Disney Trip 2016 - Magic Kingdom and Departure Day!

This is the 7th post of my Disney trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

Our day dawned very early because I wanted to get to Magic Kingdom as close to rope drop as possible. We got dressed, finished packing up the car and checked out of our hotel. We hopped on a bus and got into Magic Kingdom just as the morning rope drop show was finishing up.

We headed right to the Crystal Palace and got seated very quickly. The food was good and the characters were really great! Emily had especially wanted to meet Eeyore, but loved Tigger, Pooh and Piglet too!

From there, we to Fantasyland. Emily wanted to ride on the Carousel and there was no wait for it. Then we went to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Since this is the newest ride in the Magic Kingdom, it's a long wait for standby. I had had a fast pass for it on hurricane day, but sadly none to come by on the

day we actually got to the Magic Kingdom.

Thankfully the queue was pretty cool so Emily was amused. But it was the longest line of the whole trip since we waited over an hour. The ride was cool and Emily loved it. It was her first roller coaster! I'll definitely want to ride it again, but not with an hour wait!

We did a few Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom stops. Emily loves that game and had fun fighting the baddies. We headed to Adventureland because I had gotten a fastpass for Pirates of the Caribbean. This was Emily's first time riding pirates and she loved it.

While in Adventureland, we also rode the Magic Carpets and had our very first Dole Whip! It was getting close to noon and getting really hot out. It was honestly the hottest day of

our entire trip. So we headed back to the front of the park.

We did one more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom stop and then rode our last ride, which was The Haunted Mansion. We left my favorite place in the world behind and got back to our car to begin the long journey home.

Because of the hurricane, we took the longer way home through Atlanta. I use my GPS on my phone to get directions and I was a little freaked because it took me on a toll road and I had no change. Thankfully the tolls had been suspended because of the hurricane.

I really wanted to get back home so we drove the whole way back to NC. I did manage to hit my head pretty hard. I went to the back of my car which has a hatch, and misjudged the distance when I was closing it and brought it down on my head. It hurt a lot and once we got home, I spent the next few days in bed. Afterwards, I'm pretty sure I managed to give myself a minor concussion.

Besides injuring myself, I managed to get us safely home. We got home right around midnight so at least I had been awake for 18+ hours. It was a long day!

Up Next - Final Thoughts About the Trip!

The Comfort of Stuffed Animals

I'm an adult, and most days I can adult ok. I'm a mom and a wife, I have a job and my house isn't a complete disaster. But I do have rough days thanks to having chronic pain. Especially on those rough days, I like snuggling stuffed animals.

When I was a kid, I always preferred stuffed animals to dolls. My favorite was my Pooh Bear that I got when I was only one. He's been snuggled and loved so much that he's nearly flat now. But I still have him and he's still my bear. He's not great for snuggling alone though since he's so flat.

Emily got the stuffed animal loving gene from me and has a lot of stuffies. When I was in the hospital many years ago, she gave me a teddy bear that was named Chronic Pain Bear. After Todd got diagnosed with MS, Chronic Pain Bear became his.

Last year, Emily and Todd got me a pink cat Build-A-Bear named Princess Leia. And then after Dragon Con, I finally bought the Captain America Build-A-Bear that I had been wanting. I named him Steve.

Steve is a comfort to me when my pain levels are bad or when the depression and anxiety kick in. It may not seem very adult to sleep with a stuffed animal, but for me it is. Coping however you can is extremely adult.

Happy Birthday Walt Disney!

I’ve been in love with all things Disney since I was very young. My favorite stuffed animal was a Winnie the Pooh and all my favorite movies were from Disney. This love was cemented when I was seven years old and got to go to Walt Disney World for the very first time with my parents and younger sister.

I brought that love to the next generation by introducing Emily to Disney shows pretty early on. Our trip this past October was magical so I think she'll be a fan of Disney for years to come.

So I’d like to wish a happy birthday to the man who started the empire. Walt Disney would have been 112 years old today if he hadn’t passed away in 1966, which was 11 years before I was even born. I’m sure I’m not the only Disney fan out there who is thinking about Walt today.

Happy Birthday Walt Disney! I'll be celebrating by going to see Disney's newest movie Frozen with Emily and Todd.

Disney Trip 2013 - Animal Kingdom

This is the second post of my Disney Trip report – click here for post #1.

