Kim’s Delve into Webdom

We awoke to the sun streaming in the sliding door, and got ready for breakfast at the Kona Cafe before we headed off to the Magic Kingdom for that day.  If it were just an adult trip, I’d probably start a Disney trip at EPCOT, since it’s my favorite.  But Natalie and Braeden are 6 and 2, respectively, and it’s Braeden’s first trip.  IMHO, it wouldn’t be right if you didn’t start at the Magic Kingdom.  There’s a certain mystique about walking down Main Street USA and seeing Cinderella’s Castle for the first time.

But before any of that, we has breakfast at the Kona Cafe, found on the second floor of the GCH.  I was in search of two things- a cup of french-press Kona Coffee, and that Tonga Toast.  For the uninitiated, Tonga Toast is thick slides of french toast stuffed with bananas- yum!  Very sweet and rich, but it’s not like I’m going to eat it everyday!

After breakfast, we walked around to the monorail platform to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  The kids loved the monorail- it was a ride in and of itself.  We decided to head to Adventureland first to ride Pirates of the Caribbean.  This ride was closed for a makeover when we visited in 2006, so Jeff and I were looking forward to it.  It was actually nice to have some variety in the soundtrack (not the Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho song the whole way through) and having Jack Sparrow popping out here and there was kind of fun.

Coming out of PotC, we found Captain Hook and Mr. Smee so we stopped for some autographs.  Braeden was a little skittish, but he interacted with them a little.  From there Natalie and I rode Splash Mountain and got soaked to the bone, not from the drop into Brer Rabbit’s Laughing Place, but rather from the water cannons that go off when a log goes down and target the logs going by!  It was then that we discovered that late March was still a little early to get soaked at 10:30 in the morning.  We got fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and walked to Liberty Square to ride the Haunted Mansion until the time window opened.  Natalie then got to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad not once, but twice, thanks to the baby swap with Braeden.

Frontierland was becoming congested, so we proceeded on into Fantasyland, riding It’s a Small World, and obtaining FPs for Peter Pan Flight for later that afternoon.   We took a break for some lunch at Pinocchio’s Fest Haus, and got to sit by the windows that overlook the queue area for It’s a Small World.  After lunch, we rode Snow White’s Scary Adventure, and then waited for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

We worked our way around to Tomorrowland, getting FPs for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and the Carousel of Progress, and also getting Buzz Lightyear’s autograph.  We also took in the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor.  By this time, the window was open for Buzz Lightyear Spin,and we rode that as well.

Dinnertime was approaching, and our first choice, Cosmic Ray’s was packed.  We ended up at the Noodle Station in Tomorrowland, which is only open during peak times of the year.  It’s really too bad it isn’t open more often, because the offerings were delightful!  Jeff and I typically use Orange Chicken as a barometer for a Chinese restaurant, and this one got a thumbs up!

By this point, it was approaching 8pm, and the crowds were gathering for the early Spectromagic parade.  We planned to catch this later in the week, so we made our way to the front gate.  Natalie had such an outstanding day, that we stopped by one of the pin carts by the entrance, and let her pick out a new pin for her lanyard- she chose Ariel in her ballgown.  Then we caught the resort monorail back to Tahiti.  We got “home” with plenty of time to change for bed, and watch the fireworks from our balcony.

Here’s a summary of the day in a page:

Monday is EPCOT day!  Yippee!!

March for Babies is 16 days away…

ACK!

I have done no fundraising whatsoever.  All of the spare change that goes in the duck bank was allocated to Disney spending money!  I’m so behind!

Around this time of year, I’m usually on the Columbus Scrappers’ board rallying the troops.  Getting those last minute sponsors so all of our team members get to $125 to earn their March for Babies t-shirt.  It’s the plea to prevent shirtless women!

Please don’t let me get arrested for Public Indecency…  LOL!  Please sponsor me!!!  My March of Dimes page is here:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?w=31021499&u=columbusscrappers

I’m going to throw out an incentive for my digi-scrapping buddies.  I am a fledgling Apprentice Designer at ScrapMatters (where I am also on the Hybrid Creative Team- I did today’s ReNEWit feature- go to the SM blog for April 9th to see it!!!), and I’m going to be releasing a Grab Bag for National Scrapbook Day coming up.  I’m going to pack it will all kinds of hybrid goodness!

Hey, you can have it FOR FREE if you make a donation to my March for Babies ticker!  Leave a comment in the sponsor section, and I’ll email you a coupon code for my NSD Grab Bag!  I love the March of Dimes site- it makes it so easy for you to donate.  You can donate by a check you can mail to me (my addy comes to you when you fill out the form), or by credit card or paypal.  Even better, March of Dimes sends you an email you can use as a receipt for your taxes.  Even even better, your money goes right to the MoD if you do cc or paypal- I don’t touch a penny of it!  It’s not that I would ever personally misappropriate funds, but there are people out there who do.  So sad that I need to account for that.

I am so lucky that I have healthy kids, but I’ve walked through the NICU at Children’s.  It’s a great facility, but it’s quiet and scary, so I wouldn’t wish having to be there on anyone.  That’s why I’ve walked for the March of Dimes for 6 years.  They wiped out polio- so I have no doubt that they can wipe out prematurity, too.

Miss me?

I’m back after taking a hiatus from blogging- I was never good at keeping a diary, so I’m not sure why a blog would be any exception.  Like with my lab notebook, once technology comes up with the direct neural link that feeds my thoughts right into the computer, it’s a sporatic thing.

