IloveJack
01-11-2017, 12:37 AM
Our last first birthday
We've taken each of our kids to the World for their first birthday. Penelope, aka "Eppy," is our last. We decided to make it super-special, so we're spending two weeks at Disney, with 10 days in the parks.
Cast:
Susan, (me), 36, 11th trip
David (DH), 31, 9th trip
Sammie (DD), 8, 7th trip
Lily (DD), 5, 5th trip
Joey (DS), 3, 4th tip
Eppy (DD), turning 1, 1st trip
Connie (DMom), 65, 3rd trip
Sam, (DDad), 68, 3rd trip
Wednesday, December 14
(My parents weren't up for another day in the MK, and they really wanted two days at Epcot, so since they were leaving on Saturday, we split up for the day... I don't have their side of the report... oh, and I forgot to mention, but after Benadryl and a couple of ice packs, Lily's eye was back to normal. It turned out to be multiple bug bites in one area).
We'd planned to sleep in, but everyone but Sammie was awake by 7:30, so we woke her up and got going early. We took a bus to the Settlement, but it was so foggy, that they weren't running the boats, and instead sent us all to the Wilderness Lodge by bus and then on to the MK. Again, we just missed park opening. This time bag check was exceptionally thorough, even opening my glucose meter case and my external hard drive case (that I carry everywhere).
We walked straight back to Fantasyland and got in line for Peter Pan. I'd refused to use a FP on this, but I also wasn't standing in line for hours, so this was the morning to breeze through the "kiddie" rides. We barely quit walking, and were on the ride in 20 minutes. Then straight over to Winnie the Pooh, where our kids loved the queue as much as the ride. Again, we never stopped walking, and were on the ride quickly. After that, David disappeared (but I can't remember why now), so I took them all to the carousel, where Joey threw a fit and wouldn't ride. So the girls rode alone, while we watched. David showed back up and calmed Joey down, and we decided to see Mickey's Philharmagic, since Joey was screaming "I want to see Mickey!" Shows are also an easy way to nurse the baby without having to halt our touring plans.
We were starving, so we had lunch at 10:40. We headed over to Cosmic Rays as it's always a crowd pleaser. I had learned by now to use our dessert that comes with the dining plan to get yogurt or fruit for Eppy, as we rarely ever wanted the dessert. The kids had fun laughing at Sonny Eclipse, and by the time we finished eating, they were quoting his jokes with him.
We had Barnstormer FP, and we used child swap so that all 3 kids could ride, switching out parents over and over. Joey screamed the entire time, but came off of it saying he liked it.... maybe. Then we caught the train in Fantasyland and rode around to Frontierland as it was time for our BTMRR FP. The kids enjoyed the train, mostly that they could see outside the park when we rounded the bend by the Contemporary, but I was getting tired of folding strollers up often. Maybe in a few years we can quit using them...While riding, I changed our really late Buzz FP to much earlier Ariel, so that I can keep adding them throughout the day.
We stopped for a restroom break at the "tunnel" between adventureland and liberty square. David had seen a pressed penny machine, and we had brought quite a few quarters and pennies just for that. We got two, 2016 and Simba (as the kids have just started watching the Lion Guard). While we were stopped, I returned a missed call from Mom. Their magic bands weren't working, and they weren't able to use their dining credits at Epcot. They were hungry, so they got a snack at Mexico and headed to guest relations, where after 45 minutes of working on it, they were able to fix their bands. Sammie had had trouble getting into the park that morning, too, so I wondered if there was some sort of glitch in the system. Mom and Dad had no trouble when they ate dinner later that night in Germany, though.
The kids had been begging for popcorn, so we used some snack credits on popcorn, cotton candy, and drinks, and watched part of the castle stage show. Then we rode Ariel and went to see all the circus characters. I like their backdrops much more than some of the other characters.
(SPOILER ALERT: If you don't have a strong stomach, the rest of this day may not be for you).
