Our vacation didn’t start until Sunday, Oct. 19, but the fun certainly began on Friday – so we’ll start there.
Friday, Oct. 17
The night was just wrapping up, and like always I had to let the dog out before we went upstairs for the night. A few months back I had let her out and noticed a cat sitting in our lawn, which she also noticed and proceeded to chase after – even getting off of her lead.
So, needless to say, every time since then I have carefully looked outside before letting the dog out.
This time, however, it didn’t matter. I checked like I always do, but apparently hiding under my wife’s car was a skunk – and a skunk is what my dog decided to go after. Yup, you guessed it – Abby got skunked.
I think we may have lucked out, however, if you can luck out with your dog getting skunked. The skunk was under my wife’s car and when it sprayed almost all of it struck the tire of the car – with just a little landing on Abby.
This started a pretty frantic night in the Kane household, as we had to give Abby a bath. Bear in mind that Erika had just cleaned the floors and the bathrooms. Abby’s hair was EVERYWHERE. When Erika went downstairs to get Abby’s towel, she stepped in puke from Hermione. Apparently she got sick when she was sitting on the kitchen table and she threw up on the table and the floor. This wasn’t the end, though, as for some reason (possibly the smell) Abby began puking – and puking pretty much nonstop. After we thought she had calmed down, we went up to bed – but two hours later she was puking again. We brought her downstairs and she had some water, but she couldn’t keep that down either. Unfortunately, we had to call the vet to find out what we could do. Not only were we worried about Abby, but she was heading to the kennel the next day to stay for the week.
The vet told us to give Abby some pepto bismol, and lucky for her I always have at least one bottle around at all times. We waited another half hour, and it must have worked because Abby slept through the night and was fine the next morning. The smell also apparently upset Hermione’s stomach, because she vomited a handful times over the next few days too – but she also appears to be fine now.
Saturday, Oct. 18
This was the day that we celebrated Kasey’s 2nd birthday with friends and family as we were going to be in Disney World for his actual birthday.
We got up and got everything ready – including finishing up some last minute things around the house. We loaded everything into the car, including Abby, and Kasey and I were dropped off at Erika’s parents’ house for the party while Erika dropped off the dog and picked up Kasey’s birthday cake.
The day went pretty well as we were able to hang out with friends and family, Kasey received a ton of new presents – and did a much better job with his cake this year.
After the party, we hung out with Mark, Danielle and Jack for part of the night before heading home to finish up some packing – and I had to finish up some homework.
Sunday, Oct. 19
We jumped in our car around 6:30 a.m. and headed across the bridge to Vermont to drive to the airport. Our flight left at 9:05 a.m. and luckily we were able to fly directly to Orlando on a JetBlue flight.
This was Kasey’s second airplane trip (well third overall) as we had taken him to Disney World last year as well. He was amazing the first trip, and for the most part he was wonderful again this time. He did get bored around the end of hour two, and wanted to walk around – but he didn’t scream/cry that bad.
We arrived in Orlando around noon, but we weren’t able to get into our condo until 4 p.m.
We went and picked up the rental car, and immediately realized that seven people and all that luggage were never going to fit into the car at the same time. So, Shannon and Cyle rented a convertible for the day so that we could all make it to the condo.
We went up to the Boardwalk Inn in hopes of getting into the ESPN Club so we could watch the Steelers game, but the line was huge – we went to this other place in the same area and had a pretty nice lunch, and wasted just enough time so that we could get into the condo.
The condo was really nice: four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen area, living room area and dining room area. The only thing that stunk on day one – No Cable.
We took Kasey to the pool that night, but with the darkness and the wind – it was way too cold and his lips were shivering.
We ended up playing a few games before heading up to bed to get ready for the week of Disney.
Monday, Oct. 20
On Monday, we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I am not sure if we planned this day out very well – but we decided to go to Muppet Vision 3D first – Kasey watched the show, but wouldn’t wear his 3D glasses.
After the show, we walked out right where they had the Lightning McQueen and Mater cars from the movie Cars. Which is Kasey’s absolute favorite movie right now – so we got some pictures with them. We also decided it would be best to get Kasey an autograph book in case we were able to meet up with some characters – so we purchased that and a pen for later use.
