Stress and travelling (day 18)

With heavy hearts we left the Port Orleans French Quarter late in the morning. The bags had been packed, and we tried to convert our 21 Quick Service meal points into snack points, but that wasn’t allowed. The girl behind the counter told us that if we would get drinks, and more snacks, she could pretend they were dining points. So with a tray filled with about 8 drinks and 13 snacks and 3 meals, we made our way to our room. There we packed the things that we could take with us, like fruit and carrot sticks.

In the shop we spent our last 8 snack points on slightly less healthy things. We didn’t have time to go swimming or to go to downtown Disney anymore, but it was okay, we were eager to hit the road.

The drive to Orlando went reasonably smooth. We stopped once for lunch at the Stake and Shake. Oh, Stake and Shake, where have you been all my life. Daan and I shared a massive butterfinger milkshake and a jerk burger, and it was heavenly. It took ages to get service, and the place was chaos (we were there for over an hour)  but it was all worth it!

I wasn’t as stressed as I thought I would be, and actually enjoyed the drive. In between we made some stops, and I saw some of the dirtiest bathrooms ever. Otherwise we just entertained ourselves during the drive. We talked, listened to  music and had fun. Everything was okay until we hit the airport at a little after 19:00.

We dropped off the car, which happened in a lot of chaos. The guy was already scanning us out before we even had time to get our stuff out of the car. Daan was feeling the stress and time pressure, and I was starting to get nervous about the flight. We had been travelling (including stop) for about 8 hours, so we were pretty tired. Elora had been a trooper, but I could tell she was getting a little tired too. She kept hanging on us, and tripping over her own feet. We warned her that there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to fly tonight. She seemed okay with it then.

When we took the bus from the car rental place to the terminal, we were travelling with two other standby flyers from the same flight. One of the guys actually knew my brother, which was kind of cool. They had priority over us, so we were joking about sabotaging them, to get their seats. Then we joked that it was better to work together, and get a large family to miss their flight. (For those of you who don’t know me, I would never do that)

The guy told us the flight was overbooked by 4 seats, so the chances we would get on were slim. I was gutted. My instinct sort of said we were going, so I hadn’t completely given up hope.

After we got through customs, I wanted to take a picture of Elora and suddenly realized my camera was missing. The front pocket of the bag was open, which meant it either fell out… or someone took it out (I still don’t know the answer to that one). My moderate stress level suddenly went to high.

Daan calmed me down and said there was one hope, maybe the phone had slipped from the bag and landed in the car. It was the most likely scenario. We didn’t get time to really plough through the whole car, so we were hopeful. There was nothing we could do about it at that time, so I just had to bear it. I was very miserable though. The phone was filled with most of my vacation pictures. I only uploaded a small percentage to the dropbox, because internet was so damn slow. And it also has all my writing notes in it.

We ate some shady tasting tacos at the airport restaurant, but my appetite was gone. When it was time, we walked to our gate, where we found this really handy screen that told us how many seats that were booked were claimed. It wasn’t looking good, and for almost two hours we followed the updates breathlessly. The stress was incredible, and I felt ill. At one point I was starting to give up hope. My instinct HAD to be wrong, there was no way we could be on this flight. So we started to prepare Elora for the worst.

At that moment my brave little trooper lost the plot. It was almost 10:30 pm, and she had been awake too long. The tears started flowing and she kept saying she just wanted to go home. She was so sad, and it broke my heart… but there was nothing I could do.

As we watched all the passengers board, we waited to hear what flight we could be on then. The two other guys we met on the bus were allowed to go on board, and there was talk of one of them taking the jump seat. It was all very chaotic. They said he couldn’t get on the jump seat, but both of them got on anyway. I had no idea what was going on because a lot of people were talking at once. Suddenly one of the ladies told us there were two more seats, and Elora and I could go. I was flabberghasted. Daan was telling me to go, Elora was begging me to go, and before I could think about it, I was standing in the plane… without Daan. We had always said that we would go together or not at all, and I wasn’t prepared for this.

I realized I didn’t have anything with me. No phone… no money, no car keys, no house keys…. NOTHING. Now it was my turn to lose the plot a little. All the stress of the past hours, the fatigue of the journey, the crying child, leaving my husband behind without a plan… it all came out, and my tears were rolling down my cheek. I was trying to hide it, but people had noticed. I hate crying in public, and it doesn’t help having an 8 year old who will point out loudly that you’re crying. The stewardesses brought me some water that I really didn’t want. I just wanted to be left alone.

One of the stewardesses thought it was a good idea to tell me that Daan could have come along anyway, since the other guy (from the bus) had been cleared for the jump seat after all… but the door was already closed, so they were too late.

Thanks lady… I did not need to hear that!

The trip was horrible (though not as bad as Daan’s). Elora barely slept, though she was an angel. She kept trying to be supportive off me, and told me everything would be okay (so sweet, though it got annoying after the 50^th time). When she slept I was trying to get her to not lean on the lady next to her, and when she was awake she would make me get up out of my seat every 5 minutes.

The seats were not as spacious as the ones from the other flight. My knees barely fit, and I as lodged in there I could feel the bruises develop. The lady in front of me was so kind to lean her seat back as far as she could, all trip long, and she was one of those annoying creatures who wouldn’t sit still, so she kept pushing against me. It was very painful, and I have to admit, I kind of hated her. I wasn’t too subtle each time I stood up, and I shook her chair as much as I could for revenge.

The remote control to my video screen was kind of busted, so I had to be a cross between the hulk and MacGyver to watch a bloody movie, it was horrible. Not that I could see much, because I’m tall, and the screen couldn’t rotate enough, so I couldn’t really see the screen in its proper colors, everything went a weird inverted tint.

When the plane finally landed, I was relieved. I didn’t sleep at all, and I was exhausted. The pilot of the plane lend me his mobile phone, so I could call my mother. Of course I got a voicemail. I hoped that Daan had managed to get through to my parents, or I would have to come up with a plan B. As far as I knew, I was stranded on the airport.

Putting on my brave face, I maneuvered Elora to the baggage claim. We waited for a bit… no bags. I wasn’t sure if our bags got on the flight. I had tried to ask the stewardess, but she didn’t know either. So I went to the information desk and stood in line. Elora was guarding the hand luggage a few feet behind me.

I didn’t have the baggage tag or number… that stayed behind with Daan (just like everything else) The lady behind the desk offered me to phone Daan. I did… no response.

I kept my cool and phoned again, and this time I heard the wonderful voice of my husband. He told me two of the bags got on with me, and at that point I heard Elora shout: I see our bags! I quickly said goodbye to Daan, and ran like a crazy lady to retrieve our bags.

Feeling a faint sense of relief, I loaded the bags and Elora on the cart, and went to the exit. Elora pointed when we walked through the sliding doors and said: I see nanna!

At that moment I broke down again. This time because I was so relieved. The sight of my  mother made me cry again. She helped us with our luggage and we went to the car. Mom drove us home and gave me some money for groceries. We just bought a few necessities, because we had nothing in the house.

Elora was ecstatic to be home. She cuddled the cats and immediately dumped the contents of her suitcase on the floor of her room *cringe*

I was less happy, I didn’t like that Daan was left behind and that we couldn’t call each other. I had no idea what to expect, or when he would be home.

