thejens
06-18-2009, 11:12 PM
Day 1 Our first time in WDW without my Mom:
Just us, Mom, Mama, DS Ben, 11; DS Zac, 5
Friday, May 29, 2009 Last Day of School: We’re Going to Disney World!
We are finally here in my happy place. I have been so frantically busy at work and with family visitors and baseball games and birthday celebrations that I was exhausted and disorganized this morning trying to down load pictures off our camera onto our computer which was just retrieved from the Geek Squad for de-virusing and everything took longer than anticipated and to top it off I forgot our toiletry bag!!! We had to re-order meds at a pharmacy, make a stop at Walgreens and ask Lolly to overnight some meds to us. So I felt anxious and discombobulated.
While driving through the Walt Disney World Gate we all shouted woohoo! And things seemed to get better. We saw bunnies hopping through the parking lot at the Pop. The Pop is cute. I like the signs “Color TV!” and “Air Conditioned Rooms!” Check in went smoothly and folks were very nice there. We put bathing suits on the kids and let them run off steam. Zac enjoyed paddling around in his vest and Ben found himself in the middle of some sort of ball game of course! We had dinner in the food court. It was okay. I had Reuben flat bread and Jenny and Zac had pasta. We checked out the gift shop and are now, finally relaxing in our room. The room is clean and fine, but nothing special. I am hoping I can get some rest and wake up more relaxed and less stressed. I love my sweet family so much and don’t want to be grumpy and high strung anymore.
Saturday, May 30, 2009 Animal Kingdom Lodge and Star Wars at DHS
We were all a little tired when Stitch screamed “wake up! No sleeping” on our wake up call so I let everyone sleep until 8:00 a.m. We grabbed our yukky Nescafe and Danish at Mara’s. I wish you could get juice for kids in the refillable cups. We checked in to AKL easily enough and were at the Studios by 10:00 a.m. Ben and Jenny headed to Rock’n’Rollercoaster and enjoyed this fast and intense ride experience. Jenny said it was comfortable and Ben said he was mostly scared when he couldn’t feel his bottom on the seat. Zac and I got FP for Toy Story for 1:55 p.m. We headed to the stage and caught a few High School Musical 3 numbers. They were quite good and energetic, but I couldn’t help wonder about the very short naughty school girl out fits the girls wore. I seem to remember the movie as being very wholesome. These outfits were quite short. Zac seemed a bit listless and it was very hot in the sun so I took him to Playhouse Disney. He was quite subdued and covered his eyes when giant Little Einstein and JoJo characters appeared while we were in line. He sat very close to me and I couldn’t decide if he was tired or sick or just feigning nonchalance. After all, as a five year old he was one of the more mature members of the toddler crowd in attendance. His face lit up, however, when the Playhouse Disney characters appeared. I don’t like the way it is difficult to see the puppets from the spot on the floor, but it was a cute little show with all his favorites: Little Einstein, Pooh and Friends, and Handy Manny. It was great watching all the little ones dance and sing so joyously! I could tell Zac liked it even though he was quiet. We met Jenny and Ben and shared stories. We caught the end of the parade but couldn’t see much as we didn’t stake out a spot early enough. I thought Zac felt maybe a teeny bit warm so I gave him some Advil. Next, the Great Movie Ride. The line wasn’t very long and we got to see the western cast member for the first time. Next we did Muppet Vision (very cute) and Star Tours (one of my favorites.) Zac refused to do Star Tours so he picked out a light saber like Osouka’s in the gift shop instead. It was time for lunch in the Sci Fi so we headed to the 50’s. This place is just so fun we have to go even though the food is so-so. We all had burgers which were fine. I always remind myself we are paying for the movies and car and fun when I get the bill. Zac didn’t eat much of anything. We finally got to ride Toy Story and this really is a fun time. Ben came in first around 75,000, Mom next and then me in the 50,000s. In the interests of family harmony, Zac’s score shall remain a mystery. It was too hot to just watch the Jedi training since Zac was too frightened to do it. The character lines were either closed or very, very long. We saw R2D2 (a favorite, but line was closed,) Chewbacca and Jedi Mickey (line closed.) So we didn’t get a big Star Wars feeling from this day. We’ll try again next weekend. Ben went to buy a RR guitar pick (he recently started guitar lessons) while Zac and I meandered to the exit. It was perfect timing for the Block Party Bash which was quite high energy and fun. Zac seemed to enjoy watching from the stroller, but did not get up and participate. I loved the green toy soldiers in charge of the affair.
