magichusky
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2010
Welcome! My quixotic family unit, spanning 3 generations and including 2 little girls, 2 teachers, 1 scientist, 1 big grump, and 1 crazy retired Marine on an ECV, embarked on a 2-day DL extravaganza with 1 night at GCR. This was our first time staying at a DL hotel, the little girls' first time riding the big rides, and expectations were high! BUT really nothing went as planned. And actually many things went completely wrong. To the point that I, a long-time DISer and self-perceived expert DL and WDW strategist, got the Disney beaten right out of me.
There was an ECV accident, endless technical glitches, burned FP's, a nightmare CM, disappearances, poor communication skills, scorching hot weather, and my "clipboard of fun" basically blew up.
The title of this TR appropriately comes from the following conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat:
Keep this in mind.
This TR is, at its core, an ode to parents and the disabled. Usually I tour the parks with one or two friends or my mother, and we always get everything checked off of our lists and more. I have always observed parents pushing strollers through WDW, their eyes glazed over and laden with heavy backpacks, snacks, diaper bags, and supplies, and I thought that they looked kind of miserable. But until this trip, I really had no idea how hard it was to take small children to DL or for the disabled to navigate through the parks.
WARNING: The following TR is full of twists, turns, and some material may be too flabbergasting for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
If you're in the mood for a wild ride, a reality check, and maybe some lessons learned, then you're in the right place!
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
This is my family in Cars Land (they're all smiling but I forced them to take this picture):
From left to right: Helen (my sis-in-law), Mom, Dash (my niece, 4.5 yrs), Dad, Bob (my brother), Violet (my eldest niece, 7.5 yrs), and me (Lauren).
My parents and I live in San Diego. We LOVE Disney. My brother's family lives out of state and as a result we usually only see them twice a year, which is very sad. “Bob” and “Helen” have two little girls: “Violet” (7.5) and “Dash” (4.5). Usually my parents and I fly out to see them. The last time they flew out to see us was 4 years ago when Violet was 3.5 and Dash was 8 months. We did a half day at DL and it was so magical. When Helen told Mom that they were planning on flying out to CA this summer, she mentioned that they wanted to do 2 Disney days this time. Mom and I looked into the military promotion at the Disney hotels and realized that with the discount, staying one night on Disney property was actually affordable for us. We initially wanted the DLH since the monorail pool area looked fun for the girls. Only the GCR was available (aww shucks), so we were delighted to book 2 rooms for the night of Wednesday, 7/27/2016. We had never stayed overnight at DL before, so we were beyond thrilled, especially for GCR. As my grandfather used to say: "Always go first class!"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRE-TRIP REPORT
PTR 1.1: The Clipboard of Fun
PTR 1.2: Loopy for Legoland - Part 1
PTR 1.2: Loopy for Legoland - Part 2
PTR 1.2: Loopy for Legoland - Part 3
PTR 1.3: Ready for Disney!
DAY 1
DAY 1.1: Bibbidi…Bobbbidi…OMG!!
DAY 1.2: Disney Ninja Warrior
DAY 1.3: Shadow Man
DAY 1.4: Splashed & Afraid
DAY 1.5: Damage Control
DAY 1.6: Like Herding Cats
DAY 2
DAY 2.1: How Rude!
DAY 2.2: See You At Breakfast
DAY 2.3: Frozen Out Of Frozen (coming right up!)
RANDOM UPDATES
A Quick Update (9/11/16)
A Quick Update: A Very Shutterfly Thanksgiving (11/29/16)
There was an ECV accident, endless technical glitches, burned FP's, a nightmare CM, disappearances, poor communication skills, scorching hot weather, and my "clipboard of fun" basically blew up.
The title of this TR appropriately comes from the following conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat:
“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
Keep this in mind.
This TR is, at its core, an ode to parents and the disabled. Usually I tour the parks with one or two friends or my mother, and we always get everything checked off of our lists and more. I have always observed parents pushing strollers through WDW, their eyes glazed over and laden with heavy backpacks, snacks, diaper bags, and supplies, and I thought that they looked kind of miserable. But until this trip, I really had no idea how hard it was to take small children to DL or for the disabled to navigate through the parks.
WARNING: The following TR is full of twists, turns, and some material may be too flabbergasting for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
If you're in the mood for a wild ride, a reality check, and maybe some lessons learned, then you're in the right place!
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
This is my family in Cars Land (they're all smiling but I forced them to take this picture):
From left to right: Helen (my sis-in-law), Mom, Dash (my niece, 4.5 yrs), Dad, Bob (my brother), Violet (my eldest niece, 7.5 yrs), and me (Lauren).
My parents and I live in San Diego. We LOVE Disney. My brother's family lives out of state and as a result we usually only see them twice a year, which is very sad. “Bob” and “Helen” have two little girls: “Violet” (7.5) and “Dash” (4.5). Usually my parents and I fly out to see them. The last time they flew out to see us was 4 years ago when Violet was 3.5 and Dash was 8 months. We did a half day at DL and it was so magical. When Helen told Mom that they were planning on flying out to CA this summer, she mentioned that they wanted to do 2 Disney days this time. Mom and I looked into the military promotion at the Disney hotels and realized that with the discount, staying one night on Disney property was actually affordable for us. We initially wanted the DLH since the monorail pool area looked fun for the girls. Only the GCR was available (aww shucks), so we were delighted to book 2 rooms for the night of Wednesday, 7/27/2016. We had never stayed overnight at DL before, so we were beyond thrilled, especially for GCR. As my grandfather used to say: "Always go first class!"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRE-TRIP REPORT
PTR 1.1: The Clipboard of Fun
PTR 1.2: Loopy for Legoland - Part 1
PTR 1.2: Loopy for Legoland - Part 2
PTR 1.2: Loopy for Legoland - Part 3
PTR 1.3: Ready for Disney!
DAY 1
DAY 1.1: Bibbidi…Bobbbidi…OMG!!
DAY 1.2: Disney Ninja Warrior
DAY 1.3: Shadow Man
DAY 1.4: Splashed & Afraid
DAY 1.5: Damage Control
DAY 1.6: Like Herding Cats
DAY 2
DAY 2.1: How Rude!
DAY 2.2: See You At Breakfast
DAY 2.3: Frozen Out Of Frozen (coming right up!)
RANDOM UPDATES
A Quick Update (9/11/16)
A Quick Update: A Very Shutterfly Thanksgiving (11/29/16)
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