My daughter didn’t mind as much, I think she enjoyed the girl time. We were both suffering from jetlag, so we watched movies until 3 AM and she slept in my bed.

That evening I heard from Daan. He and I skyped. He had found a hotel (which cost more per night than the bloody Disney hotel, but it was all he could find in the area) and was hoping to get the 3 pm flight. In the end he did catch that one, though it was horribly delayed. I hear his journey was terrible. Filled with turbulence and stress. But he made it home, and I’m so glad he’s here.

I still haven’t heard anything about my phone, but we should find out in the next 24 hours. I’m glad to be home, but I’ll miss the vacation. With the exception of the terrible journey, it has been amazing. We had so much fun, and I can’t wait to go back! 

emotional last day (day 17)

It’s been a weird day, filled with emotions. Today was our last real day at Disney, because tomorrow morning we’re going to head back to Atlanta.

All of us felt it, and though we still had fun, there’s been a little sadness. At the same time, we can tell it’s time to go home, because the heat and the crowds are really starting to get to us. I’m starting to have hateful thoughts about people who cut in front of me, or who drive buggies into my ankles. I’ve been pretty immune to that most of the trip, but today I wanted to call people names.

We sort of slept in, and at 10:00, we realized we never claimed our 100 dollar gift card, so we took the boat to Downtown Disney. Daan and I realized we hadn’t had any sandwiches from the Earl (of Sandwich) yet, so that was our lunch destination. They were still delicious, though super filling.

We didn’t stay that long, because we wanted to go swimming before heading to the parks. Initially we had a dining reservation for 16:10, but we decided that it was just too freaking early to eat, and we changed Liberty Tree Tavern for Tony’s restaurant. That ended up being a big mistake. I won’t say that the food there was gross… but I won’t say it wasn’t either… :P

Before dinner Elora and I had ridden Splash Mountain one more time. The crowds were ridiculous, and it was a hassle to go anywhere. You couldn’t take a step without bumping into someone. At first we had planned to stay until the fireworks, but Elora was tired and to be honest… I had enough of the people. So instead we rode the Disney Railroad Train… this was the first time I actually rode that… and then we went home. It wasn’t even an anti-climax, it almost felt like a relief. It’s difficult to enjoy the view with this many people anyway. And I’m glad we did it, because when we got home, the tears started to flow. Elora lost the plot a little, and she ended up needing to let a lot of sadness out. She misses the cats, and she is unhappy at school, so all those pent up emotions erupted.

Tomorrow we have a looooong journey ahead of us. Our flight doesn’t go until 22:20 (10:20 pm) so it’ll be a challenge to get through the day. And we’re not even sure yet if we get to fly yet, I really hope we do, because I don’t know if I can cope with going to another shabby hotel and not having a car. We’ll have to see.

This holiday has been utterly fantastic. Even with the emotional last day. We’ve had such a good time, and we really had time to connect as a family again. We needed this time away. Part of me wishes we could stay here longer. I want to be pampered and do fun things every day, but part of me is glad to go home as well. I’m looking forward to writing again. I love my job.

food glorious food (day 16)

We didn’t set an alarm this morning, because we decided to go terrorize… ehm, I mean visit, the land section of Epcot, rather than go on rides. It’s something we mean to do every year, but we never quite manage. This year I was blister free and we’re tired, but still reasonably fit… so this would be the year to do it.

Previous years I’ve gotten blisters the size of silver dollars (not even kidding) on my feet, and I would limp through my whole holiday. But thanks to our new life style, where we walk and exercise a lot, we’re actually okay with all the walking (now the heat is a whole different matter)

Anyway, I’m digressing. I have to admit my head is half stuck on the journey back home, and I’m starting to feel the nerves already. This means the Zippidee is fading and I’m now really feeling the ‘Doo-dah’ so to speak. When I’m nervous, Elora really picks up on that, so we’ve been getting on each other’s nerves a little today. It’s not been all bad, we had some great moments too, but it’s a bit up and down right now.

I had read something wrong, and the different countries didn’t open until 11… while I thought 10 am. Now, it took us a little while to get there and we were a bit late anyway, so we only had to wait about half an hour. When it was 11 am the Kringla bakery opened, and we decided to get a schoolbread to share. Those things are DELICIOUS. There were a few sparrows looking for crumbs, and one was so bold, it actually ate from Elora’s hands.

We walked around the different countries, looking at stuff and eating the lovely morsels they had to offer in different places. We shared everything, which meant there was room to try more. We still have about 9 snackpoints to spend tomorrow, so we’re good. I do love the dining plan.

It was in Japan that Elora lost her heart at the pick a pearl counter. She was staring at it with the wide eyed wonder that only children have. We decided that we could spoil her a little bit, and she got to pick a pearl. Of course there was a line, because it’s Disney and Disney LOVES LINES!!!

It was rather magical, and she loved it. She picked out a charm for her  ‘golden pearl’ (she’s convinced it’s super special) that was totally out of her budget… but it was a horse shoe, so we couldn’t refuse. It’s her lucky necklace now.

Unfortunately we had to pick it up an hour and a half later, and it was already quite late. We decided it was best just to pick it up before dinner, and go home. By the time we left it was almost 2:30, and we were starting to feel parboiled.

Our downtime was only an hour, because we had reservations at 5 pm, and the walk to ‘Germany’ was at least twenty minutes. Plus we needed to get Elora’s pearl who had not stopped talking about the damn thing since we bought it. Of course that’s not annoying AT ALL *twitch*.

The Biergarten was okay. The look of the place is kinda cool, and the food was very decent… but the atmosphere was meh. I was still full from all the snacks, so I didn’t eat much. Elora ate mostly desserts, and since we’re masochists, we like to watch our hyper child fill her system with sugar.

Yup… that’s how we roll.

I had a few fastpasses for some rides, so we gave Epcot a proper goodbye. The people in line were staring at us as we did our own Do-si-do at the Mission Space. Elora couldn’t decide what role she wanted in the ride (I think it’s Navigator, Commander, Pilot or Engineer) and so we kept swapping around. Daan and I got silly and turned it into an actual dance. I think we scared some people.

Our last ride was Spaceship Earth, which is kinda tradition. Then we said goodbye to Epcot, and Daan and I suddenly noticed we’re starting to get the ‘going home blues’. As much as I look forward going to my own home again, and having a bedroom to myself (seriously, privacy is underrated when you have an 8 year old) I’m sad that we’re going. I didn’t realize this was going to hit me hard again, but it is.

It’s 8:30 now, and I’m going to put Elora to bed. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Magic Kingdom, and that’s going to be our last day at the parks. It’s been so wonderful, and I hope we can fight the blues and really enjoy our last day.

Typhoon Lagoon (day 15)

No need to get up early today, we were going to the other Disney Waterpark: Typhoon Lagoon, and they don’t open till 10 AM.

To be fair, we were so slow, we didn’t arrive until 10:30, which made it difficult to find proper places to lie down… but we had Noodles luck on our side.

