Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
First leg of the trip. Riding the "bus" to Chocolate town.
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Sunday Sept 7th
First leg of trip to Harrisburg / Hershey PA.
We were slated to leave at 6am. So, I think (being that we were up till 2am the night before) we did pretty well to be out and on the road for 6:40am.
We stopped in Brockville ON at the McDonalds for breakfast and the service was SOOOOOO slow that it took me over a half hour to get back to the car with breakfast.
A few rest stops later and we found ourselves in Chocolate heaven... Hershey PA. I highly recommend a trip on the Great American Chocolate Factory tour if you’re in the area. Its a little cheesy. But really entertaining at the same time. (Kind of in the same way “It’s a small world” is.) Aaron LOVED the singing cows. So, after a quick tour around the attached outlet, a few pics of Aaron with the worlds largest chocolate bar, and a stuffed cow, we were on our way to the Disney Outlet, Cheeburger Cheeburger and the hotel.
When Marc and I go on a road trip, we have always enjoyed finding food we can’t get where we live. And thus, when we saw online that there was a Cheeburger Cheeburger 15 minutes from the hotel, on our itinerary it went! ... Not so impressed really. We pulled up to the manager using the MOST profane language while berating one of his employees at the front door. The food was really greasy, and the server was confused. Both Marc and I left feeling a little disappointed that we hadn’t just ate at the Chik-Fil-A in the same parking lot.
After a night in the Wingate by Wyndam in Harrisburg, we were off to our next destination of Charlotte NC.
Some of the best people and some of the best food comes from Charlotte.
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Monday Sept 8th
Second Leg of the trip to Charlotte, NC
We were over an hour late leaving for Charlotte Monday morning. But, we were tired from the day before and I let both the little man and the big man sleep in an effort to ensure a happy day of driving.
Sadly, this cost us our visit to Discovery Place in Charlotte. As well as a good look at the city which from what I saw, is gorgeous. It did however, not cost us an ounce of the culinary exploration that we had had planned... We are big fans of the show “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives” on the Food Network. And whilst planning we saw a couple episodes that convinced us that Charlotte was a place we HAD to stop on our journey. We decided when we stopped somewhere in West Virginia (just for gas and snacks) and Marc overheard a restaurant patron ask for a fat old opossum for lunch that we’d better just stick with the plan and we drove straight to The Penguin Drive in (in Charlotte) and had a late lunch in their fried pickles (AWESOME!), road runner hotdog and a corn dog. http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=5051
Then we headed over to the hotel for a swim and a nap before meeting friends at Mert’s Heart & Soul for dinner. http://www.mertsuptown.com/
Let me just say that up until this vacation, I would have sworn up and down that the friendliest people on earth were living on Canada’s east coast. But, I stood corrected for the majority of the time I was in Charlotte. Mert’s Heart & Soul is just that. I didn’t meet Mert. But, the heart & soul of his employees is put into every ounce of his business. The food is amazing. And the hospitality somehow manages to out weigh it. Aaron fell asleep on the table in the restaurant before his meal (what had to be the yummiest grilled cheese ever. Even cold) and the staff took a bunch of pictures. I think one of them is going on the wall at their front door.
Tues Sept 9
Still in Charlotte
Then, because we had such an awesome experience at Mert’s, we decided to wait around the next day until Bill Spoon’s BBQ opened. This meant that we would not be leaving Charlotte until 11:30am and not arriving in Daytona until around 8pm. But, with Ike causing some rain in the area anyway, we figured our beach plans were tanked to begin with.
BILL SPOONS IS FABULOUS!!! It is a must stop for us anytime we’re within an hour or two of our route on any of our future road trips. First of all, we were outside waiting for it open 20 minutes early. Out came Mrs. Spoon (Mr. Spoon passed away last year) and said “Are you waitin’ to get in here Honey? Let me just get ‘em going for you.” And not 2 minutes later she was opening the doors for us. I think everyone in the restaurant said hello and welcomed us in. Our food was up in minutes and our glasses of sweet tea never got to be less than half full. There was conversation and free hushpuppies and cookies for Aaron. And it broke our hearts to leave. But, we did. And on our way out of the parking lot, Mrs. Spoon reappeared to ensure that we had enjoyed our meal and tell us a little about what it had been like when she and her husband had run it years ago. We chatted about where we were from and where we were going. And it was almost as though we were talking to family. I would make the trip to Charlotte again and again just to eat there. http://www.hollyeats.com/BillSpoonsBBQ.htm
Third leg of the trip – Daytona Beach FL.
We rolled into Daytona about 8pm and fell in love with our hotel room in the Hilton. It was spacious and fresh. We toyed with the idea of getting more BBQ. But decided on a cruise down the strip (atlantic avenue) and picking up Papa John’s pizza and calling it a night. After all, we had to be up early the next morning to start our REAL adventure in the Magic Kingdom.
Our Home - For 5 glorious nights anyway.
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And so it begins... Our Visit to the Happiest Place on Earth.
Marc was so excited when we got up Wednesday morning that he wanted to get on the road right away. So, after a quick look at the ocean (because it had been too dark when we arrived the night before) we got on the road and assured Aaron that today was the day we would be going to Mickey’s house (up until then he had gone running from the van every time we’d gotten out of it yelling “Mickey? Hi Mickey!!!)
By the time we got out of the van at Port Orleans French Quarter (our Disney hotel) we were all overwhelmed. I’d been tearing up when we hit the “Welcome to Walt Disney World” sign. Aaron did not want to get out of the van and go check in. (I think he thought that Mickey actually lived THERE) http://www.portorleans.org/
Our check in was less than stellar. The CM was helpful. But, certainly not as friendly as I had imagined. She gave me a 1st time button for Aaron. But, when I asked for one for Marc, she gave me a weird look. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like asking for my birthday button.