When we were planning our trip, we decided to skip Epcot. We felt that Emily would enjoy Animal Kingdom more this time. Since both Todd and I feel that Animal Kingdom is a half day park, we thought it would be a good starting park.

We met my in-laws in the lobby at 8:30 so we could all ride to the Animal Kingdom together. Emily was a little grumpy; we don’t think she slept a lot on the drive down. But she looked adorable in her Alice costume.

The bus ride was short and we were soon at the Animal Kingdom. My mother-in-law and I went through bag check while Todd and his dad went to get the tickets. I had ordered the tickets from Disney’s website a few months before and it was really easy to pick them up.

Our entry into the Animal Kingdom was the first chance we got to use our Magic Bands as a park ticket. It was cool to see the Mickey head light up. We got our maps and headed toward the Kilimanjaro Safari. The wait was pretty short and soon we were seeing a lot of cool animals. Emily was very excited to get to see a

Waiting for Festival of the Lion King

baby giraffe.

After we were done with the Safari we were walking by the Festival of the Lion King. The first show was starting soon so we decided to all go do that. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this show but we never got a chance to see it on our honeymoon. It was an amazing show though! Definitely a must see from now on!

An aside here – we got Emily some Disney gift cards so she could have her own spending money. She wanted to get one thing when we got into the park and she picked a baby Simba stuffed animal.

We tried to keep her from going to hog wild because we knew she’d burn through her money fast that way.

Since we were already in Camp Minnie-Mickey, we decided to go see Donald Duck. Donald was awesome – he asked for Emily’s Simba and then he lifted Simba over his head like from the beginning of the Lion King. It was so funny!

From there, Emily was getting worn out already. So we stopped for a snack which was the Mickey bar that she had been talking about eating for months. It made quite the mess and ended up with a trip to the bathroom. Luckily she didn’t get a lot of it on her dress.

We headed over to Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama in Dinoland so we could play in the Boneyard. Emily liked going down all the slides and wanted me to go down some slides too. In the process of going down the slide, I lost my phone. This lead to a freak out

but Todd went to talk to the cast members at the front of the play area and thankfully someone had turned it in.

From there we went to Triceratops Spin, which is basically a Dumbo clone with dinosaurs. Emily enjoyed it but was getting crankier as her normal naptime approached. There wasn’t a long wait for the Primeval Whirl roller coaster so Todd rode that while Emily and I shopped. I got some pins and she got some princess gummy candies.

Todd was kind enough to volunteer to take Emily back to the hotel for a nap so I could stay and ride some more rides. I walked with them on the way out and we passed by where Pooh and Tigger were meeting. We asked Emily if she wanted to meet them and she did.

I love Pooh Bear in part because of my own bear. He was one of the only characters I went out of my way to meet. Pooh and Tigger were really sweet. But it was extra awesome because Pooh came over to give me and then Todd a big hug. The Photopass photographer got

the shot so I was very happy with that.

From there, we went to see Mickey and Minnie in their safari clothes. Emily was happy to see them again, but really didn’t have any desire to stand in line to meet them again at the other parks we went to.

I walked Todd and Emily to the front of the park and then went back to Dinoland so I could ride Dinosaur. This was the longest line of the day for me – about 40 minutes. I played on my phone a little but I didn’t get great signal and my phone was dying.

Dinosaur was a lot scarier than I remembered! But it was still a lot of fun. I thought briefly about riding Expedition Everest, but chickened out. I headed to the only other ride I wanted to do at Animal Kingdom - Kali River Rapids, which is a whitewater raft ride.

The post wait time for Kali River Rapids was 20 minutes but I walked right on. The ride was fun and I didn’t get too wet. Since I hadn’t waited at all, I decided to ride it again. This time I got soaked! So I thought it was time to go back to the resort. At the bus stop, I met up with my in-laws who were heading back

After I got changed and Emily got up from her nap we met the in-laws in the lobby again. We got Emily’s

carseat into their car and all rode over to the Polynesian to have dinner at Ohana. This is my all-time favorite Disney restaurant from our honeymoon. We got there early since we had to wait a long time for a table on our previous trip.

We got checked and want went over to the gift shop. We had made one pressed penny and then our buzzer went off! It was so fast! We were seated near the window, which you could make out Cinderella Castle through the trees.

