Why, My Little Guppy Has Groupies! - A Dec. 2013 TR *Completed

[afwdwfan]

I loved how the store had both a train and a monorail set displayed. The monorail was much cooler, in my opinion. I’d never seen one out of its box before and had no idea you could open and close the doors.

The monorail is always cooler. And I don't care what you're comparing it to.

Anyone else laugh out loud during that scene?


No? Just me?

I can't say. Clearly, I need to see this movie soon.

On that day, Flounder was his plush of choice.

That is a neat picture of him smiling at Flounder!

(Vanellope’s only a couple hundred bucks.)

That made for a lovely Disney attitude. I mean, I felt bad about the crummy travel conditions, but I didn’t feel it warranted me getting yelled at.

You know what cures this mood?

A park!

They were decidedly the best souvenir we could ever take away from Disney.

Definitely. We never got them embroidered for our kids. But then again, they play with them at home and they don't necessarily hold up their original shape anymore anyway. So make sure you put those on display somewhere and keep them nice. Get him a plain pair of ears to play with and wear if he wants to.

I don’t know why. If he’d taken a right at the entrance to DTD, he could have just followed that road all the way down to our resort. But instead it took him onto the interstate, pass several of the exits, and then back onto Disney property.

I've found that at Disney World too. It just seems like the GPS gets confused or something. Or it has to take you to some main starting point before you can finally end up at your destination.

Then again, when our car phone rang and we answered, she was ringing us from the gate at the All Stars. Which was definitely NOT our end destination.

I can only imagine how that phone call went.

 

[USAFdad]

I'm sorry that Alex didn't get your "subtle" hints about going directly to a park. I have to agree with you though. If I get a couple of extra Disney hours, I'd want to be in park. I see how you managed to get your passive aggressive payback though. Stopping by guest services, then lunch and a diaper change before going into the stores... Well played...

In my defense I have said on many different occasions not to hint at me due to the fact that I know I miss hints 90% of the time.

 

[afwdwfan]

In my defense I have said on many different occasions not to hint at me due to the fact that I know I miss hints 90% of the time.

I'm right there with you on that one!

 

[Dugette]

I think we know who's the cutest Disney girl that was there in December and who was the cutest boy. I'm pretty sure between our 2 reports there's just going to be an overload of cuteness.

Ah, thanks! It's a good thing we didn't cross paths...those two in one picture may exceed the DIS cuteness limits!

Ha, enjoy the days of just looking at the plushes, but being able to let them go! Izzy had some fun collecting Minnies and such during our trip! One wasn't enough...she wanted ALL of them. Super cute picture with Flounder, by the way!

We've discussed several times how nice it would be to have someone push you around in a rolling nap machine and have snacks and drinks and various entertainment at the ready!

Love the Mickey ears! Does he keep them on his head? That's where we have problems...loves to rip things off her head immediately.

 

[MEK]

Oh My Goodness.

That story about the little girl being in a trance by Landon is just TOO cute! You told the story so well.

And all the oohs and aahs. Come on - who can resist the cute little guy, complete with his first set of Mickey ears?

As for your mom - OMG - I have been stuck in that I-4 traffic and during those times I am eternally grateful that Denny likes to drive. I despise it and just put my head dead and read or play games.

Oh - and I thought your final destination was POP?

 

[MEK]

I almost forgot - Happy NY!!!!!!

 

[Nermel9]

I thought I commented on your update from the other day, but I guess not, maybe I just read it! Anyway, ugh, I know how you feel when you want to just get to the parks but your significant other wants to stop other places first! At least you went somewhere on Disney property though, not CVS like me!

Yum, Earl of Sandwich! That's so cute how much Landon liked it, at least you know he's going to love EoS when he gets older!

I want the monorail set too, for under my tree, but I never get it. Someday I will!

Aww, that little girl who wanted to see Landon is so cute! And all the attention he got when you were walking through DTD! He's adorable, so of course people are going to want to see him! It's weird when it gets to be too much though, isn't it? I don't have a baby, but I used to watch my niece a lot when she was a baby, and she was just about the cutest, prettiest baby ever, so whenever I would take her out, she would get tons of people ooohing and ahhhing over her, and stopping to talk to her and get right in her face, and it made me feel weird. But babies are adorable so I guess you just have to expect it!

Your poor mom, getting stuck in traffic! I've heard the traffic around Orlando can be awful, but luckily I never leave the Disney bubble so I've never really experienced it!

Hope the rest of your trip goes smoother!

Happy New Year!