However, there should be steady stream of posts for a while, at least I hope.  We have a Disney Trip to report!  Jeff and I took advantage of the amazing Buy 4, Get 3 Free deal at Disney, and we took a family vacation over Spring Break!  We made full use of the promotion and spent our first stay at the Polynesian!  Needless to say, I was a little excited!  However, we also knew that once Natalie found out, that she would be excited, too, possibly to the point that it would distract her from other things, so we decided to keep it a secret.  THAT was possibly one of the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

We finally told her on the 20th, the evening before we left.  We had a 7:05am flight to Orlando, which meant getting up incredibly early.  Jeff and I decided that it would be most efficient to send the kids to bed in sweats, so we only had to get them up long enough to get them in the car.  Since that’s a change to routine, we figured we should have a really good reason!

Natalie was surprisingly calm when we told her we were going on vacation to Disney the next morning.

How disappointing.

However, the closer we got to bedtime, but more excited she got!  I’m not sure how we got her to bed.

Four thirty in the morning comes awfully early, but we managed to get up with the alarm, get dressed, and get Natalie and Braeden up and into the car.  We thought they might have been a little sleepy, but no, they were awake and ready to go.  The early hour was worth it, and while the Columbus Airport was busy for a Saturday morning, we got through check-in and security in a reasonable amount of time, and took off on time.

Natalie and Braeden we so well behaved on the plane!  Natalie had a new Littlest Pet Shop game to keep her busy, and I brought new coloring books for both of them.

As I completely buy into Disney’s plan to keep you on property, of course we took advantage of the Magical Express service.  The thought of a) not handling my luggage at the airport, and b) not having to worry about renting a car, is so worth it!  There was essentially no line at the DME counter, so we were checked-in in less than 10 minutes, and in the queue for our bus.

Truth be told, I didn’t pay to much attention to time- this was the easy-going Disney vacation!

We boarded the bus, and soaked in the lovely, sunny Florida morning.  The bus stopped at the Wilderness Lodge and the Comtemporary Resort before we pulled up to the Poly.  We pulled in before 11am- yippee!!

First Official Picture! The Lobby of the Great Ceremonial House, Polynesian Resort

Are you ready for some magic?

I sent Jeff to check us in, and I sat in the lobby with Natalie and Braeden, in the corner where the TV is set up running classic Mickey Mouse cartoons and there’s a kiddie table with coloring pages and crayons.  (Note for next time- arrive in the morning again!!!  Sure, getting up is a killer, but it was so easy to check in everywhere- no lines!!)  Jeff comes back a little bit later- we’re going to Tahiti!  The Tahiti longhouse, that is…

Tahiti is a little bit of a walk from the Great Ceremonial House, but unless you are dog-tired and grumpy, it is a pleasant walk.  It’s on the beach, and about an equal walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center, which turned out to be great for us- the TTC made it easy to get anywhere, by monorail, ferry boat, or bus (Jeff isn’t easy to impress, but he LOVED that).  Whoo hoo- being close to the beach meant it would be even easier to get to it to watch the Electrical Water Pagent and the Wishes fireworks over the Magic Kingdom.  When I made the reservation, I reserved a garden view room, and I made a request for a room with a balcony (easier to keep Braeden contained).  Otherwise, I figured I’d just let the pixie dust fall where it may.  So, I was expecting a view like this

The lovely landscaping of the Poly

or this

More lovely gardens...

But no, that wasn’t to be.  We got this instead

View from Tahiti 2019

Yup, that’s the view.  To the left of that palm tree is Cinderella’s Castle, and to the right is Space Mountain…

Talk about pixie dust- we got upgraded to Lagoon View!  I think it’s technically not Theme Park View because of that palm tree.  If you shimmied to the left side of the balcony, you had a clear view of the Castle.  If you shimmied to the right of the balcony, you got Space Mountain.  You know what? I’m not complaining!  Sentimental Disney-phile that I am, I almost broke down and cried when I drew back the curtain to the balcony.  That is Magic, pure and simple.

Here’s a view with the zoom lens

Cinderella's Castle is easier to see when you use the zoom

Oh, and here are those MK fireworks

Wishes Fireworks

Sorry for the blurry pic- I didn’t realize I would need to pack the tripod!  This could not have worked out more perfectly for us.  Natalie likes the pretty colors and patterns of fireworks, but she really doesn’t like the booming.  This way, we could sit in our room every night and enjoy the fireworks with much reduced noise.  And, as an added bonus, once they were done, we could tuck the kids into bed and call it a night- no commute out of the park to get “home.”

So, I pulled myself together, and we changed into swimsuits, and back to GCH (Great Ceremonial House) to use the pool and grab some lunch.  It was a little cooler than I expected- it was OK for swimming, but it might have been just a little better if it were 5 degrees warmer.  It was fine if you were in the water, but brrrr if you got out to use the water slide!  I spent most of the time in the water up to my neck- ah!  Natalie didn’t care nearly as much- she loved that water slide.  We swam until Braeden’s teeth were chattering, dried off, and headed to Captain Cook’s for lunch.  After lunch, Jeff stayed with Braeden to get him to take a nap, and I took Natalie back to the pool for a while longer.

We had dinner reservations for Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary.  Jeff and Braeden met us at the GCH after their nap, and we took the resort monorail around the loop: first to the Grand Floridian Resort, then the Magic Kingdom, and then the Contemporary.

I’ll share more pictures later once they make it into page, but I did want to share my favorite

Pictures with our host

The look of wonder and adoration on Braeden’s face is just priceless.  That made the trip worth it right there.

For the most part, Braeden was OK with the characters.  He was a little startled if they approached to quickly, but he never panicked.  Natalie, well, she loved the characters during her first trip, so for her it was like seeing old friends.

After dinner, we headed back to our room, unpacked our luggage and watched the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom from the balcony.  It’s Magic Kingdom Day tomorrow!

Stay tuned- I’ll work through the trip right here on the blog!  I promise I’ll post more frequently than usual!