TR - Memorial Weekend Madness - Feeling the Force & Celebrating the 5th - COMPLETE
- Thread starter Nhebron
- Start date
I'm glad someone else thought it was hot that day. I was hoping that I wasn't just being a wimp.
Day 2 - Part 1
SWW!!
Today was our first of two Star Wars days. We headed out early, to get to Hollywood Studios before park opening. We weren't interested in getting any celebrity autographs, but I wanted to see the Storm Trooper opening and hubby wanted to meet Chewie.
I think we made it to the gates around 7:15 am or so. After a short wait, we were allowed to enter the park but then got held up by these guys. They finally let us "nerf herders" in and we were off in search of Chewie.
In the Official SWW thread, there were some tips about the best route to get to Chewie. I guess I am not that good at following directions. I turned off too soon, so we were not first in line. There were probably about 10 parties in front of us. Still it wasn't so bad considering I heard lines are consistently an hour long as the day progresses. Because SWW was really for DH, we had agreed that if DS couldn't handle the line or didn't seem interested in meeting Chewie, I would just take a walk with him. I didn't want to ruin DH's experience. Well it became apparent pretty quickly that DS was not going to wait in the line. So I took him out and started walking around. I decided to take him to over to Star Tours. At first he seemed interested but we had an issue at the measuring stand. He became very emotional and wouldn't get measured. So we walked away to calm down but then he tried to bypass the measuring station and go into the ride. I caught up with him and pulled him aside and explained that he had to get measured to go on the ride. Finally, he allowed himself to get measured and we started walking through the ride line. We made it to about C-3PO and he got real upset. So we exited the ride. Fortunately, the ride was pretty empty at this point and it was easy to get out. I joked with the CM that "this was not the ride he was looking for..."
This might be an appropriate time to mention that DS has some developmental delays, particularly with his communication. Even after exiting the line, he was just so upset and I didn't understand what was wrong with him. It was too early for sleepiness or heat to be a factor. We took a walk around the park and there was lots of tears. He kept saying something that sounded like Star Wars to me, but after awhile I figured out he was saying "stroller." I think the fact that I couldn't understand what he wanted at first made him even more upset. So I went back to get his stroller and pushed him around for awhile. He was still irritable but a little less so than before.
While all this crankiness was going on, DH was meeting the big Wookie. Even though he wasn't at the beginning of the line, he was done with the meet around 8:20am.
I was ready for a little break and wanted to ride Star Tours. DH took over entertainment duties while I went on the ride. I am not sure what was going on...whether it was frustration over DS' behavior or caffeine on an empty stomach but I had a hard time with the ride. I felt a bit queasy and just wasn't really into it.
When I got off the ride, I was greeted by a calmer (but still not smiling DS) wearing a new SW mouse hat. DH took him through Tatooine Traders and DS picked out the hat. I thought the hat was adorable and I was so happy that his mood had picked up a bit.
It was then DH's turn to ride Star Tours. While he was on the ride, DS and I walked around checking out the Rebel Hanger decorations and Jedi Training Academy.
We ended up back in Tatooine Traders. DS fell in love with "stormtrooper head" which is actually a bank. This bank became our unofficial mascot as DS made us carry it around both our SW days.
After our Star Tour rides, it was time for our Galactic breakfast at Sci-fi. I have never been to this restaurant before because I hadn't heard very good reviews about the normal menu.
Everybody's mood seem to pick up as we waited for breakfast.
Soon our name was being called. We were immediately greeted by a very intimidating bounty hunter and Lord Vader himself.
DS was a little nervous walking into the restaurant because it was so dark. He calmed down after we said the magic word "eat!"
This was an expensive meal but we loved it! I had the Kessel run
(Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Baby Spinach with Bacon and Cheddar Custard on a roasted tomato and cheesy horseradish potatoes) and DH and DS had Vader waffles.
I totally missed out on the pastries. DS grabbed the plate and went to town and then went in for his daddy's pastries.
And of course we had to try the blue milk.
The stormtroopers didn't know what to make of "stormtrooper head."
He does smile!
By the time the jawas came around, DS had hit his limit and was ready to leave. DH took him outside while I settled the bill. I told this jawa that I had nothing to trade because my family left me and took everything.
After our breakfast, we decided to split up, with DH staying in the park and DS and I heading back to the room. My plan was to rest a bit and then take DS to the pool. Plus I had a special birthday surprise coming for DS!
