Emily’s Wish Day 6
We decided a long time ago that we’d spend New Year’s Day at Magic Kingdom. We had been warned to stay away on the 31st (I found out that they were at capacity at 10am, so I’m glad we were not at a park for that). We also really wanted to be able to do the fireworks as a last hurrah before we left.
We arrived at the park at 9:15am and caught the trolley show on Main Street, USA as we walked toward the castle. My friend, Tommy, who has worked at Disney for the last 12 years, sent me a text this week and told me he was performing in Mickey’s Castle Show. So when we realized the first show of the day started in just a few minutes, we sat right in front . Tommy was great and the kids loved the show (although they never did find out that Tommy was in it.)
The first ride of the day was the Jungle Cruise, which was very funny and the way they put Emily on was awesome. We saw another family whose daughter was coming off (who clearly loved it) that said how impressed he was with the improved accessibility in just the past few years. I think our narrator was particularly good at the pun delivery throughout.
We met Tiana, Naveen, and Ariel, which was awesome, as each treated our kids like royalty. Brenna can be quite a handful when around a princess or two, always grabbing and looking where not entirely appropriate, but these princesses never missed a beat, and Tiana even cracked a few funny jokes along the way.
We had lunch at the Crystal Palace, where we completed our autograph books by meeting Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore, and Piglet. The lunch was really good and the chef made a special nut-free brownie for Carter, which he enjoyed.
We visited the wish lounge to relax a bit since we had such a long day ahead of us. I read a condensed version of 101 Dalmations while Aimee took care of Em’s tests, diaper change, bag cleaning and refilling.
Then, a costume change!! We were off to meet the Princesses and Fairies. We met the princesses first after about a 10 minute wait and a frightening moment when Brenna walked the wrong direction in pursuit of a Mickey Mouse sticker. It was only about 5 seconds of absolute fear, but everything was in slow motion, just like in the movies. We met Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle (in yellow- and no, they didn’t think it was odd that she didn’t remember them from before). They spent SO MUCH TIME with us and the rest of the room was empty, which I don’t think is the norm. I know a ten minute wait isn’t the norm either, so needless to say, Aimee and I really appreciated the VIP treatment Emily and the whole family received throughout the trip, but especially the personal touch received when meeting the characters.
We had to wait just another five minutes or so to meet the fairies, where we met Fawn, Tinkerbelle, and Vidia. We really liked Fawn and Vidia, because it was clear that they both really enjoyed their characters.
The highlight of our day came at somewhat of a surprise. I think the ride was called, The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and to me, it seemed pretty ordinary. We had virtually no wait and the handicapped car was able to have the bouncing turned off (thank heavens!). Emily absolutely LOVED THIS RIDE. I screamed ahead to Aimee (who had the other kids in a separate car) because Emily was looking, smiling, and audibly laughing pretty much the whole time. There were lots of bright orange and yellow things, which Emily favors, plus black lights, which really made them jump out. Aimee and I have sort of decided for her that Tigger is her favorite, but boy-oh-boy did she verify it during this ride! I was so excited for her. Don’t think us strange if you ever visit and we have a fluorescent Tigger picture and black lights in our living room!
Right after the ride, I checked my cell phone for messages as Tommy would have a two-hour break between 3:30 and 5:30 and I was hoping to get to see him. He caught up with us behind the castle within a few minutes and took some much needed “Facebook Update” photos
(The only other shot we have was 14 years ago). The family took to him quickly, and we were able to catch up while we waited in line for the coveted Dole Whip. This was Aimee’s surprise for me: Pineapple softserve ice cream. I’d never heard of it, but certainly will never forget it.
After lots of peer pressure and a slight mockery by Aimee of a certain Jamboree, we decided to alter our schedule and visit the Tiki Room, which was really fun. I caught Brenna out of the corner of my eye clapping furiously right after the first bird sang. She (and the rest of us) thought it was really cute.
Unfortunately, Tommy needed to get back for his next shift, so we said our goodbyes. (It was great seeing you again, Tommy!)
We made our way to the Magic Carpets where Aimee, Carter, Brenna, and Drew got “spit on” by a camel during the fun flying adventure. Emily hung out by the exit for this one!
The Country Bear Jamboree was as much fun as I remembered and more fun than Aimee remembered. We both agree that your perspective changes when you have kids and you enjoy things because you see how much they appreciate it. This was especially clear to us during this last week.
