Pixie Perfect bag for Disney.
I talk about Savers a lot on Twitter, I am not ashamed of my love for it. In fact I’m going tomorrow and I’ll take some pics and write a post. Promise.
I was there recently looking for some stuff specifically for our trip to Disney and came across this little lovely. It’s a little bit bigger than an iPad. Which is what lived in it during travel days.
On park days it was just the perfect size for our DIY Autograph Books, park maps, and touring plans.
A 1st Visit filled with Disney Magic
We had some ups and downs on our first trip to Walt Disney World tis true. One constant, besides the gloriousness that is NANA, was this notion of Disney Magic.
Before we left I had been talking to someone at Disney about our resort or dining or something almost daily. They were always SO helpful. They were so nice and accommodating They always ended our conversation with “Have a Magical Day”. Seriously? Seriously.
Now I’m a pretty cynical person and I thought these people were nuts. There’s no way they could all be this helpful and happy ALL.THE. TIME.
Here are some bits of Disney Magic that helped me along the way and made our (could have completely miserable) vacation into one that was brimming with Magic.
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What can I get you?
We needed more coffee, it was a long night filled with sick kids. ONE minute later there is a knock on my door and a man holding a baggie full of coffee pods.
Late one night we needed more pillows for the sickies. We already have like 2 for each of us, they must know this. They clean the “room full of pillows” they KNOW. Yet we ask for more and they ask how many. POOF!
MORE PILLOWS.
The day that Nate woke up with a fever yet again and couldn’t make it to the Magic Kingdom with us. My husband called down to reception to ask if they had an extra stroller. He just wanted to be able to take him to the arcade or the pool if he was feeling better but didn’t want to have him expend too much energy. They didn’t have any, but could bring up a wheelchair. Um yeah, you guessed it about 2 minutes later a knock at the door.
Every single cast member, save for one who simply handed me a map when I asked where I could find espresso, was just so, well, magical. That was her offense – helping me ;-)
In this particular cast member’s defense I think I had interrupted a very flirty conversation she was having with a cute boy cast member. He turned his attention to me and she was miffed, but only momentarily. I mean she did help me. She just didn’t jump up and down while she did it. She was regular about it. ;-)
Her love interest was tracking down the information for me by asking at least 4 other cast members. He saw a damsel in distress and was going to help! She was duly impressed by his diligence and it made her dig him even more. As I started to walk away saying “Um yeah I have a map, but it doesn’t say where to get espresso. Thanks.” She said “Wait look my handsome lover has magically found the information for you! Isn’t he just charming?” Okay she didn’t say that. But you get it, these people are fantastico.
And then there was the custodian I ran across rushing back to the hotel one day with medicine for one of the boys. He had a mop, outside, on the pavement. I stopped because, as a mop afficionado, I thought it odd. Then I saw what he was doing. Magical :-)
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The Art of the Line Dance
I’ve shown you this already and given it almost a whole post about it’s awesomeness. I give you an encore performance of the Cast Members of the Art of Animation front desk. Magic Makers every one of them!
There is supposed to be a video here. If there isn’t please refresh – it’s like magic :-)
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Lost & Found?
We had finally decided on a hats for the kids at the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday night. Let me just tell you this was a process. Anyone that has young kids knows that going into any store, never mind a store filled with Disney stuff for them, can be a trying experience. So the hats were finally chosen.
The next day everyone was excited to wear their spiffy new lids to Hollywood Studios. We were not there 10 minutes when I ask baby girl where her hat is. She shrugs, sees my face that is NOT hiding my sheer annoyance at this and starts to cry.
I will go on record and say I did not handle this with much grace. I take a deep breath and say to myself more than her “Don’t worry baby it’s just a hat.” We wander around for a few more hours, having a great day, and I still can’t shake the lost hat. What is wrong with me? My husband suggests we try lost and found. I think it’s a long shot, but we go. As a family rule we always turn things in to lost and found, because it’s just the right thing to do to return things that aren’t yours. Amirite?
We wait for a minute at lost and found and I prep the girl that they probably don’t have it. A very cheery cast member asks what we need. “It’s a sparkly purple Mickey hat! ” Sienna shouts. I describe the hat in a bit more detail. She sort of screws up her face and say “Huh, I don’t know that hat. Hmmmmm. Oh wait I know the kind of hat you’re talking about. Let me go back and see if we have it back there somewhere.” I tell Sienna it’s ok if they don’t have it we’ll get her a new one.
The bubbly blonde cast member, amazingly, comes back with baby girl’s hat (but you saw that coming didn’t you?). She holds it out and says “Is this it?” Sienna squeals and I say ‘Huh.” I mean “Yay!” We thank her and leave. We tell the boys we found it and off we go.
A few minutes later I stop the carriage short and look at my husband.