I spent about 20 minutes searching for the car (rookie mistake not to capture the lot info) and it was getting hot! We finally made it back to CBR to "play pirates" and rest. DS and I spent some time in the quiet pool and then back to the room to clean up. By the time we returned, a Disney Floral Gifts had delivered a special birthday surprise for DS and I had some goodies that I brought from home.
Happy birthday DS!!!
His actual birthday wasn't until the following Wed, but we were celebrating on this day (and the ones to follow 
). He was one happy little kid.
After a little celebrating, DS and I took a very long nap. We had big plans for the evening with an ADR for Jedi Mickey and a late night at Magic Kingdom (big mistake #2).
SWW!!
Today was our first of two Star Wars days. We headed out early, to get to Hollywood Studios before park opening. We weren't interested in getting any celebrity autographs, but I wanted to see the Storm Trooper opening and hubby wanted to meet Chewie.
I think we made it to the gates around 7:15 am or so. After a short wait, we were allowed to enter the park but then got held up by these guys. They finally let us "nerf herders" in and we were off in search of Chewie.
In the Official SWW thread, there were some tips about the best route to get to Chewie. I guess I am not that good at following directions. I turned off too soon, so we were not first in line. There were probably about 10 parties in front of us. Still it wasn't so bad considering I heard lines are consistently an hour long as the day progresses. Because SWW was really for DH, we had agreed that if DS couldn't handle the line or didn't seem interested in meeting Chewie, I would just take a walk with him. I didn't want to ruin DH's experience. Well it became apparent pretty quickly that DS was not going to wait in the line. So I took him out and started walking around. I decided to take him to over to Star Tours. At first he seemed interested but we had an issue at the measuring stand. He became very emotional and wouldn't get measured. So we walked away to calm down but then he tried to bypass the measuring station and go into the ride. I caught up with him and pulled him aside and explained that he had to get measured to go on the ride. Finally, he allowed himself to get measured and we started walking through the ride line. We made it to about C-3PO and he got real upset. So we exited the ride. Fortunately, the ride was pretty empty at this point and it was easy to get out. I joked with the CM that "this was not the ride he was looking for..."
This might be an appropriate time to mention that DS has some developmental delays, particularly with his communication. Even after exiting the line, he was just so upset and I didn't understand what was wrong with him. It was too early for sleepiness or heat to be a factor. We took a walk around the park and there was lots of tears. He kept saying something that sounded like Star Wars to me, but after awhile I figured out he was saying "stroller." I think the fact that I couldn't understand what he wanted at first made him even more upset. So I went back to get his stroller and pushed him around for awhile. He was still irritable but a little less so than before.
While all this crankiness was going on, DH was meeting the big Wookie. Even though he wasn't at the beginning of the line, he was done with the meet around 8:20am.
I was ready for a little break and wanted to ride Star Tours. DH took over entertainment duties while I went on the ride. I am not sure what was going on...whether it was frustration over DS' behavior or caffeine on an empty stomach but I had a hard time with the ride. I felt a bit queasy and just wasn't really into it.
When I got off the ride, I was greeted by a calmer (but still not smiling DS) wearing a new SW mouse hat. DH took him through Tatooine Traders and DS picked out the hat. I thought the hat was adorable and I was so happy that his mood had picked up a bit.
It was then DH's turn to ride Star Tours. While he was on the ride, DS and I walked around checking out the Rebel Hanger decorations and Jedi Training Academy.
We ended up back in Tatooine Traders. DS fell in love with "stormtrooper head" which is actually a bank. This bank became our unofficial mascot as DS made us carry it around both our SW days.
After our Star Tour rides, it was time for our Galactic breakfast at Sci-fi. I have never been to this restaurant before because I hadn't heard very good reviews about the normal menu.
Everybody's mood seem to pick up as we waited for breakfast.
Soon our name was being called. We were immediately greeted by a very intimidating bounty hunter and Lord Vader himself.
DS was a little nervous walking into the restaurant because it was so dark. He calmed down after we said the magic word "eat!"
This was an expensive meal but we loved it! I had the Kessel run
(Grilled Beef Tenderloin on Baby Spinach with Bacon and Cheddar Custard on a roasted tomato and cheesy horseradish potatoes) and DH and DS had Vader waffles.
I totally missed out on the pastries. DS grabbed the plate and went to town and then went in for his daddy's pastries.
And of course we had to try the blue milk.
The stormtroopers didn't know what to make of "stormtrooper head."
