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!