The weather has been getting hotter, and we pasty Dutch have been suffering. I don’t exactly tan… I think my freckles just make my face darker. I hate my freckles. Okay… I do tan, but I tan very very VERY slow. So while Elora is starting to get that nice caramel color, I’m now in the phase where you can sort of see me when I stand in front of a white wall *ugh*

After almost drowning several times in the wave pool (I kept trying to rush to the deep end, where the waves were higher, but they didn’t crash down on us yet) and being too damn late. I tell you… I am not an elegant woman. Several times I was dragged off my feet, and I would wash up on shore like a demented starfish. Much to the amusement of my husband and onlookers.

Unfortunately for Elora… she seems to have my genes in this respect.

In the deep end we were fine. It was actually really nice. We swam around and were occasionally bobbing up and down on the high waves.

For lunch the three of us shared a hotdog, which was great. Then we decided to dry off and get a tan. I think my brain got a little fried lying in the full sun. I didn’t get burned, because I had enough suntan lotion on to smother a small country, but that didn’t protect me from the heat.

To cool off we went into the lazy river, where we bobbed around with ten million other guests. It wasn’t that relaxed, and reminded me of very slow bumper cars. I still enjoyed it, though I have to admit, I’m a little fed up with the crowds by now. It’s much worse than previous years, and I really miss going in early December times where the weather and crowds are a bit more tolerable. At the same time, this has charm too.

Daan had been looking forward to going to this park all vacation, because we got to swim with the sharks. Only Elora decided to have a drama llama panic attack about swimming with sharks (don’t even ask, it’s not like this was her first time) and she kind of ruined it for Daan. Also, I think they clean the goggles with some sort of acid, because I was half expecting my face to fall off. It was really painful. On the plus side, I think I might have ended up with inspiration for a new horror story.

We decided to go in the big wave pool again, and around 2 pm, it was time for us to go home and get out of the sun. I was pretty frazzled. The hotel room was lovely and cool.

Since I ordered a board game while I was here (my mother’s day prezzie) we ended up playing games all night. It’s a game called ‘Escape, Curse of the Temple’ and it’s a real time game. We were worried it would be too stressful for Elora, but we were wrong, she loved it. We had such a blast. We found a table outside and played several games until bed time. It was frantic!

This was the first day we had no dinner plans, because 2 of the dinners took up 2 points, so we ended up eating at the hotel. We shared 2 meals with the three of us, and most of my meal stayed untouched. I still can’t get over the portion sizes here. My ice-cream sandwich was the size of Elora’s head!!! It was ridiculous, lol.

Once back in the room I decided to check my facebook. Been getting so many messages, I thought it was time to see if everything was okay back in reality. It was nice to talk to people again, but I forgot how time consuming it could be. Oh well, at least it gave Daan some time to read. I haven’t gotten much reading done this vacation. Sharing a kindle isn’t helping.

Tomorrow we go to Epcot for the last time. I’m struggling with mixed emotions. On the one hand I’m sad to say goodbye to this wonderful place. At the same time I’m looking forward to going home too. I can’t wait to have my own bedroom again. Elora’s been great, but I need some privacy.  

Hoop dee doo (day 14)

I have to admit, when the alarm went off, I didn’t jump out of bed or sing a pretty song with the morning birds. To be honest, I looked like an extra in a zombie movie… post mortem.

In my defense, I had a rough night. For some reason I was up at 4 am. Now at home this is a normal occurrence, but here on holiday I’ve been sleeping quite well up until about two days ago. Also, it was really early, because we had an 8 am breakfast reservation at the Be Our Guest restaurant.

It was so nice to get into the park before opening hours, and before the enormous crowds. It’s been getting hotter and more crowded this week, and I would be lying if I would say that’s not been getting to me just a little.

We really enjoyed the breakfast, though the portions were once again ridiculous. Elora’s donut thingy nearly gave me a sugar coma from just one bite. It was tasty, but just too much.

When we were done we still had ten minutes to spare before the park officially opened. A very nice gentleman at the Dwarven mine roller coaster asked us if we wanted to go in the fastpass line, and though we hadn’t planned riding it again, we couldn’t pass that up. I have to admit, I enjoyed it more the second time.

We went to Tomorrow land next, where Elora and I rode Space Mountain. I have to admit, I don’t enjoy just plain roller coasters anymore. If there’s nothing special to see, I don’t need to ride them. Elora loves the speed though. She’s in that phase where she has just discovered roller coasters, so everything is cool and exciting. I try out everything once with her (at least the ones she wants to do, and the ones I can stomach… I’m getting old, so spinning things just won’t do anymore, they make me sick for a long, long time)

We did a whole bunch of things today, and I can’t believe how many rides we rode. So different from previous years, where we only rode four or five things from the morning to the afternoon. Which is funny, because the lines are longer now. But I think it’s because Elora moves faster, or something. I have no clue. It’s great doing everything with a ‘big kid’ and we’ve been getting a little emotional and nostalgic this trip about how Elora’s growing up so fast.

Our last ride for the day was Splash Mountain, my favorite MK ride next to Carousel of Progress (yes, I know the latter is cheesy as hell, but this ride is over 50 years old, and that’s just impressive… I love the old ones) We loved it and we got soaked.

At around 2 pm we were back in the hotel, where we only had a really brief time to rest and get changed for dinner, because we had an early dining reservation at the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue. We had to leave at 3 pm, and we made it with time to spare at the Fort Wilderness resort. Busses ran from the parking lot to the Pioneer Hall, where our dinner was served.

Daan and I lounged in proper rocking chairs on the porch, while Elora played in the playground. It was lovely. Then we stood in line (Disney loves lines) to get into the restaurant. I still say the line could have been avoided if they opened the doors half an hour early… but I guess they just love seeing people line up.

The show was great. Again, cheesy as hell, but the performers have such charisma, as did our server. The food is simple but very tasty and the atmosphere is great. The best part is that Elora loved it. She was laughing so loud, and cheering and singing… it was so awesome to see. One of the performers came and sat at our table, and she was totally charmed. We had a fantastic night.

Daan and Elora decided to dip into the pool after we got back from dinner. I saw the rainy clouds and predicted the pool wouldn’t be open. I have to admit, people are overtly cautious in this country, and we Dutch aren’t scared of swimming in the rain. I was right btw, and Elora just came in to get their books, so that they could read until the three drops of rain would pass. Meanwhile I decided to update my blog again.

We’re having an early night. Tomorrow we’re going to Typhoon lagoon. Not sure what our dinner plans are yet, this is the first time we don’t have dining reservations.

Because of our unpredictable flights, we decided to go back a day early. Part of me is very sad about this, but at the same time… the trip back is stressing me out a little, and I rather get an extra day, just in case we can’t get on the flight. We’ll see.

The vacation is almost over, but it’s been so fantastic so far. The only thing I have to look forward to is having my own bedroom again. Spending 24/7 with an 8 year old is fun… but also taxing. And I kind of miss the cats a little, so I’m looking forward to seeing them again… otherwise I would have gladly stayed a lot longer. This place is wonderful.

A little Irish (day 13)

Today was our last day in Universal Studios, and it was a hot one. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, and we planned what rides we still wanted to see.

