family trip in May (done!)

[bumbershoot]

Carm you have no idea. At another time during the trip, he kept talking to other families and trying to get with them in lines, leaving me/us behind! It was like he was saying "see ya" to us! Crazy kid, he won't get rid of us THAT easily.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ooh, we're getting close to finishing the 27th and moving on. I got my receipts in order (and I will now always think of the inane movie Dungeons and Dragons when I look at Disneyland receipts, b/c hubby decided we needed to see if it was 'really as bad as we thought it was' last night, and watched it in high def as I found all my receipts, put them in order, and got envelopes for each trip) and just now we talked it all through while looking at receipts and pictures.

But right now we have to move some stuff around in the rooms that the movers and R and his friend put in bizarro-land places! Ooh what fun.

 

[bumbershoot]

Okey dokey! When I last wrote anything meaningful, we were headed over to the land of bugs.

We, of course, rode Heimlich's, but, surprise of all surprises, there was a line! Since we're very used to just staying on the ride and going around and around, or if forced to get off we just rush around and through the line and get on again, the idea of waiting in line did not appeal. Only ONE ride this trip. Unheard of!

Did the "bumper cars" which were, as usual, uncomfortable and not that much fun.

Flik's Flyers was neat as usual. I wish the whole area was designed like that; using little things bug's might come across as the ride vehicles, instead of using the bug bodies themselves.

Pretty.

A straw in the grass in the lawn below that rundown, haunted old Hollywood hotel.

Quick spin on the pseudo teacups. It was spinnier than I remembered!

I don't remember where this was, but I like the picture.

We left bug's land and I took charge of Eamon while Robert went for his very first ride on Grizzly. We had some drama involving Eamon not being tall enough but *desperately* wanting to go on it. He's an honest kid, so there's absolutely no chance we'll ever stick socks in his shoes to help him hit the mark; we know that he'd blab about it to the CMs. It was a long, drawn-out drama and I've done my best to put it out of my mind.

Robert went on it, without a poncho, while Eamon and I walked around the area twice. When we got back to the locker area we had timed it perfectly, and we saw Robert just before the geyser. He saw us, too, so that was fun! He was pretty drenched, but he was hot and welcomed the water.

Then we switched (more drama) and they went off to try for the Zephyr again. I had a great ride on Grizz, but they weren't able to go on their attraction b/c of too-high winds. However, the Pixar Play Parade was about to start, so Robert found a relatively quiet spot (E was exhausted and was losing his cool, and was not enjoying the high noise level of the area) and they watched it. I must have gone on more than just Grizzly, but I don't really remember (maybe Soarin'?) b/c I didn't get over to the area until the parade was almost done. Of course I was trapped on the other side, so I just watched then waited.

Then there was a bit of a meltdown (ha!) in the bathroom, as my sweet son screamed how much he hated me. Sigh. A CM cleaning the bathroom was so bothered by it that when we came out of the stall she kind of gave him a gentle talking to. I didn't mind it; he wasn't listening to me at all, but he did listen to her and he calmed down and stopped saying those things. On the other hand, it was hot, a long day, and he does NOT like being told to try to use the restroom when he doesn't have to, so I wasn't *that* surprised by the tantrum.

We got outside and the CM-chastened boy-o put his head on my shoulder. Here you can see my Pooh ears and how he had started to rub off his face paint.

Now here I'm completely confused. There's a 3 or 4 hour gap (I just noticed that my camera is an hour off), and all I have in my notes is "E sleep, MRE hop, ME Poohx3, R got gumbo for us). It seems it would have been kind to go back to the hotel, but I don't have that written anywhere. I also don't have a note of what E ate that night, but I know he didn't eat gumbo!

So anyway, I do know that Eamon and I went on Pooh three times in a row while Robert got two things of gumbo in a breadbowl. We met in the area where we would hang out for Fantasmic, if F had been going while we were there.