 

[marDgreen88]

I have a feeling I'll start every comment I make on this TR with this sentence, but Landon is so cute!!

Omg, yes, get the monorail set. It's amazing. We got it for Christmas last week and I put it together yesterday... I'm obsessed. It's amazing. (We also got a Contemporary to go with it. Necessities, you know.)

I actually laugh at that line from Olaf EVERY time. Hahahahaha he's just too funny!

Oh the ears... SO CUTE.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Hahaha, baby crack! I'm telling you, some of the channels that they have are like that! You put them on and bam! Mesmerized.

Yeah, don't you hate it when the subtle and then not so subtle hints work? Men, I tell you.

Oh....my....gosh. That picture of Landon in his carseat. His legs are so chubby! I love it! I hold the opinion that baby chub is the best kind of chub.

What a way to start the trip! I've been there before, believe me.

The Hawaiian Barbecue at EoS is just incredible.

 

[khertz]

I totally agree about timing when you add a baby into the mix. I don't think we ever realized how quickly we moved around the parks and got things done until we took Paxton's first trip! It was especially annoying how long bathroom breaks took, since usually I'd have to go first while DH waited with Paxton, then I'd take Paxton to change his diaper while DH went, etc. All that stuff that doesn't take so long at home, but suddenly on vacation is a gigantic time suck!

I try the subtle hint thing with DH all the time, and it doesn't work. I am learning to be more direct if I actually want something.

Picturing Landon doing his Hulk movement while eating is just about the cutest thing ever! And I really love his ears!! I didn't think to get ones embroidered that said it was Paxton's 1st trip. That's a great idea!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[teekathepony]

Well Landon is awfully cute, no wonder he got so many oohs and ahhs.
Oh dear, hope you all get together at the same (and correct) location!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

All caught up! I'm glad that you guys enjoyed your Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays! It must have been so much more fun for you with Landon this year.

I'm sorry about the few bumps in the road at the beginning of your trip, but I'm sure it got better with toting around your cute little man! I love the picture of him with Flounder, he looks so excited!

 

[amazingact21]

That is a neat picture of him smiling at Flounder!

Thanks. It wasn't what I was aiming for, but I'll take it.

You know what cures this mood?

A park!

Hahaha...precisely!

Definitely. We never got them embroidered for our kids. But then again, they play with them at home and they don't necessarily hold up their original shape anymore anyway. So make sure you put those on display somewhere and keep them nice. Get him a plain pair of ears to play with and wear if he wants to.

We have them set up on his dresser, because he was trying his best to destroy it on our trip. I'm all about letting him play with toys, but not a pair of ears that cost us almost 30 bucks.

In my defense I have said on many different occasions not to hint at me due to the fact that I know I miss hints 90% of the time.

But by now you know I hint at stuff, so you should be aware that I'm not direct.

Ah, thanks! It's a good thing we didn't cross paths...those two in one picture may exceed the DIS cuteness limits!

Ha, enjoy the days of just looking at the plushes, but being able to let them go! Izzy had some fun collecting Minnies and such during our trip! One wasn't enough...she wanted ALL of them. Super cute picture with Flounder, by the way!

We've discussed several times how nice it would be to have someone push you around in a rolling nap machine and have snacks and drinks and various entertainment at the ready!

Love the Mickey ears! Does he keep them on his head? That's where we have problems...loves to rip things off her head immediately.

Yeah, we know those days are going to be gone soon. He already has a box worth of plushes here at home, there's no way we could buy every single one he sees in the store.


He would pull his ears off if the string was placed on his cheeks. We discovered that when we tucked the straps behind his ears it worked a lot better.
That being said, even then he still made grabs for the ear parts.

Oh My Goodness.

That story about the little girl being in a trance by Landon is just TOO cute! You told the story so well.

And all the oohs and aahs. Come on - who can resist the cute little guy, complete with his first set of Mickey ears?

As for your mom - OMG - I have been stuck in that I-4 traffic and during those times I am eternally grateful that Denny likes to drive. I despise it and just put my head dead and read or play games.

Oh - and I thought your final destination was POP?

The little girl was adorable, and Landon had a ball watching her. He thought she was coming over to play.

I agree with you on the driving. I hate driving in general and am lucky Alex likes to be in control.


Right you are, Pop was our end destination!

 

[amazingact21]

I thought I commented on your update from the other day, but I guess not, maybe I just read it! Anyway, ugh, I know how you feel when you want to just get to the parks but your significant other wants to stop other places first! At least you went somewhere on Disney property though, not CVS like me!