When we drove up a little before nine, there was already a line to the parking lot. And when we finally made it to the parks, I felt my heart sink a little. Normally the early mornings are the best time to catch the rides… but the lines were already huge.

First was the escape from Gringots ride, because I just had to do that again. Elora decided she wanted to try it again too. The first line was already 45 minutes long (at least) and that was right at the opening time. It’s a good ride, though the Forbidden Journey is still the best.

It’s such a shame they got rid of some of the old rides like ‘Jaws’ and ‘Back to the future’. They really gave the park some variety. We totally forgot to go to the Terminator 4D experience thing, which is very cool, and I’m sad we missed it. The new rides are great, but a lot of them are very much alike. Most of them are simulators of some kind, and though the themes are great… after a while I get a little bored of them. The Transformers is really cool… but it’s almost identical to Spiderman, but with different characters.

Me… I like the dark rides the best. Especially those that tell a bit of a story.

We only did three rides before the heat and the crowds ‘chased’ us away. First the Harry Potter one, then Elora and I went on the Mummy. This one is pretty damn cool, though I was worrying it was a bit too intense for Elora. It’s a roller coaster, but with a lot of amazing special effects. I really enjoyed it, and Elora said she did too (though she was terrified when we were in the line). I think it gave her a few nightmares too.

The last ride was the Jurassic Park one, which soaked us down to our underwear. Elora loved it, though the big T-Rex still freaks her out a little.

At the end of the morning we were so tired. It was about 12:30 pm when we decided to back to the hotel. (Yup, it took us 3 ½ hours to ride 3 rides, that’s how long the lines were)

Elora and I were getting on each other’s nerves a bit by this time, and we knew it was a good idea if we all had a bit of a nap. I was up way too early in the morning, and she had been up way too late the night before.

It was a bit of a battle to get her to sleep, then it was a battle to get her up, but we managed. That night we had dining reservations at Raglan Road, a wonderful Irish restaurant in Downtown Disney. The night was filled with great Irish and some decent American music, and really awesome river dancers. There was a little girl from the audience who really blew everyone away with her dancing, when the performers invited her onto the stage.

The food was so gorgeous, I actually over ate, and felt a little sick afterwards. We had taken the boat to Downtown again, so I was hoping I would keep it all in. Thankfully I managed, and I had learned my lesson. The portions here are just so big, it’s easy to eat more than you should. And the bread and butter pudding was ridiculously tasty, so I had taken a few bites too many.

By the time we got home, it was bedtime for Elora, but because she slept in the afternoon (and we had been feeding her sugar all day) she was pretty hyper.

All of us have been getting a lot more sugar than we’re used to. I’m dreading getting on the scales when I get home. We’ve been sharing a lot of portions, but still… everything is just stuffed with calories. I’ll probably need to starve myself for a few months to compensate *gulp*

It’s worth it though!

just keep swimming (day 12)

It promised to be another hot and crowded day, so we decided again to skip the parks in the morning. Instead we headed to the pool around nine o’clock, when it wasn’t too crowded yet. Elora and Daan went on ahead and I followed soon after.

I sort of let go of all the plans (except our dinner reservation) today, and just went with the flow, which worked out like a dream. The weather was gorgeous, and we found some lovely seats in the shade by the pool.

After swimming I actually got to read a little bit, though right now Daan and I are sharing a kindle, so I didn’t read a lot. Instead I ended up watching videos on my phone, which was kind of nice.

The pool entertainment is very cute here. Daan and Elora were doing this Disney Quiz thing, and Elora kept running back to me to get the answers. I really am a Disney nerd, so it seems. In the end I just came to join them, since they really needed my help *grin*

We actually won the competition, and Elora got to pick out a stuffed toy snake. She got a red one. And no, we weren’t just competing against children. In fact, most of the people were adults who got suckered into doing the quiz by their kids (the same kids would then bugger off and go swimming, leaving the adults to look like total muppets at the side of the pool… because that’s what being a parent is all about)

For lunch we shared a jacket potato the size of a Buick between the three of us. The food portions here are so ridiculously big, we usually just share one portion between the three of us. We have 3 quick service credits a day, and I have a sneaky suspicion we’ll have a lot of them left by the end of the holiday.

I wish I could make this day sound more interesting, but all we did was swim, read and watch videos during the day. Elora did win another quiz, and now we are the proud owners of a purple and a red snake.

Dinner was going to be very late tonight (7:45 pm) so we decided to have a snack at around 3:30. We shared a chicken quesadilla, which was almost a full meal on its own. We have a theory about Elora secretly being either a hobbit, or a bottomless well, because that kid eats so much freaking food here, it’s scary.

After the ‘second lunch’ we went to the room, where I decided to pack the Christmas decorations in the suitcase. Erm… they might be taking up the entire suitcase… whoopsie. I hope everything will fit. We’ll see. Otherwise it’ll be time to get creative. I managed the last three trips too, I’m sure I’ll manage this time. *gulp*

We headed over to Hollywood Studios around 5:30 pm. First we visited Ariel, which is a show with great special effects, but the storyline seems to be suffering from multiple personality disorder. A quick visit in the Great Movie Ride was next. I quipped: “I hope we get a better driver this time, because the last one had the charisma of a potato…” when the exact SAME driver we had a few days ago boarded our freaking car. Lovely…

I was really happy to see that they hadn’t scratched the mafia element in the ride, but that you actually have two different experiences. For those of you who have never ridden this, there is a live action element to this ride, where your driver gets driven off by either some mobster or by a wild west gunslinger. I didn’t know the latter was a thing, and I was afraid they had changed it. But this is actually cooler, now you get different flavors! I like that.

After that our fastpass to the Rock and Roller Coaster was active, and Elora and I headed over. She has been talking about this ride since the last time, claiming it was her favorite, but when we stood in line she looked pale again, and her heart was pounding.

Some dumb bimbo actually swapped our seats (I don’t even know why) and we had to wait longer. I wanted to stomp on her foot, because that meant Elora got more nervous. In the end it was fine though, she freaking loved it again and even kept her eyes open this time. Her picture is even better this time (will add pictures when I get home)

Dinner was a bit disappointing due to our server. He kept messing up our orders, bringing Daan beer (Daan HATES beer) and I ended up with a very disappointing do-it-yourself-burger, which I didn’t get to do myself. It was dry and didn’t have any of the things on it I liked. We didn’t tip him a lot (only 10 dollars, which was little over 10%) because we were miffed. I have a sneaky suspicion not a lot of people tip in Disney World, because even he seemed really grateful that we at least left a tip. All servers always thank us elaborately for tipping. We tend to be a lot more generous than we were tonight, but this guy really truly sucked.

I do love sitting in that cheesy car and looking at the terrible commercials for old movies. It’s a blast.

After dinner it was time for home. Tomorrow will be another early day. We’re going to go back to Universal Studios.

eating with the fishes (day 11)

When the alarm went off this morning, we decided to ignore it. We’re tired. It’s been a very active vacation, and today we sort of crashed.

Elora decided she really wanted to watch Mulan, and we stayed in our pajamas until the afternoon. It was lovely and we needed it.