After picking up our tickets for the Hoop Dee Doo, checking out our room and unloading our stuff (WHAT A WALK!!! It was very hot and we underestimated what we had and didn’t get bell service.) Marc sent me out of the room so he could take care of some birthday business. I went and took some pics of the resort and then popped into the gift shop to buy a Pal Mickey and a “gift from Mickey” for Aaron and Marc. It took me a little longer than anticipated. So Marc was all done with his birthday business when I got back and we were all wanting to get going...
So off we went to the Magic Kingdom.
Their First time in the Magic Kingdom.
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We were so excited to be off to the Magic Kingdom that we neglected to change Aaron’s diaper before we got on the bus. This only delayed us a little bit and soon Marc, Aaron, the “Mickey” bus and I were off to catch our first glimpse of the Magic Kingdom.
We stopped at the front gates for a few pics in front of the train station and Aaron noticed all the Mickey confetti on the ground. He had to pick up every piece that he saw. It was really cute and he drew an awful lot of attention because every time he saw another piece he’d say “Mickey! Daddy/Mommy nook (look) MICKEY!” and pick it up. Needless to say, they all ended up in my pocket.
We walked into the centre hub and immediately realized that we were surrounded by CMs who had the area roped off for the beginning of the Family Fun Day parade. We quietly exited and made our way up Main St. USA towards the Castle. We of course stopped for the obligatory Castle pics, and then stopped for the parade. If it hadn’t hit Aaron before hand, it certainly would have hit him as he saw Pluto come dancing up the street towards him.
After the parade, Marc spotted an ice cream cart and we bee lined for it in order to try our first Mickey bars... HEAVEN ON A STICK!!! That is, until my half eaten bar fell off the stick and landed squarely on my flip flop...
I wasn’t looking for another Mickey bar... It was awesome and wonderful. But I was getting full anyway and at that point on our journey (notice: at that point) my mind was still clearly focused on maintaining my pre-trip weight loss. But, I did need something to take the ice cream & chocolate concoction off my shoe & foot. So, I walked back over to the ice cream cart (we had only walked a few feet away from the cart to eat the bars) and asked for a couple of napkins. The CM asked me what had happened and I explained that the ice cream bar had fallen off the stick and landed on my foot. To which she replied “oh no. THAT is NOT happening in your first 2 minutes in the park!” (When I’d gotten the bars, I had been really excited and told her that we had just gotten there and we had only been in the park about 2 minutes... ) I was surprised that she remembered what I had said. And even more surprised and touched when she handed me a new Mickey bar!
New Mickey bar in hand (and totally in awe of the kindness that was shown to me), we began to make our way around the Castle hub and into Adventureland to experience the first ride listed on our touring plan... The Jungle Cruise...
This was my Grandfather’s favourite ride and I can remember him telling me about the hippos popping from the water before my first trip in April 1988. So, it was kind of a nod to that when I chose it as our first ride when I did the touring plan.
It was a good choice because Aaron LOVED it! And it was a good introduction to old time Disney for Marc!
The park was so low traffic that day that I wished we had been in the park earlier. We did 4 rides in an hour and waited no more than 5 minutes for any of them. After the Jungle Cruise, we headed over to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin which Aaron adored. He (and we) hated to leave it.
Next up was the Enchanted Tiki room. I remembered seeing this with my family in 1988. Although, its changed a fair bit since then, it was still pretty cute. It did scare Aaron a bit when the lights went off. But, I figured he was getting to nap time and was a little more sensitive than usual.
He was out cold in Marc’s arms by the time we got to Pirates of the Caribbean and he slept right through the entire ride and into the next couple hours as well. The reaction Marc had to Pirates was just as I had hoped it would be. He had a look of amazement and admiration at the special effects (the “water” at the top of the waterfall wasn’t there in ’88 and I thought it was pretty cool too.) and at the detail that he doesn’t have very often. He told me afterwards that he couldn’t believe that the ride had been around for so long and yet everything looked so new.
In the time it had taken us to ride Pirates, the skies had opened up and were raining down on us. So, We put Aaron in his stroller (still sleeping) and headed around to check out Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. We figured that the best time to ride a water ride is when its raining and you’re already wet. But, not when there is thunder and lightning. And that’s what started just as we rounded the bend.
So, being that the rides were closed, we wanted mouse ears anyway, and it was almost time to catch the ferry over to Fort Wilderness for our 5pm seating at the Hoop Dee Doo, we made our way back to Main St. USA and hit Le Chapeau. We debated at making our own ears, but went with the traditional black instead and had our names embroidered on the back. Afterwards, I saw a Birthday Cake top hat that I considered buying, but decided not to. (Now I kind of wish I had it though.)
As we were heading out through the left arch, my croc flip flops hit a pretty deep puddle and my left foot hydroplaned through it sending me down square on my right knee. OUCH! The pain shot right up my leg and into my back. I grabbed Marc’s outstretched hand and made it back to 2 feet. People coming the other way (into the park) were really concerned and asking if I was ok. It was really nice of them. But I was really embarrassed, so I told them I was ok and got moving. Marc could tell I was hurt and kept asking if I was ok and if I needed to go to first aid. But, I didn’t want to miss our dinner reservations, so I declined and once we got on the ferry, I checked it out. There wasn’t any noticeable cuts. But it was swelling up pretty nicely.
The rain was nice enough to stop while we were on the ferry. But, I was still very careful walking from the dock to Pioneer Hall (where the Hoop Dee Doo is held). We were a little too early to check in, and by this point Aaron was awake, so we went over to the ranch and had a good conversation with the horses. After a bit it was time to check in and have our pictures done. The 5pm show was sold out, and there was quite a crowd. After some confusion in the lines to get in (Apparently the hostess was quite confused), we entered and were seated on the first floor, just under the balcony to stage left. The seats were great and we were able to see everything very well.
There were 3 reasons we chose to book the Hoop Dee Doo. The first one being that our son really seems to love hokey country music and we knew he’d love the show. The second being that its been around forever and we felt we should see it. And the third (the thing that sold Marc on it) being that it came with “unlimited beer and wine”.