That is true...

Yum, Earl of Sandwich! That's so cute how much Landon liked it, at least you know he's going to love EoS when he gets older!

I can only hope! We've been brainwashing him on all things Disney since he was born.

Aww, that little girl who wanted to see Landon is so cute! And all the attention he got when you were walking through DTD! He's adorable, so of course people are going to want to see him! It's weird when it gets to be too much though, isn't it? I don't have a baby, but I used to watch my niece a lot when she was a baby, and she was just about the cutest, prettiest baby ever, so whenever I would take her out, she would get tons of people ooohing and ahhhing over her, and stopping to talk to her and get right in her face, and it made me feel weird. But babies are adorable so I guess you just have to expect it!

It does seem a little weird, at times. On one hand, it feels nice knowing they are getting all those smiles, but on the other hand, you're like, "I just want to get my gallon of milk and go home."

I have a feeling I'll start every comment I make on this TR with this sentence, but Landon is so cute!!

Omg, yes, get the monorail set. It's amazing. We got it for Christmas last week and I put it together yesterday... I'm obsessed. It's amazing. (We also got a Contemporary to go with it. Necessities, you know.)

I actually laugh at that line from Olaf EVERY time. Hahahahaha he's just too funny!

Oh the ears... SO CUTE.

Thanks.


I told Alex if we got the monorail set, I wanted the Contemporary to go with it. It just completes the set.

Hahaha, baby crack! I'm telling you, some of the channels that they have are like that! You put them on and bam! Mesmerized.

Yeah, don't you hate it when the subtle and then not so subtle hints work? Men, I tell you.

Oh....my....gosh. That picture of Landon in his carseat. His legs are so chubby! I love it! I hold the opinion that baby chub is the best kind of chub.

What a way to start the trip! I've been there before, believe me.

The Hawaiian Barbecue at EoS is just incredible.

Landon has no shortage of baby chunk. People used to be amazed that he was so young, because he was so big. he's actually thinned out some since he's gotten more mobile, but oh yeah, he still has plenty of rolls.
I joke that he has no wrist. It's just arm....hand.

I totally agree about timing when you add a baby into the mix. I don't think we ever realized how quickly we moved around the parks and got things done until we took Paxton's first trip! It was especially annoying how long bathroom breaks took, since usually I'd have to go first while DH waited with Paxton, then I'd take Paxton to change his diaper while DH went, etc. All that stuff that doesn't take so long at home, but suddenly on vacation is a gigantic time suck!

I try the subtle hint thing with DH all the time, and it doesn't work. I am learning to be more direct if I actually want something.

Picturing Landon doing his Hulk movement while eating is just about the cutest thing ever! And I really love his ears!! I didn't think to get ones embroidered that said it was Paxton's 1st trip. That's a great idea!

Ugh, bathroom breaks were an adventure! It was like a relay, passing the baby baton off.


I love the ears, but I thought what you did on Paxton's 1st bday was amazing. If I ever celebrate Landon's bday at Disney, I'm totaling stealing the Vinyl idea. I remember I showed that update to Alex and went, "This. Is. Genius!"

Great update!

Thank you!

Well Landon is awfully cute, no wonder he got so many oohs and ahhs.
Oh dear, hope you all get together at the same (and correct) location!

It was an adventure, getting there, but we all did manage to successfully check in. Eventually....

All caught up! I'm glad that you guys enjoyed your Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays! It must have been so much more fun for you with Landon this year.

I'm sorry about the few bumps in the road at the beginning of your trip, but I'm sure it got better with toting around your cute little man! I love the picture of him with Flounder, he looks so excited!

The holidays are so much more fun with a baby. You'll know soon enough.

Landon was very excited to see Flounder. He usually reserves that kind of reaction for Pooh Bear, but I guess he discovered another favorite furry friend.

 

[Britard]

I love his Mickey ears! They look so good. I don't know what it is about Disney property, but my GPS decides to mess with us too!!

 

[Marsheliz]

Loovveeee the Mickey ears!!

No wonder everyone thinks he's a cutie- I want to squeeze him through the screen!! Maybe it's a Landen(on) trait! Lol

I would love to invest in the train &/or monorail for Christmas as well...

It's easy to get turned around in the park... My GPS goes crazy!!

 

[amazingact21]

I love his Mickey ears! They look so good. I don't know what it is about Disney property, but my GPS decides to mess with us too!!

Sounds like the navigation systems ban together to cause us Disney nuts to go crazy driving around in circles. They must know how much we want to get to the parks!