While walking to Robert, we came across two "plaids". That means the VIP tourguides that can be hired by regular people, or that are assigned to fancy people. I know from almost going on the "ladies only" trip that one guide is for a smaller group, and that they add guides as you go over 10. So 2 "plaids" would have been for a big group.

Hmm, I thought, that's not a big group. Double-hmm, it all seems to be 20 something pretty people, all just standing around texting and looking into space. The plaids don't seem to be telling them anything, they are all just standing there. Hmm, I'm thinking this isn't a hired group...

I start scanning, while walking slowly towards the group, to see if I recognize anyone.

And I think I did. I have NO proof of this, as I'm not a big one on obviously snapping pictures, and once we got to Robert and I tried a covert picture it didn't work, but I believe that it was Kevin Federline and some hangers-on. The guy standing alone really REALLY looked like him, and I really do believe it was him.

Even though I'm not a big fan, it's still fun to see a celebrity, and that's the first I've seen at Disneyland.

We ate, it was good.

Started getting dark and we decided to ride the train to relax. We did so, it was nice (I chatted with a nice lady who had a smallish but VERY verbally adept and intelligent 4 year old, and they were WDW experts having what sounded like a really good first time trip to DLR), and we got off at Main Street.

But we still couldn't seem to leave! So we went in to see the 50 Years movie, and after that, finally, it seemed right to leave.

Eamon was asleep, without any assistance from us, by 9:30.

 

[TiggerandTink]

I just love reading about your trip. I get so into it and then all to soon I'm at the end of the installment. More Please

It's too bad E couldn't ride Grizzly, I'm sure he would have loved it but its nice that you were able to switch off and both of you got to ride.

I'm glad your CM-chastened boy was able to settle down though after his meltdown. Sometimes all it takes is someone else to talk to them besides the one that they are irritated with at the time and things settle down. I know with mine the more tired they get the more likely it is that one of them will have an issue with something. We always try to do so much and sometimes I think they just get overstimulated and then crash when the energy level winds down. Sounds like your case though was very short lived which is nice and lets you get on with your wonderful holiday.

And I love it when we get back to the room and can talk for a while about how our day went and what we would like to do the next day and then my kids go to bed with so much as a hint of resistance. Their just too tuckered out. And don't they always just look so precious laying there sleeping.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi!

We now have another excellent way to get E to eat "real" food and vegetables, so he can first get on Grizzly, then Indy, then Screamin'.

Tonight we were watching a Travel Channel about extreme coasters and he decided he needs to go on the Hypersonic XLC at King's Dominion. Um....no!


I'll admit that the night of the 27th he didn't feel very good. He got pretty hot overnight, and I was worried about him. But he woke up cool and raring to go. We did mix up a bit of Emergen-C in a water bottle for him, to boost his immune system, and that's what is in this picture.

Here's another pictorial travelogue of getting to the park, this time down the populated side of Harbor.

This is the parking lot of HoJo, looking back down where we had just walked.

Turning around, what we have left of the lot.

That's at about 8:55am.

Crossed Manchester, here's Mimi's at 8:57am and 26 seconds.

Looking down the road at the Fairfield at 8:57am and 35 seconds.

There's the sign for Fairfield; pic taken at 8:57am and 39 seconds.

8:57am and 49 seconds, looking towards the unpopulated side, really wishing we were over there.

8:58am and 14 seconds, up to the sign.

Here's Millie's, at 8:58am and 31 seconds.

McDonald's, 8:59am and 9 seconds.

(be back in a moment)

 

[bumbershoot]

OK, we were coming up on McD's at 8:59 and 9 seconds.

Here's the driveway of the Camelot at 8:59am and 56 seconds.

Camelot is practically connected to the Carousel, and here's where they are "one", at 9am and 8 seconds.

Their sign at 9am and 12 seconds.

Tropicana's sign at 9am and 53 seconds.