“They didn’t find that hat! They have a whole bunch of hats “back there” just to keep the kids happy.”
He looks at me like I’m crazy. The hat was perfectly new and only then did I realize it had never been adjusted. I had to adjust it for her.
“Well maybe you took some other kid’s hat then?”
No I don’t think so. Why is the lost and found “in the back”? Why isn’t it out where people can identify their own lost things? There is just another “store” back there so no kid goes home crying about the thing they lost. I just know it!
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The boss.
We didn’t go to see Mickey Mouse on the first day at the Magic Kingdom because Nate wasn’t with us initially. When we went again on Friday it was the first thing we did. Theo, my BIGGEST Mickey fan, was so nervous. He stood back from him, jumped up in my arms and snuggled in. A wave of familiar sadness that my baby was going to miss something came over me. Oh no.
The other two went right over to him. Hugs. Smiles. Pics. Theo snuggled in harder. I went over to give Mickey a hug to try to ease him in. To my surprise ‘the boss’ was the one to draw him out. He still wouldn’t get off my hip, but this happened…
Disney Magic. It’s real.
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Day 4 – WDW (part 2). So many things.
Good things this time. GOOD THINGS!
We set off with Sienna and Theo into the Magic Kingdom!
Immediately upon seeing the Castle up ahead Sienna began acting strangely. I asked my mom if she saw what I was seeing. She nodded stifling a huge grin.
Every 10 feet or so Sienna would stop and curtsy. OMG. This may just be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And I have a whole lotta cute going on around here.
And THEN… the best text message I have ever received!
Nate convinced his Dad he was feeling better and they should meet us at the Magic Kingdom!
The rest of our day was great. It was slow and steady. We took a lot of breaks, but it was great.
We even had a Disney rite of passge, because I’m told it happens more often than you think, we were evacuated from a ride! We were evacuated from It’s a Small World to be exact. (That is a post for another day ;-)
We went to get some fast passes to The Little Mermaid ride and then we headed back to ride Prince Charming’s carousel.
Mickey’s Philharmagic, our adventure on It’s a Small World, Dumbo, Teacups, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.
Popsicles, lemonade, twirly light up souvenirs, hats, and back to Buzz Lightyear!
Celebrate the Magic and the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular. We ooed and ahhed over Celebrate the Magic. The kids were transfixed by the fireworks. Even Theo peeked out from under his blankie a few times!
We did it. My mom hugged me and for the first time I cried tears of JOY! I may or may not be tearing up right now. Sniff.
We took a walk down Main street USA and went home.
This is what memories are made of this stuff right here.
Wordless Wednesday – Hollywood Studios
Seen on the Hollywood Studios Backlot tour.
My baby girl told me “Mom, there’s no dancing on this ride!”
“Those are the rules.”
I’m gonna go ahead and give her that one. No dancing on the Studio Backlot tour people.
No dancing.
Flo: Low and Slow? – Day 3 at WDW
Ramone (and everyone in our family): Oh, yeah, baby!
What up Flo?
We woke up again with fever and coughing and gagging, and that was just the fit I was throwing because our vacation was getting RUINED!
No it wasn’t. Really. Maybe.
No, I told you already I was doing a swell job keeping my anxiety from the kids. I was trying anyway. The kids? Right…
Nate woke up sluggish and feverish again and Theo was still struggling with congestion. Now he was hardly eating anything. Fun stuff. Sienna was happy and thank goodness still unaffected by the virus.
We sat around for a bit and it was clear that we needed to rest. We need to take it low and slow that day if we were going to get these kids better. Today would be our non park day.
We got to the pool around 11 and settled in. Nate actually got in and it was good for him to move around and be aided and comforted by the water. He was slow and unanimated, but happy. Sienna was still happy, even happier.
Happy hula hoop girl!
Everyone ate lunch except for Theo who feel fast asleep in the stroller after a few goldfish. He slept for two hours like that. When he got up he didn’t want to swim or play or even walk around. I tried to take him for a walk around the pool and he made it for a few minutes then just wanted “up”. He snuggled into my neck as other kids squealed and played and splashed around us.
So here we are at the beautiful Art of Animation pool and Nate was still not better, but seems stable, and Theo appears to be getting worse. He doesn’t even want to play! Not even his favorite guy could make him happy.
Lightening, I am SO SAD!
Now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just take them both to the ER. It’s not an emergency, but we’ve been to the Urgent Care already. I call my pediatrician’s office again. I wait for a call back.I tell her about Nate she says you could take him back to urgent care if I feel like he needs it. Then we turn our attention to Theo. Her feeling is that the neb actually helped him to expel some of the junk in his system. She thinks that I should try it again. Really? My mother and I agree that it seems reasonable. My mom is both a nurse and has asthma. My mom and hubs sat as I take him back to the room. Sienna plays while Nate passes out for a nap on a lounge chair.
