Part One: Disney
World
I used to blog so I’d remember the amazing things in my
life. In these days of facebook updates,
I share, but then it rolls off the timeline never to be seen again. This will be my attempt to write a little
more – something I’ll be able to search in the future to remember the good
stories.
Wednesday started early – Pamela had done a great job
packing us up, and my job was to get the dogs to the Pooch and bring back
bagels. Mission accomplished. The Chief
was at the house to ferry us to the airport:
We checked our bags in: none of
the bags tipped the scales, so no fees, and the yellow tag meant we wouldn’t
need to worry about them until they showed up in our room at Disney.
The flight was on time and uneventful – Isaac and Bella
shared an iPad and watched a movie while Pamela and I reviewed our
itinerary: Wednesday Check in and
dinner, Thursday Epcot, Friday Magic Kingdom, Saturday CRUISE! Then 7 days at sea! Also, we talked. One goal of this trip is to unplug – minimal
technology, no work, focus on eachother and the family. (this blog is happening while Isaac is asleep
in the next room and Bella and Pamela are having a date at a live show of
Aladdin on the ship – so I’m not hiding from anyone!)
We arrived at the Port Orleans French Quarter – a Mardi Gras
themed hotel – and were greeted at the door by a man wearing a bright satin
king outfit who handed Isaac and Bella gold coins, and thus started the
“wishing fountain” quest.
Isaac got this idea a week or two back, looking at pictures
of Disney, and decided that he wanted to have a whole lot of coins that he
could pitch into “wishing fountains” throughout Disney. We bought them both a roll of pennies, but
almost immediately, these gold coins became the preferred wishing
currency. Though then as we walked
through parks the next few days, Isaac would take a gold coin out, look at the
fountain, and decide whether it was “wish worthy” – a good enough fountain to
take his coin. The King gave Isaac coins
several times a day, but that made it even harder to give them up.
(The requirements for a wishing fountain include: It must have running water. There must be OTHER coins in it, and he must
have a good wish in mind. By the time we
were on the boat, Isaac still had 5 gold coins unwished. I know because he emptied his pockets into
the xray tray going through TSA screening at the port. The TSA agent actually giggled. OK back to the story)
We took a bus to Downtown Disney and shopped a little – the
Lego Store was a hit, but not really different from any other Lego Store. Isaac was drawn to the big Disney store and
was furious that his travel allowance didn’t mean he could buy a fake
musket. Sorry – we can’t take that on
the boat, Isaac! Bella got some Crocs
with mickey-shaped holes to replace the canvas shoes she has picked out for the
trip but that hurt just 5 hours into the trip.
We met Rick and Kari at Boma at the Animal Kingdom
Lodge: They were here for a week
vacation and were our traveling companions for the parks. After the delicious buffet and a visit to see
the zebras and giraffes at the back (bringing back great memories of spring
break 3 years earlier), Isaac and I joined a drumming and chanting parade and
sat down to talk with a woman from South Africa: She asked the group if anyone knew anything
about Africa, and his arm shot up – he announced “my ancestors came from
Africa!” Love that kid.
Thursday started SO EARLY.
SO SO EARLY. Awake at 645 and on
the bus to Epcot by 8. We met Rick and
Kari at the gate and were very close to the front of the line: When it opened at 9, we sprinted to the Test
Track. We had no wait to get in, and
designed our own cars, then did a quick ride to “Test” the car. Isaac and Bella wanted to ride again, but by
the time we exited, the line was 30 min (it crept up to 70-90 min for the rest
of the day).
A word about the technology of Disney: They have new wristbands that serve as your
room key, your charge card, and your “fast pass” – you can log into a website
up to a month in advance and pick 3 “fast passes” a day – this puts you to the
head of the line for a certain ride at a certain time of day. You need to have a good strategy on this – if
you get to a park early, you can pick your first rides without worrying about
the pass, but if you have any hope of riding Soarin’ or Space Mountain at any
time after 930am you need to plan ahead and get the fast pass. Our fast passes at Epcot included Spaceship
Earth, Soarin’, and Nemo.
On to the International Village – we decided to try to see
princesses Ilsa and Anna from Frozen – walked to Norway where they were at and
found a very serpentine line – a Disney person grimly informed us that the line
had formed immediately at park open, and that with the number of people in
line, it would be 6 hours for someone hoping to see them. There were a lot of resigned, disgruntled
dads in that line, holding place so that kids could have a good day.
