Wrapping it up

Saturday night we headed back to the Contemporary for a very nice dinner at the California Grill and a beautiful view of Magic Kingdom. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are in the area. Cavett got to test out his manners and he got many compliments. Afterwards we headed back to MK where we rode Buzz Lightyear and the Astro Orbiter again. Stephen and I traded off and we rode our only roller coaster for the week--Space Mountian. Still as fun as ever.

The next morning we packed up, checked out and headed to Hollywood Sutdios for breakfast with the Little Einsteins at Hollywood and Vine. Unfortunately, JoJo and Goliath were there instead of Annie and Quincy. But, we did have some fun with Leo and June. I even got into the action! We rode Toy Story Mania again and did meet up with Annie and Quincy as well as take the BackLot Tour and get in a little more play time at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids set.

The plane ride home lwft much to be desired. We were in a holding pattern due to weather in Houston until we had no more fuel left. So we had to land in Lafayette. Our plane was supposed to arrive about 5:10 in Houston. Instead, it was more like 8:30. We hadn't had lunch since wehad such a gigantic breakfast. Luckily, we had some Pop Tarts left and in our carry-on. After the batteries ran out on both the laptop and the DVD player, we were able to convince Cavett to take a nap. He then colored, played with Silly Putty and was generally very well behaved.

It was a really great trip and we look forward to doing it again when both boys are tall enough to ride all the rides.

Sweet and Silly

This week has been really wonderful in getting to love on Cavett. I have told him so almost everyday as I am hugging him or kissing him while holding him waiting in a line, or on a bus or boat. Some of you may know that he was/is not a cuddler. He's too active. I guess we have worn him out sufficiently. It's almost 9 AM and he's still sleeping this morning. Anyway, sometimes he wants me to stop and put him down and I say, "I'm just lovin' on ya." So, now he's started doing it back to me. He'll kiss us or give us a hug that may be too rought and he'll say in the cutest, sweetest voice, "I'm just lovin' on ya." It's the "ya" that really gets me laughing.

Last night as we left the Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios, I guess Cavett was on beyond tired, although we got to the room earlier than any night this week. He was just trying to keep himself awake and as he was waiting in line he was doing the Russian puppet dance from Pinocchio. The only way you might have recognized it was from the "hey"! It's pretty silly looking. He entertained quite a few people with it.

As for our day yesterday, it was fairly laid back and it was all about the playgrounds. We returned to Animal Kingdom and rode the Safari ride again and this time added Rafiki's Planet Watch train where you get a behind the scenes look at the animals cages for the safari. Next we headed to DinoLand U.S.A. where we rode yet another Dumbo like ride, the Triceratop Spin. Then we went to the Dinosaur Boneyard. Pretty cool playground with caves, slides, etc. There is also a dig that we didn't get to because, unfortunately, it started to rain. With tears in his eyes, we headed back to the bus just before the downpour. Stephen was done at lunch today so we met him back at the hotel for lunch and a nap.

After we headed to Hollywood Studios for a very earlly dinner at Mama Melrose, an Italian joint. But we got there early enough to check out the set of "Honey I Shunk the Kids." It's another pretty cool playground and of course we didn't get to play long enough. Afterwards, we decided to brave the lines and stood for 90 minutes to ride "Toy Story Mania" again. Still well worth it. We had just a bit of time before the show, so we stepped inside the Magic of Animation film and "museum." I wish we had had more time and the animators had been at their desk. Pretty interesting to see the art and how it is all put together.

Last but not least we headed toward our super, secret entrance for the Fantasmic show. This is the largest show with capacity for 10,000 people. People get there an upwards of 2 hours for their seat. But, we got the meal package and got reserved seating for the show. Well worth it. The show was pretty good, although I think all the hype about it led to a bit of disappointment. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I guess I am more of a musical (like Nemo/Lion King) kind of person. The effect of showing film clips on water that was sprayed upwards like a fan was neat, but other than that it was just ok. I also prefer just the plain ol' fireworks at Magic Kingdom.

As soon as snoozer wakes up we will head to Epcot. Hopefully, he has slept enough that Dad can meet us there and our nap can be late in the afternoon. Ok, make that 10:30 AM!

First Day Without Dad

Dad left this morning before Cavett even woke up. We were on our own. We left the hotel around 8:30 and as soon as we headed toward the boat dock, the boat appeared. Perfect timing! We also hit Hollywood Studios perfectly as well. Little wait before we were actually allowed in with our tickets and then let loose in the park. He even received a "1st time" visitor button.

Immediately, we found ourselves at Mickey's Sorcerer's Apprentice Hat (which is the icon of this park.) Out stepped Minnie and Daisy! We were the second in line to take pictures. Then on the other side of the hat we found Donald. Again, very little wait!

However, because we took this little detour on our schedule, we ended up getting to Toy Story Mania a little late. By the time we got there, the line was already an hour wait and the FastPasses were for 11:10. By the time we got our FastPass, it said 11:55. An hour later, there were no FastPasses left for the entire day! It was really no problem, but I didn't see what all the hype was about. I just figured it was very much like the Buzz Lightyear game at Magic Kingdom.

So, we went to the Great Movie Ride. Nothing new in almost 20 years on this ride. It is how I remember it and had I remembered better before we got in, I wouldn't have taken Cavett. I had him close his eyes the entire time through the Alien set. Next up was sitting in line at Playhouse Disney's Show. It was ok, just puppets that we really couldn't see very well since we were on the front row. Would have been much better, had they used people or even just a tilted stage. Then we headed to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Very disappointing. Ariel must have been new--bad acting, bad singing, and she messed up some of the words. How do you mess up "Part of Your World?" Doesn't every girl know the words to that song??? The show was also a let down especially after seeing Nemo at Animal Kingdom. There were puppets, but not as good as Nemo, they just showed a lot of the movie and Ariel "sang." Don't waste your time.

By this time Cavett was getting hungry so we stopped off for the 3rd meal in a row (besides breakfast) of chicken nuggets and french fries. Ugh! 12:00 rolled around and we headed to see what the "Buzz" was all about for Toy Story. It was fantastic and I think I would wait the extra hour. Luckily, we didn't have to though. When you walk in there are huge sets of "old school" toys-Tinker Toys, Operation, Blocks, etc. You wear a set of 3-D glasses and are in a little car with a funny little popping gun. You are whizzed through a track where you pass and stop at several different screens that show 3D animations of a scene at a fair's fairway. You shoot your gun at the items and rack up points. What makes it so much fun and better than Buzz Lightyear at MK is the fact that the aim is more accurate, you can see your ammo hitting the target, it's 3D and it's just plain cute! The reason why it is so popular besides the reasons named, is it is one of the only RIDES that little kids can and would want to do at this park. Highly recommended.

We briefly saw mater and Lightning, but this was as close as we could get. Next we hit yet another 3D movie, the Muppets. Again, 3D tricks, just ok compared to others. The rain then began and we were able to get to the boat again just as it was pulling up. A little ice cream in the lobby and he fell asleep in under 10 minutes as I am typing this up. He's been such a troop and we have had very few and very short melt downs. What a blessing!

Hopefully we can head to the pool later this afternoon. Tonight Stephen and I go to Universal Studios for the IACA Instructors dinner. Cavett will have a "fairy godmother" named Carrie, come stay with him while he catches up on his sleep tonight. Tomorrow we will head back to Magic Kingdom for Frontier Land and Adventure Land. Until then I'll leave you with a few more thoughts I have on Disney in general.......