Loovveeee the Mickey ears!!

No wonder everyone thinks he's a cutie- I want to squeeze him through the screen!! Maybe it's a Landen(on) trait! Lol

I would love to invest in the train &/or monorail for Christmas as well...

It's easy to get turned around in the park... My GPS goes crazy!!

It must be. I've never met a Landon(en) that wasn't just adorable. Has to be a requirement when you're placed with name.

 

[amazingact21]

Welcome to 2014, everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and are staying warm with all these storms blowing around. Here in FL it's in the high 30s/mid 40s, so I know other places have to be freezing. Poor Landon looked at me like I'd lost my mind when I threw a coat on him yesterday.

We live in Florida, lady. Where'd you even FIND a jacket?

****

Anyways, here's another update for you this weekend. Anyone who read my last TRs knows I'm turning these posts out in record time. I guess I don't want to be watching Landon walk across the living room while I'm typing about him barely crawling.
Plus, my average recap covers about 2 hours. So, if I do the math correctly, that means I'll have approximately 96 chapters, total.



I promise, it won't be that much. (Relax, your eyes can stop bugging out of their sockets, I wouldn't torture you all like that. I like you guys too much. That'd be worse than getting stuck on It's A Small World.)




Sunday, December 1st, 2013:

About the time my mom called us in a bit of a panic, because the GPS was not taking her in the right direction, the gate guard at All Stars stopped her and asked what was up. We overheard her explain the situation and listened as the friendly guard gave her some basic directions to the correct resort.

As she pulled away, my mom said, "I think I can handle this."

Go get 'em, Mom!


The only advantage to getting on to I-4 was that it took us through the main entrance to the world. Meaning, a drive under the arch!
WDWDisneyDec2013(1) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


It wasn't long after I took this shot that my mom pulled up to the correct gate, and we disconnected, telling her we'd be there in 5 minutes or so. Down the road we drove, passing those big purple signs and seeing exit after exit.

I love the Disney roads.
They are so clear and bright and open. Not to mention, the property's laid out in one big oval for the most part, so if you miss one exit, you can usually take another exit or back track fairly easily.



I counted down the seconds until we finally turned onto Victory Way and started approaching our destination.

WDWDisneyDec2013(2) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

No, no, sadly, it was not Art of Animation.

I wished.

But that'll be in the distant future. I guarantee that. Our stop was next.

WDWDisneyDec2013(3) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

C'mon red light!
Of course we'd hit the light right in front of our resort. Nothing like dragging out the anticipation, Traffic Gods.

Whoo! Green light! Let's go!

WDWDisneyDec2013(4) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

We're here! We're here!

Pop Century!

Only, this gate guard had to be the chattiest person on Pop property. It was the typical elderly, shoot the breeze, gab the day away man.

You know the type.

Well, perhaps not. They are especially prominent on base. Mostly in the grocery store, pharmacy, and shopping center. I tend to hit at least one a trip. And my mother's like a magnet for chattiness. If I'm with her, I go in prepared to spend at least 10 minutes listening to "the good 'ol days."

I blamed my mother for this postponement. They zeroed in on her location and switched shifts right as she approached in her car, I have no doubt.

Sounds logical.


The guard was holding a mostly one sized conversation with Alex when my mother called us again.

"Did I miss you guys?"

"No, we're almost there. We're at the gate."

"Oh .Okay, I understand."

I swear I could hear amusement in her voice.

"So, you're going to stay with us, eh?"

Alex, "Guess so."

I glanced behind me and saw 4 vehicles waiting in line.
Sir, it is 3 o'clock, main check in time. Now's not the time to be a Chatty Kathy. Not to mention, I'M RIGHT THERE! PLEASE, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? I JUST WANT TO CHECK IN AND OFFICIALLY BEGIN MY DISNEY STAY!

Eons later, we made our break and pulled up to the check in parking lot.
WDWDisneyDec2013(5) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

Hello, Pop Century!

I was feeling confident that this stay would be much better than our first one. Mainly because I wasn't sick as a dog.

We parked the car, got Landon out of his seat, found all our paperwork and MagicBands, and spotted my mother.


It was time to head inside!

​

Hi, Mom!
​

She had been fighting some kind of cold the week before. The normal sore, scratchy through, sinus pressure, and occasional cough, so if she looks a bit dazed in some of the photos, it's the Alka Seltzer's fault.

When we walked into the lobby, the Christmas tree greeted us.
​

A nice sized tree, if I do say so myself. And my mother's "Wow" next to me added quite a bit of enjoyment to spotting it.