So, you can imagine our surprise when the waiter refused to serve us.
You see, we didn’t have any id with us to prove our age. We had gone into the parks with only our Key to the World cards and a small amount of cash for tipping. No one (not when I made the reservation, nor when I picked up the tickets, nor when they called to confirm the reservation to the room) told me that we would need to have our id. I guess in retrospect, it makes sense. But, I know that no one said anything because I would have written it down in the Passporter like I had written everything else down. I also know that no one said anything when we got the tickets that day because Marc was playing attention to everything like a hawk because he was afraid it would get charged to his mastercard. And, the CM at the check in desk told us not to take anything else but the KTTW card with us to the park. So that is what we did.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if the waiter hadn’t been so snippy about it when Marc tried to order a beer. Neither one of us look like we’re under 25, much less under 21 (oh how I wish I did though) and he actually went into a bit of a rant about why he wasn’t serving us and that he knew we were told that we needed to have our id there. After a while, Marc went up and asked the manager about it. The manager apologized, got us another server, and our drinks were on the table a few minutes later.
The food itself was great! It was plentiful and so tasty! Not the best meal we had in the park. But, pretty darn good. Aaron ate so much that night that he was actually a little sick after. This says a lot because he’s more of a child who grazes than gorges himself on food. The show was pretty funny as well. We all enjoyed it, and Aaron had a great time too.
When the show was finished, we were greeted with another torrential downpour. And, a crowd of people waiting to get in to Pioneer Hall all clustered under the cover of the porch roof. It was impossible to get around to the stroller (buried in the crowd. But thankfully under cover) so we had to go the long way and then make our way to the bus stop because the ferry back to the Magic Kingdom was closed because of lightning.
This was what the entire rest of the 5pm Hoop Dee Doo patrons were doing so we found ourselves a spot under the shelter and waited it out until the buses leaving for Wilderness Lodge weren’t so crowded. In the meantime, we had a nice conversation with a couple from Boston who was just finishing up their trip. It was a good way to pass the time, and I think that is when it dawned on me that I truly was in a whole different world here. (I didn’t have a birthday button yet, so it wasn’t as blatantly obvious to me then as it would be in the days to come. :P )
We made it back to the Magic Kingdom in one piece and saw that the line for the bus for the French Quarter was almost spilling out of the stantions. So knowing from my Passporter research that it was only about a 20 minute walk between Riverside and the French Quarter, we decided to hop on the Riverside bus that was waiting and only had about 3 people on it. We weren’t the only ones that decided to do this and found ourselves 2 other friendly families to walk back with. We were back in our room about 10 minutes later. And, it was a really pretty walk.
We got our swimsuits on and went for a before bed swim and then called it a night. (Incidentally, this is where my “OH-I-HATE-SWIMMING-SO-MUCH” child became my “PLEASE-DADDY-CAN-WE-GO-FIMMING???” child.)
The day it rained around the world. Our day in EPCOT
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Thurs., Sept 11th, 2008
Our Day in EPCOT
Our day started early with a wake up call from Stitch and Mickey Mouse. We got ready and stopped for breakfast in the POFQ food court and sampled some Beignets. Awesome! (But not quite as good as Tim Hortons. I’m sorry!) While Aaron and I were finishing up breakfast, Marc left the table for a bit and went to “see to some birthday business”. He came back with my birthday button which was the beginning of the best birthday party ever.
We were sure to be at EPCOT for park opening and when we were let in the gates, we made our way to the rope closest to the Land Pavilion and waited for that rope to drop. Just before opening the classic 5 came out to visit and yet again Pluto came barrelling towards Aaron. He ended up coming over and patted Aaron on the head. It all happened to get it on tape. But I did get a really good picture of the before and the after.
Meanwhile, there was a Year of a Million Dreams CM who was chatting away to the group of us waiting for the rope to drop. He was asking people where they were from and I ended up singing a few bars of “Oh Canada” with the lady standing beside me who was from Calgary, Alberta. It was a fun moment, and went a little bit farther towards confirming to me that I was in a whole new world here at Disney.
Once the rope dropped we quickly made our way to The Land pavilion and got sidetracked when we had to leave our stroller (we weren’t expecting that. Silly I know.) I got to ride Soarin’ first. I loved it! It was such a complete experience and I couldn’t wait to ride it again later on.
Marc hit the rider swap line for Soarin’ when I came out, and ended up getting to ride it twice in a row because of his “first time” button. After that, we broke our touring plan and decided to hit up Character Connection because we had heard the big cheese himself was going to be there with Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale. This quite possibly could have been the best decision we made on the entire trip. I know the moment is definitely in the top 3 of best vacation moments in both Marc’s and my heart. I know that if Aaron remembers nothing else of our trip, he will remember meeting Mickey Mouse because of the look in his eyes.
This was the first day that I had my birthday button on and I think I must have received somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50 “Happy Birthday” greetings throughout that day. Every CM, and sometimes even the other guests were wishing me well. IT WAS AWESOME! And it kept going for the remainder of our stay. I can’t say enough about celebrating a birthday at Disney. It was a fabulous experience that I think everyone should have at least once.
Anyway, after our stop at Character Connection we made our way over get Fast Passes for Test Track, and were about to get lunch, when I saw the wait time for Mission: Space was only about 5 minutes so I suggested we ride it. I didn’t realize how hungry Marc was, or I would have left it till later in the day. But, he agreed and soldiered on. If you asked him now, he would tell you that this was his favourite ride. But, once I was done on it, Aaron was deep in a bout of (let’s see... whats the PC term here...) “testing his boundaries” and Marc had just about had enough. I suggested we make our way to Japan in the World Showcase for Yakitori House. But, he wanted to get something closer. I told him there wasn’t really too much to grab in Future World and that we should head to the World Showcase anyway. I didn’t think it was too far away. And, it wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t gotten the map turned around the wrong way.
