“Wow, Disney is Far Far Away” A Single Mom’s Road Trip to Disney: June 2013 TR

[BeckyEsq]

I am really enjoying your report! You really did get some great PhotoPass pictures! And your kids are adorable.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Great park choice!!! And I think Captain Hook looks good in a dress I'm glad you guys had fun even in the rain.

My daughter thought he looked good in a dress too.

The rain came down heavy at times, but it wasn't our first time touring a park that way. On our 2011 trip, it rained off and on during our 2nd day at Sea World. Then there was Tropical Storm Debby in 2012. After that one, for 2 months every time it rained after we were back home ds asked if we were back at Disney.

I was looking for some type "I survived..." t-shirt after Debby blew through. I think though that might have been an advantage for us. Every time I asked dd if she wanted the umbrella or if she was okay, she was fine.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Haha, I was actually wondering about naps....he must have been exhausted! (I pay close attention to comments about naps in TRs that involve toddlers, because I'm a bit worried about keeping DD on her schedule when we go!)

Ds usually takes his naps fine on trips, even if I don't try to get him to take one. He's fallen asleep floating in a lazy river on Spring Break. He's fallen asleep pool side at Great Wolf Lodge. He has taken 90 minute stroller naps at Disney and Sea World. Maybe my error was actually trying to get him down for naps.

One thing about him though is he has never gotten cranky if he missed his nap or if it was shorter than normal, or it was later than normal when he got to take it. I think he was created just for me

But I know to keep his meals on schedule or at least make sure he has a snack if dinner will be late. That's the same with both of my children. Our ADRs are always within an hour of our normal time and I carry snacks of the time. Sleep is one thing, but you cannot mess with this child or his sister and food or you might need to

 

[luvmy2babies]

So glad you had ponchos so you could enjoy your day. A little rain never hurt anyone!

Glad your son was just tired. I wish I could get 14 hours every now and then!

Yeah, the rain didn't hurt us. Dd always says it is better than being at home, but our experience from the previous year probably helped. Dd kept saying, it wasn't that bad. Then she said, "Mom, remember all that rain last year! OMG!" And she actually said "O-M-G!" She talked about splashing through all of the puddles and the wind blowing so hard our umbrellas turned inside out. I think we were both comparing Andrea to Debby.

And we've held on to those ponchos. We did a day trip to our life and science museum last week. It has an outdoor portion and it started raining while we were out there. I pulled them out from under ds' stroller and we stayed dry until we could get back to the indoor portion.

I'm going to try to test that theory that they last through multiple trips. Well, for mine at least. Judging by how dd's fit, she'll grow out of it by the next time we go. She prefers a rain jacket anyway, but when I bought it before this trip I got the wrong size.

Yes, 14 hours of sleep He was so sweet when he asked to sit on my lap. He has the cutest little voice. He was having a ball.

 

[luvmy2babies]

What a great character meal. And what an awesome Mom you are!!!

Yeah, I have the same problem with the animatronic eyes. Same with Buzz at Space Ranger Spin.

I love that your DD loved the Muppets. That'll keep them alive and well for future generations to enjoy!

A hex on the entitled person who moved your stroller. Some people just have no sense of courtesy and only think of themselves. It's sad really.

Ahahaha, I have that hat.


Haha, thank goodness "preschooler down" just referred to sleep. I was really worried.

We really love Hollywood and Vine. It will probably be a must do until ds grows out of Disney Jr. depending on how they rearrange the character lineup.

I was surprised because I always read about people snapping pictures with Mr. Potato Head and figured they'd come out good. In 2012, we were moving too fast through the line to try to get one. I got a half-way decent picture of Buzz this year, but yes you can still see the eyes shining.

the muppets. I had a Kermit doll when I was little. If I'd had the money I probably would have gotten one there, but we were on a tight budget this trip. I read something about the attraction being taken away. Not sure how definite it is, but I'm glad we got to do it so many times. They are still making movies so that's good.

