

Day One: Yes, We Have No Bananas

It's amazing how much nicer it is to wake up in the cold, snowy north when you know you'll be heading to 80 degree temperatures soon. We travelled to NH the night before our flight, courtesy of Gramma and Grampa who volunteered to put us up and drive us to the airport. We were met bright and early by Grammy and Poppy, who were hitching a ride as well, all of us eager to get the day rolling.

The only one not excited by the prospect of adventure was our poor dog, Toby, who was scheduled to lodge with Gramma and Grandpa in our absence. In the commotion of packing up the car, Toby decided to try the old "stowaway" routine, climbed into the car, and wedged himself under the way back seat. We tried, calling, cajoling, and treats, but nothing would move him. Ted even tried starting the car and driving it in a circle in the driveway to convince Toby that the trip was over, and we had reached our destination. He was not fooled. Ted finally had to physically dislodge him, and carry him inside to wait with Grandpa.

Dog out of car: check. Luggage and kids in car: check. We were ready to roll.

I will spare the frightening details of boarding our flight with six people, five carry-ons, two car seats and a stroller, as anyone who's travelled with small children is familiar with it already. Suffice it to say that we made it on, had an uneventful, if turbulent, flight, and arrived in sunny Orlando right on schedule.

We had elected to rent a car for the length of our stay, and my husband was the designated driver. God bless him, because everyone else in the car immediately became a front seat driver (Poppy), middle seat driver (Grammy), back seat driver (myself) or car seat driver (Griffin). Only Amelia stayed out of the fray. With all passengers shouting out sometimes contradictory directions, we finally got on the road to our new home: Old Key West.

Old Key West is the first of Disney's DVC resorts, and as a result the rooms are bigger than those in other DVC resorts. Because there are seven in our group, my parents hauled out the big guns and booked us the Grand Villa: three bedrooms, four bathrooms, full kitchen, living room, dining room and laundry room spread out over 2400 square feet and two levels. Sweet! I had seen pictures online, but I was still blown away when we walked into the space.

A few weeks before the vacation started, we had ordered groceries to be delivered to the room. The bags of food arrived shortly after we walked in: sandwich fixings, breakfast foods, snacks and...bananas. Tons and tons of bananas. An entire brown grocery bag filled three quarters of the way with bananas. Apparently, it's cheaper to order bananas by the pound rather than the bunch, so we had plenty.

While Ted took the kids out in search of a playground, my parents and I unpacked and settled into our various rooms. The plan was for pizza and an early bedtime. Uncle Matt was not scheduled to arrive at the resort until 9:30 PM, and Grammy was texting him anxiously to make sure all was on schedule. Poppy pulled out the bag of electronics he'd packed, and set up the wireless router so the Villa was wired to the hilt.

Sadly, I did not have the stamina to wait up for Uncle Matt. Bath and bed was the order of the day for kids and Mommy alike. Tomorrow: onto the Magic Kingdom!

Teacup Reunion Tour 2010

So, in the blogiverse, I've just returned from my solo trip to Walt Disney World, but in real time it's almost February, and we've just returned from our fabulous family trip to the House of Mouse. At the risk of turning this dusty old blog into an endless stream of Disney ramblings, I have to document the Teacup Reunion Tour 2010 in all its glory.

This particular trip was exciting not just because it was Molly's first trip to the World, but because we would be joined by my parents, Grammy and Poppy, and my brother, the elusive Uncle Matt. This is the true story of one extended family, picked to live in a house and have their lives taped (by Ted and Uncle Matt), to find out what happens when family stops being polite and starts being real: Teacup Reunion Tour 2010.

Not as Young as I Used to Be!

I survived my Disney In A Day or Die trip (barely!), and had a wonderful time, but it took me over a month to find the time to come back here and post a follow up.

I started my touring at Disney's Hollywood Studios, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other mouse groupies. At Disney World, you admission comes in stages, so after waiting at the front gate, we were let into the park...but stopped in the street, before you can get to any of the good stuff. After a cute little welcome production, the cast members pulled back the rope, and the stampede began. Fortunately for me, I was not following the herd to Toy Story Mania, but hanging a right down Sunset Boulevard to my all-time favorite ride, TOWER OF TERROR! I was ahead of the bulk of the crowd, and yes, I was the first person to board that ride on December 1. Woohoo!

After a quick zip, it was off to Rock N Roller Coaster, which I rode twice in quick succession. I could have made it three, but the Zero to sixty MPH start started to make the birthday cupcake in my stomach feel a little bit queasy. Instead, I popped myself back to Tower of Terror for one more ride.