"You ready for all the decorations?"

"Definitely."





We hadn't done online check-in, because I had put in a couple room requests, and I had heard some horror stories about the MDE app not working well with any kind of special circumstances. No matter, though, we were only 2nd in line for regular check in, and there were plenty of CMs behind desks.

​

Something had grabbed the boy's attention while we waited.

Most likely another person, because in this next shot is Landon's "Who, me?" face.
​

"Oh, stop it! I'm not that cute."
He does like to lay it on thick, doesn't he?

Licitly split, we were called to the front.

The Cast Member checking us in was not the friendliest sort. In fact, if I had to measure everyone up, I'd say he was the most un-Disney-like employee we encountered on the trip. He didn't say anything at all about the MagicBand system, how it worked, what we could use it on. If I were unfamiliar with the whole process, I would have been mighty confused.

He wrote down our room numbers and circled the building on a map, then started wrapping everything up.

No summary of dining credits, no directions to our room, not even a informative note about using our Bands to access our rooms. And, of course, Alex wanted to ask a few questions just out of curiosity.

"We don't get a Key to the World Card?"

He knew the answer but wanted to see what they had to say about it.

The response.

"No."

The guy didn't even look up from his computer.

Just, NO.

Huh.

Then, because Alex is Alex, he had to ask, "I saw some people who were arriving in January get this flashdrive. Will we, by chance, get one?"

Barely a glance up. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Said in a rather snarky tone of voice.

Okay then, Sir.

He acted very much like we were putting him out by checking in. How dare we...


That being said, I understand everyone has bad days, and I know right now his job probably has to suck. Teaching dozens of people an hour what MagicBands are, how to operate them, explaining that they are still in testing phases, listening to the griping, etc.

It can't be fun for them. And that's why I cut the guy some slack. He probably assumed since we'd customized the bands and had specific room requests and that we had a passholder discount that we knew the lay of the land already.

At least, that's what I told myself.


What did surprise me was that he was acting a little bored with not one, not two, but 3 managers standing right behind him. I can only assume they had so many on hand to deal with the MagicBand mania, but it was still a little crazy to see so many top brass in one place.

One of the managers, a middle aged guy in a nice suit, walked over and said to me, "You know, I have to be honest, I'm not a fan of kids. I'm just not, but that is one cute guy you've got there."

Uh, thanks?



It's probably odd, but my first reaction was, "You don't like kids, but you work at Disney? How do you avoid them?"

Landon, with his zoning-in superpowers, spotted the managers and immediately began putting on a show for them. Waving, laughing, reaching for the toys they were holding out. Perhaps that's why the Cast Member was disgruntled.

We were bringing too much attention to him.

Sorry.



Having finished with the check-in process, we all made our way back to our cars and instructed my mother to follow our lead.

We didn't have far to go. We were put in the 50's section, second floor, near the parking lot.

Exactly what I'd asked for. Hooray!

Alex became the pack mule as we began the unloading process:
​

We placed our trusty MagicBand up to the door's sensor and VIOLA! our door opened. So far, MagicBand 1, Glitches 0.

​

Sadly, we did not get a room with the new bedding, but seeing as I had no idea about the new covers until I read Nermel9's update, we didn't feel jipped.

Both Landon and Dad had to inspect the room immediately.
​

Actually, Alex was configuring the room in his head, thinking of a way to get the Pack and Play and all our luggage to fit.



Landon was just happy to be set down for a bit.

​

And, yes, I know, those comforters are nasty, and I shouldn't have set him down on them. But it was for five minutes while we got organized, and after that they were removed and placed in a corner. The kid has licked another baby's foot before, I don't think a few minutes on the bed was going to kill him.



Alex discovered that we could move the beds, so he switched the nightstand the bed closest to the bathroom's spots, pushing the two beds together. That opened up a lot of room, enough to set up the Pack and Play and leave a bit of open floor for a blanket and toys.




One of the perks about being Mom was that I got to stay behind with the baby and feed him while the other two made 3 trips to the car.

Whew. A kid sure does add a lot of luggage to the mix. I mean, there was the box of diapers, the bed, the suitcase with his toys and clothes...

Don't worry, though, I supervised like a champ and made sure Alex deposited everything in the correct place.

A quick shot of the room before it got destroyed by our stuff.
​

The best part about the room was this:
​

We landed a connecting room with my mom.
​

This proved so useful for us throughout our stay. We'd seriously considered staying deluxe and bunking together, but in the end we knew the space would just be too small.