Around one o’clock Elora decided she wanted to go to the miniature golf course (which we call the Elora’s grumpy course) again, this time the Summerland. In all fairness, she’s getting better about being a sore loser, so it was actually a lot of fun. It was freaking hot though. We pasty Dutch people sometimes struggle with the heat.

Once home, Elora went swimming, and we decided to stay in the cool hotel room. Around 4 pm we all headed out to Epcot, where we had some fastpasses reserved. Our first ride was Mission Space, and this time Daan joined us. I was so nervous, because I wasn’t sure if he would come out feeling sick or not, but it ended up being okay, and he really enjoyed it.

We cheesed out in Ellen’s Energy Adventure. I love this ride, and was totally upset that they took out the Ellen animatronics figure, who was fighting a dino. I don’t like some of the changes.

After a quick ride in Spaceship Earth, we went to the Coral Reef restaurant. The food was gorgeous and I loved looking at the giant aquarium. If I ever get ridiculously rich, I want an aquarium like that, so that I can swim in it. *grin*

I wanted to go home, but we still had a fastpass for Test Track, and Elora gave me the puppy eyes. Because we didn’t want to wait for 20 minutes, we took a quick ride in the finding Nemo ride. I still have the ‘big blue world’ song in my head.

Test track had changed too, but I have to admit, it’s much better. Somewhere in the ride I lost my hair band… whoopsie. Lucky for me Elora managed to catch it. That thing went faster than I remembered. I loved designing our own car, though it was mostly Elora’s choice.

Yet another lovely day here in Disney. We really are having a wonderful time. I don’t miss home, but I do miss the cats. It’s funny, because now that I’ve decided to stay away from Facebook, I get daily messages telling me what I’ve been missing. Facebook is one pushy social media page *grin*

Blizzard beach (day 10)

Today was a different kind of active day. No theme parks for us, but Water parks and Miniature Golf.

Blizzard Beach is a lovely themed water park, where you feel like you’re swimming in the snow. We found nice seats in the shade, right off the swimming pool with waves (not big ones like in Typhoon lagoon) We swam around for a little and decided to explore the water park a bit more.

I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of slides. I always get hurt for some reason. The worst was when I knocked myself into a concussion. This makes me a little wary, and I prefer the slower rides, like the lazy river. That was actually really nice. We went on one of the slides, but we skipped all the really steep ones.

Like John Pinette once said: “This is not a slide… my ass doesn’t touch the slide… it’s a drop.” I don’t do those.

Elora played around on the water playground, and I actually managed to get a bit of reading done for the first time. When it got too hot, we decided to get a snack. We had fried ice-cream for the first time. It was lovely, though it didn’t taste that ‘fried’. We got it for free too, because the ladies machine wasn’t working to charge it. So we saved a snack point… woot.  (In truth I felt almost guilty, because I’m a dork)

Around one thirty we had enough of the water park, and decided to go for another round of Miniature Golf. This time at Winter / Summerland, which was smaller than the Fantasia Gardens, but still very cute. We decided to go for Snow, instead of Sand (but we really want to do Sand next time) and went for another lesson of ‘how to be good at losing’ with Elora. I have to admit, it’s a little exhausting. I don’t know where she picked that attitude up? Also, I thought our child had more of a sense of humor. Oh well… Daan and I laughed plenty. I think onlookers thought we were insane… and they would be right.

Once we got back home we decided to go swimming in our own pool too, lol. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. Instead of taking the car, we took the boat to Downtown Disney, where we ate at the big river boat of Fulltone’s crab house.

The crab was really good, but the restaurant was just too chaotic. We didn’t get served for a long time, and then suddenly our main course came before the bread. It wasn’t very relaxed either, and I was glad to get out of there.

Our mission was to get some magnets for my whiteboard at Magnetron… only it turned out that shop was no longer there. We did have a nice walk, and the performers in Downtown were awesome. I especially loved the saxophone player. He had style.

On the way back to the hotel we met some nice people on the boat, and we chatted for a bit. Then it really was time to go to bed for Elora.

Hollywood Studios (day 9)

The day started off hot and humid. We decided to skip breakfast, and just have some of our snacks instead. We headed off to Hollywood Studios and thought we were waaaaay too early. Only, it turned out that we weren’t the earliest ones, and we ended up in a long line. This didn’t bode well for the day, I thought, but to be honest, it wasn’t too bad. The fastpasses really are a life saver.

Again… no opening ceremony. I wonder if they got rid of the one in Magic Kingdom too. It makes me a little sad, because it was such an awesome way to start the day. A lot of things have modernized in the parks, which is great… but I kind of like the cheesy old stuff, and I don’t like that they get changed. It also bugged me that they took down the giant Sorcerer’s Apprentice hat. I know it was just a gift shop, but it looked so nice. Now it just doesn’t look as atmospheric anymore.

Elora decided that she wanted to try the tower of terror again, so we headed straight for that one. Our fastpass wasn’t until 9:20. There was quite a line, but that’s because the ride opened a bit late. So when it opened, it was our turn quite quickly. Elora was so nervous, her heart was pounding.

We got in the elevator, and I wrapped my arm around her. She did NOT like this ride. Her head was lodged in my armpit for most of it, and I felt so sorry for her. We decided to not try this one again for another few years. She came out pale and bug-eyed. The very evil person in me had to hold in her laugh, because it was a little funny. I did feel like a terrible mother, but in my defense, we only went in because SHE insisted.

Toystory Midway Mania was next. This is such a fun ride. It’s a bit like the men in black ride in Universal, but this one is just more fun. Elora loved it. She gets very competitive, and really almost kicked my ass. Not quite… but there was a point where we had the same points. Daan was the highest scorer.

The Great Movie ride is still one of my favorite rides. I love the cheesy goodness of it. The alien part is kind of scary, especially since the alien came out right above us. Well done!

We had nice seats at the Indiana Jones Stunt show, and Elora was utterly gutted that she couldn’t volunteer as one of the extras. She wanted to see everything up close. She did love the explosions though, it was so cute.

After Indiana Jones came the Frozen Sing A Long thingy. I have to admit, I was kind of dreading that one, but the performers had enough adult humor to actually make it really funny. And it was nice and cool inside (actually it was bordering on downright cold) Elora sang along loud and proud, as did all the other kids. It was so freaking adorable!

It was after one, and we decided to go home for a bit, because it was hot and really crowded. On the way back we got side tracked by a vicious little old lady with too much make up. She wanted to ask ‘us’ some questions… and with ‘us’ I mean Daan and Elora, because apparently I should have known my place and shut up. She actually completely ignored me, the little dinosaur didn’t look at me once, nor did she speak to me. The questions were all directed at Daan… who didn’t organize the trip, so he had to ask me all the time. The worst part is that she didn’t know how to work the tablet she needed to fill the questions on, so it actually took her 20 minutes to get us through this. I was actually to shocked to be snarky, but Daan kept deliberately asking me stuff, even for the things he DID know. At least she acknowledged Elora, or I would have gotten peeved.

Back home (yeah, it kinda feels like home) Elora and Daan went for a short swim. We didn’t have a lot of time, because we had dinner reservations, so we headed back to Hollywood Studios. We ate at Mama Melrose, where we had a Fantasmic package.

