Disney Stories

I'm in a storytelling mood this morning, so here are some stories/highlights of our trip last week.

We left Friday late morning. I packed peanut butter sandwiches for all of us so we didn't have to buy $10 pbj sandwiches at the airport. We got on the plane and started eating, and one of the flight attendants made an announcement that someone on the plane had a severe nut allergy, so to please avoid eating nuts on the flight. Greaaat. Josh had already finished his and mine was almost gone, but we had to take away the girls' so the child (who happened to be right across the aisle from us!) didn't have a reaction.

We got off a few minutes late because they had to spray the plane with de-icer, but we made it to Florida on time. A fascinating older man came over and volunteered to put our luggage on a big carrier and bring it out to our rental car with us. He and I talked while Josh's dad took care of getting the rental. He's the youngest of 10, numbers 9 and 10 were twins born during the depression. And his mom was 30 when she had those last two!!! It was very cool talking to him, hearing a little about his life. And he certainly didn't look that old!! (I'm fascinated by, and jealous of, how well black people age. )

We were told to go choose a minivan (the keys were all in the doors). We chose a bright blue one, so we could pick it out in the parking lot. Unfortunately it turned out to be, um, quirky, but it made it through the week, so we're just glad we didn't buy it (and we won't be in a big hurry to buy a Dodge minivan). The dome light came on any time we turned a corner or went over a bump, and the trunk light and one of the front dome lights were on whenever the car was on, period. As I said, though, at least we hadn't bought the thing!

Josh and I ran to WalMart for breakfast foods (we were staying at a timeshare resort, with a complete but empty kitchen) and other little things that made more sense to buy there than to pack. The resort was incredible!! The girls had their own room next to ours, and our room had a jacuzzi (which I enjoyed a couple times). Rough life!!

We went to Cici's pizza for dinner, which was yummy and abundant :) It was cool for Florida, but since it was about 40 degrees warmer than back home, we were okay with it.

Saturday
After breakfast, I let the girls open up one of the three presents I'd packed for them: matchin Aurora dresses. Jasmine put it on for just long enough for me to get a couple pictures of the girls, but then wanted her beloved Red-and-black dress. Bekah kept her princess dress on for the day. Cute!!!
We went to Epcot the first full day. It was still cool, but not horribly so. We all wore jackets most of the day. Jasmine was fascinated by the "big ball," but we waited to go on it until after dinner, and we had absolutely no wait time. (for anyone considering going, I highly recommend "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World." When we remembered to follow it and not just to follow Jasmine's whims, we had very little wait time!)
They have special areas now where the characters spend most of their time so they don't gum up the rest of the park. The girls did great waiting in line, and then got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. Jasmine was pretty tired but Bekah really enjoyed it!
We went back to the resort for a couple hours mid-afternoon, hoping the girls would sleep (they didn't). We went out to dinner and then headed back to the park. After the Big Ball (which I can't remember the real name of), we went to the Mexico ride. They added Donald Duck since the last time I was there, which Jasmine really liked. We ended up going on the ride three times; they let us stay on the boat since there was no line. Then we went outside and watched the incredible fireworks display. The choreography of it was amazing! I couldn't get pictures because I wasn't anywhere that I could set down the camera.

Sunday
We went to Disney Studios (formerly MGM). It was much colder, but the sun was pleasant. We enjoyed the rides (especially the Toy Story arcade...very, very fun!) though Jasmine wouldn't admit to enjoying much of it.

Monday
I was in a lot of pain from my lousy sneakers (brought so I wouldn't hurt with all the walking...ironic, isn't it? I hate sneakers), so we rented a wheelchair. I had asked at Animal Kingdom, and was told by someone who didn't speak much English that it would cost $65 up front, but when we returned it we'd get $20 back. That's horrendous!! I was hurting enough that we decided to go ahead and do it Tuesday, and then found out it was only $10 for a normal wheelchair. The expensive ones were the motorized ones! The girls were more willing to ride their strollers that day, too, since Mommy was being wheeled around :D
This was our first day at Magic Kingdom. One of my big "picture goals" for the trip was a picture of the girls' expressions when we first saw Cinderella's Castle. Josh ended up doing the pictures since I hurt too much to run ahead and squat down, and it was worth all the hassle. They absolutely lit up! I'd let them open their second present: Jasmine got a Cinderella dress, and Bekah got a Tinkerbell costume. Again, Bekah was thrilled to wear hers (and got called a Fairy all day!) but Jasmine didn't even try hers on.
The forecast for the day was scattered showers in the morning and steady rain in the afternoon, so our plan was to hang out at the park until it started really raining, and then leaving for the day. We spent the whole time in FantasyLand, riding the Winnie-the-Pooh ride 3 times (the replacement for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride). Jasmine went on It's A Small World about a half-dozen times. Bekah and Jasmine each rode Dumbo in the morning, and after lunch, when the rain had really picked up, Josh took Jasmine one more time. No line at all!! The guy that ran the ride said that they were in the shortest line the ride ever got :) (do you smell a scrapbook page?? Yup, me too!)
When they got off the ride and were completely drenched, we headed back to the resort. We ended up ordering Chinese and having it delivered so we didn't have to face the rain again. Thankfully it was warmer than the previous days (60, I think) so the rain didn't freeze us.