He does smile!
By the time the jawas came around, DS had hit his limit and was ready to leave. DH took him outside while I settled the bill. I told this jawa that I had nothing to trade because my family left me and took everything.
After our breakfast, we decided to split up, with DH staying in the park and DS and I heading back to the room. My plan was to rest a bit and then take DS to the pool. Plus I had a special birthday surprise coming for DS!
I spent about 20 minutes searching for the car (rookie mistake not to capture the lot info) and it was getting hot! We finally made it back to CBR to "play pirates" and rest. DS and I spent some time in the quiet pool and then back to the room to clean up. By the time we returned, a Disney Floral Gifts had delivered a special birthday surprise for DS and I had some goodies that I brought from home.
Happy birthday DS!!!
His actual birthday wasn't until the following Wed, but we were celebrating on this day (and the ones to follow ). He was one happy little kid.
After a little celebrating, DS and I took a very long nap. We had big plans for the evening with an ADR for Jedi Mickey and a late night at Magic Kingdom (big mistake #2).
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Is it wrong to be thinking about the next vacation in the middle of writing a trip report?? It's crazy because during the trip, I kept having these thoughts like how much of a money suck and poor value Disney was (we spent a lot of money on dining and special events) and how much physical pain I was in (leg/foot cramps, aching feet) and how I would rather be here:
I was in a lot of physical pain during the trip and had some serious scooter envy. It's my own fault for being out of shape. This is probably the worst shape I have been in physically (ever) and I definitely felt the impact at Disney. My feet and legs throbbed from the moment I walked out the door each day. Oh well...I refuse to go the scooter route (for now). While there are those that truly need the scooter, I just need to lose some weight and start exercising (and we have a plan to do so before our DL trip!).
But then once the trip was over....I kind of missed being in the Disney bubble and kept thinking about what I could do different to make the next trip better. It really is an addiction.
I asked DS this morning if he would rather go to Aruba or Disney World. I have asked this question before and he has responded Aruba (he loves the beach!). This morning he said Disney World. When I asked what he liked about Disney World, he said "mickey, and pluto, and darth goofy, and stormtrooper donald."
During the trip, I was thinking that if we came back to SWW, we would leave DS with Grandma, but how could we when Darth Goofy and Stormtrooper Donald were his favorites.
So now I am thinking about a longer trip next year....back in CBR in the pirates room.
OK..enough rambling.
I was in a lot of physical pain during the trip and had some serious scooter envy. It's my own fault for being out of shape. This is probably the worst shape I have been in physically (ever) and I definitely felt the impact at Disney. My feet and legs throbbed from the moment I walked out the door each day. Oh well...I refuse to go the scooter route (for now). While there are those that truly need the scooter, I just need to lose some weight and start exercising (and we have a plan to do so before our DL trip!).
But then once the trip was over....I kind of missed being in the Disney bubble and kept thinking about what I could do different to make the next trip better. It really is an addiction.
I asked DS this morning if he would rather go to Aruba or Disney World. I have asked this question before and he has responded Aruba (he loves the beach!). This morning he said Disney World. When I asked what he liked about Disney World, he said "mickey, and pluto, and darth goofy, and stormtrooper donald."
During the trip, I was thinking that if we came back to SWW, we would leave DS with Grandma, but how could we when Darth Goofy and Stormtrooper Donald were his favorites.
So now I am thinking about a longer trip next year....back in CBR in the pirates room.
OK..enough rambling.
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Ngwira
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2013
I just found it too. i am reading along and can't wait until you post more.
chunkymonkey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 27, 2009
I loved the Sci Fi Galactic breakfast...I think the food was better during this breakfast than on it's normal days! Maybe they should just have breakfast full time. LOL.
I liked the concept of blue milk but I thought it tasted weird. I don't think I'm a blueberry milk sort of person even though I liked blueberries. I think it was just too sweet. Your steak entree looked good!
I like the picture of your family with Boba Fett and Darth. They way you were looking at Boba Fett is hilarious. I really liked the interaction with them. I was jumping up and down taking selfies and they were so...stoic. Hahaha.
Your DS has all these new toys to play with, he must be so excited!
I always say I will do Disney in a more calmer fashion, but we're always just go go go. I hear you about the leg cramps and foot pains. I have issues too plus I have a bad knee. I actually lost about 5lbs before this trip and worked out with a trainer. I still have weight to lose to get back to my goal weight (if you look at my first TR from 2009, I am a lot thinner in those pictures!!). But the working out helped and I didn't feel as achy as I did on our last trip with my sister...OMG my legs and back were hurting!