When I gave my information to my travel agent, I had her notate that I am allergic to shellfish and to tree nuts. Nearly every table service restaurant we ate at, the chef would come out and advise me what the safe dishes to eat were. It was very nice to know which ones could cause my issues. Thankfully the only thing I couldn't eat at Ohana was the shrimp.

There was course after course of meat on skewers that had been freshly cooked on a huge fire pit on the other side of the room. It was so good, and even Emily liked it, though she mostly ate the noodles that were

part of the side dishes.

There were games for the kids (though Emily opted not to play) and a lady who roamed around the room singing songs and giving out leis. Once we were done, I took Emily over to the lady so she could get some leis. The lady saw Emily’s birthday button and gave her extra leis in the form a lei crown. 

We made one more stop to the gift shop. There was a Minnie Mouse dress up toy set that Emily had seen and decided she wanted. The price was pretty good, especially since we were at Disney, so she got it with her gift cards. It was a great purchase because she still plays with it daily.

It was time to turn in for the night so we headed back to the resort. Emily got a bath and went right to sleep. I didn’t stay up too long either because we had to be up early the next day.

Up next post – The Magic Kingdom, Part 1

Disney, Characters and Cosplay

I love the Disney characters. Even though we were both adults, I made reservations for character dining on our Disney Honeymoon. It was such fun to meet Pooh and Minnie Mouse as well as others. But we didn't stand in line to meet any of the characters.

Since this trip will be for Emily, I know we’ll be waiting in line for some characters. I do have two character dining reservations, one for Chef Mickey’s on our first night so Emily can meet the big cheese right away. While the Disney characters are usually well done, it’s pretty much just paid cosplay.

Dragon Con Jack and Sally

We attend Dragon Con every year and the costumes there are usually some of the best at any con. There are always a bunch of Disney cosplayers, which includes me since I cosplay as Snow White. This year while we were waiting for a panel to start, I saw a couple cosplaying as Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before

Christmas. Their costumes were wonderful!

I’m planning on attending the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party this year, and I was excited to hear that Jack and Sally were going to be doing meet and greets at the party. I was excited, until I saw the picture of the characters. Sally is ok, but the Jack’s head is really misshapen. The cosplayers at Dragon Con did a much better job than Disney! Now I’m not going to bother waiting in line for several hours to meet Jack and Sally.

Image: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog

The meet and greet wait times can be insane for some characters especially for special events. For Friday the 13^th yesterday there was a Villains event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. People crushed into the park to get a chance to meet some of their favorite villains. A person in my October trip group on Facebook tried to get the Studios but apparently the traffic was backed up all the way out of Disney’s property!

I follow some Disney bloggers and at least one was able to get in. Kenny the Pirate runs a wonderful blog and has a great app that helps you find and meet characters at Disney World. He tweeted last night that he waited 3 ½ hours to meet Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas. Other villains had wait times that were an hour or more. I didn't wait more than an hour and a half to see Patrick Stewart speak at Dragon Con – I just can’t imagine waiting 3 and ½ hours for a quick meet and greet with someone who is basically a cosplayer.

I waited about 3 1/2 hrs for Oogie
— kennythepirate.com (@kennypirate) September 14, 2013

I am looking forward to doing some meet and greets for Emily. And I’d probably wait 3 and ½ hours to meet Sophia the First since Emily loves her. But I hope we don’t have to. We have Magic Bands and I've been trying to fiddle with Fastpass +, and I've been picking a lot of characters meetups just so we can free up some time for some rides.

Dragon Con Memories

Pregnant at Dragon Con

 Today after work I head down to Atlanta for my 7th Dragon Con. Because I can’t concentrate on anything but the con at this point, I thought I’d share some memories I have of past cons.

My first Dragon Con was in 2007 and this was the only Dragon Con I attended without my husband. I went with friends and had a great time. The highlight to this con was being able to have dinner with my friends and Peter S. Beagle, along with Peter’s agent and business partner, Conner. Peter S. Beagle is a really interesting guy who wrote one of my favorite books, The Last Unicorn. He had some stories to tell!

The next Dragon Con was a really interesting experience because I attended the con eight months pregnant with Emily. I tried to tough it out and stand in line like normal the first day, but I was very happy to sit with the disabled folks the rest of the con. I waited for the panels like everyone else, but got a chair and was able to go to the bathroom and stay hydrated better.