Since we were on the character hunt, we headed toward Main Street. We'd just passed the Partners statue, and stopped for a castle PP pic, when Eppy threw up. She was in the baby wrap, so she covered me. We told the PP CM never mind, and hightailed it to the Baby Center. I cleaned the two of us up, changing her into an outfit in the bag, and rinsing my shirt out. I was surprised that, although it was see-through, it didn't stain. It was a good thing I always wear a camisole under my shirts! We headed past Casey's and I stopped at another PP CM to ask about the Tink magic shot. Before Eppy and I could pose, she threw up again. This time, I felt it coming, and kept us clean. The CM took it all in stride, and once we'd gotten maintenance's attention, we got the picture too! Eppy smiled like nothing was wrong, and it turned out to be one of my favorite pictures.
But we weren't done yet...
We went on down to Town Square Theater, to see Talking Mickey for Joey, and while we were in line, she threw up again. This time, David caught it in his hands, which was gross, but easier to clean up. After seeing Mickey, we decided to have dinner at Casey's as we were planning to close the park down. It was insanely crowded, and took over 30 minutes to order and get our food, then trying to find a table for 6 in that tightly-packed eating area wasn't one of our better ideas. David had to go back and forth between me holding all the food, and Sammie holding a table, to get both full trays and both strollers into the very cramped area. I had just sat down to eat, when Eppy threw up all over herself, me again, and her stroller. By that point, I was done. David went to get a to go box, and packed my food up. And I used baby wipes to clean us both up as much as possible.
We exited the park as quickly as possible, which was very difficult, since droves of people were coming in, and headed straight to the ferry. We couldn't even make the walk back to the bus stop before the poor kid threw up again. Not wanting to have to take her out of the stroller and hold her at this point, we decided to walk from the settlement all the way to loop 2000. It was quite a long walk, and my feet were already telling me that my shoes weren't cutting it, but we finally made it. I took Eppy and the stroller and we headed straight to the shower, while David and the other kids got together a load of laundry and went gecko hunting. As laundry isn't quick, it was after midnight before we got to bed.
We've taken each of our kids to the World for their first birthday. Penelope, aka "Eppy," is our last. We decided to make it super-special, so we're spending two weeks at Disney, with 10 days in the parks.
Cast:
Susan, (me), 36, 11th trip
David (DH), 31, 9th trip
Sammie (DD), 8, 7th trip
Lily (DD), 5, 5th trip
Joey (DS), 3, 4th tip
Eppy (DD), turning 1, 1st trip
Connie (DMom), 65, 3rd trip
Sam, (DDad), 68, 3rd trip
Wednesday, December 14
(My parents weren't up for another day in the MK, and they really wanted two days at Epcot, so since they were leaving on Saturday, we split up for the day... I don't have their side of the report... oh, and I forgot to mention, but after Benadryl and a couple of ice packs, Lily's eye was back to normal. It turned out to be multiple bug bites in one area).
We'd planned to sleep in, but everyone but Sammie was awake by 7:30, so we woke her up and got going early. We took a bus to the Settlement, but it was so foggy, that they weren't running the boats, and instead sent us all to the Wilderness Lodge by bus and then on to the MK. Again, we just missed park opening. This time bag check was exceptionally thorough, even opening my glucose meter case and my external hard drive case (that I carry everywhere).
We walked straight back to Fantasyland and got in line for Peter Pan. I'd refused to use a FP on this, but I also wasn't standing in line for hours, so this was the morning to breeze through the "kiddie" rides. We barely quit walking, and were on the ride in 20 minutes. Then straight over to Winnie the Pooh, where our kids loved the queue as much as the ride. Again, we never stopped walking, and were on the ride quickly. After that, David disappeared (but I can't remember why now), so I took them all to the carousel, where Joey threw a fit and wouldn't ride. So the girls rode alone, while we watched. David showed back up and calmed Joey down, and we decided to see Mickey's Philharmagic, since Joey was screaming "I want to see Mickey!" Shows are also an easy way to nurse the baby without having to halt our touring plans.