I think a longer trip in a Pirate room would be ideal
I liked the concept of blue milk but I thought it tasted weird. I don't think I'm a blueberry milk sort of person even though I liked blueberries. I think it was just too sweet. Your steak entree looked good!
I like the picture of your family with Boba Fett and Darth. They way you were looking at Boba Fett is hilarious. I really liked the interaction with them. I was jumping up and down taking selfies and they were so...stoic. Hahaha.
Your DS has all these new toys to play with, he must be so excited!
I always say I will do Disney in a more calmer fashion, but we're always just go go go. I hear you about the leg cramps and foot pains. I have issues too plus I have a bad knee. I actually lost about 5lbs before this trip and worked out with a trainer. I still have weight to lose to get back to my goal weight (if you look at my first TR from 2009, I am a lot thinner in those pictures!!). But the working out helped and I didn't feel as achy as I did on our last trip with my sister...OMG my legs and back were hurting!
I think a longer trip in a Pirate room would be ideal
I loved the Sci Fi Galactic breakfast...I think the food was better during this breakfast than on it's normal days! Maybe they should just have breakfast full time. LOL.
I liked the concept of blue milk but I thought it tasted weird. I don't think I'm a blueberry milk sort of person even though I liked blueberries. I think it was just too sweet. Your steak entree looked good!
I like the picture of your family with Boba Fett and Darth. They way you were looking at Boba Fett is hilarious. I really liked the interaction with them. I was jumping up and down taking selfies and they were so...stoic. Hahaha.
Your DS has all these new toys to play with, he must be so excited!
I always say I will do Disney in a more calmer fashion, but we're always just go go go. I hear you about the leg cramps and foot pains. I have issues too plus I have a bad knee. I actually lost about 5lbs before this trip and worked out with a trainer. I still have weight to lose to get back to my goal weight (if you look at my first TR from 2009, I am a lot thinner in those pictures!!). But the working out helped and I didn't feel as achy as I did on our last trip with my sister...OMG my legs and back were hurting!
I think a longer trip in a Pirate room would be ideal
I thought the blue milk was a bit weird. I ended up giving it to hubby. Even though it was expensive, I just thought that was a fun breakfast and it was well done. I loved the Star War clips and the character interactions.
I am going to have to catch up on your trip reports.
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irene_dsc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
I'm here! I haven't had a lot of DIS time the past few days, and missed you starting a TR!
That heat really will do you in - that's why I don't dare go in summer! Although I can definitely see the draw of SWW! I'm loving all of the photos! Not sure if I'll ever give in to doing that - the guys in my family who would appreciate it the most, are also not happy in heat or crowds. So, I'll have to appreciate it through TRs. It does look like you made the right call to take ds back to the room.
That heat really will do you in - that's why I don't dare go in summer! Although I can definitely see the draw of SWW! I'm loving all of the photos! Not sure if I'll ever give in to doing that - the guys in my family who would appreciate it the most, are also not happy in heat or crowds. So, I'll have to appreciate it through TRs. It does look like you made the right call to take ds back to the room.
chunkymonkey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 27, 2009
Day 2 - Part 2
More SW fun and a late night trip to MK.
I'll just go ahead and state upfront that I acknowledge the stupidity of taking my 5 year-old to MK on a Saturday night. I already admitted it up front, so you can't judge me. My rationale at the time was that this was the only other time we would have in MK, DS was typically a night owl on vacation, and he is totally fine with sleeping in a stroller. The only problem was that in our rush to make our dinner ADR, we left the stroller in the car (we took the bus that night). So...late night in MK, without a stroller. It was kind of a disaster.
But I am jumping ahead.
After an awesome nap, we woke up refreshed and ready for our Jedi Mickey dinner at Hollywood Studios. DS had on his birthday shirt and ears, and was ready to celebrate!
We were a little early for our ADR, so we walked around the park a bit.
We insulted a clone by calling him a stormtrooper. This is him correcting us:
And this happened....we don't need to talk about this one. Seemed like a good idea at the time:
It was finally time for our dinner ADR at Hollywood and Vine. I had heard mixed reviews about the food here but we were really just going for the character interaction. I had my fingers crossed that it would be better than our previous meets. While the Galactic breakfast characters were more for DH and I, the H&V dinner had the traditional Disney characters dressed up in SW costumes. I was hoping DS would like this.