We also got to see the stunt show they have there for the first time, and Kasey really enjoyed it – except they take timeout between each stunt – so he immediately got bored. Once the motorcycles came out, he was loving it again.
We went on Star Tours and Tower of Terror. Other members of the family went and saw the Indiana Jones show, and went on the Great Movie Ride – I stayed back and watched Kasey.
We finished with the Little Mermaid Show, and Kasey got to meet June and Quincy from Little Einsteins and Handy Manny from Handy Manny.
We had a pretty nice late lunch/early dinner at this buffet-type restaurant, Hollywood and Vine, that Erika had made reservations for before we headed down. And with eating here we got a special entrance to the Fantasmic show later that night, which was actually the conclusion of the day for all of us. Kasey got a light up wand that he played with before the show, and I think he actually liked this show – especially seeing Mickey.
The reason I don’t think we planned the day out very well is because we weren’t able to get on the Aerosmith Roller Coaster or the brand new Toy Story ride. I think if we had gotten some fast passes as soon as we arrived, we may have been able to get on at least one of those. But, I think we learned our lesson for the most part – as we didn’t make that mistake in the other parks.
Tuesday, Oct. 21
On Tuesday, our park destination was Animal Kingdom. Here is where we wised up a little bit. The best ride at Animal Kingdom is Expedition Everest, which fills up rather quickly. So, Cyle, Erika and Shannon handed me their park tickets and I raced to the fast pass and got each of us a ticket for later in the day.
The first ride we always seem to get on first is the African Safari ride. This was pretty interesting as we were able to see quite a few animals this time around. Kasey enjoyed seeing all of the animals from his books up close and personal. The animals are most active at the beginning and end of the day, so there were quite a few out.
We did, however, forget to bring Kasey’s cup with us. This is the second time in as many years we had forgotten his cup when going to Animal Kingdom. This park appears to never have cups for children, but Kasey selected a giant Safari Mickey bottle with a straw, and despite chewing on the straw it seemed to work out for the best.
After hitting Expedition Everest, we hit a place for lunch which we thought was McDonald’s, but it turned out to be just a burger and hot dog place. Either way it was better than the alternatives.
After lunch, my parents, Cyle, Shannon and I went on the dinosaur ride – Erika refuses to ride that ride again as she hates dinosaurs, so she spent the time with Kasey.
Immediately following the ride we managed to be the last group of people to sneak into the Finding Nemo musical show – Erika almost didn’t make it as she had to bring Kasey’s stroller to the stroller parking lot. The show was pretty entertaining; Kasey enjoyed it for awhile, but lost interest. The guy that portrayed Crush the Turtle had a pretty nice voice. One of the big drawbacks was that we had to stand the whole time.
We got some ice cream and Shannon and Cyle went to a bird show. My mom staked out a spot for the parade in this perfect area with a table while Erika, my dad, Kasey and I went on a train ride to the conservatory. Here, Kasey got to meet Jiminy Cricket and Pocahontas. Kasey had his picture taken with Pocahontas, but he was looking down her dress. We forgot to bring his autograph book, but the pictures should make up for it.
We joined up with the rest of the group and watched the parade which was really nice, then left the park a little early.
On the way home we stopped for an all-you-can-eat dinner at CiCi’s – “Hello. Welcome to CiCi’s” – which was our first time in that restaurant. I really enjoyed it. I had a handful of different types of pizza and desserts. My favorite was the barbecue pizza. It was nice until a HUGE group of people showed up.
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Today was Kasey’s birthday and we had a dinner scheduled at 4 p.m. to have dinner with the Winnie the Pooh characters at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom.
This day was mainly about Kasey for the first part of it, which was perfectly fine with me. We rode on the Snow White ride, Peter Pan, Dumbo, the carousel and It’s A Small World – all before it got crowded.
We had chicken, fries and grapes for lunch – then went on the Haunted Mansion ride.
Erika, Cyle, Shannon and I broke off from the group and rode Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain, then met up with my parents and Kasey for a quick ride on Buzz Lightyear’s shooting game. Cyle ended up winning this round, but Kasey gave him a run for his money.