We were starving, so we had lunch at 10:40. We headed over to Cosmic Rays as it's always a crowd pleaser. I had learned by now to use our dessert that comes with the dining plan to get yogurt or fruit for Eppy, as we rarely ever wanted the dessert. The kids had fun laughing at Sonny Eclipse, and by the time we finished eating, they were quoting his jokes with him.
We had Barnstormer FP, and we used child swap so that all 3 kids could ride, switching out parents over and over. Joey screamed the entire time, but came off of it saying he liked it.... maybe. Then we caught the train in Fantasyland and rode around to Frontierland as it was time for our BTMRR FP. The kids enjoyed the train, mostly that they could see outside the park when we rounded the bend by the Contemporary, but I was getting tired of folding strollers up often. Maybe in a few years we can quit using them...While riding, I changed our really late Buzz FP to much earlier Ariel, so that I can keep adding them throughout the day.
We stopped for a restroom break at the "tunnel" between adventureland and liberty square. David had seen a pressed penny machine, and we had brought quite a few quarters and pennies just for that. We got two, 2016 and Simba (as the kids have just started watching the Lion Guard). While we were stopped, I returned a missed call from Mom. Their magic bands weren't working, and they weren't able to use their dining credits at Epcot. They were hungry, so they got a snack at Mexico and headed to guest relations, where after 45 minutes of working on it, they were able to fix their bands. Sammie had had trouble getting into the park that morning, too, so I wondered if there was some sort of glitch in the system. Mom and Dad had no trouble when they ate dinner later that night in Germany, though.
The kids had been begging for popcorn, so we used some snack credits on popcorn, cotton candy, and drinks, and watched part of the castle stage show. Then we rode Ariel and went to see all the circus characters. I like their backdrops much more than some of the other characters.
(SPOILER ALERT: If you don't have a strong stomach, the rest of this day may not be for you).
Since we were on the character hunt, we headed toward Main Street. We'd just passed the Partners statue, and stopped for a castle PP pic, when Eppy threw up. She was in the baby wrap, so she covered me. We told the PP CM never mind, and hightailed it to the Baby Center. I cleaned the two of us up, changing her into an outfit in the bag, and rinsing my shirt out. I was surprised that, although it was see-through, it didn't stain. It was a good thing I always wear a camisole under my shirts! We headed past Casey's and I stopped at another PP CM to ask about the Tink magic shot. Before Eppy and I could pose, she threw up again. This time, I felt it coming, and kept us clean. The CM took it all in stride, and once we'd gotten maintenance's attention, we got the picture too! Eppy smiled like nothing was wrong, and it turned out to be one of my favorite pictures.
But we weren't done yet...
We went on down to Town Square Theater, to see Talking Mickey for Joey, and while we were in line, she threw up again. This time, David caught it in his hands, which was gross, but easier to clean up. After seeing Mickey, we decided to have dinner at Casey's as we were planning to close the park down. It was insanely crowded, and took over 30 minutes to order and get our food, then trying to find a table for 6 in that tightly-packed eating area wasn't one of our better ideas. David had to go back and forth between me holding all the food, and Sammie holding a table, to get both full trays and both strollers into the very cramped area. I had just sat down to eat, when Eppy threw up all over herself, me again, and her stroller. By that point, I was done. David went to get a to go box, and packed my food up. And I used baby wipes to clean us both up as much as possible.
We exited the park as quickly as possible, which was very difficult, since droves of people were coming in, and headed straight to the ferry. We couldn't even make the walk back to the bus stop before the poor kid threw up again. Not wanting to have to take her out of the stroller and hold her at this point, we decided to walk from the settlement all the way to loop 2000. It was quite a long walk, and my feet were already telling me that my shoes weren't cutting it, but we finally made it. I took Eppy and the stroller and we headed straight to the shower, while David and the other kids got together a load of laundry and went gecko hunting. As laundry isn't quick, it was after midnight before we got to bed.