We got straightened out and by the time we got to the World Showcase, Aaron had fallen asleep for his nap. (Early. But, he still hadn’t had lunch. BAD MOMMY!) Marc didn’t want to go any further than China for lunch. And because it was so hot and humid, he didn’t want to eat outside (and to be honest, I didn’t really want to either.) I knew that Nine Dragons was closed for refurb. But, we headed over there anyway to see what else was around. Nothing that fit the second criteria of being indoor... So... back to Norway we went and tried Akershus Banquet Hall. But they were unable to seat us until 1:30pm. Eventually, we moved back to Mexico where I knew the San Angel Inn fit our criteria. Problem was that Aaron was still out cold and neither one of us wanted to wake him. The staff was SOOO accommodating and the manager even helped Marc carry the stroller down the stairs! The food was fabulous! I had the empanada for the appetizer (which I saved half of for Aaron for dinner), Marc had crab cakes. Then for our main courses, I had a flank steak platter and Marc had a beef tenderloin dish that came with a chicken enchilada. We both loved our food and were way too stuffed for dessert. But, we ate it anyway! (We had the deluxe dining plan and it was WAY TOO MUCH FOOD!) I had something with ice cream (sorry I can’t remember) and Marc had the flan. By this point Aaron had woken up and he was feasting on empanada and veggies. And some ice cream too...
He got a little antsy. He was ready to go and we coaxed him into finishing a little more lunch by telling him that when were done we’d be going on a boat ride to see Donald Duck.
I really enjoyed the new version of the Gran Fiesta tour. I loved the details I spotted while riding. For instance Donald’s clothes are hanging on the wall while he’s on the video looking for them...
After that, we headed back to Future World to do Test Track, The Living Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush.
Aaron is a big Nemo fan. (Actually, to be honest, he’s a big Pixar fan.) He spent the entire ride hollering “Hi Nemo!!! Hi Dory!!!” and spent the entire rest of the day/next morning talking about how he had seen them. Crush, didn’t go over quite as well as I had hoped it would. (Aaron and I sat on the floor, but with Daddy a few rows back, Aaron was more interested in where he was, than Crush.)
Test Track was great! I let Marc go on it first because our portion of Ike was rolling in and I didn’t want him to miss it if it closed. But, we both got on and off with no issues at all. As I was getting on the ride, another CM said “Happy Birthday Angela” and I said thank you. The lady in the front of our “car” said “Happy Birthday. Are you getting sick of hearing that yet?” To which I said “Actually, no. Its still as fabulous as it was this morning!” (I really am an attention addict when it comes to my birthday (life is short, and I figure you might as well celebrate what you can, when you can.) and something like being wished happy birthday repeatedly over and over, would never get old to me.)
Once we were done on Test Track, we played around in the Coke Cool Off garage for a bit with Aaron and then took a break on the bridge heading over to the World Showcase. Marc chilled out for a bit, and Aaron and I examined the little lizards popping out of the gardens.
Eventually, we made our way to the World Showcase and since Canada was right there, and I knew Marc wanted to see Oh Canada! We got in line and waited about 2 minutes for the show. The newer version is pretty good. I loved how it started with Martin Short telling everyone that Canada is not covered in snow all the time. But there were a few bits in the video missing. (I live in Ottawa and was a little sad that they didn’t show off the Parliament buildings enough. ;) )
When we got out of the show, the rain was coming down in sheets. We were just about soaked through before we even hit the main walkway, so we stopped under the overhang of the kiosk that sells Canada souvenirs and pulled the 2 ponchos on. I still had to buy one for the stroller for Aaron though (we had left the storm cover back in the hotel room because it took too much room. *eye roll* ) So off I went to buy the poncho, and then decided to stop in and see if we could get into Le Cellier early. (Yeah. Because EVERYONE ELSE didn’t try that too... I felt so bad for the hostess at the check in desk. People weren’t very kind to her when she turned them away!)
There wasn’t even any room to hang out in the doorway so we made our way to England to find some shelter.
All the stores were jammed. All the doorways were too. Except for in Hyde Park where we found some shelter under one of the faux front stoops. I imagine the 3 of us and our jogging stroller looked quite humorous. In retrospect, I wish I’d taken a picture because it was truly a moment I will never forget. Even if I was grouchy and 2 seconds from a mental meltdown, it was still fun to be there doing that with my 2 favourite people. (I think the biggest issue was that all Aaron wanted to do was play in the puddles/rain and we wouldn’t let him because we were very close to our dinner reservation, and didn’t want him to catch a cold from the A/C)
We made it back to Le Cellier in time for our dinner reservation only to be told that being seated was going to be delayed because people weren’t clearing out of their tables because of the rain. But, at least we had a place to stand in the opening! We had some time to think about things while standing in the doorway... And we decided that if we folded our stroller up, it would make more room for people to stand and, for other strollers as well. So, that’s what we did! And the hostess saw us and asked if we wanted her to put it inside with the ECVs.
Our dinner was AWESOME! If anyone has the recipe for the Spicy Chicken and Chipotle Sausage, I think Marc would gladly marry you for it as I have been unable to find it anywhere and he is still going on about it over a week later! I had the beer soup which was really great. I make one of my own, but it’s a little different and doesn’t have bacon in it.
For dinner both Marc and I had the Mushroom Filet Mignon, although I substituted for the cream cheese Mashed Potatoes because I’m not such a fan of Risotto. (I did try Marc’s though and was a little sorry I didn’t have it.) By this point, I was STUFFED! (Have I mentioned the Deluxe Dining Plan is too much food?) I really wanted to try the Chocolate Moose though, and our waitress was super nice and packaged both the rest of my steak up, and the moose too! She also gave us a milk for Aaron for the road, a plate of fries, and some ice cream for him free of charge.
It was a half hour away from the start of Illuminations, so we checked out the stuff in Mouse Works (I thought I needed socks because I was getting a hotspot from the wet shoes. Although, now that I’ve thought about it, I don’t think that would have helped much unless they were waterproof socks... :P ) and then pulled up a spot on the pavement right outside and waited with a couple of ducks hanging out on the other side of the fence. Aaron eventually fell asleep in the stroller and didn’t wake up till half way through the fireworks. This (very unfortunately) set us up for a long week of him being scared of fireworks which he loved only 2 months ago.
