Think Twice.

Day One: The Magic Kingdom Part 2

In my last entry I had ended it by telling you about how all our stuff was stolen. Easily over $700 worth of stuff when you take into account our stroller, diaper bag, cooler, backpack and not to mention everything in the bags-- cloth diaper friendly diaper cream, extra clothes, natural sunscreen, sun hat, baby mittens, diapers, changing pad--you name it, we had it. We had to make an emergency trip to a Super Target about 5 miles away from Disney World. When I'm on vacation at Disney World one of the best parts is just that escape from reality so it really, really sucked having to leave that and go shopping. I know I use the word suck a lot but really--everything about this sucked.

 

We bought the basics--a cheap stroller, sun hat, warm baby clothes, sunscreen, diaper cream, etc. It was still almost $300. Ugh. We were extremely rushed too because we had to get back for our dinner reservation. Mike and I just kept saying over and over, "It's just stuff." to help us feel better. I just didn't want the rest of our week to be ruined so we tried our best to brush it off--we had a dinner to get to! That wouldn't stop us from looking twice at every turquoise stroller we saw though.

 

Mmm....broccoli!

That night we ate at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. It's a buffet meal with Lady Tremaine, Cinderella and Prince Charming and the step-sisters. The Grand Floridian is gorgeous, albeit a little too hoity toity for my taste. I felt underdressed in my t-shirt and jeans! The buffet was FABULOUS. So many yummy things to choose from--salads, carving station, desert bar and their strawberry soup is to die for. 

Birthday Cupcake!

 

After dinner I got Hazel changed into some warmer clothes since we were going to be headed back to Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours--a perk of staying on site. Each day one of the parks either opens early or stays open late and only Disney Resort guests can take advantage. It's awesome! We headed upstairs to catch the Monorail back into the park. It was almost time for Wishes!

 

We walked up Main Street and were heading over toward Crystal Palace when I saw it--all our stuff! Our stroller and everything else was parked on the edge of a random bridge. I shouted at Mike and pointed to what I saw and he ran ahead. I couldn't believe we had actually found it--and that nothing appeared to be missing!  The backpack looked untouched but every single zipper was open in the diaper bag--they were obviously looking for cash and such. I guess when they couldn't find it they dumped everything? The only things we figured out were missing was the El Wire we had bought to light up the stroller at night and our D-Ring. Guess they had to make it a point to keep something. Assholes. 

 

What we can't figure out though is how long our stuff had just been sitting there. There's no way Disney would have just let it sit in the middle of a busy walk way for six hours. I mean, they were getting onto us while we just stood there in awe that we found everything. Were they really ballsy enough to walk around with someone else's very unique stroller for half the day? Or did Mike scare the people away when he ran up to it? I guess we'll never know. At least we could go on celebrating and enjoying the rest of our week!!!

 

WISHES

 

 

One of the reasons I was so glad to have our backpack back--we got the ear protection for Hazel back! She slept right through the fireworks!

 

 

 

 



After the Electrical Parade we headed back to the New Fantasyland for a new attraction--Enchanted Tales with Belle. The rest of the day the wait had been over an hour long but this time the wait was only about 15 minutes during Extra Magic Hours--score! So this attraction is really neat. You meet Belle and get to hear all about the day she and the Beast fell in love. They choose people from the audience to play special roles--her father, Phillipe, The Wardrobe, etc.  Mike and both my nieces were chosen to participate.

 

Madeline and Annabelle had these sparkly Sketchers that lit up when they walked. Belle told Madeline that she liked her shoes so Madeline had to show her how they lit up. Then Belle showed Madeline her shoes. :)

 

 

Annabelle, Shannon and I on Space Mountain

 

 

One of the pitfalls of this trip was how darn cold it was. It was so cold for Central Florida and it really put a damper on things. All the babies' faces were chapped from the cold and wind. We decided we needed warm drinks and to escape the cold for a bit so we went in to Gaston's Tavern. Poor Madeline was so sleepy she was falling asleep at the table but it was also almost 1 am!

I just love the Magic Kingdom at night, especially during Extra Magic Hours.