Sad I had to learn that stroller lesson twice. I hope it wasn't the people standing there that did it. In the end, I was just grateful ds had his raincoat.

It really is a cute hat.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I am really enjoying your report! You really did get some great PhotoPass pictures! And your kids are adorable.

Thank you. We love Photopass. I've decided if we're doing at least a 4 or 5 day trip, I'll prepay for it.

I'm glad you are enjoying the report. Can't believe it's almost done.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 8, 6th Park Day, final part: Good-bye Andrea. We Hardly Knew You. And We’re Glad About It.

When I left off, we were headed to my favorite Hollywood Studios show. And WOOT! WOOT! The rain had stopped. I love this shot of the children out front.



It was 20 minutes to show time and knowing how this one fills up, we went in to find a seat. We got some good ones. I love this show. I think I took 20 pictures. Here are a few.



The end




Once that was over we were satisfied with what we had accomplished. We headed towards the exit. And since the rain had stopped, we had a chance to get this taken before we left.



We headed to the bus stop and made our way back to Pop. On the agenda for the evening was getting our dirty clothes clean. I stopped at the front desk to get a couple of additional laundry bags. Ds was actually asleep in the stroller. Yay! Another nap for him. Dd elected to stay in the room while I put the laundry in the wash and I let her.

She’d been going to the room ahead of me all week and letting herself in. That was one of my “letting go” activities during the trip. ADHD, low level anxiety and Dyslexia, but I never want her to think she’s not perfectly capable of doing things some other 10 year-olds do. I was a latch-key kid at 10. She’ll never be a latch-key kid as her school is small with no busses, but I try to let her spread her wings when I can. When we go to basketball games I let her get her own hot dog and go to the bathroom by herself while I stay in the seats. Letting her go and make a purchase on her own was a big step for me. She'd also retrieved fast passes for us a few times during the trip. Between leaving her in the room and letting ds jump into the pool, we were growing a bit I think. Just don't tell their grammy.

So I put the laundry in and went back to the room, then did the same when it was time to move the clothes to the dryer and to go back and fold them. Once that was done, ds was awake. We had a food court dinner, which ds and I went and picked up and settled in for the night. It wasn't long before I found out, Andrea was done with us and the next day was going to be "Mostly Sunny". Andrea! Thanks for not staying.

Up next, our final park day.

Would it go as planned? Would flexible mommy continue to bend over backwards for her babies? Stay tuned

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Awww nice pictures with Mickey.

Muppet Vision X2. Nice. It's such an unappreciated show. That pre-show always leaves me

Nice pics from BATB. I think I may have seen the same cast.

Glad you got a rain free DHS photo too. Goodbye Andrea indeed!

 

[rachel09985]

Great trip report

Your kids are so cute!

 

[toystoryduo]

Great trip report!!! Lots of wonderful memories with your beautiful family! Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[jash08]

So glad the storm left quickly!

I promise I will not spill the secret about growing up!

Those are great pictures from the Beauty and the Beast show. I think that is one of the better stage productions. I also just love that movie.

We love the Muppets too! Hi, welcome to my park.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Awww nice pictures with Mickey.

Muppet Vision X2. Nice. It's such an unappreciated show. That pre-show always leaves me

Nice pics from BATB. I think I may have seen the same cast.

Glad you got a rain free DHS photo too. Goodbye Andrea indeed!

The pre-show cracks me up. I was laughing so hard Gonzo and the Eagle especially when he tells the cast to give us a good example of proceeding orerly into the theater.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Great trip report

Your kids are so cute!

Thank you. We had a lot of fun.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Great trip report!!! Lots of wonderful memories with your beautiful family! Looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks for reading along. The next installment is coming up.

 

[luvmy2babies]

So glad the storm left quickly!

I promise I will not spill the secret about growing up!

Those are great pictures from the Beauty and the Beast show. I think that is one of the better stage productions. I also just love that movie.