I think this was the day that there was a Pepsi truck attempting to back up into the Tropicana's driveway. Since the pedestrians weren't giving the truck the right of way, he had to wait and so then our "group" had to wait. There was a bit of time delay b/c of that, in my pictures.

Looking across the street and south a bit at 9:01am and 32 seconds.

The sign for Park Place and Captain Kidd's up ahead, at 9:01am and 49 seconds.

Across the street again, 9:01am and 51 seconds.

You can see the Disneyland Resort sign across the street at 9:01am and 57 seconds.

I didn't take more pictures of the walk, but we crossed to get "to" Captain Kidd's then crossed Harbor, went along the well populated path, through security and into the gates, and the next picture I took was at 9:16am and 27 seconds, of a window on Main Street.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Molly,
Loving the time lapse photos of the walk - that should be a sticky over on the general board - for those who want to know how far their hotel is from the park....cool idea!!!

waiting for more....

 

[bumbershoot]

Glad ya liked it.


Before I continue, I wanted to mention something odd that happened on that second night we were there. Well, we're 99% sure it was that night...there's a slight possibility it was the evening of the day I'm on right now, but we think it was before.


As we were leaving Disneyland, we saw something you rarely see. A person being surrounded and detained by security. It was at that middle big gate that they open at the very end of the evening, when they don't need to keep count of departures anymore, so it was right in the center.

They weren't whisking him away, he was standing with his hands around the bars of that gate, and they were either frisking him or he was holding on to the gates to keep from being whisked away. Hubby says the guy was holding on; I think they were frisking him.

It was weird!

And then the next day, there was obvious Security everywhere. I've never noticed the security personnel like that. I'm sure that others didn't really notice it, but b/c we had seen that guy being detained so blatantly that night, they really stood out.

Since I don't remember if it was Tuesday or Wednesday, I don't know if this was Wednesday or Thursday so I'll tell it here, too.

With all the increased security presence, nothing was as obvious than in the bathroom near the exit of Space Mountain.

We didn't go on SM but we were nearby and I had to use the restrooms. I made my way up there, and saw a veritable knot of security guys outside the women's restroom. They weren't hiding or being furtive, they were just standing there.

As I walked in, I saw a tall female security guard, looking around. I used the facilities, and then washed my hands verrrrrry slooooooowly while watching her. As each stall was used and left by the user, she would go in...I finally noticed that she was looking in the "feminine hygiene" trashbin (um, ew?) in each stall, then moving on to another.

As I dried my hands, again, verrrrry sloooooowly, I saw what you almost never see. An undercover security person. She was just a woman, very short hair, jeans, plain t-shirt, you wouldn't look twice at her. But she stopped to talk to the security lady, and the security lady actually talked with her, instead of just being standoffish and point directions. And then I noticed her earpiece, with the little coiled cord going from behind the ear under her shirt.

There was something up. As I left the restroom, the two security people from the bathroom left too, and huddled with the 4 guys still standing outside.



I am a nosy person, always have been, and I soooooooo wanted to know what had happened, and if it had to do with the guy we saw being detained.


Story done, move along; I'll get the next bit of our normal stay ready asap!

 

[toocherie]

Molly that is so weird--would have freaked me out for sure!

I couple of months ago I was watching the Parade of Dreams . . . . everyone was of course sitting on the curb, and across from me was a guy with a backpack. I hadn't noticed him . . . but before the parade started three or four security guys came down the middle of the street and when they got in front of him they suddenly turned and literally did "whisk him away"--people around me were like "did we just see that?"

Just like you, I'm nosy and wanted to know what was up . . . but of course couldn't ask. (and they wouldn't have told me anyway!)

I'm thinking maybe he was a pickpocket and kept his booty in the backpack. At least I hope that's what it was.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh wow, how freaky that would be to see!

And that's what made this situation stand out so much, that he was NOT being whisked away. That's why hubby thinks the guy was holding the bars...but I just figured that whatever he had done was SO bad they just wanted to make sure he was "clear" before taking him away.