Tuesday
We went to Animal Kingdom. It was bitter cold...Bekah and Josh were dressed appropriately for the day, but Jasmine and I didn't have on enough layers. We ran to a store and got sweatshirts for the two of us. It made a huge difference!!
The girls met Pocohontas, the bears from Brother Bear, and Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy. Bekah and Minnie became great friends :)
We met Josh's grandma and aunt for dinner, which was wonderful. We went back to the resort with them and chatted for awhile. They'd brought presents for the girls, which were a great hit. Crayons and coloring books, play-dough, and flash cards for each girl. It made the down-time at the resort much more peaceful :)

Wednesday
We went back to Magic Kingdom. It was barely above freezing, so we all dressed in many layers (I had on a long-sleeve shirt, two fleece sweatshirts and a windbreaker) except Josh, who wore his leather coat he forgot to leave in the car back home. We spent the entire day in TomorrowLand. We took the TTA (which is like a monorail-type ride, taking you around TomorrowLand, telling you about all the rides), which got stuck just before we got to the end. We sat there, 1 story up in the COLD, for about 10-15 minutes, when they manually opened our doors and gave us FastPasses that were good for any ride through the 15th of the month. (by the way, in case you're going and haven't discovered them, FastPasses are awesome) We did the Toy Story game/ride over and over. I preferred the one at Disney Studios, but Jasmine liked this better because you could turn the car 360. She made whoever was her partner extremely dizzy, spinning around and around the entire time the ride was in motion. Josh and I went on it about 10 times, until our thumbs were too tired to do it again. She did it more like 15, swapping partners until we'd all had enough. Josh and I got the top score one time around, because the cars stopped for a couple minutes in an area with a very high-scoring target that we could keep hitting. We should have stopped then; after that we didn't do anywhere near as well!

Thursday
We went to Magic Kingdom yet again. It was Bekah's second birthday! We let them open their third present: Belle costumes. Bekah wore hers (with layers on top) and you can guess what Jasmine's reaction was.
Bekah wasn't feeling well, though, which became very obvious after we got to the park. She slept the entire morning, and Jasmine fell asleep at the end of the Country Bears Jamboree. We took them back to the resort and they slept all afternoon and (restlessly) through the night. Bekah kept crying "Mommy! Mommy!" every 20-25 minutes, so I finally went in and slept in her bed with her, so we did get a decent night's sleep. Both girls' fevers broke during the night, but they woke up with a cough that hasn't gone away yet.

Friday
Our last day! We went to Magic Kingdom and tried to make it to all the things we'd missed. I put Bekah's Birthday Pin on her again, even though her real birthday had passed, because she hadn't gotten anyone to notice it on the real day. There was a trio (guitar, banjo and sousaphone) playing when we were in line for Tom Sawyer's Island, and when they saw her birthday pin they sang Happy Birthday, Princess Bekah. She was pretty sleepy but I think she still enjoyed it.
I really wanted a picture of Josh and I in front of the Castle, but ended up not trying for it. It was too cold, we were all tired and grumpy, and it would have taken far too much work to coordinate. My goal was to have he and I leaning in for a kiss, with a girl pulling each of us by the hand toward the park. Not gonna happen, unfortunately!
We had checked out before we left that morning, so we drove to the hotel 5 minutes from the airport. Ate at Chili's for dinner, and a guy who reminded me a lot of Evan came over and made balloon animals for the girls.
We each slept with a girl, which was much more peaceful than having them sleeping together would have been.

Saturday
We flew home! They had a continental breakfast that started nice and early, and we were out of the hotel by 7. We packed granola bars for the flight, only to get the same "peanut allergy" message as we were, again, eating them. *sigh*
Charity and Leo met us at the airport with our cars, and after we'd collected our luggage, we were on our way home! Jasmine walked around the house saying, "I love this house! It's beautiful!" which was very sweet to hear! It did feel good to be home!