When we first checked in, there was a picture with Mickey. This was probably the best interaction of the trip. It doesn't show so well in the pic, but DS had brought his light saber with him and Jedi Mickey was showing him how to use it.
We were seated and waiting for drinks. For some reason, attitudes just changed. Look at these grumpy guys.
But I was ready and a Chipwok was right behind me.
The food was OK. DS barely ate anything, which was a shame because I think his meal was like $39.99 or something ridiculous like that. He didn't even eat dessert. The dinner started going downhill pretty fast. DS was irritable and wouldn't meet any of the characters at first. Then there was a portion of the dinner where there was some dancing and music and he freaked a bit because of the noise (was holding his ears and fussing). DH scolded me for booking such a loud restaurant and I got a bit annoyed (as the planner, I get blamed for everything!!). In my defense, DS hasn't shown this level of sensitivity to noise that I can recall...not in a restaurant. He is usually super loud, and I am constantly reminding him to use his inside voice. And DH hated the booth set-up and close proximity to the people next to us. Basically, he was grumpy because he felt like he couldn't enjoy his food. So dinner was a little tense and I might have made a comment to him about "gratefulness" that was a little too loud (not sure the kiddos at the next table needed to hear that...).
But then like a light switch, DS' attitude change and he was interested in the characters. I think it had to do with seeing Darth Goofy. Now the issue was that he was OVER-EXCITED and I had to restrain him. The table next to us took a million pics with each character. I definitely understand. I think our bill was like $170 for three people (I had 1 alcoholic beverage) and they had a party of four, so I understand getting all the pics you want when you are paying that much. However, it was a challenge to keep DS from photobombing when the characters were so close.
I did end up with some good pics and I think DS ended up enjoying the dinner (characters not food)...DH not as much.
Wish I was eating this right about now...(yoda cupcakes were best imo)
We finished dinner and caught the bus to MK. DS was wide awake and excited to see the castle. When we arrived at MK, the parade was just ending and the Main Street area was pretty crowded. DH had a Space Mountain fast pass and DS and I had Buzz Lightyear passes.
While we were heading towards Buzz, DS pulls me in the direction of Talking Mickey. I was shocked that he wanted to go meet Mickey Mouse again. So we waited about 10 minutes. He was super anxious to get in but once it was our turned...you guessed it..he froze up, hiding behind my pants. I just picked him up and we greeted Mickey. Mickey sang happy birthday again since he was wearing his birthday shirt and ears.
This pic with Mickey is the last one I have on my camera from that night because the rest was just downhill.
After Mickey, we headed over to Buzz. DS has been on Buzz on both our previous trips and hasn't had any issues. We got to the point of boarding and he started to whine ("no Buzz, no dark"). I should have found a chicken exit or something. Instead I made him get on. He was OK at first. He just didn't want me to touch his gun. I kept spinning the car around and he seemed to like that. Then we got to the really dark part. I think you are riding through stars or something and he got upset and then the ride stopped. This is when he absolutely freaked ("I get out...I get out now"). I just held on to him and tried to comfort him but we could not get off that ride soon enough. We met up with DH after the ride to figure out what to do next. We agreed that DH would take him to Tomorrowland race way and I would go on the PeopleMover. I have never been on PeopleMover and just wanted to sit and chill. I pointed to the ride and asked DS if he wanted to get on with me and he said "NO." I am really glad he didn't come on as there are dark parts to that ride as well.
So we split up again, with DH taking DS to the raceway. I waited a long time for PeopleMover. I was hoping to see the fireworks from the ride but it seems like the ride was stopped until the fireworks ended. When I finished my ride, I sat down to wait for the boys and waited...and waited. When they finally found me, DH was pretty upset. Apparently DS had to go to the bathroom before the ride. The fireworks were going on at the time and they were freaking DS out (completely different reaction than Friday, but fireworks were closer/louder when we were in the park). So DH was trying his hardest to find the closest bathroom to prevent an accident and DS was freaking over the fireworks and refusing to go in the direction of the castle. I think the experience had them both frazzled and DH was ready to leave...except we couldn't walk towards the castle at all. DS refused.