And what's weird is that either here or on the two other disney boards I play on, they were JUST having a discussion of security and undercover security, and how you so rarely see them. How they just appear out of nowhere to help lost children, etc, then melt away into the crowd when they aren't needed anymore.

These people were being obvious about NOT melting away so to me it was the Disneyland equivalent of going to an airport outside of America where the security force carries machine guns instead of discreet weaponry. It just seemed really in your face! (but you're glad they are there to protect the innocent)

 

[bumbershoot]

Another break in the story.

On the night I'm telling about currently, I got a travel mug, the pearly blue and white one with Minnie on it. Best 5.05 I spent on myself in a long time, especially b/c that initial outlay included a coffee.

They aren't "refillable", meaning you don't get a discount on coffee refills, but you CAN use them to get more coffee in the future, and pay for said coffee.

I even checked the volume that the normal coffee cups hold to the plastic one, and they are the same.

I use it for coffee in the morning, water through the day, to hold a beer at night if I feel like it, then water next to the bed at night.

So happy I bought it!

 

[bumbershoot]

Ahhhhh ha ha ha ha haha.....


For the first time in a long time...my computer ate my post. I have a year old MacBook and it's gotten weird recently. Instead of warning me that it might shut down in around 10 minutes, it's just turning off with a lovely little CLICK, when my battery thing shows 20 minutes of "juice" left. I was actually finishing a sentence before turning to plug in, as it did it.

Then my Firefox "restore previous session" didn't work, b/c it couldn't establish a connection to the internet, and the refreshing seemed to make Firefox forget about what the last session was.

What joy, to have to recreate a post right now!

 

[bumbershoot]

OK, my bitterness has abated somewhat.


I edited a story into post 115, b/c I totally forgot that we were there on the 26th at rope drop, and that we met a nice family. Except for the nice interaction, it's not hugely important to the story, but whenever I add something in to a previous post I do like to make note of it.


I had mentioned that

the next picture I took was at 9:16am and 27 seconds, of a window on Main Street.

Well here's the window!

We headed into Fantasyland, and stopped to take some pictures. Take a good look at the saber, b/c we're pretty close in the story to losing it.

Our first ride of the day was Casey Jr. Love it! It's so speedy, but you don't expect it to be. We got in line, but as soon as we were surrounded by people, someone had to use the restroom. Now if I were taller or if Robert were more agile, we might have just had someone pop over the fence, grab Eamon, and go, then come back the same way like I've seen people do at Peter Pan. But I'm short and he's still working on getting the agility back, so we asked the CM to help us get to an exit. She told us to just come back at the exit and she'd get us right on; isn't that sweet?

Business was taken care of, but we just got in the normal line again. It wasn't long and we didn't feel the need to skip a few minutes, though it sure was nice of the CM to offer!

After riding Casey Jr's trains, someone waiting in a wheelchair at the exit said hi! Turns out it was the lovely Idaho family we had met 2 days before. I didn't recognize them at first b/c the woman in the wheelchair hadn't been in one when we first met her...different perspective and sightlines I suppose. they were still sweet!

After that, it was on to the Teacups.

Well, it was after that thrill that we made the fateful decision to go to the Princess Fantasy Faire. Eamon did still sort of want to see princesses, so we headed over.

I took some pictures of the place, so let me set the scene. As you look in front and to the right, at the mournful sight of a closed-up Small World, let your gaze turn left. You see bathrooms and a sidewalk leading up into a tented area. Big almost floating marquee (tent) over a large area.

As you walk up the ramp and park your stroller, to the left is a treat and Brats counter service place (ask HydroGuy how much he and his son liked the Brats!), and some seating just to the left of it. Your gaze looks beyond that seating, and you see more seating, and that's the crafts area. They have crowns you can decorate with stickers and crayons, and printouts you can color, all sitting out very nicely.