We love the Muppets too! Hi, welcome to my park.

heaven forbid she find out she find out dd had that type of independence. It's one thing for her child to have it, but her grandbaby...

The Muppets are timeless.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 9, 7th and final park day: Hello Sunshine

We woke up to a nice warm day. Dd wanted to wear her crown, so I put her hair up and she picked out her purple pettiskirt. We set out to start our final park day. The plan was to repeat our favorites, hit Adventure Land and meet some royal ladies, then take a break for some sleep and pool time before heading back for the night time entertainment. That was the plan anyway. We’ll see what happens.

We started out great. We were at the bus stop at a great time.


We got into Magic Kingdom just fine. We went first to Town Square Theater to see the Princesses, but the wait said 30 minutes already and MK had just opened. Dd wanted to get to Fantasy Land so we debated doing the wait. The CM there said it was better to wait now because it would be longer later. I decided to do the next best thing. I gave dd our tickets and sent her over to the fast pass machine. With them in hand, we kept going.
We went to get some different castle pictures taken. I was hoping for a magic shot and the guy said he had the one with the balloons so we did some pose that was supposed to make us look like ds had balloons. The balloons didn’t show up, but the regular pictures were really nice.



We headed to Fantasy Land because dd wanted to ride the Ariel Ride again. We stopped at the Tea Cups on the way and noticed that a character we had never had a chance to meet was out. The White Rabbit was not there, but Alice was sweet.




And some photopass shots.





Tea Cups was a joy as always.




After that we took a final spin on Dumbo.





We didn’t get to see Enchanted Tales with Belle, so we had our first trip with no interaction with her at all. Part of me is okay with that. I’m not sure anything could top last year’s encounter.

We’d eaten at CRT and she didn’t make it to our table. They said she got sick. The staff was really apologetic and offered us fast passes to the meet in Town Square Theater. I assured them we were okay and we had an ADR at Akershus the next morning as well. But they convinced us. They even told Belle what had happened. Even though she was 9 and is aware of how characters work, dd is still into them and I’m glad her love of princesses hasn’t left her. Belle thanked dd for coming all of the way down there in the rain to find her after she “disappeared from the castle.” I still get teary eyed when I remember this.









But I digress. Can you tell I’m not that happy about the change? I do want to see Enchanted Tales with Belle though. It was an hour wait by the time we got to it though.

So we moved on to the Ariel ride. After that, we headed back towards the front because I wanted to see Princess Tiana before it was time to use the fast passes. The Dream Along with Mickey Show was about to start though so we stopped to watch. We took the time to hydrate and use the misting fans to cool down. When we got to the Tiana meeting spot she was going in for a break. The line of people who had decided to wait was already 6 families long so we stayed. I directed dd to a shady spot and pulled the shade up on ds’ stroller and turned on his fan. It was really hot, but the sun was welcome.

Ds was a little moody. He didn’t want the sun on him, but he really never likes having his shade down. I think he feels like he’s missing something. She he and I were butting heads a bit. I tried giving him his hat and he didn't want that either. Another juice pouch and his cup of goldfish brought him over to my side. Finally Tiana emerged and we were let into her area. Dd and I talked about going back for pool time after this and seeing the other princesses, then having a nap before coming back for the parade and fireworks. She was on board. Looking at my cell I realized we should have plenty of time to use our fast passes after seeing Tiana.

Up next, Princess Time!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Aha, good thinking on the princess fastpasses.

I LOVE that family castle photo. I don't think I've ever done one in that spot... but I'm going to now.

I had to do a double take to make sure that was indeed a book on Alice's head. Cute.

 

[freckles04]

I can't wait to read what's next, but I don't want your TR to be over!

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I've enjoyed reading your trip reports. You seem like such a patient mom, especially for being a single parent!

I did have a question: I know you had a car on property, so what was your strategy for taking the bus to the parks?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Aw, what a nice story about Belle!

You seem to use your misting fans a lot...I'm on the fence about getting some for our trip. Do they really help to cool you off?