Disney Post #3

Erin and Belle
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

OK - now the park itself. Let's face it. Disney World is great. As much as I hate to succumb to marketing ploys, I'm a sucker for it. They craft a complete experience and craft it well. No litter, no peeling paint, no algae in the water, no weeds in the flower beds and EVERY SINGLE employee is polite, helpful and cheerful. How that happens is beyond me but it is cult-like in its pervasiveness. They must fire people who are rude; in fact, I'm sure they do. But what it all adds up to is a magical place where you can really forget the real world and just be.

Now, I do have my gripes. The main one being that they are now pushing these autograph books on all the kids who come so they can get the autographs of the characters. Great idea. In theory. The problem is that there is only one place some of the characters ever appear and Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella are in the same place. The line was 90 minutes as soon as it opened and still 45 minutes late in the evening when we returned. I just got a survey from Disney and they asked about it and I slammed them. If they are going to push kids to get autographs of EVERY character, then they need 10 Cinderellas and 10 Sleeping Beauties stationed all around the park. Even the characters who were just out in the park had long lines. The remedy, of course, is to go in November, January or March and not June. This is what we'll do next time, even if it means taking the kids out of school. God help the people coming over the summer.

Otherwise, however, we had a grand time. It's a Small World, the teacup ride, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella's Carousel, Peter Pan, Country Bear Jamboree, all were great.

And did I mention that Disney should manage all airports? They should. Especially having flown back from Atlanta yesterday - the TSA knows NOTHING about crowd management and Disney knows everything about it. Except for the lines for the characters and a couple rides, it was wonderful.

I can't wait to go back when the kids are older. Better start working out now to keep up with them.

Did I mention Sean is getting his bottom teeth AND he slept for 11 1/2 hours last night??? Life is good......

Disney Blog #2

Disney Castle
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

OK - today I'll talk about our hotel. We were at the Port Orleans French Quarter. I would HIGHLY recommend it for anyone heading down there. It got great ratings in several of the guidebooks I looked at. The room was pretty basic but there is a good food court with very family friendly fare AND they serve beignets. Not as good as Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, but still a tasty treat. The best family feature, by far, however, was the fantabulous pool. A waterfall, waterslide and fantastic lifeguards made it a great way to spend the afternoon when we needed a break from the heat of Disney. The hotel also has a boat that goes back and forth to Downtown Disney which is great fun. As do all Disney hotels, it also has shuttles to all the theme parks. All in all a great location from which to explore the wonders of the happiest place on earth. Did I mention the beignets?? They had them. mmmmmmmm.......

Disney Blog #1

Photo Op
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

Lots to talk about with the trip to Disney, so I'll split it up into several entries. First, let's cover traveling on planes with children. Don't do it. As Giz says - the motto of the airline industry has become "Welcome to xxx Airlines. Shut up and get on the plane." On both of our trips, they had not put Erin and me together. Who they thought would want to sit with a stranger's 3 1/2 year old, I don't know. Going we got it switched before we got on the plane. Coming back they essentially said 'Yeah, you'll just have to work that out with the people around you. Good luck with that." Top that off with a child who understands a lot and has even better hearing and you get lots of questions like "Mommy, why would we need a life jacket??" "What are those masks for??" "Why do we need to know where the exits are?" "What are the slides for?" and her sweet. sweet statement to me in the bus on the way to the hotel "Mommy, if we need the masks, I'll let anyone put one on me...don't worry." Flying is a scary thing to a youngun' and with the horrible conditions on planes and in airports (did you know flight attendants now have to clean the planes, too??) I just don't plan to get on a plane with a kid for a while. Plus, your chances of getting to your destination on time and with your bags is apparently approaching the odds of winning the lottery. Which reminds me, I need to buy a PowerBall Ticket! I promise my next post will be more positive, but I'm just thankful for a child who is so remarkable that she didn't completely melt down on the trip. I would have, in her shoes.

Imagine

Sean Close-Up May 2007
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

So we're sitting in Moe's the other day eating our lunch and the song Imagine came on. Erin asked who sang the song and we explained that a man named John Lennon sings it and the was very famous and a part of a band named the Beatles. She got quiet and continued eating and when the song was over she said "Mommy, that was a sad song." I don't know if she listened to the words or just the music, but she was certainly tuned in....now if only she has the musical talent of her father and not her mother we'll be all set.....

Who Does This Sound Like??

fashionplate2_may-7_lores
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

So tonight Erin started talking about our beach trip in September.

Erin: "But mommy, what will we do with Sean?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Erin: "Where will he go? He won't be able to be in the sand, he might get dirty."
Me: "We'll bring a big blanket or we might put him in a stroller."
Erin: "But what if he cries?"
Me: "Then I'll take him out of the stroller."
Erin: "But your hands will be wet. Then he'll get wet."

Then I tried to distract her from borrowing trouble in that line of thinking so I brought up the fact that we'll have a hot tub on the deck at the house.

Erin: "But who will get in the hot tub"
Me: "Aunt Vivi, Aunt Beth, Daddy, You and maybe even Grandma Bobbie"
Erin: "But there won't be any room for me. And I'll be too hot, and I'll cry."

And so it went with every train of thought I went down. Not even four and borrowing trouble at every turn. I hope her dad and her pop pop are proud!!!! Not only is the glass half empty but it's on the floor and someone's going to step on it and bleed to death.....

Jolly Jumper Fun!

More Jolly Jumper Fun!
Originally uploaded by Rosalind Tedford.

As you can see, Sean is really getting into his Jolly Jumper. But Pat and I have remembered why we never used it much for Erin. You need 6 arms and 3 legs just to get him into it. I'm sure there are better designed ones out there, but we aren't going to buy one at this late date. He'll be crawling soon (perhaps he already is - i haven't seen him in a few hours). On the one hand that's exciting. On the other O MY GOD HE'S GOING TO BE CRAWLING....WHAT THE HE** WILL WE DO THEN??? He's still a charmer and Erin is still a great sister. We are preparing for the trip to Disney -- she has a new backpack for the flight (Dora the Explorer) and we got her hair trimmed. Perhaps the next entry will be from Orlando itself.....

We're Going to Disneyworld!

Thanks to a conference Pat is going to, and the overwhelming generosity of Grandma B....Erin and her mom and dad are going to have a day in the Magic Kingdom. Erin and I will fly down on Wednesday June 6th to meet Pat who will have been there all week. We'll go to the DW on Thursday and back home Friday. It'll be a whirlwind, but perhaps that's all she can handle the first time out. We'll be staying at one of the Disney resorts so we'll have easy transportation to the park and back. We were going to keep it quiet, but any of you who know my husband know that was never going to happen. She's already a bit anxious about seeing the characters (like for her mother and aunt Vivi, people in big suits are a bit scary to her) so I don't want to get her too worked up before we go. It will be a good scouting mission for a longer visit when the kids are much older. Anyone with tips on Disney stuff -- feel free to comment!!