I really like this restaurant, it’s just really cozy. The food portions are RIDICULOUS. We didn’t know what hit us. Because we were on the Fantasmic package we got a starter, main AND dessert. The starters alone were more food than the three of us would eat for an entire meal. Daan’s flatbread was what we would consider a medium size thin crust pizza. I got a mountain of calamaris, and the only dish that was normal sized was Elora’s ministone soup. (I loved her soup, it was so fresh, that’s why Elora didn’t like it, and mostly just at my Calamaris)

We ate about two slices of Daan’s pizza… ehm… flatbread, and half my calamaris, then we decided to have the rest wrapped up, because we still had a main course. Daan had Chicken Parmagiana, I had pasta Seafood Arribiata and Elora had spaghetti and meatballs. Elora’s meatball also disappeared into our doggy bag, she was so full after the calamaris.

Completely stuffed, we left the restaurant, and Elora and I decided a roller coaster would be a good idea to digest our food *grin*. She wanted to go in the Rock and Roller coaster, from Aerosmith. I was really curious about this one, because I hadn’t ever ridden that before. Half way through the line, she was scared again. I was wondering if we should leave this time, but I know my kid… she would always wonder what it would be like. I though this one couldn’t be that different from the Mount Everest (which she absolutely loved) so I decided to stay in line.

Elora pointed out that the straps were different on this one, so it probably would go upside down. I had a sneaky suspicion it would too, and again I wondered if we should step out of line. Her heart was pounding again. We decided she would just give it a go.

It DID go upside down… and the damn thing was a lot faster than the Mount Everest… but Elora LOVED it. They took a picture all the way in the beginning, where she still looked terrified… but she came out with a big smile (and she wants to go again this trip)

When we came out we were just in time for Fantasmic. The dinner plan seats are SO MUCH BETTER this year. We were right in the center, and it was AWESOME!! I love this show, it’s one of the best ones.

We missed the last five minutes, because we decided to run ahead of the exodus. I felt like I was running (well… speed walking) away from the zombie horde. *lol*

When we got home we were completely tired, and Elora went right to bed. I think this was one of my favourite days of the trip so far.

 

Mini golf, sore losers, and silly dances. (day 8)

Our plan was to sleep in today, and we didn’t wake until after 9 AM, which is pretty decent for us. Even after we woke, we took our sweet time to get up and get going. We deserved a lazy day, the first week has been rather intense.

Breakfast was a few granola bars and some vegetable crisps… because we’re responsible parents that only feed our child healthy things #sarcasm

Today’s journey took us off property, and we went to the Barnes and Nobles to look for books for Daan. Unfortunately they didn’t have the ones he wanted, so we ended up buying a lot of books for Elora. No… none for me. My TBR pile is so daunting at the moment, I actually feel guilty about getting more books.

Elora is still being a Scrooge McDuck with her money, so she didn’t buy anything herself. Not even when we took her to the enormous Toys R Us. I kinda caved (not because she asked, btw) and bought her some Lalaloopsies as airplane presents for the way back. It’s a tradition that I like. I got her some for the way here too. And I’m a sucker.

Lunch was at a rather shabby Wendy’s and we weren’t impressed with the quality of the food there. Such a shame. I think that was our last visit at Wendy’s for the next few years (until we come back). Again, not too healthy.

Oh well.

The best part was going to Fantasia Gardens to play miniature golf. We Noodles are TERRIBLE at miniature golf, which caused for much hilarity. Daan was very impressed with both my ‘GAH I CAN’T HIT THE FREAKING BALL’ poses and my ‘HOLE IN ONE’ victory dance. We laughed so hard, I almost cried. Well… Daan and I did. Apparently our offspring doesn’t have a self-mocking cell in her body, and not much of a sense of humor either. I honestly don’t understand why, Daan and I always have great fun when we suck. So Elora got grumpy around the last holes. To make up for this, we decided to laugh at her instead. Because we’re great parents *coughs*.

The best hole was Mickey’s par from hell. We landed our ball in the water at least three times, and Daan got so proficient in fishing them out, it was almost a whole new sport. Daan and Elora went swimming for 45 minutes. I can’t join them for another couple of days, so I decided to go inside and update my blog for today. In a bit I’m going to go out for a walk around the property. Animal Kingdom is still my favorite, but this one has stolen my heart too.

Dinner was a hoot. We ate at the 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian hotel. It’s one of my favorite character dinner experiences. The food is pretty good (not as nice as the Garden Grill, neither is the atmosphere) but the wicked step sisters steal the show. They’re always fantastic.

We were joking around with Drizella, and our child forbade us to speak to the other characters, because we were embarrassing her. Of course we just laughed at her. The poor thing really has a hard life with two immature parents.

Stuffed from all the food and desserts we ate, we decided that we needed to do a bit of shopping to have some supplies in the room. I need to stay hydrated and the carbonated crap we get here, gets to me after a while. Plus I need salty snacks. My low blood pressure is really playing tricks on me in this warm weather.

Daan decided he didn’t need no stinking navigation… so we ended up driving past Tokyo to get to the Publix. It’s a good thing that we know how to laugh at our fuck ups, this means we laugh a lot.

Right now it’s 8:30 pm, and I promised to read Elora from the Black Beauty book she picked, so I better get cracking. Tomorrow it’s going to be a theme park day again, and we’re heading for Hollywood Studios.

Little girl lost (day 7)

We woke up to rain this morning, which seems to be a Noodles tradition when we go to Animal Kingdom. Daan packed the ponchos and I was looking forward to walking around like a human garbage bag all day… *here endeth the sarcasm*

Due to some unfortunate timing, I was feeling a bit out of sorts today, but that didn’t take away from the fun that we had.

The rain let up quite quick, and we were at Animal Kingdom a little earlier than planned. We sort of skipped breakfast, and had crackers instead.

The lines were growing behind us, and I was disappointed to see they stopped the opening ceremony for the Animal Kingdom too. Am wondering if there still an opening ceremony for Magic Kingdom. I’m dreading the worst. It’s such a shame, because it was an awesome way to start your day. But… oh well.

We were the first in line to ‘It’s tough to be a bug’. Elora was actually more scared of the spiders and the grasshoppers than she was when she was younger. It’s funny how her fear changes. She’s okay with roller coasters now, but it’s the actual scary things that get to her now. It sounds logical, but for us it’s new. Elora used to like the scary things, and that suddenly changed. That means we have to react differently as parents.

Our fastpass for the Mount Everest wasn’t active yet, so we decided to have some healthy *ahem* breakfast of a muffin, a Danish and part of a brownie. It was yummy, but tbh… all the sweets didn’t sit too well with me. So when we rode the Mount Everest, I came out a little on the green side. Elora absolutely loved it. She was a little apprehensive going in, but the whole time she had a huge smile on her face. It was kind of cool riding such a big roller coaster with her.

Animal Kingdom doesn’t have a lot of rides, so after getting turned into a human martini (shaken not stirred) in Dinosaur, and being amazed by the Nemo Muscial, we ended our day at the Kilimanjaro safari. It’s an awesome ride, and I really hope that in a few years we’ll get to do the ‘real thing’.