I still really wanted to ride 7DMT and it was our fast pass window. DH said no and that he would entertain DS. I didn't think trying to take DS on the ride was a good idea since he already freaked about Buzz being a dark ride. So the boys waited for me...or so I thought. I was on and off 7DMT pretty quickly (loved it, except it hurt my legs a bit..) and started texting DH to figure out where he was. Long story short, he had exited the park (he was really ready to go...). I went towards the exit and there was just a mass exodus from the park. This was my first time experiencing the post Wishes exodus. There was no way to find DH in that crowd. I just told him I would meet him at the bus stop or worst case, back in the room.
I have never experienced anything at Disney like trying to leave MK that night. The monorail was down, so the only options to TTC was bus or ferry. I got swept up in this sea of people and fortunately realized before it was too late that I was moving towards the ferry. I then got over to the mass of people walking towards the buses. It took me a minute to realize that most of the mass was trying to get on a TTC bus. So I kept moving right to get past all these folks. I finally made it to the CBR bus stop. I expected to see DH there. When I didn't, I started calling and texting. He never responded and I started to worry. My phone was also getting ready to die. Not sure why I was freaking so much, but I felt so relieved when I saw him walking towards the bus stop. I have no clue how he ended up so far behind me when he exited the park before me. I don't think he was as aggressive with moving towards the right and getting out of the TTC lines.
There was already a significant line when DH arrived. I was towards the front and would get on the next bus. When I flagged DH down, he stated that he couldn't cut in front of all those people and there was a lady that smiled and agreed....but I said "I am taking my baby!" and grabbed DS. DS slept soundly back to CBR and we crashed once we got back to the room. DH wasn't too far behind us and was surprisingly in a decent mood given the chaos of the evening.
More SW fun and a late night trip to MK.
I'll just go ahead and state upfront that I acknowledge the stupidity of taking my 5 year-old to MK on a Saturday night. I already admitted it up front, so you can't judge me. My rationale at the time was that this was the only other time we would have in MK, DS was typically a night owl on vacation, and he is totally fine with sleeping in a stroller. The only problem was that in our rush to make our dinner ADR, we left the stroller in the car (we took the bus that night). So...late night in MK, without a stroller. It was kind of a disaster.
But I am jumping ahead.
After an awesome nap, we woke up refreshed and ready for our Jedi Mickey dinner at Hollywood Studios. DS had on his birthday shirt and ears, and was ready to celebrate!
We were a little early for our ADR, so we walked around the park a bit.
We insulted a clone by calling him a stormtrooper. This is him correcting us:
And this happened....we don't need to talk about this one. Seemed like a good idea at the time:
It was finally time for our dinner ADR at Hollywood and Vine. I had heard mixed reviews about the food here but we were really just going for the character interaction. I had my fingers crossed that it would be better than our previous meets. While the Galactic breakfast characters were more for DH and I, the H&V dinner had the traditional Disney characters dressed up in SW costumes. I was hoping DS would like this.
When we first checked in, there was a picture with Mickey. This was probably the best interaction of the trip. It doesn't show so well in the pic, but DS had brought his light saber with him and Jedi Mickey was showing him how to use it.
We were seated and waiting for drinks. For some reason, attitudes just changed. Look at these grumpy guys.
But I was ready and a Chipwok was right behind me.
The food was OK. DS barely ate anything, which was a shame because I think his meal was like $39.99 or something ridiculous like that. He didn't even eat dessert. The dinner started going downhill pretty fast. DS was irritable and wouldn't meet any of the characters at first. Then there was a portion of the dinner where there was some dancing and music and he freaked a bit because of the noise (was holding his ears and fussing). DH scolded me for booking such a loud restaurant and I got a bit annoyed (as the planner, I get blamed for everything!!). In my defense, DS hasn't shown this level of sensitivity to noise that I can recall...not in a restaurant. He is usually super loud, and I am constantly reminding him to use his inside voice. And DH hated the booth set-up and close proximity to the people next to us. Basically, he was grumpy because he felt like he couldn't enjoy his food. So dinner was a little tense and I might have made a comment to him about "gratefulness" that was a little too loud (not sure the kiddos at the next table needed to hear that...).
But then like a light switch, DS' attitude change and he was interested in the characters. I think it had to do with seeing Darth Goofy. Now the issue was that he was OVER-EXCITED and I had to restrain him. The table next to us took a million pics with each character. I definitely understand. I think our bill was like $170 for three people (I had 1 alcoholic beverage) and they had a party of four, so I understand getting all the pics you want when you are paying that much. However, it was a challenge to keep DS from photobombing when the characters were so close.
I did end up with some good pics and I think DS ended up enjoying the dinner (characters not food)...DH not as much.