Theo does seem better after the neb which gets me to thinking about the last time he had an ear infection and needed a neb. They also put him on an oral steroid and one for the neb. He was much better after that. I call my pharmacy – no refills on those. Gah! I still had the neb meds at the house why didn’t I bring them?? I call my pediatrician’s office again, thinking maybe we can get some of that for him. I wait for a call back. And wait.
When they finally call back she tells me what I know she’s going to say. We can’t prescribe him anything without seeing him. I know. I know! I really just wanted her to say something different. As I’m talking to her. Steve comes to tell me he’s thrown up again. He tells me like the boy’s head had just exploded or something. The drama of it all. My god.
Turns out that after he hurls he starts to feel much better. Both boys climb into the “big” bed in the bedroom and settle in with cartoon for the night. They seem ok for the moment. I resist my urge to take them to the ER only because I know there is nothing else they can do for Nate – the virus needs to take it’s course, and Theo seems better since throwing up. Everyone is calm.
Needless to say we order in. Nana comes over and we try to pretend this is all totally normal, all vacations are like this, and everything is going to be OK!
I have a glass of wine. Now I start to calm down, a bit.
I’m trying Flo! Slow n’ low.
But I just keep thinking why didn’t I bring those extra meds with me? Why didn’t I get this “possible” asthma disgnosis worked out before we left. Why is Nate starting to look red? Why did the delivery place charge me $5 for an minuscule salad?
WHY?
read moreEnter the Virus – Our First Disney Trip
We took a trip to Walt Disney World last week. We arrived on Sunday at noon. We boarded our Magical Express to the Art of Animation. It was all VERY exciting. It was our 1st Visit – they gave the kids these buttons :-)
The hotel was really amazing and I’ll review it for you later. We found our stroller and groceries just where the company said it would be. We went up to our room in the Mater building, yep a CARS themed suite! Had a bite to eat and then off we went to Epcot.
Everything was going great!!
We spent about 5 hours at Epcot that night arriving home for gelato and bedtime. The baby was pretty cranky but everyone picked out a space to sleep and we snuggled in.
I woke up first and got everyone up, almost everyone. My big boy was soundly asleep. Very soundly. I kept looking at him as we all walked by him noisily. He didn’t budge. I went over to him and could clearly see that his cheeks were bright red. I felt his face. He was burning up.
Enter the virus.
A few days before we left for vacation I took the baby to the pediatrician for a possible ear infection. Nothing showed up in his ears or in a rapid strep. But the day before we left he came down with a 102 fever. I hightailed it to urgent care. He needed to fly! She said he had some fluid in his left ear and gave him a script and cleared him to fly. He gave no real indication that his ears hurt on the flight, but he was becoming more and more congested, and whiny. (see Day 1. Sigh.)
After I was able to rouse the big boy, I took his temp – 103. He was mopey and coughing. The baby was wheezing so we used his nebulizer – he promptly vomited. Are you effing kidding me? This can’t be happening. The baby spent the next half an hour coughing and gagging. The big boy was on the couch practically motionless.
My mind was racing in so many different directions. What of the day? What should we do? Should we do nothing. Should I take them to the doctor? What doctor? I had only built in one day off. I wasn’t sure it would be prudent to use it on the first day! But LOOK AT THEM! OMG.
So there were are Monday morning of our week long Disney vacation. Our first vacation as a family, a proper vacation, an expensive vacation. There we were – one child in a heap on the couch and one puking in a recycle bucket.
This virus nearly ruined our whole vacation. It ravaged my oldest son, made the baby a crying lethargic mess, and it beat me down to utter exhaustion and tears.
I say nearly because as far as the kids are concerned they had fun. They don’t know what they missed. They don’t understand you can spend more than 3-4 hours at a park in one day. They’re kids – they had fun. But because I didn’t tell them we were going and I planned the entire trip while my husband worked, I had all the expectations for everyone built up in me. It was going to be the BEST TRIP EVER! (please say that like Rapunzel as she left the tower for the first time ;-)
When it started going all to hell I could feel myself slowly losing my shit. I kept it together away from the kids. But all that expectation is a hard thing to let go of. It hurts a bit. There were things we wouldn’t get to do. Things I wouldn’t even tell them existed here. I started canceling dinner reservations and character breakfasts. Hoping we just be able to get to the parks. Hoping we’d just get out of the hotel room.
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Nana took the well one out of the sick room for a walk. I gave meds and waited. Offered food and waited. After and hour or so they both began to perk up, a bit. Maybe we should venture out…
read moreAbout Me
Hot wife, Mom of 3, Human to #jojothedoodle.
They said WHAT?