We decided this was in no way a good use of our time, and
went shopping instead – and wandered into the Norway shop to find the
princesses were right in there behind a rope – Isaac and Bella were able to get
a good look at them and move along. Of
course we shopped in England (got Arsenal jerseys) and Japan (POCKY!). We looked through Morocco while a “fusion
rock” band called “Mo’Rocka” played not-very-moroccan music. We had lunch at the british pub (where
lagavulin was available, so I had to had just a sip).
While shopping in England, Bella picked up a small stuffed
Tigger for herself, and the clerk informed her to QUICK run around back because
Tigger himself was there! We dropped
everything and followed her directions, and yes, found Tigger and Pooh
completely free to play with us, jumping around, high-fiving, and hugging. We took pictures.
This is how I think you should have Character experiences –
not waiting in a long line, but turning a corner or getting a tip and walking
right into their arms. This is my
favorite way to experience Disney, and it’s worked so far!
We finished the day back at the Contemporary Resort for a
quick dinner, and then back to our hotel for an end-of-day swimming
session. Then we collapsed.
Friday was another early day and it was off to the Magic
Kingdom: We got there in time for the
opening – the Steam Train pulled up and all of the characters got off and
welcomed us into the park. We blitzed to
the back of the park (PAST THE STARBUCKS where I was NOT allowed to get a quad
espresso to start my day – THE SACRIFICES I make for this family… fortunately I was able to steal away late
morning for my fix).
Bella loved the mellow Goofy’s Barnstormer rollercoaster,
Isaac loved the Haunted Mansion – calling out everything he saw with an excited
“LOOK LOOK!!!!”. Bella was very proud of
her driving at the Speedway, and Isaac was NOT A FAN of Space Mountain in the
least. He was hollering “STOP THIS THING
– LET ME OFF” pretty much from the moment the lights went out. No crying, just displeasure. He really didn’t like not knowing what was
coming next.
The park got insanely crowded and it was a folly to think we
could do any more rides, though we did hop into the Tiki Room – they went back
to their original script from the very ill-received refresh from a few years
back. I always love it when the tikis
and totem poles join in, and I swear I forget every time that the flowers join
in. (my favorite). The lines were terrible – even for the dole
pineapple ice cream stand?
Rick was a real hero:
There’s a new “video adventure” game where you get cards and a map and
need to find “secret portals” – something that looks like a poster or a window,
that transforms into a video screen and you go on an adventure trying to stop
Cruella and other villains: You first
need to find the right portal, then at the right time, hold up a spell card from
your deck (they give you a deck of cards) that will do a unique attack to
vanquish the bad guys. We did 5
adventures that had us running from one end of the park to the other – great
exercise, and also a great distraction from the reality that we were not going
to be able to make it on any more rides (Small World had a 45 minute wait by
early afternoon!!!) Anyway, Rick was the
hero because he did the whole adventure earlier in the week and partnered up
with Isaac and Bella to do the adventure, and they all had a great time.
Dinner Friday was at the very fun Wilderness Lodge: a great BBQ meat extravaganza, with sassy
waiters and lots of theater. One of the
fun things they do is at the beginning of the night, the first table to ask for
Ketchup gets about 20 bottles delivered from all of the servers. From that point onward, any table that wants
ketchup has to yell “WE NEED KETCHUP”, and the ketchup-holding table has to
ferry over ALL of the bottles to the new table.
Isaac of course got a hamburger and he needed the ketchup. He simply couldn’t wait to holler it. His glee was uncontainable.
We gave hugs and headed back to the hotel for a bit more
swimming while Pamela packed us up for the cruise.
Some random other details:
Overcast both days, but sun by afternoon Friday. 60s Wednesday, 70s Thursday, 80 Friday. Isaac was enthusiastic about everything, but
the instant he got tired or hungry, he was throwing fits. He’s not one for marching in the heat in big
crowds. Bella has been a bit reserved
and Tweener, with some definite eyerolls, BUT she has had her iPod Touch on
hand and has take lots of photos and videos – we’re going to have great
pictures from this vacation.
Saturday morning we had a little sleep in, finished packing
and took the hour long drive to Port Canaveral in the care of a loud talking limo
driver straight from central casting – demeanor and laughter consistent with
Ernest Borgnine. Running commentary on
the development of Orlando sprawl, his kids and in-laws, his knowledge of cruise
lines, and more. We came over a bridge
and caught our first glimpse of the twin red smokestacks of the Disney
Fantasy….
More to come in Part 2!