Wish I was eating this right about now...(yoda cupcakes were best imo)
We finished dinner and caught the bus to MK. DS was wide awake and excited to see the castle. When we arrived at MK, the parade was just ending and the Main Street area was pretty crowded. DH had a Space Mountain fast pass and DS and I had Buzz Lightyear passes.
While we were heading towards Buzz, DS pulls me in the direction of Talking Mickey. I was shocked that he wanted to go meet Mickey Mouse again. So we waited about 10 minutes. He was super anxious to get in but once it was our turned...you guessed it..he froze up, hiding behind my pants. I just picked him up and we greeted Mickey. Mickey sang happy birthday again since he was wearing his birthday shirt and ears.
This pic with Mickey is the last one I have on my camera from that night because the rest was just downhill.
After Mickey, we headed over to Buzz. DS has been on Buzz on both our previous trips and hasn't had any issues. We got to the point of boarding and he started to whine ("no Buzz, no dark"). I should have found a chicken exit or something. Instead I made him get on. He was OK at first. He just didn't want me to touch his gun. I kept spinning the car around and he seemed to like that. Then we got to the really dark part. I think you are riding through stars or something and he got upset and then the ride stopped. This is when he absolutely freaked ("I get out...I get out now"). I just held on to him and tried to comfort him but we could not get off that ride soon enough. We met up with DH after the ride to figure out what to do next. We agreed that DH would take him to Tomorrowland race way and I would go on the PeopleMover. I have never been on PeopleMover and just wanted to sit and chill. I pointed to the ride and asked DS if he wanted to get on with me and he said "NO." I am really glad he didn't come on as there are dark parts to that ride as well.
So we split up again, with DH taking DS to the raceway. I waited a long time for PeopleMover. I was hoping to see the fireworks from the ride but it seems like the ride was stopped until the fireworks ended. When I finished my ride, I sat down to wait for the boys and waited...and waited. When they finally found me, DH was pretty upset. Apparently DS had to go to the bathroom before the ride. The fireworks were going on at the time and they were freaking DS out (completely different reaction than Friday, but fireworks were closer/louder when we were in the park). So DH was trying his hardest to find the closest bathroom to prevent an accident and DS was freaking over the fireworks and refusing to go in the direction of the castle. I think the experience had them both frazzled and DH was ready to leave...except we couldn't walk towards the castle at all. DS refused.
I still really wanted to ride 7DMT and it was our fast pass window. DH said no and that he would entertain DS. I didn't think trying to take DS on the ride was a good idea since he already freaked about Buzz being a dark ride. So the boys waited for me...or so I thought. I was on and off 7DMT pretty quickly (loved it, except it hurt my legs a bit..) and started texting DH to figure out where he was. Long story short, he had exited the park (he was really ready to go...). I went towards the exit and there was just a mass exodus from the park. This was my first time experiencing the post Wishes exodus. There was no way to find DH in that crowd. I just told him I would meet him at the bus stop or worst case, back in the room.
I have never experienced anything at Disney like trying to leave MK that night. The monorail was down, so the only options to TTC was bus or ferry. I got swept up in this sea of people and fortunately realized before it was too late that I was moving towards the ferry. I then got over to the mass of people walking towards the buses. It took me a minute to realize that most of the mass was trying to get on a TTC bus. So I kept moving right to get past all these folks. I finally made it to the CBR bus stop. I expected to see DH there. When I didn't, I started calling and texting. He never responded and I started to worry. My phone was also getting ready to die. Not sure why I was freaking so much, but I felt so relieved when I saw him walking towards the bus stop. I have no clue how he ended up so far behind me when he exited the park before me. I don't think he was as aggressive with moving towards the right and getting out of the TTC lines.
There was already a significant line when DH arrived. I was towards the front and would get on the next bus. When I flagged DH down, he stated that he couldn't cut in front of all those people and there was a lady that smiled and agreed....but I said "I am taking my baby!" and grabbed DS. DS slept soundly back to CBR and we crashed once we got back to the room. DH wasn't too far behind us and was surprisingly in a decent mood given the chaos of the evening.
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Sometimes Disney trips are so hard. We have such high expectations and then sometimes, things don't work out as planned and it's such a let-down. Your son seems so nice, I don't blame him for wanting to pose with characters. When you think about it, it is strange for children to wonder what the heck these things are.
