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.