As your gaze continues to the right, you see stairs leading down, then further over you see a usually HUGE line snaking back and forth in front of a tall wall. All the way to the right you don't see much of anything, but if you explore, you find that if you go right past the line, you enter the princess-stuff store (though I think they do have Prince Philip foam swords and shields back there too).


So back to the craft area; it's what E wanted to do, and this is the area for it; I'm inside the area, looking back towards the way in.

Since E was amusing himself nicely with the stickers and crowns, and Robert was hanging out with him, I went to the edge of the crafts area and looked out and over a very tall and safe ledge, protected by planters with lots of fake plants.

To the left, as I looked over to the stage area, I saw the storytelling spot, where princesses come out and tell their tales. They were getting ready to start. What princess would it be?

Aha, look who came out!

Sitting in her spot to start the story. I told E who it was, and he said crankily that he did NOT want to go down there b/c he did NOT want to have to dance with a princess again (he was chosen to dance with Aurora in December).

My mind wandered (the princess voices are hard for my ears to deal with, though I could very easily copy them, probably perfectly, much to my "I'm a mature woman, dangit!" chagrin) and so did my camera lens.

To the right of the storytelling spot, with floor seating (the floor is where the kids sit for storytelling) and a stage up above that, this is where I guess they have some or all of the Coronation ceremony.

Looking further to the right, just part of the set.

Aha! My first glimpse into the princess store area!

And now I've turned nearly all the way around; the wall behind the audience in the bleachers...on the other side of that wall is the princess meet and greet.

 

[bumbershoot]

Eamon has a "thing" for the Ladies in Waiting. He got a signature from one of them the last time, and wanted one from another this time. He kind of surprised her, as she was handing out crowns and stickers to amuse the kids while waiting for the ceremony, so here he is explaining while she figures out what he's asking.

Last picture of the light saber, by the way.

It's Lady Jacelyn, by the way. She's too cute.


We made our way out and towards ToonTown. We stopped at benches to apply sunscreen, have some water, and I believe, have a bit of a little argument. Sigh. At some point during this process, the three of us lost track of the saber.

Oh, and it turns out Robert wasn't tweaking b/c of us, but b/c he was thinking about his dad (who died in November of '06 omg was it that long ago? oh poor Roberto ) and being yelled at by his dad in front of the Partner's statue area when they last went to Disneyland as a family...he was upset and not wanting to talk about it.

Anyway, E and I wandered away, and I took the following shot...and somewhere during all of the kerfluffle, we lost the build your own lightsaber.

 

[bumbershoot]

E went running for Goofy's house to play. I went after him, and Robert went to park the stroller. At some point...Robert realized that no one had the saber. I tell you, the panic that ensued, you would have thought we'd lost a hundred dollar saber!

Then again, I'm still haunted and peeved at myself for losing 20 bucks that I had folded into my shorts cuffs when very pregnant. We were on our way to Lowe's and I was bored and didn't have a purse with me, then we got out of the car and I forgot it was there, and we never found it. I'm still bugged by that, so I guess it makes sense that we were so bothered by the loss of a $20 item.

But Eamon didn't much seem to care. He monopolized the funny piano in Goofy's (though this time he did share with up to 2 other kids at the same time (oh the noise!)), he ran around and around, he stood in line for the slide and waited until kids were already down...had lots of fun.

I bought a bunch of grapes (have you noticed how much fruit we bought on this trip? relatively to previous trips, it was quite a bit!) to help cool him down (toontown is hot). Robert went off in search, then we'd swap it out while E played...back and forth.

I was with him when he decided to meet Goofy (again).

Well, E refused to go on either of the TT rides, and he had had his fill of the gags in there, so we made our way out. Stopped at any and every kiosk and gift shop along the way, asking if anything had been turned in. Nothing had.

Decided to go...well, somewhere in Tomorrowland, and we were cutting through the Jedi Academy area (in the "off" time). Saw a pirate Mickey hat sitting there, no one around it. Aw man, a lost hat!