We drove back to the AKL and arrived at our room around 4:00 p.m. We called ahead and our luggage was delivered just as we arrived. My medicine that was overnighted also arrived. Hot and sweaty and into our suits we headed to the bus stop to catch a shuttle for the Kidani Village pool. It took a long time for a bus to come. We had to wait for a Downtown Disney bus. All the other busses came at least once. Next time we will drive. Kidani Village lobby was beautiful with a nice animal viewing area. The pool and water play area was absolutely fantastic. They even had a small handicapped accessible water slide which Zac loved. The large water slide was really fun and Ben pronounced this pool area the best of the resorts. (He does prefer the Poly due to the water sports and monorail etc.) It was nice to have this nice relaxing time to cool off and Zac had a ball. I was so happy to see him feeling better. Again the bus situation was a little confusing. Any bus was supposed to take us to Jambo, but the first bus to AK said he wasn’t going to Jambo since AK was now closed. He agreed to take us after all even though he made it clear he wasn’t supposed to. I guess they are still working out the kinks. We quickly changed and headed to Boma for dinner. I love the soup, salads and desserts here the best. The main entrees were good too. Zac ate a ton of fruit and salmon and pasta and still had room for dessert. After dinner Ben and Jenny hit the gift shop while Zac and I walked outside and looked at the animals. He really loved the Flamingos and African Spoonbills. I enjoyed seeing the giraffes and the gazelles running and jumping. There were some antelope type animals and vultures also. It was a beautiful evening, but I noticed Zac seemed quiet and warm again and he curled into my arms when I picked him up. We stopped briefly in the awesome gift shop, but I had to get my little boy to bed. I gave him some more ibuprofen and snuggled him right to sleep. I pray this is a 24 hour bug and he is better tomorrow. He’s been a good little trouper. It was nice to spend part of our first day at the resort relaxing somewhat. I didn’t mind leaving the Studios as this is not my favorite. Tomorrow will be a long day at Epcot if Zac is up to it!
Just us, Mom, Mama, DS Ben, 11; DS Zac, 5
Friday, May 29, 2009 Last Day of School: We’re Going to Disney World!
We are finally here in my happy place. I have been so frantically busy at work and with family visitors and baseball games and birthday celebrations that I was exhausted and disorganized this morning trying to down load pictures off our camera onto our computer which was just retrieved from the Geek Squad for de-virusing and everything took longer than anticipated and to top it off I forgot our toiletry bag!!! We had to re-order meds at a pharmacy, make a stop at Walgreens and ask Lolly to overnight some meds to us. So I felt anxious and discombobulated.
While driving through the Walt Disney World Gate we all shouted woohoo! And things seemed to get better. We saw bunnies hopping through the parking lot at the Pop. The Pop is cute. I like the signs “Color TV!” and “Air Conditioned Rooms!” Check in went smoothly and folks were very nice there. We put bathing suits on the kids and let them run off steam. Zac enjoyed paddling around in his vest and Ben found himself in the middle of some sort of ball game of course! We had dinner in the food court. It was okay. I had Reuben flat bread and Jenny and Zac had pasta. We checked out the gift shop and are now, finally relaxing in our room. The room is clean and fine, but nothing special. I am hoping I can get some rest and wake up more relaxed and less stressed. I love my sweet family so much and don’t want to be grumpy and high strung anymore.