Despite not having been on a lot of rides, we actually left the park around 1:30 pm. I was really not feeling well, so I went to lay down for a bit, and I may have actually fallen asleep. Daan and Elora went to the pool during this time, and had a blast.

When I woke up we watched a little bit of TV and then we went off to dinner at Boma’s. We love going to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it’s our favorite hotel. I was a little freaked that somehow they didn’t have my reservation. Lucky for us they still had a spot. Dinner was lovely, one of our favorite buffet style dinners. They even had my absolute favorites ‘butternut squash soup’ and ‘watermelon rind salad’. I need to find the recipes for those.

Anyway, I’m being boring. We left dinner to go to Downtown Disney. I have to admit I struggle to get used to the crowds everywhere. Elora decided to take on the role of ‘little girl lost’ and nearly gave me a heart attack. Luckily, with the help of some very kind cast members, we found her again. I think I have aged 5 years tonight, though.

My mission was to get more Christmas decorations, Nightmare Before Christmas stuff (like a hoodie or stuff for my office) and a purse. I don’t actually own a purse and I want one. The problem is, none of the purses here are what I want. I kind of want a NBC one, or something with Maleficent or Tink. Because I’m five. They don’t even have that here. And all the purses here so far either sucked, were kinda cool, but clashed with anything I wear or were ridiculously expensive. Call me nuts, but I think $150,- for a purse that barely fits my phone is ridiculous. Think of the board games I could buy for that *grin*

The lego store was a true torment, and though I drooled, I didn’t buy. It’s not that much cheaper here than it is at home. I did succeed in finding some awesome Christmas decorations again, so I was pretty stoked about that.

Around 9:30 we were back at the room. Elora was so exhausted, she started to trip over her own feet. Tomorrow we’re not going to a theme park, but having a ‘rest day’. Which means we sleep in, and then get active anyway ;)  

EPCOT = every person comes out tired (day 6)

This morning we were Tired (with a capital T) These are long and active days we’re pulling, and though fun… we need to watch out that we don’t over exert ourselves (especially the kid)

We not so much got up, as oozed out of bed. We took enough time, so there wasn’t a rush like yesterday. After a nice breakfast of ‘create your own breakfast bowl’ (which is basically a big bowl of scrambled eggs with chosen ingredients, such as diced bacon, chopped tomatoes and onions, etc, on top.) we headed out to Epcot.

Arriving a little earlier than planned, we ended up in the middle of the long line of people who were in time for the opening ceremony. We had forgotten our suntan lotion, so I got some from the little cart that sells… everything.

Elora was fascinated by the people in front of us who had a lot of very cool Disney tattoos. She was especially impressed with the Figment on the lady’s leg. We got to talking to them, and they were lovely. I got a compliment about my Nightmare Before Christmas / Beatles crossover t-shirt. I’ve been getting a lot of compliments for my ‘nerd shirts’ here. I’m definitely amongst ‘my people’. *grin*

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that they changed it. No more characters, just a voice over the intercom and some confetti. Big whoop.

Normally we would join the masses and run to Soaring, but we had fastpasses, so we gave the ‘running with the bulls’ a miss. Definitely more relaxed. Our first ride was our favorite, Spaceship Earth. It’s the huge silver ball that is the symbol of Epcot. It’s old and cheesy and absolutely wonderful.

Figment was next, and I actually scored a shirt with Figment on it. Yay me! Elora and I went on the mission space and got some dried astronaut ice cream and strawberries. Up next was Daan’s favorite ride, Soaring. It really is very cool. A quick lunch was needed, because we truly are turning into hobbits here. We shared chicken and Mongolian beef, which were both pretty nice. Last, but not least, we found Nemo *snort*

Then it was time to go, because the Noodles were a bit cooked. Elora was so tired, she was actually getting annoying. She was really upset that we told her that she needed to rest. The way she was complaining, you would think we told her to do Hercules’ chores, instead of rest.

After moaning that she couldn’t sleep, she fell asleep for 4 hours… so I guess she was more tired than she thought.

We dragged her out of bed in time for Chip and Dale at the Garden Grill. Still one of our favorite restaurants. It was lovely, though the dessert wasn’t as good as it used to be. The characters were amazing. They really played around with Elora, and she loved it. She felt so special. I had underestimated how much she still enjoys the character experiences. The way she acted before we went, I thought she was getting too big for them, but while we’re here, the little girl in her comes out again. I love seeing that, she’s so adorable.

There was a heart-breaking moment after the meal. We got a birthday card (it was probably for me, since my birthday is coming up, and we sort of mentioned that we were half celebrating that) and Elora said: “Can I have it? I only had 2 birthday cards this year.” I didn’t realize that was so important to her, so next year I’m going to ask a big bunch of people to send her cards. Of course I let her have this one.

After dinner we wanted to go see some of the less popular rides, but they were all closed, so we decided to go home instead. We were still tired, and it was already after 7 pm.

I promised Elora she could get some ‘swag’ for her wristband (I can’t gush enough about those things) and we ended up in the hotel shop. I got some more Christmas decorations (geek squee) and some funky pens for my office. I’m really struggling with this ‘no buying stuff for Elora’. She has her own money to spend, which means I can’t spoil her rotten, and she needs to really decide what she wants and doesn’t want. Her plan is to safe up as much money as she can, and buy a horse ranch when she comes home, for her toy horses. I hope she makes it.

The night ended quiet. Elora got to watch a bit of TV. I think we’ll have some calmer evenings in the next two nights, because we need to recharge. Tomorrow we have Animal Kingdom on our schedule, which should be wonderful.

So far this holiday is a lot of laughs.

Magic Kingdom (day 5)

I woke up several times dreaming of being in the North Pole. The airconditioning was a bit frosty. Normally I would get out of bed and turn it down, but apparently I wasn’t altogether lucid last night, so I tried to cover myself with the tiny little decorative bedspread, and after that I grabbed a cardigan.

Don’t ask… I really have no answer for this.

Anyway, the alarm clock hit me hard this morning, and my ‘not quite lucid’ state might have lingered just a tad… yikes.

The Noodles were all excited about going to the Magic Kingdom. It’s our favorite park, and usually the start of our Disney experience. Elora, like me, was being a bit sluggish this morning, so when we finally went to Sassagoula Floatworks for breakfast, we were running late.

We’re on the dining plan, so that means we spend points for meals, it’s quite brilliant! We got one big breakfast platter between the three of us and a portion of three beignets. The portions here are so big, we couldn’t even finish one platter with the three of us. The beignets were okay, not as spectacular as we hoped. I expected them to be like oliebollen (Dutch seasonal pastry), but they weren’t as good.

The drive to the Magic Kingdom brought back some good memories. We always think back of our first holiday here, when Elora was only 2 ½.

The Disney cast member who welcomed us to the parking lot tram is my new hero, he was hilarious. The whole tram was in stitches when he started to sing ‘let it go, let it go,’ when he was describing what you should do if you accidentally dropped something out of the tram. The man had showbiz talent.

I have to admit, I was a little gutted that we missed the opening ceremony to the park. It’s a first day tradition, and it felt sad that we didn’t do it. We’ll get it next time, so I won’t dwell on it. I’m already happy I can take pictures again.