With this, we each had our own room when we wanted privacy, but with the doors opened, the space doubled. I kept Landon's walker (which I'd borrowed from my mom for the week at my in-law's) in her room, and in the mornings while Alex, and sometimes Landon, slept, I'd go over there and hang out.

Landon got so much more room to run around, and whenever I needed my mom to watch him for a second, all I had to do was knock. Honestly, this was the best thing about our stay at Pop. I don't know how I would've survived without my mom being right next door.

However, as much as I loved it, my mom - not such a fan.

I mean, she did not mind it, and she enjoyed being so close to her grandson for a week.
She just wished she'd had earplugs.

Because, spoiler alert, Landon's sleep did NOT improve. My mom was an unwilling participant to Landon's constant nighttime waking. She heard him 95% of the time.

In her words, "That was something I could have done without."

I was finishing my tour of the room, even managing to grab a bathroom mirror shot of myself:
WDWDisneyDec2013(6) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

(See! I was there!)​

When my mom walked in and asked, "Do you guys have towels hanging off your bathroom door?"

What?

Ew, of course not.

I stepped into her room and saw 3 very used, very wet towels hanging on the back of her door. Not to mention a messy floor and an even messier toilet.

What the heck?!


Now, I'd noticed when we'd first entered that our floor had very clearly not gotten vacuumed, but I brushed that off as Mom radar. I tend to notice dirt a little more now that my son will gravitate to it.

But, c'mon, an un-cleaned bathroom?

It was clearly obvious mousekeeping hadn't done anything to the bathroom except put fresh towels on the shelf. Alex wanted to call and complain, but my mom's like me and tends to avoid confrontations. So she just threw the dirty towels on the floor and went about unpacking.

This did not place Pop high in my regards, thus far. I know All Star Sports is the most unpopular resort, and Movies doesn't sit much higher, but I can safely say in the 2 times I've stayed there, the rooms have been immaculate. No lie, I could go over it with a fine toothed comb and not find a crumb. They were tidier than Movies and MUCH better than Pop.

So say what you will about Sports, but thus far nothing has reached its standard of cleanliness. (Except Shades of Green.)



My mom and I broke out our Clorox Wipes and disinfected anything and everything, feeling a little better about our room now that the surfaces were clean.

While we were at it, the two of us pulled out our window decorations. My mom was super excited to finally be able to decorate her window; a few months prior we'd gone shopping for supplies, and we'd both created a plan on what we were going to do.

To which I completely forgot about until the night before our trip when I found my decorations with some other stuff I needed to pack.

Oops.


Normally, I'm a really crafty person. I had my handy dandy Cricut machine that I knew had ornament cutouts and I was ready to embellish my shapes.

So much for that...

I didn't even have a paint pen handy.

Therefore, I give you what 1 minute of half-butt work looks like:
WDWDisneyDec2013(7) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

​

Oh, I had such grand plans.

Oh well.

My mom's, on the other hand, turned out great!
WDWDisneyDec2013(8) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

WDWDisneyDec2013(9) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

I was impressed with her work and kicked myself at not letting her do mine.

I know for next time...



With more than a little bit of shock, I happened to glance at the clock and saw it was already 4:30.

Whoa!

Where the heck did time go?!

The tentative plan was to be in the Magic Kingdom by then. We had Fastpasses for It's a Small World that we had to use. You see, Small World was closing the following day for refurbishments, and if we didn't get into the MK before 7, Landon would miss the attraction altogether.

It meant a lot to my mom to have Landon ride it since she holds special memories of me going on it as a young child. And Alex knew he'd love it. However, realizing how badly time had gotten away from us, I knew our chance of achieving that goal was gone. There was no way we could get there and to the Poly in time for our dinner reservation.

But Alex had to try. Ever the optimist, he was not giving up hope.

He told us to hurry, hurry, hurry; we could still make it.

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

(Keep this frantic exit in mind for the future.)

In case anyone wants a point of reference for where our room was, this was a our view at the elevators:
WDWDisneyDec2013(10) by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr​

We were in Lady's building.
​

Before we could jump in the car and go, we had to make one quick pit stop first.

So many things to do, so little time!




Up Next: Did I Really Just Do That?

 

[MEK]

96 updates? I know you were kidding, but It could happen.

Boo to the nasty CM who checked you in. How annoying. It really stinks when you get an unfriendly CM checking you in. Having a nice one goes a long way.

So glad your mom arrived and you got adjoining rooms. How convenient!

I love you windows. They are awesome!