When I boarded Tower of Terror on this go-round, I was seated next to another lone rider. As the ride started, I saw him pull out something that looked suspiciously like a book. It was a book, and when the doors opened and the car we were riding in plummeted to the bottom of the elevator shaft, this dude held up his book like he was reading. Hmmm. I was too curious to let it go, so I asked him what was up. Apparently, the book is called MouseJunkies, and it was written by a friend of his. In order to promote the book, he and his friends were getting photos of themselves reading the book on Disney's most famous attractions. Sure enough, the end of ride photos showed my fellow rider with his face firmly ensconced in MouseJunkies. For that effort, he should get a random, gratuitous plug in my blog.

At this point, I ran into my only real disappointment of the day. By the time I made my way over to Toy Story Midway Mania, the line was insane. I was informed by the nice gentleman at the fastpass return window that there USED to be a single rider line, but because so many people had a hard time with the concept (ie, you wait less time, but don't get to ride with your friends and family), that they ended that option. Fortunately, this was the only ride that I missed out on.

I walked out of the park at 10 AM, about an hour after walking in, and stepped right onto a bus headed for Disney's Animal Kingdom. The gods were on my side with timing, I have to say. The bus dropped me off at the Animal Kingdom about 20 minutes later, and I hotfooted it to Expedition Everest. Fortunately, the single rider line was functioning here, and I rode three times in a row, in the space of about 15 minutes. Best of all, the last ride was in the very front seat (scariest by far). What an amazing birthday present!

After grabbing some lunch, I took a walk through the Maharajah Jungle Trek to see some tigers, then donned my 3D glasses for It's Tough to Be a Bug. With that, I decided that a short break was in order, and grabbed a bus back to the Beach Club to freshen up for the next half of my adventure.

After a cool bath, and more cupcakes delivered to my room (thanks, mom and dad!), I suited up for a trip to Epcot. Full disclosure: Epcot is my least favorite park, and I was not particularly excited about doing anything here. It just seemed more fitting to do all four parks instead of just sticking to three. So off I went, walking to Epcot from the hotel (a big plus of staying at the Beach Club!).

One point I will award Epcot is the excellent coffee, and I picked up a large iced cappuccino to ensure I was full of zip for the rest of the night. My obligatory Epcot ride was the park's beacon and claim to fame Spaceship Earth. I hadn't been on this ride in years, and it had undergone some updating. I'm so glad I chose this, as it was a slow, dark, calm ride with some fun changes to the end. It ended up being a great tip of the hat to Epcot.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for all day: the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, my favorite park in all the World. I arrived at about 4:30, my ticket for the Very Merry Christmas Party in hand. I have been to Walt Disney World countless times, and I never fail to get misty-eyed when I see Cinderella's castle. Probably just as well that I didn't start here, because I sob like a baby at the park-opening ceremony.

Lots of folks were headed out of the park already, so I took a quick jaunt over to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean with no wait. Nice! Adventureland is right next door to Frontierland, so I figured I'd mosey over and check the line at Splash Mountain: five minute wait! Then Big Thunder Mountain: five minute wait! Haunted Mansion: walk on! Boom boom boom, fast and furious! I actually decided that it would be a good time to grab some dinner, which may or may not have been a good idea, as lots of people had the same plan.

After eating my dinner overlooking Cindy's castle, all lit up for Christmas, I headed over to Tommorowland to scope out the lines. Space Mountain had a scary looking 40 minute wait, and while I love this ride, I don't love lines, so I skipped it in favor of It's a Small World and Mickey's Philharmagic. An excellent decision, I might add.

It took me awhile to figure out why there were mobs of people at a closed restaurant, but it made more sense when I figured out that they were handing out free cocoa and sugar cookies. After getting my fill, I scooted back to Tomorrowland, where there was still quite a wait for Space Mountain. Instead, I hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority for a leisurely spin around this end of the park, then to Laugh Floor Comedy Show, which was cute.

Finally, the first parade started over on Main Street, causing mobs of people to exit Tomorrowland en masse, leaving Buzz Lightyear as a walk on. After netting myself a new high score (and taking a picture to rub my brother's face in it), I decided to give Space Mountain one more try. The sign said 20 minute wait, and I figured that was the best I was going to do that night, so I went in and proceeded to have the longest wait of my day. It was totally worth it to see the revamped ride, and to achieve a 99.9% rating of hitting the attractions that were most important to me.

After the white whale of Space Mountain was behind me, (and yes, limping a little bit after the crazy runaround of the day!) it was almost time to end my adventure. I had just one more item on my list: Wishes, the fireworks over Cinderella's castle. I headed out to stake out my spot in front of the castle, and wait for the show. There are few things as magical to me as fireworks over the castle, and it truly was a perfect way to end my birthday adventure.

So yes, I did it. It was fabulous and fun, but if if you've never done Disney, it's definitely not the way to start! I'm glad I finally came in to document the trip in all it's glory, because in just 12 days I will be going back for a week with my parents, my kids, my husband and my brother (Woohoo, Uncle Matt!). Yes, I know I'm crazy, but what can I say? I just love the mouse...