When we got back to the hotel I had a surprise waiting for me--birthday balloons and a stuffed Flounder. Mike had called a few weeks ahead and arranged it. Awwww. What a day!

 

 

 

This was from our first night there in Downtown Disney but I just had to post it. Uncle Mike can't resist a good dance party, especially when there his dance partners are his sweet nieces! 



The Good Thing About Infertility?

You know the only good thing about infertility? It has shown me to never take motherhood for granted and to be thankful every single day for my little miracle. I'm working on a photo book to give to Hazel one day with the story of our long journey to parenthood. It will have pictures of my bruises, the lattes I had after my blood draws, the picture of me when I was so happy to have finally graduated to external ultrasounds--everything. I'm not holding anything back. It may be a long time before she can fully grasp all this but I think it's important for her to know just how special she is.

Day One: The Magic Kingdom Part 1

On March 3rd we headed for my favorite of the four parks--The Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately we were just a few minutes late for rope drop due to it being our first day driving around the resort, loading the stroller, etc. We still made it there before the park was packed though, which was nice.

When we crossed under the bridge and I saw Main Street and the castle I immediately started tearing up.  For so long I thought I'd never have a baby of my own to share my love for the magic of Disney with and there I was taking my baby girl for her first stroll down Main Street. It was a very, very thrilling moment.

Ready for her first day at Magic Kingdom

Hazel's first stroll down Main Street

 

We headed back to The New Fantasyland, which is amazing! So many new things to see and do! First on our list was Dumbo!

 

Then we headed over to The Journey of the Little Mermaid--Hazel LOVED this one. So many colors to see!

Me with my nieces, Annabelle and Madeline

Here's The Beast's Castle overlooking the new restaurant, Be Our Guest. I would have loved to try that place out by the line was already insanely long before it even opened! Maybe next time.

On Daddy's Favorite (not really!) "It's a Small World!"





My brother, sister-in-law and Hazel's twin cousins, Sadie and Arthur on "It's a Small World"



Here's The Beast's Castle overlooking the new restaurant, Be Our Guest. I would have loved to try that place out by the line was already insanely long before it even opened! Maybe next time.


 

Gaston's Tavern



Mike gets a little excited on things.

 Now, it was right about this point in the day when I stopped taking pictures because some asshole put an abrupt end to the magic when they stole our stroller! We parked our stroller in stroller parking right near the Haunted Mansion. We were gone probably about 20 minutes, came back and everything was gone. Our stroller, back pack, diaper bag, cooler, everything. I was so upset. I researched for weeks before finding a stroller with a parent facing option to keep Hazel happy since she is used to being worn. I searched high and low for a diaper bag that didn't look like a diaper bag (we actually think this is what tempted the thief--since it looked like we had left a purse on our stroller.) When that diaper bag was too small for cloth I had to find a backpack that would work. I had spread our purchases for this trip over a few months because it's so expensive to buy everything at once (bibs, cooler, new stroller, sun hat, sunscreen, etc. etc.) That's what upset me the most--how long it had taken us to buy everything and how they had essentially stolen from a baby.  Then, when it was cold and Hazel's hands were freezing I got pissed because the asshole had stolen her mittens. Her favorite toys were gone too. It SUCKED. The ONLY saving grace was that we had kept our expensive DSLR with us along with our wallets and phones. There was nothing of monetary value left in the stroller. Still, it was an awful feeling. Thank goodness we had Hazel in the Ergo when we went on the ride or we would have been carrying her everywhere the rest of the day.

 

We filed a report with Disney Security and they encouraged us to file a report with the local police department as well. They tried to tell us that it was probably a case of mistaken identity, that someone had taken our stuff by accident, which was no possible. #1 Our stroller was bright turquoise. And a Bumbleride. I saw literally one other Bumbleride our entire week there and it's pretty hard to mistake a turquoise stroller as your own in the sea of navy and black strollers. #2 It had all our stuff--pink backpack and link toys? No mistaking that as your own. They gave us vouchers for free rental strollers the rest of the week, which was nice but didn't help us at all since their strollers are for bigger kids and Hazel had barely just learned to sit on her own. We were screwed.