After Illuminations, we hung around on the bench outside the store until the majority of the people had left. We eventually walked back to the bus depot and thankfully there was a Port Orleans French Quarter bus right there for us to get on. Not only that, but about 5 minutes after we got on it, the bus driver got a call over the radio telling him to leave the depot regardless of how many passengers he had. So we had the whole bus to ourselves and didn’t have to make any other stops!
We got back to the resort in record time and I think we retired for the night after we hung out the ponchos and shoes to dry.
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
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Fri., Sept 12, 2008
Mickey’s Not So Scary Hallowe’en Party
Murphy’s Toddler Law
The toddler’s determination to avoid naptime is directly proportionate to the degree of need for naptime to happen.
Naptime will happen when the toddler decides its naptime. Which will be exactly 10 minutes before you are due to leave for somewhere or have dinner.
This was the only day we decided to take an afternoon resort nap break. We left the Animal Kingdom around 1:30 pm and returned to the French Quarter to “ensure” that Aaron had a good nap so that he would enjoy the Hallowe’en Party.
As you can probably guess, that’s not what happened.
Aaron fell asleep about 20 minutes before we were due to head over to the Magic Kingdom for our 4:30 ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. The Brightside of this was that at about 20 minutes is when we’re used to moving him into his own bed in the evenings so we knew that he would survive the transfer into the stroller. Bad news was that we couldn’t take the stroller onto the bus with him in it. So we’d have to carry him onto the bus and hope he stayed asleep.
Thankfully (for this reason) the bus was late. And, also thankfully, Aaron managed to stay asleep the entire bus ride and only woke up when we tried to get him back into the stroller at the Magic Kingdom and make our sprint to the restaurant. This gave him a good hour or so of a nap and it worked out perfectly. But it could have been so bad! (Needless to say, we didn’t take another return-to-the-resort-for-nap break the rest of our vacation. Aaron sleeps so well in our stroller that that seemed to work better for us.)
We arrived at the Liberty Tree Tavern about 15 minutes late for our ADR. When I went to the podium, I apologized and was a little perplexed by the host’s attitude. He was totally unimpressed and devoid of any personality. He immediately put me on edge and I didn’t know what to do. It was about this time that I noticed he was in make up. And costumed to look like one of the ghosts from the Haunted Mansion. It was also about this time that he must have noticed the confusion I felt because he pointed out the make up on his face and said “Pay attention. Pay attention to my face. Now go sit over there and wait till I call you.” He played his part REALLY WELL! Off I went with Aaron to change him and put his costume on before we were seated. (Being that he was still groggy from his nap, I had to carry him up the stairs. WOW! That was a workout!)
No sooner had I come out of the washroom with our “Mickey Mouse” than Marc was at the bottom of the stairs telling me that our table was ready. Once we were seated, Marc asked me if this was a character meal because he saw Chip ringing a bell in the dining room while we were in the bathroom. (It seems I had forgotten to mention that) I nodded my head yes. And as if on cue, Chip came dancing around the corner. Hilarity ensued for the remainder of the meal with Goofy, Minnie, Pluto and Dale all making repeated appearances at our table.
Aaron was however decidedly the worst behaved that he was the ENTIRE time on the trip. I’m not sure if this was due to the child at the next table who was in the throws a 40 minute long screaming fit, or because his nap had energized him enough that he wasn’t interested in sitting for supper. Or, in retrospect, it might even been because he was expecting as much action as there was at Tusker House in the morning. I don’t know. Eventually, he did calm down some. (With the help of Goofy who was spending a lot of time talking to the (invisible) baby in the highchair.)
It was difficult to pay attention to the food. But, I will tell you that I do remember that it was all AWESOME and our server (who had been serving there for many, many years) was fabulous with Aaron and just plain good at her job!
Once we were done, it was time for the party to begin so we were off to do some trick or treating and do a couple rides.
Our first ride of the evening was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I waited outside with Aaron while Marc rode first. While he was inside, Aaron (who was people watching and looking for more Mickey confetti) ran over to me and said “I want to ride Pirates mommy.” He must have overheard someone else saying it. But it struck me as funny and I started to laugh. This drew the attention of the CMs at the entrance of Thunder Mountain and I explained what he had said and that he was only 2. Thankfully, they chuckled too because I was beginning to think they thought I was a crazy person!
Marc came off the ride and ecstatically proclaimed that there was no line up and that he was able to pick his seat. He also said that the CMs said that that was most likely how it was going to be around the park all night!
And it was! It was almost like having the entire Magic Kingdom to ourselves. We were able to walk on any ride we wanted without a wait (we did Fantasyland in its almost entirety in an hour and a half. We didn’t do Snow White). And we were able to find a spot on the curb in front of the castle for the parade with only 10 minutes to spare. It was like a dream. After the parade, we headed over to Space Mountain, and there was a bit of a wait there. By this point, Aaron had fallen asleep and I didn’t feel like riding Space Mountain because I wanted to be sure to get into the Haunted Mansion during the party (It seemed fitting). (The Haunted Mansion had been closed earlier in the evening when we’d tried to ride it on our way to Fantasyland.)
Perhaps the funniest thing that happened to me that night (or even on the trip) happened while I was in the Haunted Mansion. Knowing we only had about 20 minutes till the ride shut down, Marc (being the dashing gentleman that he is...) let me go first.
Once again, I was able to walk right on to the ride without any wait. I wished we had gotten there earlier though because they had actors perched up on the hill surrounding the house chattering with the guests. It was really cool and I would have liked to watch a bit longer than I did. But, its a good thing I didn’t because had I, I don’t think I would have gotten on the ride.