Kasey then got to drive on the race cars, which was probably his favorite ride – because he wanted to drive all by himself and didn’t want to get off. Unfortunately his steering is less than adequate and it was throwing Kasey around the car, so Erika had to steer, which made Kasey really mad.
I believe the last ride of the night was Pirates of the Caribbean which Kasey also enjoyed, especially the scenes with the dogs, pigs and kittens.
Dinner was pretty amazing – although the buffet line wasn’t as great as the first day, it still was pretty filling. Kasey loved having the characters come see him, as long as they didn’t touch him. Eeyore made the mistake of coming up from behind Kasey and scared him. But, we got his, Pooh’s, Piglet’s and Kasey’s favorite, Tigger’s autograph. Kasey had a nice meal that was topped off with a birthday cake.
The Spectromagic parade was later that night, so again we found a bench and planted ourselves there until the parade started. My dad, Cyle and I walked across and played this shooting game – which I ended up beating Cyle (and we are tied again).
Finally, I saw that Donald Duck was out signing autographs, so my mom and I took Kasey over to see him. He loves Donald and tries to talk like him.
The parade was awesome, and Alice in Wonderland even talked to Kasey as she went by. The parade ended with Pluto giving Kasey a high-five. We met a really nice family from England that helped pass the waiting time.
On our way to the car, Kasey kept singing, “Tigger, Tigger, Tigger, Tigger.” It was adorable and I think he had a really great time.
Thursday, Oct. 23
On Thursday, we hit the final park of the quartet, EPCOT. This is my least favorite of the four parks, and there isn’t as much to do there unless you plan on spending a lot of time in the different countries. So this was a short day for us – at least at the parks.
Erika literally sprinted over to Soarin’ and got everyone a fast pass for the ride, then we all went on Test Track, which was my first time on the ride. It was pretty fun and got going pretty fast.
As we were walking over to Soarin’ we ran into some employees of the park, and it was sort of like the right place at the right time because they handed each of us a ticket that had a fast pass for each of the six main rides at the park.
When we went on Soarin’ my dad took Kasey on the Finding Nemo ride. Soarin’, which was also my first time riding it, was also fun. They take you up high right in front of this huge screen and it feels like you are literally soaring through these different parts of the world, complete with smells and air. A few spots you even feel like you are going to hit something.
We grabbed something to eat at America (haha) and Kasey had his first run in with a princess. It was Snow White and he absolutely fell in love. She gave him a huge smooch on the cheek and left a red lipstick mark on his face for the rest of the day.
As we walked past China, I believe, Kasey got in line to see Mushu from Mulan. Whom he continued to call Achoo.
We rode the Norway ride and skipped the boring film afterwards, which seemed to be everyone’s choice. Erika, Shannon and Cyle went off to ride Mission Space while the rest of us looked around a shop. Then Kasey and my parents went back to the condo.
The rest of us jumped on the monorail and went back to Magic Kingdom hitting some of the rides we missed the first time around. We went to the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor (I even made it on the television screen), the carousel of progress and rode Buzz Lightyear again (I won this time, and I believe that’s 2-1).
Finally, we squeezed four grown adults into the teacups ride. What a sight that must have been to see from the outside. All I know is I felt like a sardine, but we all laughed really hard and had a great time.
We jumped on a bus and rode over to Hollywood Studios where we tried to jump on the rides we missed. But, again, we weren’t able to get on either one – but we did ride Tower of Terror again.
The night ended with us trying to get to Downtown Disney so my parents could pick us up to go back to the condo. If you haven’t been to Disney, there are no buses from the parks to Downtown Disney (this is so people don’t take advantage of free parking), so you have to go to a hotel first, then get on another bus. It took awhile, but we managed to do it.
Friday, Oct. 24
On Friday, we were going to go to SeaWorld, but with the added cost and nobody else joining us we decided against it.
We went back out to Hollywood Studios, and this time we were able to ride the Aerosmith ride. Unfortunately, another day passed without getting on the new Toy Story ride – so our chance to ride it was gone.
We made this another short day and went back to the condo to relax a bit and play some games.
Erika and I were meeting up with our friends Tiffany and Tony that night. We set out for Downtown Disney around 4 p.m. and got in some major shopping, basically getting everything we could for Kasey (I think he owns everything Cars now).