This Dragon Con was also where I had the best baby shower ever! We played games and then we had

Heil Pooh!

dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. My friends are funny and we played little party games while we had dinner. They also got cupcakes with Pooh on them, but Pooh looked like he was saluting a certain evil dictator. We all found this so funny. 

Emily was 10 months old at the next Dragon Con and I had the brilliant idea of bringing her to the con to watch the parade. I had seen the parade a few years before but I didn't remember there were so many scary things. She was okay for most of the parade, but flipped out when the zombies came by. Her fear of zombies started then, but now she likes pretending she is a zombie so she’s a little less afraid of them.

The next few Dragon Cons were pretty normal. Not anything out of the ordinary happened. Last year, I got to be on my first panel. It was a geeky parenting panel through the Kaleidoscope Track. We also brought Emily back down to the con, again for the parade but this time to march in it.

Two Snow Whites!

Emily had seen pictures of me in parade from years before and wanted to be in it. I got us both Snow White costumes and we marched with the Kaleidoscope Track. She did pretty well, but it was much more humid than usual. We made it through the parade and met up with Todd.

We had some lunch and then went to get Rose McGowen’s autograph. She thought Emily was adorable but she was starting to get very tired. We had one more stop though to the dealer’s room. Emily loves my smellies (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume oils). Since BPAL was vending at Dragon Con for the first time, I knew I had to take her to the booth.

I’ve known the owners of BPAL, Beth and Ted, online for years. They have a daughter who is a few months older than Emily, so I really wanted Emily to meet Beth especially. Emily really liked Beth, especially when she gave Emily a little goodie bag with free samples. Later that day, Emily drew Beth a picture in thanks.

Those are just some of the highlights of my past Dragon Con trips. I've enjoyed going immensely every year and I’m looking forward to having a great time again this year!

What Does Pooh Think?

Miss Emily and Baby Pooh

I watched the first two Toy Story movies a few times before I became a mom. But since then, I've seen all three dozens of times because they are Emily's favorites. Because I've seen these so many times, I wonder what Emily's toys think. But mostly I wonder what Pooh Bear thinks about his current situation.

Pooh had life pretty easy for about 20 years. He was cuddled and loved, but I obviously didn't play with him once I was a teenager. Then along came Emily, who loves him a bunch but also loves playing with him. He's gotten a little more worn because of her playing but he's still in ok shape.

Lately, he's been Baby Pooh. Emily wraps him up in a blanket and hauls him all around the house. The toys in Toy Story would have been really happy with this situation since all they want is to be played with. Pooh doesn't look very happy though. I somehow see him thinking, "I'm too old for this s***" ala Roger Murtaugh.

The Story of Pooh

Emily and I with Pooh Bear

When I was one, I got a small stuffed Pooh Bear as a present. He became my favorite stuffed animal and has been ever since. Even though he’s now 35 years old, I still have him and love him.

Pooh was yellow and came with his signature red shirt. He lost his shirt somewhere and became less and less yellow. When I was small, I slept with him every night. I remember my parents becoming distressed when I didn't want to sleep with him anymore when I was a little older. They convinced me that it was okay to still sleep with my Pooh.

I grew up and it was time to go off to college. I left Pooh at home because I didn't want to lose him. My mom bought me a giant Pooh to take to college.  After college, I moved back home. My mom passed away from cancer less than a week after I moved back, so I really needed my Pooh Bear then.

A year after my mom passed away, my daily chronic headaches started. My stuffed bear was something to cuddle during the long nights when the pain kept me awake. A few years after I had moved back home, I moved in with Todd. Pooh came with me this time, and I still slept with him sometimes.

Pooh ended up getting put up though because he would nearly always end up on Todd’s side of the bed. When I was really sick or in pain, I would cuddle him. Todd and I moved to North Carolina and then got married. Pooh, of course, made the journey with us. Then along came Emily.

Because Pooh is an old bear and has had to been stitched back together, I didn't let Emily near him for the first couple years of her life. Now that she is four, she adores Mommy’s Pooh. He usually stays in my room, but Emily will sleep with him for naps and will get him when she’s feeling sick.

Pooh has gone from just a beloved stuffed animal to a family heirloom. Hopefully he’ll be around for another 35 years!