And then, I wouldn’t have gotten to spend 10 minutes in the dining room observing everything while they CMs tried to find the “playful ghosts that had disrupted our ride.” At first I thought that perhaps the stop in the dining room was part of the refurb. But, once the recording about the ride being stopped played again, I knew that we were stopped. So I took the opportunity to examine and appreciate things. But, as time went on, I began to think about how long I had been on the ride an how the party was getting ready to end. I wondered if Marc would have to leave without me. And I felt bad that he wouldn’t be able to get on the ride that night as well.
They did eventually get the ride going again and soon enough I was back outside where Marc was talking to one of the managing CMs about merchandise for the party. Turned out that her father had worked in the Haunted Mansion and we discussed all of the things that I had noticed in the dining room, as well as a few other things that her father had told her about the HM too! She then told us to head over to Main Street so we could pick up some of the exclusive park merchandise. (She also offered to hold anything specific we’d seen too. But, we hadn’t been in any stores.) On our way from the mansion, we stopped to have our picture taken with the Doom Buggy. Then we were off to the Main Street Emporium where we picked out a pin and a photo frame.
Then it was back to the resort for some much needed shut eye because tomorrow was my birthday and we had BIG THINGS PLANNED!
The Animal Kingdom. And a magical Breakfast with Donald.
Photobucket Album
Fri., Sept 12, 2008
Our morning expedition into the Animal Kingdom.
Once again we were woken bright and early by Mickey and Stitch. As tired as we were from EPCOT the day before, we knew that we had to be at the Animal Kingdom for opening if the day was to go off as planned. (We needed to fit an African safari, an Expedition up (and down) Everest and some other fun into our morning before returning to the resort for a long nap and to prep for Mickey’s Not So Scary Hallowe’en Party.)
We were up and out in record time and we were sure to pack a few of the things we’d been missing from the day before in our park bag. (Not the storm cover for the stroller though. We checked the weather and we were secure in the idea of a sunny day)
The bus to Animal Kingdom took forever to arrive. But, we still made it to the park on time for opening and as we stood in front of the Tree of Life for the opening ceremonies/rope drop, I was awed by the intricate detail in the Tree of Life’s trunk.
We went commando touring style this morning. (It was really the only time we did the entire trip. Despite my touring plans/itinerary cards) Marc and I went our separate ways when the rope dropped. He went and got fast passes for Everest, and I took Aaron and went and ‘got in line’ for Kilamanjaro Safaris. (Although, I only went about half way in because I knew once I went inside Marc wouldn’t be able to see me and wouldn’t come in.)
Eventually, Marc met us and we made our way almost directly onto the safari. Here in Canada, we have a few animal reserves where you are allowed to take your vehicle through (or the park bus) and observe the animals. One is located in Cambridge, Ontario (African Lion Safari) and the other is in Montebello, Quebec (Parc Omega). And while these places offer you more opportunity for pictures (and feeding at Parc Omega) because the vehicles are allowed stop, the view is marred in a lot of places by electric fences so you never really forget that it is not the real thing. (This is being written by someone who has never been on the real thing though. So, I’m very sure it is quite different.) Even with the constant movement of the safari jeep, we took a billion photos between the 2 of us. (Yes, we have duelling cameras at times while we’re on vacation. We both like taking pictures)
Once we were done with the safari, we made our way back through the Pagani Forest Trail and spent some time with “Timon” and the gorillas. By this point Marc was foraging for his breakfast (and remembering the lesson I learnt the day previous in EPCOT), we began looking for a place to eat.
Enter Tusker House and Donald’s Safari Breakfast which (miraculously) still had a table. After a quick 10 minute wait we were seated and ready to eat!!! Actually, it was more like gorge ourselves which set us up to not even consider Flame Tree BBQ for lunch much less anything else either! But, it was SOOOOO worth it.
First of all, the servers and the characters were so friendly and hospitable. Aaron was so excited to see them that they made many return visits to our table. (He was especially taken by Donald and Daisy who were not at Character Connection at EPCOT the day before. He had been asking where “Dohald Duck n’ Daysee” since then.”
The hostess at check in must have made special note of my birthday button because after I was done with breakfast, our waitress came to the table with a special birthday cupcake with a candle in it and a card signed from Donald, Daisy, Mickey, and Goofy! It was totally unplanned and a GREAT bit of surprise magic!
Around the same time the host announced that all the children were invited to dance with Daisy around the room, so I quickly blew out my cupcake candle and grabbed Aaron for a little dancing! (Yes. I am a big kid. And I am SOOOO lucky that having a toddler affords me the opportunity to act like a kid whenever I want to because as much as Aaron enjoyed dancing around with Daisy, I enjoyed it too.)
It was then time to leave Tusker House and make our way over to Expedition Everest. I was uncertain as to whether I was going to ride it or not because I was already feeling a little sick from all the food. So, it was a pleasant surprise and a “must stop” when we ran into Baloo and King Louie from the Jungle Book. (This was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theatre and one that Aaron just recently received and LOVES). We were running a little behind schedule because of the unexpected breakfast and Marc was itching to ride Everest. But, we stopped anyway and Marc and Aaron went off to play the drums while I waited in line and found the appropriate pages in the autograph book.
When it was almost our turn, my men returned and Aaron proclaimed to Marc “Baloo and King Louie from Jungle Book Daddy” (So cool because Marc had questioned whether or not he would recognize them) King Louie cannot sign autographs. But, he certainly makes up for it in other ways. And Baloo got the biggest hug from Aaron and returned it with a true ‘bear’ hug.
After that, it was almost off to Everest. (Almost because we had a major “I WANT MILK” meltdown that sent me back to the bakery to burn 3 snack credits on milk. And on the way, we got a few pics taken in front of the Tree of Life, and I ran into DeVine.)
Before we hit Everest (see a trend here?) we also stopped and had a sit down in a shady area, and then had some pics taken infront of Everest.
Then we hit Everest. By this point, I had digested enough to be comfortable riding it when Marc came off of it and insisted that I needed to go. It was pretty cool. I do have a bit of an issue keeping my eyes open on roller coasters because of my contacts. But I did manage to see the yeti tearing the track up.