 

The kids were hungry so we had some lunch at Pecos Bill. I hardly tasted my food. Mike and I were both so upset. We had received a harsh dose of reality in what was supposed to be the most Magical Place on Earth. I stepped outside to call USAA to see if we'd be covered under our personal property insurance. Since it was a Sunday I had to leave a message with a call service who assured me that a claims adjuster would be in contact with me on Monday. After lunch, one of the awesome parades was starting but we couldn't watch--we had to make a run to Super Target to buy replacement stuff. We were so bummed!

 

 

 

To be continued......

 

 

 

 

 

Disney World: Our Resort

We had a great time a Disney World last week. It was a trip full of memories--some not so good. Like our stroller and all our belongings getting stolen. And when we lost my niece. Yeah, not so much fun. I'll talk about both later. The majority of the rest of the trip was so much fun though! We took a TON of pictures so I may have to break this up into multiple posts, depending on how long Hazel's nap lasts.

Oh, did I not mention that Hazel is currently napping in her crib?! (We sidecarred her crib to my side of the bed.)  This is the second time today. For a baby who has taken 99% of her naps in a carrier or on me this is huge, people! I'm actually having a bit of a hard time with it but Hazel is snoozing away and seems to be loving it.

Anyway, back to Disney.  We live only about 6.5 hours away from Lake Buena Vista so on Saturday the 2nd (my 29th birthday!) we started our drive south. It was a pretty uneventful drive and Hazel was so good. She doesn't seem to hate her car seat so much anymore! We stopped for gas and for fries and malts at a Steak N Shake (yum!) and arrived at our resort about an hour before my sister and brother were due to arrive.  We had the Disney music blasting and I was so excited when we saw this sign:



Hazel already posing.

This was our third trip to Disney World, our first being in 2009 shortly after Mike returned from Iraq. We stayed at the All Star Music Resort that trip and in November 2010 we stayed at the Polynesian and shared a room with my sister's family. This trip we stayed at a new value resort--Disney's Art of Animation. It was bright, fun and considering we didn't spend much time in our rooms at all--a great value.  AofA has mostly family suites that are Finding Nemo, Lion King or Cars themed but there is one section of standard hotel rooms that is Little Mermaid themed--this is where we stayed. My sister stayed in the Lion King Suites and my brother's family stayed one resort over in Pop.


Our room was pretty basic. It was a value resort, after all. Two double beds, one sink, a shower, tv, table and chairs and a dresser with three drawers and a perk--a fridge! We didn't have one of those when we stayed at All Star Music and it was a definite plus.

 

Our Little Mermaid themed room

View from bathroom

Ariel Shower Curtain
 

How awesome is this shower?

Curtain for bathroom privacy.

Another view of our room--there were three drawers on the left and the fridge is on the right.

Flippin' Fins Pool

 

 

 

And now for the Lion King section. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my sister's suite but the outside area was really cool.

 

 

 

And CARS!

 

 I just realized I didn't walk around the Finding Nemo area too much. All I saw was The Big Blue Pool and the surrounding area. The pool was awesome though--did you know that you can hear music and the characters while swimming under water? So neat. We took Hazel swimming for the first time on our last day there. Unfortunately we were only in the water about 20 minutes because we had a dinner reservation to make but it was still a good time--lots of memories! :)

 



The food court, Landscape of Flavors, had a really great selection of foods and a lot of yummy things that you could buy with your DDP snack credits. One of the benefits of staying on site is Free Disney Transportation. This was the first trip we did not use Disney Transportation at all for our days in the parks. We did use it our first night there to get to Downtown Disney but we didn't have a ton of stuff with us and I just wore Hazel in the Ergo. We drove everywhere the rest of the week because it's a big hassle to take everything out of the stroller to collapse it to get on the buses.  It worked out fine and it was nice not having to stand on a crowded bus or wait in a long line at the end of the day. All in all, Art of Animation was a really nice value resort.  It didn't break the bank, it had really cute themes, the pool was awesome and the food choices were great. I would definitely stay there again.

 

I have a lot more stuff to post about our vacation and as I said earlier in this post I will have to do it in intervals. But if anyone has any questions relating to Disney World, dining, etc. I would love to try to answer them. I love to talk Disney!