Normally I have a geeky and precise plan for the parks, but I’ve been so busy and distracted lately, I never made one. I honestly felt a little lost for a second. The fastpass plus things kinda threw me off too, though I have to say it’s great.

Who ever invented the magic wristbands is a genius, btw. They are SPECTACULAR. I love ease and comfort. I love not having to dig through my bag for cards to get in the parks. And these do everything! I can even pay in the shops with them. No hassle, it’s bloody brilliant.

We had fastpass tickets to the new Dwarf mine train attraction, from Snowwhite, but not until 10:30, so we had some time for other attractions. Winnie the Pooh had a reasonable wait-time, so we decided to go for that. I love the interactive play area in the line, it really makes the wait a lot less long. Peter Pan had a longer line, 45 minutes, and for a moment we hesitated, but Elora talked us into it. Turns out they changed the line for Peter Pan too… it was AMAZING! You go through the Darling house, where there is so much to see and do. My favorite part was the interactive shadow area, where we could hold up our hands to watch butterflies land on them, or ring shadow bells. Peter Pan’s shadow also flew around. And of course there was an appearance of Tinkerbell, who got stuck in a key hole. It was so great, the 45 minutes flew by.

We still had some time to kill, so we took a trip through Small World. I am ashamed how much we struggled naming certain cultures. I think Daan credited the Turkish nationality to about three different doll areas. *snort*

The line to the mine attraction was ridiculous, so I was very grateful we had a fastpass. It was a cute ride, but not one I’ll repeat this holiday. It wasn’t spectacular.

We decided to go to the Little Mermaid ride after that, and there was almost no line. I wasn’t sure why, because the park was pretty crowded already. Hey, we weren’t complaining. We had more time to kill before our next fastpass, so we ended up going to Elora’s former favorite ride: the Haunted Mansion.

It’s not her favorite anymore… in fact, I don’t think she enjoyed it a lot. Too scary, she decided. Remember, this is the same girl who wanted to ride Harry Potter twice, and wasn’t frightened of giant spiders or dementors… so… yeah… the Disney Haunted Mansion was ‘too scary’. Sure.

Our fastpass for Belle’s enchanted story time was a bust. Something broke, and after waiting for 40 minutes, we were told it would take another hour at least. Yeah… no thanks. We got a ticket for it, and we might go tonight. Plus we got a new fastpass for a random other attraction. Yay Disney, you rock.

We decided to have lunch in the park, and shared a pork shank, some mixed vegetables and crackers and hummus between the three of us. It was lovely. We found a nice place in the shade and enjoyed our meal. We had just missed Gaston, but I hope Elora will have her picture taken with him this holiday. He’s so funny.

After lunch, we went home. The park was getting ridiculously crowded, and the weather was too hot for us. We’re not used to being in the sun for hours at the time.

Daan went to the mall, while Elora and I took a 20 minute break from the sun and watched the Derby. Then the girls were off to the pool, where we cooled off for an hour and a half. Daan joined us when he came back, and then we went back to the room to get dressed for our dinner in the Beast’s castle.

We had to wait quite a while, and Disney doesn’t seem to like it when tired people sit, so we hung out on the bridge for a little while.

The inside of the Be Our Guest restaurant was truly breath taking. It really was as if we walked into a fairytale. From the enchanted rose, to the torn up painting… we were in the beauty and the beast story. My favorite part was the snow outside the windows of our part of the restaurant. It really looked like it was snowing outside.

The food was decent. We tried the grey stuff, and it truly was delicious. Our waiter was wonderful and a little clumsy… I adored him right away. These are my people… the klutzes and the misfits.

After dinner we wanted to explore the park again. We still had a free fastpass because of the Belle’s storytime thing, and we actually still had a ticket for Belle too, plus one more to meet Anna and Elsa.

The first stop was Belle’s storytime. It’s an interactive show, where the kids get to play the different parts. Personally, I’m not to fussed about this one, but I booked it because I know Elora loves this kind of stuff. She was very skeptical about it when I told her what we were going to do, and she basically told me she wouldn’t mind missing it. This always makes me doubt if I’m doing the right thing or not, but we decided to try this one anyway. Thank God that I stuck to my guns, because I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be the highlight of Elora’s holiday.
 

Elora loves to get picked for things, and so far she’s been really unlucky. Other kids get picked, and in Ollivanders –in Harry Potter land—the stupid shopkeeper even choose an adult over all the stary-eyed children’s faces.

Anyway, I was a little worried she would get a crappy part again (last time she was a painting) or not get any part. Luckily it turned out that everyone got a part (though some people were plates who did nothing in the performance)

When the lady was handing out the roles, she started with the beast. Elora roared her little heart out, but another girl got the part. But the next part was Philippe… A HORSE…

Ohhhh I was holding my breath and crossing my fingers. Please, please, please let her be the horse. My child neighed her little heart out for the audition… and…. GOT THE PART!! Oh, you should have seen her face. She was beaming so much, she lit up the room. She did such a great job that the whole room laughed when she played her part and she even skipped in a horsey trod when they got to do a circle around the audience. The whole night she was elated about having played the horse. It was freaking magical.

After Belle, Elora wanted to go and check out Dumbo in the new circus area. The new area looked nice, but I’m just not a fan of the ride. We went in, which was nostalgic, because it was our first ride with her, but Dumbo just doesn’t float my boat…

Daan made me laugh, because he was messing around in the elephant behind us, being a big goofball. He’s been cracking me up all vacation with his jokes and mad photobombing skills. I wonder how many people will notice they have a tall Dutch dude pulling faces on their picture.

After Dumbo I wanted to go to the Electrical light parade on mainstreet. So many freaking people were gathered there, and not all of them were that considerate. We sent Elora to the front (she’s a kid, people can look over her) with the instruction not to block anyone’s view, and we stayed in the back. Some people are real shitheads. I’ve seen grown men block the view of little kids. Gah!

We only caught a part of the parade, because our fastpass window was coming up and we wanted to be out of the park before the mass exodus to the monorail. It was lovely though, and Elora was completely enchanted.

The line to Elsa and Anna was long, but we only had to wait five minutes. I’m still so impressed with how nice and professional all the characters are. This is probably the last year that Elora wants to get everyone’s autograph, so we’re still going along in the madness of getting her on the picture with them. She was wearing a blue dress, and both Elsa and Anna commented on how lovely they thought her dress was. Elora –who is so vain, she makes Narcissus look laconic—was over the moon, and made sure I heard that she got compliments.

We wanted to go home, but the free fastpass was burning a hole in our pocket, so we decided to do a quick stop at Pirates of the Caribbean. Turns out our free fastpass wasn’t exactly working *whoopsie* but the guy was nice enough to let us through anyway.

After the ride we speed walked all the way across the park, hoping that we wouldn’t get stuck in the mass of people. It was tight, and we were pretty nervous. In past years we’ve had times where we would have to wait almost two hours to get the monorail to the parking lot, and we were too tired for that crap.

We made it to the first monorail, though some people decided that ‘if I run, I don’t have to stand in line’…. Ehm okay. We all got there in the end.

 

Elora was so tired, she almost fell asleep in the monorail. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. By 11pm we were all back in the hotel and in our beds, but it had been a long… looooong day.