The Dee Dub--Day 3

The Dee Dub Day 3 can be summed up in three Main Events:

#1--The Teacups.

#2--Dinner at the Crystal Palace

#3--The Spectromagic parade.

What is it about the teacups? Whose idea was it to invent a ride in which you spin and spin and spin, then spin yourself some, until you are about to vomit. Or until you actually vomit, and I'm not sure which is worse. Rey refuses to ride the teacups, so he's the photog behind the Canon here.

Dinner at the Crystal Palace was one of those experiences that shined a great big ol' spotlight on Disney's inefficiencies, or its diabolical plan to drive the parents of the world insane. Choose whichever theory you prefer. After Amber and I arose at 5am back in June to make all these dinner reservations, I sorta had an (apparently unreasonable) expectation that you'd be seated in thereabouts the time of your reservation. NOT! When we arrived for our 5:45 reservation we were told that they were just now seating 5pm reservations. Then we proceeded to sit while our kids went wild for about 30 minutes. We even watched while a table sat waiting to be cleaned for at least 15 minutes. That ended up being our table. The inefficiency was impressive.

In the end, the food kinda sucked there. We did get to meet Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore and Piglet. Let me tell you what, that Eyeore was emanating heat.

Cole could not be torn away from his ice cream, even for Pooh

And then came my most favorite part of going to Disney--The Spectromagic Parade.



It really is magical.

And I love it.

I love it, my kids love it, love is in the air.

Like I said, it's my fav.

You must stake out your seat at least and hour in advance. Our delay at Crystal Palace had me and Amber dashing off to find a spot and barely succeeding. But successful we were and spread out we did. You have to stake out a lot of space because people will crowd you. So you take way more than you need so that once you're crowded you're left with barely enough to fit your people. It's an exercise in rudeness, all around.

While we waited we busted out glow sticks and managed to persuade grown men to jump rope. Wearing Winnie the Pooh t-shirts. It was awesome.




From the moment the parade music starts up I get excited. It's such a catchy little diddy, indeed. The wonder on the kids' faces as you see these beautifully lit floats glide by... well it's wonderful. Watching the Spectromagic parade is one of the few times I don't feel like Disney is playing some giant trick on me... save they fact that they park a giant cart of overpriced toys right in front of your children while you wait for the parade to begin.

And like that, Day 4 is fast approaching.

The Dee Dub--Days 1 and 2

Last Saturday we embarked on our week long trip to Disney World, also known as the "Dee Dub."

I would call it a vacation, but I reserve that term for periods of rest and relaxation. Theme park trips with one's children involve neither.

With Daddy at the helm...

The boys were excited for the trip, not knowing our destination, only that it involved a trip on the "Big Road." (We rarely go north of Immokalee Rd. or south of Vanderbilt, so excursions like this are a big deal.)

A shot of Lila in her mirror so she wasn't left out of the action...

And a picture of me, to prove I was there.

After four hours on the road, a pit stop, and a snack stop, we were getting closer...

And closer...

And closer!

We were meeting the G-walts at our hotel, conveniently located between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (boy do I miss it being called MGM!).

A quick change (and I do mean quick) into our first set of "uniforms" and we were ready!

Look! I made it into another picture.

Day Two rolled around, plans to head to Animal Kingdom had us on Uniform Two.

Our little "animals" were anxiously awaiting our departure.

First stop: Kilimanjaro Safaris. I will never ride this ride again without thinking of my Everest partner Kara, as this was her job during her tenure as a "Cast Member"!

Let's see how much I paid attention. This is a rhino?

Giraffe, obviously. Our "safari guide" told us that giraffe eat trees, which thins them out to allow sun to grow the grass, which some other animal eats, etc. etc. It's noteworthy to mention that yesterday when I picked up Cole from preschool he was playing with a giraffe and a tree and said, "Giraffes eat trees. He has to eat his lunch." I'm glad to see the boy was paying attention.

Cole and Siennah...holding hands like the sweet little things that they are.

When our two week safari ended, we moved on to waiting for a show. (The show--It's Tough to Be a Bug. It's 3D and things jump out at you. I hated every second of it.) A photo op of the monkeys while we waited.

And on to my favorite, favorite show--The Lion King. The kids (and a certain mommy) were enraptured.

A very, very tall man.

A man playing with fire. Rey was quick to tell the boys that this was a show and they were to never, ever do that. He had several pyro moments as a child. He was trying to preemptive strike on future generations.

Mason was lecturing the man on fire safety.

The kids got to go and join the cast with marraccas.

Cole was too tuckered to go and stayed behind.

And that sums up the first two days. Stay tuned for Days 3-8!