This is the part of this post where I mention how Aimee and I scoffed at the idea of standing and holding a spot for the parade because everyone was getting cranky and the 45 minutes would have been not fun. We figured we’d be able to see the bright lights no matter where we were… (some of you may know where this is leading…) Aimee took Drew, Carter, and Brenna on Peter Pan as the last ride before the parade and fireworks and they all came out excited about it. Emily had been fading out and we really wanted her to be awake for the bright lights, so we didn’t push it.
We returned to the Wish Lounge for Emily’s care and drinks and I took turns running Brenna, Carter, and Drew to the restroom. The looks I was getting from the people sitting on the patio were pretty funny since I kept coming out of the door with a different kid.
When we finally made it out we started to understand why people planned their spots so meticulously. We couldn’t get near the street, which would have been ok if everyone stayed sitting. Unfortunately, everyone in the front stands up, and everyone in the second row on puts their kid on their shoulders. Thus, even Aimee and I couldn’t see and we were grossly outnumbered in the kid to shoulders ratio.
We wanted Emily to see it, so I held her up and Aimee took turns holding up each of the other three, but although this works in theory, there are several problems with this plan. One, neither Aimee nor I particularly enjoy holding children in the air for extended periods of time. Two, the two kids on the ground typically get bored since they can’t see and tend to wander a bit in a large noisy crowd IN THE DARK. And Three, as time elapsed, Carter, and Brenna were much less tolerant of being on the ground for extended periods, so they just cranky crashed into tantrums… meanwhile, I was stressed out that we’d lose a wandering crankster. This is where I definitely ended up being unhappy at Disneyworld. Now the bright side of all of this is that Emily loved what she saw, as did everyone else; it was just a bit of a letdown. The good news was that we were in prime position for the fireworks that would start in an hour. But… Now we were an hour hungrier and an hour crankier.
We went over to get hot dogs so we could come right back, but apparently hot dogs are in much higher demand right after the parade than they were 10 minutes ago, so we waited in line much longer than we expected. By the time we finished eating, the fireworks were about to begin.
Tommy had told me that we would be fine if we were in front of the castle. When we started to move that way, there wasn’t enough room to get the stroller through and we had to go back to the left and eventually just had to stop and watch because otherwise we’d miss it while trying to find a spot.
(Above is a good shot of the tree that blocked much of our view)
Again, Emily was awake throughout, didn’t seem bothered by the loud noises, and clearly watched the lights during the whole presentation. But it was a bit of a letdown after all the planning.
We talked about it and decided to stay for the next parade, even though we were another hour crankier and another hour loopier. We staked our spots on the sidewalk edge and joked and sang songs, and cuddled together waiting for our incredible trip end on a high note. It was SO WORTH IT. Cranky or not, it was worth it.
Emily’s Wish Day 7
We ate breakfast, cleaned up, packed, went on a final carousel ride and checked out. At check out they gave us a special passport that will allow free admission for all 6 of us at over 100 different parks nationwide for the next year. Several of them are close enough that we will likely get to use it more than once.
As promised, we took Drew and the money from his piggy bank to the Lego store. He was able to find some things he liked and we got to see some really neat creations.
On the way to the airport, Carter got sick in the car and needed to be changed, plus emptying out a rental car when you have a child who needs to be held and another who wants to be held is pretty impossible without other adults. All told, it took nearly an hour to get to the ticket counter.
Adam the TSA Agent came to our rescue. He escorted us through the checkpoint and carried Em’s car seat and two bags all the way to our flight. Quickly Aimee took Emily to get her changed and I mixed her meds and unfortunately poured water into the pill crusher which may create some additional difficulties tomorrow.
When Aimee came back and Emily had her medicine, I volunteered to go get food from Wendy’s. I suggested giving the kids our cheese crackers and get fries to go with them, because I didn’t think they’d eat the Wendy’s nuggets. Aimee disagreed and insisted that I get the nuggets. Finally, once at the front of the Wendy’s line, I ordered the nuggets: The cashier told me they were all out. I asked her if she’d write me a note to my wife… Yeah, I asked, I’m not ashamed. I didn’t think Aimee would believe me. Even if she did, the doubts would linger. The cashier apparently isn’t allowed to write notes on company time, so she called over Jeff, the Wendy’s manager, to see if he could help. I explained my plight and he said he’d do me one better. He comped the meal and wrote a note on the bottom of the receipt, “Sorry, no nuggets”.
Luckily, since the flight was full, we (and anyone else on the flight) were invited to check additional carry-ons for free, which made transferring to the plane and off much easier.
The flight was unremarkable; the ride home was quick and warm. I’m looking forward to going to bed after a long week wishes coming true. Thanks Make a Wish-New Jersey, Give Kids The World, and all the sponsors of these incredible organizations. We will never forget this week.