Saturday, May 30, 2009 Animal Kingdom Lodge and Star Wars at DHS
We were all a little tired when Stitch screamed “wake up! No sleeping” on our wake up call so I let everyone sleep until 8:00 a.m. We grabbed our yukky Nescafe and Danish at Mara’s. I wish you could get juice for kids in the refillable cups. We checked in to AKL easily enough and were at the Studios by 10:00 a.m. Ben and Jenny headed to Rock’n’Rollercoaster and enjoyed this fast and intense ride experience. Jenny said it was comfortable and Ben said he was mostly scared when he couldn’t feel his bottom on the seat. Zac and I got FP for Toy Story for 1:55 p.m. We headed to the stage and caught a few High School Musical 3 numbers. They were quite good and energetic, but I couldn’t help wonder about the very short naughty school girl out fits the girls wore. I seem to remember the movie as being very wholesome. These outfits were quite short. Zac seemed a bit listless and it was very hot in the sun so I took him to Playhouse Disney. He was quite subdued and covered his eyes when giant Little Einstein and JoJo characters appeared while we were in line. He sat very close to me and I couldn’t decide if he was tired or sick or just feigning nonchalance. After all, as a five year old he was one of the more mature members of the toddler crowd in attendance. His face lit up, however, when the Playhouse Disney characters appeared. I don’t like the way it is difficult to see the puppets from the spot on the floor, but it was a cute little show with all his favorites: Little Einstein, Pooh and Friends, and Handy Manny. It was great watching all the little ones dance and sing so joyously! I could tell Zac liked it even though he was quiet. We met Jenny and Ben and shared stories. We caught the end of the parade but couldn’t see much as we didn’t stake out a spot early enough. I thought Zac felt maybe a teeny bit warm so I gave him some Advil. Next, the Great Movie Ride. The line wasn’t very long and we got to see the western cast member for the first time. Next we did Muppet Vision (very cute) and Star Tours (one of my favorites.) Zac refused to do Star Tours so he picked out a light saber like Osouka’s in the gift shop instead. It was time for lunch in the Sci Fi so we headed to the 50’s. This place is just so fun we have to go even though the food is so-so. We all had burgers which were fine. I always remind myself we are paying for the movies and car and fun when I get the bill. Zac didn’t eat much of anything. We finally got to ride Toy Story and this really is a fun time. Ben came in first around 75,000, Mom next and then me in the 50,000s. In the interests of family harmony, Zac’s score shall remain a mystery. It was too hot to just watch the Jedi training since Zac was too frightened to do it. The character lines were either closed or very, very long. We saw R2D2 (a favorite, but line was closed,) Chewbacca and Jedi Mickey (line closed.) So we didn’t get a big Star Wars feeling from this day. We’ll try again next weekend. Ben went to buy a RR guitar pick (he recently started guitar lessons) while Zac and I meandered to the exit. It was perfect timing for the Block Party Bash which was quite high energy and fun. Zac seemed to enjoy watching from the stroller, but did not get up and participate. I loved the green toy soldiers in charge of the affair.
We drove back to the AKL and arrived at our room around 4:00 p.m. We called ahead and our luggage was delivered just as we arrived. My medicine that was overnighted also arrived. Hot and sweaty and into our suits we headed to the bus stop to catch a shuttle for the Kidani Village pool. It took a long time for a bus to come. We had to wait for a Downtown Disney bus. All the other busses came at least once. Next time we will drive. Kidani Village lobby was beautiful with a nice animal viewing area. The pool and water play area was absolutely fantastic. They even had a small handicapped accessible water slide which Zac loved. The large water slide was really fun and Ben pronounced this pool area the best of the resorts. (He does prefer the Poly due to the water sports and monorail etc.) It was nice to have this nice relaxing time to cool off and Zac had a ball. I was so happy to see him feeling better. Again the bus situation was a little confusing. Any bus was supposed to take us to Jambo, but the first bus to AK said he wasn’t going to Jambo since AK was now closed. He agreed to take us after all even though he made it clear he wasn’t supposed to. I guess they are still working out the kinks. We quickly changed and headed to Boma for dinner. I love the soup, salads and desserts here the best. The main entrees were good too. Zac ate a ton of fruit and salmon and pasta and still had room for dessert. After dinner Ben and Jenny hit the gift shop while Zac and I walked outside and looked at the animals. He really loved the Flamingos and African Spoonbills. I enjoyed seeing the giraffes and the gazelles running and jumping. There were some antelope type animals and vultures also. It was a beautiful evening, but I noticed Zac seemed quiet and warm again and he curled into my arms when I picked him up. We stopped briefly in the awesome gift shop, but I had to get my little boy to bed. I gave him some more ibuprofen and snuggled him right to sleep. I pray this is a 24 hour bug and he is better tomorrow. He’s been a good little trouper. It was nice to spend part of our first day at the resort relaxing somewhat. I didn’t mind leaving the Studios as this is not my favorite. Tomorrow will be a long day at Epcot if Zac is up to it!