After having written down all of the events of Day 2, they actually don't seem that bad. I think my family (all of us, including DS) gets easily frustrated. DS is five, so it is to be expected. But for DH and I, I think we really needed to chill out a bit when things didn't go as planned. DH and I had a long talk about this Sunday night and I really think it made our final day in WDW a lot better. I am sure DS wasn't the first kid to freak out on a ride. We just know not to take him on Buzz for awhile and to listen when he tells us that he doesn't want to ride ("No Buzz!"). I could have also planned a little differently to prevent meltdowns but honestly, they occurred at all different points of the trip.
The one thing that surprised me was DS' increased sensitivity to noises. This was a huge issue with fireworks and also the bathrooms. We watched the fireworks last year from behind the castle. I think DS was a little startled but wasn't upset and just watched them with us. This year, we weren't even close to the castle and the fireworks made him very upset. Not knowing that he would react this way to the fireworks, I already had booked a SWW package that included fireworks viewing. So this would be an issue. The bathrooms were also a HUGE issue...more specifically, the loud flushing toilets. This is not a Disney specific issue. We have this problem often when using public toilets but it is so much worse with the automatic flushing ones. Because he was afraid of the toilets, DS would wait until it was an absolute emergency to go and if I tried to get him to the bathroom before that point, there was lots of screaming and sobbing. I literally have to drag him into the bathroom and typically just as he is getting ready to go, the automatic flush would happen and freak him out!
So yeah...Disney trips can be hard...and I often wonder why I am so addicted to them! A beach trip with DS would be so much easier.
The one thing that surprised me was DS' increased sensitivity to noises. This was a huge issue with fireworks and also the bathrooms. We watched the fireworks last year from behind the castle. I think DS was a little startled but wasn't upset and just watched them with us. This year, we weren't even close to the castle and the fireworks made him very upset. Not knowing that he would react this way to the fireworks, I already had booked a SWW package that included fireworks viewing. So this would be an issue. The bathrooms were also a HUGE issue...more specifically, the loud flushing toilets. This is not a Disney specific issue. We have this problem often when using public toilets but it is so much worse with the automatic flushing ones. Because he was afraid of the toilets, DS would wait until it was an absolute emergency to go and if I tried to get him to the bathroom before that point, there was lots of screaming and sobbing. I literally have to drag him into the bathroom and typically just as he is getting ready to go, the automatic flush would happen and freak him out!
So yeah...Disney trips can be hard...and I often wonder why I am so addicted to them! A beach trip with DS would be so much easier.
TheMaxRebo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
Sorry about all the challenges. I think it is easy to get frustrated - especially if you start to think about how much $ you are spending. Learning to "chill" when things don't go exactly as planned can help but is so much easier said than done. I try to plan a ton for a trip just to avoid the "what do you want to do? I don't know, what do you want to do?" but once we are actually there I try to go with the flow (again, easier said than done)
I am glad to hear that the character meetings at the meals went ok (or at least wound up ok). I heard some terrible things about the Jedi Mickey meal - including poor character interactions, but seemed like you did ok.
BTW - love the storm trooper bank and that must have been great interaction at the breakfast - as they probably thought your beheaded one of their fellow troopers
Oh, a small tip for the auto flush toilets (which my kids have issues with) - bring a pack of post-it notes with you and put one over the sensor while he is going as it will prevent the toilet from flushing until you are ready
I am glad to hear that the character meetings at the meals went ok (or at least wound up ok). I heard some terrible things about the Jedi Mickey meal - including poor character interactions, but seemed like you did ok.
BTW - love the storm trooper bank and that must have been great interaction at the breakfast - as they probably thought your beheaded one of their fellow troopers
Oh, a small tip for the auto flush toilets (which my kids have issues with) - bring a pack of post-it notes with you and put one over the sensor while he is going as it will prevent the toilet from flushing until you are ready
Cando86
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2008
I'm so sorry to hear things didn't go quite as planned. That's always a bummer especially when you feel like you've put so much work into planning your trip! I guess the only thing you can do is learn from those tough experience for next time - we've all been there.
I AM enjoying reading about your experiences - you're a great writer! I hope things start looking up a bit for you on the trip!
I AM enjoying reading about your experiences - you're a great writer! I hope things start looking up a bit for you on the trip!
I never thought about blocking the sensor. I have a road trip coming up in a few weeks and I will definitely try this out! Thanks for the tip.
It was pretty funny seeing the reaction to "stormtrooper head." That bank was definitely the best Disney purchase we have had in awhile.
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