I insisted we go to the CM manning the Jedi area, and told him about the hat. He liked that we hadn't touched it, but had simply told him about it.

Well we decided that since we were there, we might as well see about the Academy! R and E settled in for a wait. I took some pictures and went wandering to Star Traders.

Well, Star Traders was for nought. There were two sabers sitting there, and the girl tried really hard to see if the one was ours. It had blue color discs, it was the right handle, it was a clear blade...oh we so wanted it to be ours! But I could tell that the doohickey at the top of the handle wasn't right. And she said it didn't have batteries, then checked with the lady who had handled it before, and that lady said it didn't have batteries when it was checked in...basically it wasn't ours. Wah.

Went back, I stood at the back of the waiting area while R and E waited at the line...it all got very exciting. I made a little sign for Eamon to hold, using my 7th grade "fun" and big block writing skills, he was excited about that. He was wearing his "4th birthday trip" hat with a birthday cake screenprinted on it (from VistaPrint) and the CMs were lookin' his way.

They had the kids stand up, and....30 minutes of sitting, then standing, made Eamon realize he had a bladder. (very similar to sitting on a bar stool drinkin' beers for a couple hours...as soon as you get up off that stool, your bladder is activated and you will now go every half hour...or is that telling too much about my 20s???) Noooooooo! Well, when you're new at being 4, if you gotta go you gotta go, there is no risking wet pants for a 4 year old who has been out of diapers since he was 2. So, in tears, the three of us left, just as the Academy got started.

Heartbreak. Awful. Horrid.

You know, everyone on the WDW boards goes on about how awful it is to have little boys pee in cups or bottles while in line, but I will tell you this. If we hadn't been right up at that line, and if it had been a bit more private, I would have whipped out a bottle and let him pee in it, because that was heartwrenching. A 30 second pee takes 15 minutes at Disneyland, and if we'd had the blanket with us we very well have let him "go" in a bottle.

Girls get to wear heels and get on rides before they should...boys can "go" in bottles while standing and protected by a blanket. It's only fair.



Well, that was just rotten.

I have no idea what we did next. Might have been Buzz, maybe Star Tours but that would have been hard to go through the giftshop.

I do know we had lunch at the Plaza Inn.

Eamon had the penne pasta with marinara kid's meal, and Robert and I shared the same dish, but adult sized, with a big ol' side salad. YUM. We realized we could have saved about a buck and gotten more food overall, if we had just each ordered a kid's meal and shared the side salad, b/c we would have gotten a small water (or a soda or milk or whatever), apples, carrots, and the same half breadstick that we each got. It was good though, and made us much happier.

While sitting in the sort of porch area inside, we had a view of the CM entrance/exit back behind the Plaza bathrooms. We saw Alice, the White Rabbit, and some other characters; it was kind of fun.


Well, with bellies stuffed, we decided a nap was in order, and we headed out. But on the way....random princesses!

While the pictures load, I'll mention that Eamon can't seem to figure out "how" to pose with characters. He got into autographs b/c he saw other kids doing it, but really he likes the talking part. He will start chatting with the characters about any old thing, and the characters will sign his book while they talk and talk, and then when it comes to the posed picture, Eamon really doesn't care. So I've learned to just snap away, and to find the best picture, which doesn't always mean the posed one.

However, with Cinderella, it was the best!

With Sleeping Beauty, however, it was this one.

The last Aurora picture was taken at 58 minutes after the hour.

We went over to Lost and Found to the side of DCA to see if anything was turned in and make an official report (give them phone and address, just in case), then we left and headed back. This picture was taken after getting onto Harbor and crossing the driveway for taxis and CM lot people.

At 22 minutes after the very next hour...

 

[bumbershoot]

By the way, kudos to anyone who noticed the Pacific Northwest *shorts, wool socks, and sandals* look he was sporting.

Ah, gotta go to beddie bye. So bye!

 

[bumbershoot]

Where was I? Oh yes, a nap that started before we even got halfway up Harbor.

