He is so freaking adorable. I am loving the trip report. I knew you guys would have a great time even though you have to come home at some point. Just think...the experience you gained will help you out for the next trip.
Thanks, K.
I'm still quite depressed about vacation being over. If I take one thing away from this, it is that 5 days is not enough for us. I need more.
Ok, so picking up where I left off...
We got to the Blue Bayou late, and I was sure they would have given our table away. But no, we waited about 5 minutes and were seated waterside!!!!! I hadn't even asked! I ordered the Monte Cristo, without ham:
and it was awesome, of course. The kids had mac and cheese:
which was also quite good! And we shared a Flying Dutchman for dessert:
We tried Haunted Mansion next, which the kids loved last year, but as soon as we walked in both kids started whimpering and whining, and DD started freaking out, so we left. DS wanted to ride Pirates, and DD said she was afraid (despite the fact that last time she rode it she said she loved it and wanted to ride it again). I made her go, and she said later she loved it again and keeps saying it was her favorite part of the trip. I'm not sure I believe her, but hopefully she isn't scarred for life or anything.
We rode Small World next, to sort of clear out the fear from Pirates. See the duck on the side of the water? She was in the water about 5 seconds earlier, being "chased" by the boat:
The clock was opening up:
it was apparently 3:something:
Next up was the monorail! I thought DS would get a kick out of riding in the front, so we waited as the orange line passed us:
and the blue line, which had a pilot in training riding in the front:
and then boarded the orange line!
Riding in the front was pretty freaking cool!
And then DS wanted to ride Nemo. I hadn't really wanted to, because last year I felt kind of claustrophobic. But he wanted to ride it, and he hadn't wanted to ride much else, so we rode it. And I am very glad we did. He was really into it.
I'm not sure what we did after this. I know we were supposed to go do Monsters Inc and TSMM, but I stopped to get DS a corn dog, and stopped to pick up some stuff for our cat sitters (our neighbors, who are 8 and 10 and have never been to
Disneyland), and by the time we were done DCA was closed. I felt horrible. I totally forgot it closed early that day and we missed our chance to ride those 2 again. We ended up going back to the hotel and eating a little bit, and packing, and going to bed. I was really, really depressed that vacation was over and we were going home.
Today we woke up and probably should have gone swimming, but I thought we wouldn't have enough time and I was debating staying an extra day. Super Shuttle said they would arrive between 12:05 and 12:20, so I had most of our stuff packed up. I still had the computer and a few things out at 11:44, when I got a call that SS would be there in 1 minute. Nice advance notice!!!! SO we shoved everything into bags and flew over to the front desk to check out. I somehow lost my memory card, and I sincerely hope housekeeping finds it and returns it. I do have all of the photos on the computer but I really want the actual card back.
So, blah blah, we are home. Nothing exciting, easy flight home, kids were great, I was sad.
I've been sad at the end of all our vacations, but I honestly think this is the worst year yet. I posted a thread about it in the DL Community board, but I'll put it here too. I just felt like I needed a do-over. I barely slept on this trip, because I had to share a bed and my kids are rollers/kickers. And DS snores. So I hardly got any sleep. I was crabby a lot, and I feel like it really put a bad spin on much of our trip. I just wanted one more day so I could let go of my bad mood and let the kids do what they wanted, instead of me being grouchy and bossy. My kids are seeing their dad tomorrow, otherwise I would have added a day to our trip. I asked their dad if we could reschedule their visit so we could stay, and he said no. I felt like if we just had that one more day it would be enough.
I'm trying to use this as a learning experience, and hopefully I will be able to come back and look at this later without feeling too horrible about it. Next time:
1) Plan more than 5 days. It sounds like a lot, but the time passes so darn quickly.
2) Go ahead and plan one day for Sea World if we are staying 7 days. We can give up one DL day for SW. The kids will love it. Who cares if they are "too young", we will go again when they are older.
3) Less character meals/table service. I'm not sure I will stick to this, we did 1 per day, but I feel like it kind of made the rest of the day difficult and took time away from rides and shows. We had to tear ourselves away from fun things to go eat, and we had to run across the entire park or plan a day around a dinner reservation. We did fine with snacking all day and sharing food and eating at the room.
4) Don't pack so much stuff for the kids to do on the plane. A few activities and the DVD player are all we need. No need to weigh them down wit ha thousand things they won't touch.
5) Think about the food I bring. Don't bring too many snacks, and don't bring things we won't eat.
I'm not sure how much I can visit this board when I'm not planning a trip. It might make me feel better to visit, or it might make me sad. Who knows. Right now I am very very sad that our vacation is over, and I need to snap out of it. Maybe a good night of sleep in my own bed will help.