Still on a coaster high, and Aaron still awake (we had thought that maybe we wouldn’t need to return to the resort for naptime because he had been napping in the stroller the past few days) we decided to hit “It’s Tough to be a Bug”. The show was great. And I am so thankful for the up close and personal look it afforded us at the Tree of Life because getting to see it any other way was not meant to be on this trip. Both Marc and I really enjoyed the show. It was entertaining and funny. But Aaron was terrified. (Again, it was getting to be naptime).
And with that, we decided it was truly time to return to the resort for naptime.
Celebrating my youth... A Birthday Breakfast fit for a Princess.
Photobucket Album
Sat. Sept. 13, 2008
A magical birthday in the Magic Kingdom
I woke up on the morning of my 30th birthday and looked in the mirror. I looked old. I looked a heck of a lot older than 30. And I looked like I was carrying the entire contents of our suitcases in the bags under each of my eyes. I knew that my appearance was more likely due to the fact that I hadn’t made it to sleep until around 2am. And that it was only about 6:30am while I was assessing the damage in the mirror. But, I also knew that in about 2 hours time I would be standing beside Cinderella and having my picture taken. So, needless to say, I went to work fixing myself.
Marc and Aaron got up shortly there after and soon enough we were on our way to breakfast at the Castle. We stopped before going in for some photopass shots and to take advantage of Main St. USA being almost empty.
We were a little too early to check in so we hung around by the desk and watched all the little girls in the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. They were all so cute! We also struck up a conversation with one of the hosts at the desk. It was about then that my parents called to wish me happy birthday. While I was talking to them, Marc went over and checked us in with the other hostess we hadn’t been speaking to. Unbeknownst to us, the host we had been talking to had already checked us in with a table complete with a fantasyland window view and had arranged to have the table decorated for my birthday as well!
The whole experience of eating in the castle was awesome. I remember being outside the castle as a child and being so disappointed that there was no way to go inside to see any more of it. (I didn’t know about King Stefan’s Banquet Hall at the time.) So, having my birthday breakfast in the castle 20 years later, was pretty special.
The cast members were all super friendly and so good with Aaron. He was given a sword which he adored playing with so much that he barely ate his meal . (They brought him his own kid’s plate compliments of the Castle.)
Maybe it was the elation of being there, in that moment. But, the food was fabulous. Marc and I couldn’t get enough of the pastries and the fruit. Our tummies were on their way to being full before our breakfast even arrived. But, we ate a good portion of that too.
The experience was awesome. Cinderella is the absolute perfect princess. We were also visited by Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Belle while we ate. They were nice as well. But, Cinderella is still my favourite princess.
After making our wishes, and saying our goodbyes we were off to see Tinkerbell (although I had a good inkling she’d already be woken up, I still wanted to see her.) Once we were done visiting her, we ran in to the Fairy Godmother outside the castle, and had a nice visit with her. She was so warm and grandmotherly. I could have stopped to talk with her for a lot longer. But there were other kids (and kids at heart) waiting.
So it was off to the carousel to see if I could fulfil my promise of Aaron getting to ride Prince Charming’s horse. ( Yeah. Ok. You’ve caught me. I was the one who wanted to ride Cinderella’s horse... Aaron loved the carousel. But I don’t think it would have mattered what horse he was on.) I got to ride Cinderella’s horse. Actually, I got to ride it twice in a row because there wasn’t a line up. I tried to give it away to a little girl dressed as Belle the second time. But, her mother told her that she wasn’t allowed to ride the carousel again. So I jumped back on. (Can I just say here that I LOVE the fact that WDW has seatbelts on the horses for the smaller kids? I have never seen that before. It’s great!)
After that, it was off to the tea cups for a dizzying journey that I had originally declined riding. But, decided to be brave and risk it. Aaron and Marc laughed hysterically and wanted to go again so I bowed out in order to take some pictures.
Once we were done there, we headed over to Toon Town where Aaron (who upon being told we were going to go to Mickey’s house) started doing the “hot dog dance” from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We let him go for a few minutes and then picked him up to get a few photopass pics done. Big, Big, BIG mistake. We had a toddler terror meltdown that was almost impossible to stop. I’m still not really sure what the cause was unless it was just overexcitement from being in toon town. But, eventually (with the help of some cold water and a soother) we did get him calmed down enough to keep moving.
Before we hit Mickey’s house though, we decided to try out the Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre farm. Aaron met the height restrictions and no one questioned his age so we were off to get on the ride after about a 5 minute ride. Aaron sat with Marc because it was going to be his first roller coaster and I knew he’d feel safer with his Daddy. (Besides, I wanted to get some pictures.)
After the Barnstormer (which Aaron survived, and I think even enjoyed), Aaron and I hit Donald’s Boat while Marc went in search of a Frozen Lemonade (soooo yummy!) We spent a very long time playing in (and ew... even drinking) the water there until it was time (we thought – remember Toddler law?)
You can’t take your stroller into Mickey or Minnie’s house, so that was out because we had just gotten Aaron strapped in. It was also about to rain so we walked around a bit (trying to get Aaron to go down) and then took the train on a full loop around the park. We got off again in Toon Town and then made our way to Tommorrowland to see about Buzz Lightyear and the Laugh Floor. The Laugh Floor is so good! It was very funny and all of us had quite a few laugh out loud moments. Buzz Lightyear was fun too. Although, to be honest, I really do prefer Toy Story Mania... But that’s for the Hollywood Studios report. After that, we went and actually MET Buzz, did the Carousel of Progress, and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.
This should have been my day to do Space Mountain. But, I really wasn’t into it while we were in Tomorrowland. It was so muggy and hot that day that all I really wanted was a drink. So we got a seat in front of the Lunching Pad and I grabbed a some milk for the little monster, a water for Marc and a frozen coke for myself! The CM at the counter was SO friendly and nice. He made a very big deal out of it being my birthday and gave me my frozen coke in a souvenir cup for free! I took it back to Marc and we set off trying to get Aaron to nap. And, while we were at it, we went looking for Push (the talking garbage can) I had heard so much about.