Nothing is remembered about the nap or walk back, and the only proof I have that we returned is some pictures and receipts! Ok that's an exaggeration.

I know that we went on Jungle Cruise while it was still light, and Eamon had fun this time. I also know that he ate a green apple that we got from the Adventureland fruit and souvenir area. Maybe we went on Pirates (I know we went more than once during our trip) as well? I have no solid idea.

But I do know that we bought Eamon a replacement light saber that evening; one of the $10, smaller, smaller "blade", no sound no light ones that he originally wanted.

Some pictures!

I love Tomorrowland at dusk.


At this point, I seem to recall E getting hungry, and wanting, very specifically, macaroni and cheese. I pulled out my notebook for my partial, and old, list of menu items, and found the French Market.

Augh...just as we were approaching it, it closed. Dang! I think we had some sort of snack with us, so his hunger was helped a bit, and he wanted to go on Pooh.

We went down there, and though I think I went once, they went a couple more times while I peeked around in the sweets shop there, trying to find things E can have. The fudge ALL has corn syrup in it. WHY are they putting corn syrup into fudge? My mom made deeeeelicious fudge and there was no corn syrup. Dang!

Caramel apples are out b/c caramel has corn syrup in it. Tigger Tails are out b/c marshmallows have gelatin AND corn syrup, so I didn't even have to look at the ingredients for the coating (they have a big book with the label information behind their counter, by the way). Nothing nothing nothing...ah, cookies.

I decided to go with the semi-safe for them, and got them a sugar cookie and a snickerdoodle. I got the Mickey head cookie dipped in chocolate (I was certain the chocolate had corn syrup...chocolate that is used like that generally does to make it smooth in consistency) for myself and ate it covertly. They knew I was eating something just like they were, they just didn't need to SEE what I was eating, you know?

As we were walking out of Critter Country, snacking, I encouraged Robert to go on Haunted Mansion, since he hadn't been on it without the holiday stuff up. E and I went to Royal St Veranda, and I bought my favorite souvenir, the coffee mug in YOMD colors! I got mine with Minnie. I've used it every day since then, I just love it. On the flight back home Robert had it in his carryon, and as we opened the stroller he realized the lid was gone! Ack! He went right back down the ramp and found it. Best 5.05 spent on myself.

When Robert was in the HM building, the line closed, so even if I wanted to ride I couldn't. And I didn't, not really, not at night all alone. It's not the cemetary that gets me, it's the hall of doors and the heartbeat in the attic. I love the ride, don't get me wrong, but it's spooky!

Well, that ended our day there, so we made our way out. This time we walked out with the general population b/c we wanted to stop for food. We thought we were going to Mimi's, but stopped at Millie's to see if they had mac and cheese.

They did! We ordered the mac and cheese, which comes with a salad, to go. Also ordered the garlic bread. To go. It was only 12.69 with tax but not including tip, and the meal was HUGE!

When we got home it was only going to be R and E eating, but it smelled sooooo good I had to have some too. The 1000 island dressing was delicious, the salad was big and good. The pasta and cheese was very good, and the garlic bread was excellent. Based on that one meal, I can heartily recommend Millie's!


And that ended our last full day of the trip.

 

[Hedy]

Poor kiddo needing to use the restroom.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks for the empathy, Hedy.

I've been thinking more about it, and you know...I felt that E was still too young for the Jedi thing anyway (similar to the big light saber). And it's possible that his being unable to hold it for the 20 minutes or so that the academy would have been (and he wouldn't have, or if he could have held it he would have made it VERY obvious) is a solid sign that he's not quite mature enough for it.

Or I'm just trying to feel less bad about it, b/c really, we should have thought about it while waiting so long, but we didn't.

 

[bumbershoot]

Every time I think about writing up the last day I get sad b/c I want to go back to White Water Snacks and have breakfast again and again! Man it was good, and looking at the pictures I took makes me both hungry and sad.