They also have this new T-Rex Restaurant there, which has a Build-A-Dino inside (much like Build-A-Bear), so Erika and I made Kasey a dinosaur.
We finished up our shopping and took all of the gear to the car. My parents, Kasey, Cyle and Shannon all went to the Rain Forest Café for dinner. After that we picked up Kasey and met up with Tiffany and Tony, and walked around Downtown Disney, they hadn’t seen Kasey since last year.
The four of us went to Planet Hollywood for dinner which was pretty amusing. Erika got this drink called the Blue Lagoon, complete with plastic shark which we gave to Kasey.
We finished the night at this Irish Pub in Downtown Disney and caught up for awhile. It was really nice to see them again; we always have such a good time and wish they lived up here.
Saturday, Oct. 25
I had decided that no matter where we went to on Saturday that I was going to do my best to get as many autographs and pictures with characters for Kasey as possible. We ended up heading back to Magic Kingdom, and I think we made the right choice.
We walked over to Toon Town and got in line, not really knowing who we were even seeing. The lady in charge said it was for the princesses – which Kasey seems to enjoy, and probably won’t the next time we go, so I was happy to take him this time. We waited in line for a good 45 minutes, as they opened late – but it was worth it.
They took us into this backroom and Cinderella, Belle and Aurora were all standing there. Kasey met Cinderella first and got her autograph and picture. There was only one other kid in there, but once he was finished we were all alone with the three princesses. Next he met Belle – and boy was she gorgeous – I tried to get Kasey to make a date with her for later that night, but he didn’t. He finally met Aurora, and then all of the princesses gathered around him. He is such a ladies’ man.
Next, we went through Mickey’s house. This is sort of a well-kept secret, because behind Mickey’s house is this tent that not a lot of people were in line for. At the end of this line? Mickey Mouse himself. So Kasey got his autograph and photo – then the family took a photo with him.
At this time, the sun came out so I was putting on sunscreen and the penguin from Mary Poppins was standing all by himself down this hidden area – so Kasey ran down with mommy and gramma and got his picture taken.
As we were heading over for lunch, we saw Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter, but unfortunately the line had just closed before we got there. We did, however, get Cinderella’s stepmother and evil stepsisters (which I am told is a rare find).
After lunch, we were going to take Kasey on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride, but as we were walking over we ran into Capt. Hook and Mr. Smee, so Kasey got their autographs and a photo with them. The ride was way too long to wait for, so we got in line to see Jasmine and Aladdin instead.
It was getting pretty hot, so we caught some shade and I thought of heading up to the front to see how long the lines for the characters up there were.
We managed to be third in line for Pluto, and then finished up our character search with Chip & Dale.
Kasey started out pretty apprehensive about the characters, but by the end of the trip he was running up to them to get their autographs and posing for pictures. Especially the princesses. He was pretty fun to watch.
We went back to the condo, got some packing and swimming in, and then went to the Cracker Barrel for supper.
It is only fair to note that almost every night we played cards and every time that Erika and Shannon were partners, they beat Cyle and me. The only night they were losing was when Shannon quit to go to bed.
Sunday, Oct. 26
This was a pretty long day.
We had to leave the condo by 10 a.m. so my dad took Erika, my mom, Shannon and Kasey to the Florida Mall to walk around (which we later found out didn’t open until noon).
Cyle and I stayed back then loaded the car with the luggage and headed out to meet them at the mall. At 11 a.m. Ruby Tuesday’s opened and we went in for lunch. Erika and Cyle each ordered the colossal burger (and colossal it was).
After lunch we walked around the mall until around 2:30 then dad took Cyle and I to the airport and unloaded us with the luggage – then went back for everyone else.
The plane didn’t board until just after 6 p.m. and we weren’t expecting to land in Burlington until 9:15 p.m.
Needless to say, Kasey was exhausted, so the trip back was pretty difficult. He had such a hard time finding a spot where he would fall asleep. He finally did, however, after a long struggle of screaming and crying.
After landing, I went and got the car while my dad helped get our luggage. Then it was off to the house. We got back around 11 p.m. with Kasey exhausted from the trip – and us too.
But, it was definitely worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment