Just Us Trip Report: Day 3 Nouba and Day 4 MK [Archive]

thejens

06-18-2009, 11:38 PM

Oops this should have read Day 4 and 5
Tuesday, June 2, supposed to be Animal Kingdom, but oh, my goodness, I have a spontaneous moment! And we just relax!!!
It is very out of character for me to deviate from plan, but after going strong for 3 days I felt like the boys (and parents) could use a little relaxing. We slept in, even Jenny! I took Zac to breakfast at 10:00 a.m. and we looked at the animals before waking Ben and Jenny at 11:00 a.m. We relaxed in the pool, used the water slide and Ben traded some pins. Ben says the Kidani Village pool is more fun for kids, but I do love the way this pool looks and feels. The water is not the bright blue (the pool is painted a more neutral color) and it looks so real and peaceful to me. The landscaping is lusher and more mature and the views of the animals are great. The turkey ciabatta in Mara was very good. Zac ate enough today to make up for lost time. I felt hot and tired all day. Maybe just still missing my Mom. We showered and headed to Downtown Disney to see Nouba. This was spectacular. I have seen several Cirque du Soleil’s but this was a first for the boys and I wasn’t sure how they would react. They were both spellbound! Zac loved the young girls and Ben liked the guys in the hoop best. This show was very high energy and even gave a nod to Princesses in the story. Afterwards we walked up and down DTD and had Earl of Sandwich for dinner. The sandwiches here are great. Ben and Zac loved playing at the Lego store and Zac really loved making a Mr. Potato head. Zac has already made a light saber, purchased a little Stitch car and a cute little stuffed Pluto. We did not spend any more tonight! Ben is saving his allotted spending money like a little miser in contrast to his brother, Mr. Immediate Gratification. Zac is still trying to figure out the difference between 25 cents and 25 dollars while Ben is contemplating buying stock in Disney instead of toys. We are all tired and ready to hit MK again tomorrow. I love my little family and hope I can cheer up tomorrow.

thejens

06-18-2009, 11:38 PM

Wednesday, June 3, Magic Kingdom
This morning we took the bus and arrived just as the choo choo chugged away. That’s okay, we headed straight for the teacups for Zac while I hurried to get FP for Splash for Ben. Wow, it is already hot today! I forgot Toontown is not yet open, so we do the IndySpeed Racers for Zac, who is nervous about “driving” the car and takes it quite seriously. Next stop Buzz. This ride is okay, but not nearly as good as Toy Story Mania. Surprisingly, I smoked everyone with my score. We headed to Crystal Palace for our 10:10 a.m. reservations to see Tigger and Pooh and friends. I got to see my trolley dancers while waiting. I love them. Zac continues to eat enough for an army. He ate an egg, smoked salmon, coffee cake, a Mickey waffle, fruit and the puffed French toast with his juice. The characters were very cute especially Tigger, who really hams it up. It is always fun watching all the little ones with these characters. One little girl really wanted to follow Tigger everywhere and was heartbroken when the handler made her go back to her table. I thought the handler could have been a bit more imaginative or gentle in handling this, not that she was exactly mean or anything, but it is all pretty overwhelming for the toddler set! It was time for Splash so we FP Thunder Mountain before riding Splash. Splash is a great ride, one of Ben’s favorites. Zac is so brave, he liked every bit of it even though he and I clung together for the drops! I wish I were brave enough to open my eyes longer, but every time the picture shows my eyes shut tight! We decided to stand by BTMR and then FP it. We love this Wildest Ride in the West. The Stand by was about 30 minutes, really not that bad, but I hate this hot windy line! It was so much better with the FP! I love both of these rides because they have such great theming and seem to go on for a long time besides just the drops. With both you think the ride is coming to an end and then it goes on just a little bit longer. I love that! I FP Splash again for later in the evening and then we headed to Carousel of Progress. Before COP, we met up with PUSH to the delight of the boys! This is our first time to see him. He was pretty funny interacting with everyone. He made fun of a woman on her cell phone and then said hi to her grandmother on the line. “I am actually talking to a trash can,” I heard her say to grandma on the phone. We also caught Stitch who teased Zac right out of being bashful. Finally, my beloved COP. I love this corny little attraction, all the hope and belief in “progress.” I think one of the things I love so much about WDW is that it captures the optimism of the 60’s in sort of a time capsule. The amazing changes of the 20th century still seem to hold the promise of solving every problem. Walt’s optimism in the face of every adversity still shines through. Although our times are more cynical I think Walt would have stayed positive and would have persevered.

Anyway, next we made it to Toontown so Zac could do Goofy’s barnstormer. Thank goodness the line wasn’t too bad because it is a must to Zac and it was very hot. It is way too short, but quite a fun little first roller coaster for the tots. We then had to visit Donald’s boat and two damp children were finally pulled away and into Mickey’s house to see the big cheese. Mickey and Minnie were very cute and interactive and we got our family pictures. Zac really loves Minnie’s house and spent quite a bit of time in there. The rest of us were melting and ready to go, but it really is fun to watch his enjoyment of every detail. Our plan was to head back to the resort for some pool time, but it was getting a bit late to do this and get back to Kona for 5:00 ADRs for dinner. As we pondered our choices Ben asked (for the millionth time) if he could get his hair done in the barbershop. There was no line at all so for the third year the kids got their summer cuts with a dash of paint and sparkle. Ben got his usual buzz cut with a red stripe on top with yellow tips. Very dashing. Zac got his first buzz cut ever and made faces during the entire cut. It was hilarious to watch and the beauticians were great. Zac ended up with red and blue paint and lots of “pixie dust.” Can I just say that whoever came up with this idea has no regard for towels, lines, pillow cases or Moms with tired tiedyed children late at night???? Anyway, the boys were absolutely thrilled. It looked like it was about to pour and it did just as soon as we were safely on the monorail. What great luck! We relaxed in the Poly lounge while Ben played in the arcade. Zac played with an Eve toy he bought at the gift shop while I simply enjoyed sitting and allowing my feet to regain sensation. If anyone knows how to make Eve fit onto the stand up holder please let me know because we can’t make it fit and neither could the guy in the shop. I didn’t mind waiting an hour for our reservations, but would have been every so appreciative had the Kona coffee bar still been serving coffee. I got my coffee once we landed in Kona. This was our first time for dinner here. We shared the Kona salad and the pot stickers. Loved the pot stickers. Ben and I were fighting migraines. Coffee, water and Excedrin worked for me; coke, water and advil did the trick for Ben. Neither of us appreciated the 5 year old shrieking with that brain piercing pitch near us. Parents, are you listening? Another thing I wonder about is all the kids who are playing Nintendo and watching movies during dinner at restaurants? Am I the only one who finds this unacceptable? Granted, I do not always enjoy reminding my kids to use their forks, cut the food into manageable bites, look the waitress in the eye when they order, etc. but I do consider it important life learning. Oh, well, at least these kids were not shrieking. Zac had Mahi Mahi and rice and very al dente green beans and a yogurt parfait. He ate a lot. The rest of us had a ginger ribeye which was quite tasty. It is a bit of a come down from the Cali Grill in terms of service, though. The food came out in a hurry and the guys shoved the entrée plates into our places around the dishes that should have been bussed and disappeared. Our waitress tended to disappear and reappear. All in all, everything was good though. We ordered the 3 desserts that we did not really need or want since they come with the meal plan and we apparently have no will power! We shared the chocolate fondue, banana crème brulee and a chocolate torte. All were tasty but too rich for me. Also I hate that both Cali Grill and Kona gilded the lily in my opinion by adding a layer of chocolate and banana to the crème brulee. I guess I am a purist. I love crème brulee in traditional form. All in all, a very nice dinner. We hopped on the monorail to head back to Magic Kingdom. It had stopped raining and everything was much cooler! Kids were doing the hula hoop on Main Street and we all joined in. What a happy sight! We meandered our way to Splash Mountain. This was my favorite time ever on this ride. We got completely soaked during the very first splash and it got wetter after that. Our boat got stuck a couple of times due to some of “brer bear’s pranks” but that was quickly resolved. There is something different about this ride at night and we all enjoyed it. We had enough time to do Jungle Cruise, also in the semi-darkness. The wait was about 30 minutes. I enjoyed this more than usual too. Our guide was quite corny as always, but I just found it funny. Zac’s big eyes were fun to watch. We made our way to Main Street and found a spot in front of the castle at about 8:45 p.m. Wishes was beautiful and spectacular as always and I found myself choked up thinking of my Mom. The wish I made was that she knew, somehow, somewhere, just how much I loved and missed her. This sounds horribly maudlin, but as I was wishing for a sign from her, it began to drizzle very slightly and I felt they were her tears mixing with my own. I was holding Zac through out the show and became aware that he was quite still and seemed to be glued to my face with the red and blue hair goop. Yes, he once again fell sound asleep in the middle of the fireworks. I don’t know how he does it, but it has become his annual tradition. Once again we were very lucky in that the rain didn’t really come down until we were under the bus shelter. The first bus packed up and we were able to sit, thank goodness, on the second bus. My goodness, Animal Kingdom felt like it really was in Africa, that bus ride took so long! It was cute watching all the tired little children on the bus. Zac stayed asleep, glued to my neck, all the way there. I won’t describe the scene of trying to get all the gook out of his hair while he cried in the tub with me, except to say what is in that stuff, crazy glue or spackle??? All in all, a “magical day,” still bittersweet for me, but I think that is to be expected this year. The kids seem to be having a great time. Tomorrow, Animal Kingdom.