Monday, May 07, 2007

And To Think I Want to Be a Travel Writer...

Well, Chris kept posting updates on our days at Disney, and it's hard for me to get motivated to post about the same stuff... so I didn't. However, I thought I would offer up a summary of major points in the trip now that it's all over... starting on Monday... the day after my last and only post from the trip.

Monday - Sea World
Athena did not care at all that she was at Sea World. The dolphins and whales intrigued her, but not enough to justify the money we spent. For example... lunch was three hot dogs, chicken strips, and four beverages (we were picking up the sitter's lunch) and it set us back $35. We can get a meal for four at the hockey game for less than that. Better food too. We'll go back, but not until Marcus is at least five... more likely seven or so.

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom
By far, the best day of the trip. We used a touring plan (tells you when to do what in what order to avoid lines) and it worked beautifully. We had to improvise a bit... for instance, Athena wanted to ride the Carousel before Dumbo, but on the plan, Dumbo was first and the carousel was fourth. We missed waking up Tinker Bell by about 30 seconds, which was a bummer, but Athena keeps talking about doing it next time. She was delightful most of the day, and overcame some shyness to really enjoy lunch with the Princesses at the castle. We went to the Polynesian late afternoon for "naps" and pool time, and the day went down hill from there. Lesson learned: Plan to leave the park by noon in order to get your nap and pool time in and make it back for fireworks.

Wednesday - MGM
Athena woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Despite the fact that she looooooooooooves the huge Sorcerer's Hat, she hated this park. We could not do anything right there. She even grumped during Playhouse Disney Live... which I thought was fabulous. During the stunt show, she was terrified by the stuntwoman on fire (who knew?!) and we finally threw up our hands in surrender and left the park. She was an angel that night for our sitter, while the parents enjoyed front row seats at Cirque followed by an unimpressive meal at Ragland Road. Well, mostly unimpressive... the Dalkey Duo (deep fried sausages) were to die for. We shall indulge in those again, my friend... oh yes.

Thursday - EPCOT
Or "Ep-i-cot" if you are Athena and think it's funny to mispronounce things. The EPCOT Flower and Garden festival is in full swing at EPCOT now, so we enjoyed some of the special exhibits before Athena had the most amazing meltdown in front of The Land Pavilion while the bulk of our party enjoyed Soarin'. I believe most parents in the park (even the ones as far away as the American Pavilion in World Showcase) now believe that I am the worst parent ever and my child is the spawn of Satan. Fortunately, she only tantrumed for a half hour until Daddy appeared and made it all better. Athena won't be going back to that park any time soon. I've decided Marcus and I will go on our first day there in June, as we should arrive several hours before Chris and Athena do. They are about to revamp the attraction in Spaceship Earth, and I want to see it one more time before they do. I also didn't get to ride the new Nemo clamshells. Both attractions have no height requirement, so Marcus can ride. He'll be my date.

That night, parents went to Victoria and Alberts. I will devote another entry to this experience at a later date.

Friday - Magic Kingdom again
We did a lot of standing around. No touring plan per se and we literally spent more time standing around trying to decide how to proceed than we did riding rides. We learned a lot on this day as well. That night, we learned Marcus was in the hospital, so we scrapped any thought of hitting a park before leaving the next day and we left early the next morning.

Marcus is fine now. He was rehydrated and re-electrolyted and although he is still clearly not 100% better, he's good.

So there's the summary. Sorry it was late in coming. I'll try to download pics... but we don't have many. Our camera pulled an Amy, and broke mid-trip.

P.S. Staci... got your email. Sorry to hear about the job thing... but looking forward to hearing what's on the horizon. Can't seem to email you back. Yahoo hates me. It's a conspiracy.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Better off without the camera anyway. Then you're just stuck trying to organize a bunch of photos and it's really annoying.

Staci said...

Just when I tell you I suck and didnt get the job, they call me today and say there is another position open, (exact same as the first position), and I am very much still in the running. I should know by next week....keep your fingers crossed!

eaf said...

YAY! Can't wait to hear!