Friday, May 7, 2010

On The Second Day of Disney...

REJUVENATION is the key word for this post!

We woke up (relatively) late on Wednesday morning, and I was feeling well, REJUVENATED! Remember, the night before, we had had a great pizza (did I mention a pina colada?) I had been able to take a shower, sleep in a comfy, snug hotel bed AND BOTH babies slept through the night and past 8:00! That was enough right there to make my day! :)

Wednesday was our "Magic Kingdom" day (little did we know that each and every day for the remainder of the week would be our "Magic Kingdom" day...:). We had reservations at "The Crystal Palace" right off of Main Street USA, for breakfast with "Winnie the Pooh & friends." What a great way to start the day, eh? :)

We made it to the park about 10 minutes before opening- here's another Disney tip- even if you've been to Disney a hundred times before (jeez who's been THAT many times, right? :) its STILL fun to watch them open the park in the mornings. Check with your hotel the night before to make sure you've got the park hours down- and be there about 10-15 minutes prior to opening. At the Magic Kingdom, they have all the princesses and their princes ride in on the choo choo train; they sing, dance, put on a little show and then shoot out streamers and confetti- ya know, just your typical 9 AM greeting :) Really though, its awesome- and we made sure to be there for the park opening every morning. Want to know the silly part? Each and every morning we saw the show/opening, and walked through the gates I got goosebumps and tears in my eyes. Don't ask me why... there's something just MAGICAL about the place!

After the big welcome show, we were through the gates and ahead of the crowds- well on our way to riding on the BIG kiddo attractions before the lines got long. I think it was right past Cinderella's castle that the front wheel of our jogger stroller flew off and sparks started flying on the ground as the metal made that awful squealing noise against the concrete. Yes- quite the entrance- "HELLO MCKENNEY FAMILY!" haha :) A few people stopped and tried to help- I went in one direction chasing the wheel, while Ryan stayed by the stroller holding tightly to Maeve & trying to keep the damaged metal part of the stroller off the ground. I found the dang wheel. (Yes my face was beat red- and not from the sun) Unfortunately, when the wheel popped off, the bolt and lever that held it on went with it- somewhere into the unknown. We scoured the castle floor for about 10 minutes before the embarrassment took over completely. Ryan called it quits on fixing it- it was almost like when you watch those ER shows and someone is coding out- all the nurses are scrambling around trying to save the guys life when all of a sudden the head doc looks up and gives that LOOK. And you know its over. The guys dead. The strollers dead. Booooooo hooooooo.

SO my friends, what do you do, if you're in the middle of the most magical place on earth and your stroller breaks??? Let me tell you. First, you put your head down and wheel the broken stroller over to where there is some sort of stroller parking. Then you take whatever articles (bags, bottles, children, etc.) out of the stroller that you need/want. Then you abandon said stroller. Yes- we left our jogger stroller in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. How sad is that?????

Originally we were thinking- "okay- we can handle this- this is doable- we'll RENT a stroller for the week!" Unfortunately, the only strollers available to rent (at the park anyway) were for older kids- not babies. Henry can kind of sit up but not well enough to sit in a toddler stroller all day. He'd be hunched over in a hot second without a harness over his shoulders.

After a lot of searching and asking, we were directed to the baby center. Did you know this existed??? I did not. And I am SO, SO, SO glad I know now! It is located RIGHT next to "The Crystal Palace" (how convenient, right?) and its baby/momma/dadda heaven!!! You walk in, and its like you've walked out of the craziness of the park and into a lush hotel room for babies! There are rocking chairs, couches, changing tables (nice ones- not the pull down hard plastic ones), a water cooler, diapers, wipes, etc. You name it, they've got it! So in we walk, my carrying Henry, Ryan holding Maeve... looking for a stroller! HAHA! Who goes to Disney to buy a stroller????? Well US, I guess :) Because they had one! Right there, waiting for us, was a brand spankin' new Kolcraft umbrella stroller. SWEET! I was thinking 30-40 bucks TOPS. Think again! 60 dollars! Buh-BYE spending money! But it was needed. And I think a huge rush of relief came over both of us when we realized we wouldn't be lugging around Hank the Tank all day :) So listen up moms with babies (and toddlers alike!) if you're at the Magic Kingdom and stuck in some kind of a baby bind- head to the baby center!!! I swear, they can whip up anything there for you- its almost sort of like MAGIC! :)

After snagging our stroller, we had pretty much missed our opportunity to hop on any rides without a wait time (or so we thought)... plus it was time for our breakfast reservation.

Breakfast was phenomenal. Although the character part of it was a ginormous waste of money. Maeve acted like "Eyore" was the deadly plague. Seriously- anytime a character would walk up to the table she'd be out of her high chair (somehow- even though she was tied in) and onto our laps. She'd then advert her eyes and completely ignore their presence. SORRY POOH! Oh... back to the breakfast part. I am pretty sure there were several meals that I ate while at Disney that I gained at least ten pounds at- and this was most certainly one of them. DARN YOU BUFFETS! Let me list off my breakfast meal: chocolate mickey waffles, peach cobbler oatmealy stuff, vegetable strata and sausage. OINK OINK! :) But if Maeve wasn't taking advantage of the 60 bucks we paid to meet the characters, I figured I should probably counteract that with eating my money's worth. So I did.

After breakfast we were back on 4 wheels again :) and rolling quite quickly through the park. Honest to God- we rode everything we wanted to ride (EXCEPT for Dumbo which always has a ridiculously long wait). We walked onto pretty much everything- we waited for mmmmmmm *MAYBE* 15 minutes for the "Teacups" but that was about it! Pretty incredible! :)

We did go back to the hotel for naps (which was just a must- no ifs ands or buts about it) and took a quick dip in the pool to beat the afternoon heat. Though, around 6 or so, we were right back at the MK for more! We rode Maeve's faves again (and again, and oh, again!) "It's A Small World", "Teacups", the train, all that good stuff! One pleasant surprise we got was that Maeve might just be a little daredevil! It started out as a joke (kind of a cruel joke- please don't judge me for this)- but Maeve was being naughty/out of control/bratty, etc. So I told her "That's it I'm taking you on a spooky ride!" I scooped her up and (with no wait!) walked onto "Goofy's Barnstormer." It's a kiddie roller coaster- but its got a little height to it and definitely some fast turns. I thought she'd be terrified out of her mind. Instead, we hopped off and she asked to "ride the fast choo choo again." :) classic :)

We ended the night with watching "Wishes" (the fireworks show that brings me to full out tears every time) and the electrical parade.

Back at our hotel room, it was time to unwind- Maeve was literally ASKING to go "night night" and we got a good laugh out of her asking Henry to "PLLLLLLLLLLEEEASE go night night!" when he wouldn't stop fussing :) After the kids were asleep, Ryan and I took turns sneaking out to the "Petals Poolside Bar." They happened to have Sam Adams Summer Ale on draft (his fave) and I settled for anything that started with "A" and ended with "L." (usually though it was a pina colada- although one night I was adventurous and got a margarita- that was WAY TOO STRONG and took me about 2 hours to drink... I'm sort of a lightweight now a days...)

Anywho, it was a GREAT first day- even though it did start out a little bumpy with the whole stroller thing (especially for Henry! :)

Stay tuned for "On the THIRD DAY of Disney!"






1 comment:

Angela said...

Cracks me up that you took Miss Maeve on the roller coaster. I'm also glad you guys got to take turns having some adult time. Can't wait for Day 3.