Still no nap. And the milk seemed to give Aaron his second wind so we decided to make our way over to the barbershop on Main St. to see about getting Aaron his first (badly needed, put off for too long) haircut.
The Family Fun Day parade was passing through about then. So it was a little difficult to navigate the stroller (and a rambunctious toddler) to the barbershop. But, we made it and I popped in to see about the haircuts.
The wait didn’t look to be too bad. So I decided to wait. I didn’t realize that each member of the 2 families in the shop were all waiting to get their hair cut by Michal when I sat down though. No kidding! Turned out there were to be 6 hair cuts before Aaron’s and although there were 2 barbers (Michal and Joyce) there to cut hair, everyone wanted Michal to cut their hair. I took the opportunity at that point to jump the line and get my haircut by Joyce because it really needed it. And I was there anyway. So I thought I might as well get a trim.
I will tell you that I was a little ticked off at all the adults who were insisting that THEY get their hair cut by Michal. After watching how he handled Aaron, I can understand people wanting him to cut their kids’ hair. But, I still don’t completely get why it was so important for him to trim up the adults’ hair as well when there was another able hairdresser there. It seemed (and still does) a little silly to me.
But, that was another story for another day because it was my 30th birthday, I was in the Magic Kingdom, and my little boy was getting his first haircut.
And it was going to one of 2 ways. It was either going to be a screaming/crying/getting sick mess. Or it was going to be fun.
Michal was fabulous with Aaron. He made the whole experience fun. We all had the best time and the pictures prove it. Seeing Aaron without the afro took a little getting used to. But Michal did as I asked and only tidied his mess of hair up. We didn’t lose the curls. We just contained them.
I can’t tell you how much fun Aaron’s first haircut was. For a situation that I was terrified of for so long, it went better than I could have ever hoped. Best of all, there was a photopass photographer there and he got it all on film!
Once we were done with the haircuts, we were off to do a little shopping as this was supposed to be our last day in the Magic Kingdom and we wanted to grab some souvenirs. Then we were off for my birthday dinner at Tony’s Town Square.
And guess who fell asleep? (Remember the toddler law? Uh huh.)
So there we were, checking in for our meal at Tony’s with our sleeping toddler... We asked if we could have a table that could accommodate the stroller (like they had done for us at the San Angel Inn) and we were told that we had been assigned a corner table near the window and it shouldn’t be a problem.
Sadly, it was. I’m still not sure of the reason why it was. The hostess wasn’t sure either. She offered to change our table for us. But, I really wanted to corner table in the window. So Marc picked Aaron up and laid him across his lap while we ate my birthday supper.
I had the ceasar salad as an appetizer and the steak as a main course. Both were fabulous!
Then it was time for my birthday cake (this was the birthday surprise business that Marc had been taking care of on Wednesday.) and for some reason, I started to not feel very well. I excused myself from the table to get some fresh air and promised Marc I would be back soon. (I didn’t want to miss my cake any more than Marc wanted to be sitting alone at a table while being presented with a cake and being sung to.)
I made it back to the table in more than enough time before my cake came. The waitress wished me a happy birthday and had the entire restaurant twirl their napkins around in the air. The cake was SOOOO yummy that I packed the other half of it into the bottom of the stroller and stored it in the fridge when we got back to the resort. Sadly, it didn’t have the prettiest demise. (more about that later on in the trip report)
When we were done at Tony’s (with Aaron newly awakened), we were off to see about using our fast passes for Splash Mountain. I still wasn’t feeling my best though and we ended up hanging around Casey’s Corner (Aaron had a hot dog and fries for dinner) for about an hour while I recovered. Marc asked me if I wanted to go back to the resort. But, I wasn’t going to let a little heat exhaustion ruin my birthday! So off we went.
I waited while Marc went on Splash Mountain and then decided not to ride it myself (again) right then because of the way I was feeling. We redid the Haunted Mansion as a family this time. (Aaron wasn’t too crazy about the lights going off inside. But he really liked the rest of it) Then we were off to do Pirates again because Aaron had been asking about it again. He was a little scared on Pirates. But, did really well and LOVED looking at the characters.
By then it was time for Spectromagic. I had rearranged my birthday ADR from Prime Time Diner to Tony’s just to be able to see the parade because my Brother in law had told me how much he liked it. We were only about 40 minutes from parade time. But we did manage to get a good seat right beside the emergency walkway in front of Tomorrowland which was only occasionally obscured by the security guard changing seating position. :P
After Spectro, it was time for the fireworks which we knew hadn’t gone over so well the night before. But, we decided to give it another go because Aaron had just woken up a little while before.
They still didn’t go over so well I’m afraid, so we decided to make our way to the exit and return to the hotel for a swim and a well deserved sleep.
There was a surprise waiting for me when I got back to the room. Sitting on the table inside the door was a birthday card from Mickey Mouse! It was the perfect ending to the (save for the mid evening illness) perfect day!
WHOO HOO!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Aaron's the King of the Castle! (A impromptu photoshoot at the Mackenzie King ruins)
So we went letterboxing today at the Mackenzie-King estate. Mackenzie-King is one of our form primeministers. And quite possibly now one of (if not) my most favourite. His vision, and his creativity is awe inspiring once you walk around his estate and see the thought, effort and vision he had for everything. In the pics you're about to see, you will not only see Aaron (because what pics do I take that don't have him in them?) but you will see a set of ruins that he salvaged from various places and had them placed on his property as a way to preserve them. Some of them are from the first parliment building, and others were from old stone houses in the area. It is stunning. It is beautiful. And, in Aaron's eyes, it was his "Castle". (Please excuse the photo overload)
And then I messed with a few in black & white...
Thanks for looking!
And then I messed with a few in black & white...
Thanks for looking!
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