Lions, and Tigers and MIL - Oh My! Day 3, Part 2 About This Page:

[Leah's Dad]

Sorry about your son... BTW, I know about MIL's...
L

[karmic]

Wow what a terrible night Hope things improved.

[Grammy Grumpy]

Wow, just got caught up with your report. Sorry to hear DS was so sick. Hope the rest of the trip was MUCH better

[Jillybean]

Oh, bless his soul! And you too! I am so impressed with the way that WDW handled your medical emergency though!

And a big to you MIL for saying that!

Jill

[Annabel]

Just catching up with your installments so far. So sorry to hear your son was so ill, poor little mite I hope he improved quickly. Disney reacted really well, I bet that certainly helped matters. Looking forward to reading more.

Annabel

[Singermom]

Day 3, Part 1 - A Day of Rest

Cast Members:

Me – age 38, WDW planner – 6th trip to WDW
MIL – age 62 – many trips to WDW
DS7 – older ds, age 7 and ¾, 3rd trip to WDW
DS4 – younger ds, age 4, 3rd trip to WDW

After a brief but exhausted and deep slumber, I awoke a little after eight. DS4 was also stirring and I felt apprehensive again that he would be sick. Within a few moments, he popped up and proceeded to give us a ‘scientific’ explanation as to why he had gotten sick…..’a bone in his stomach popped up and the muscles fell on top of it so it had to push up and that’s why I ‘blahhed’ (his word for vomiting)’. He also announced that he was hungry. Unfortunately, it was too early to start him on solids so I suggested a tsp of flat coke to which he was agreeable. MIL and DS7 were already up so got ready to go down to Mara for some breakfast and other supplies. Although ds7 had requested pancakes they didn’t have any so I selected a Mickey waffle with fresh strawberries for him. For MIL, I got a bagel and for me a croissant. DS4 had to settle with Gatorade and jello for the time being until I was sure his stomach had settled. I think I mentioned before that Mara’s condiment bar was fairly generous – I picked up several packets of cream cheese, peanut butter and various jellies. I had been lamenting the fact that due to the brevity of our trip, we wouldn’t be able to schedule in a ‘resort’ day to just enjoy this fabulous resort – well, I guess you should be careful what you wish for. I was feeling very light-headed from the tension and lack of sleep and knew we would have to take it very easy today.

While we were enjoying our breakfasts, and DS4 his liquid one, he announced that he was very, very hungry. I felt so bad but knew it would be tempting fate to introduce solids too quickly. I tried to tempt him with the jello but he was not interested. He claimed he wanted rice. Well, it was on the BRAT (bread, rice, apple sauce , toast?) diet recommended by the paramedics and he had done fine so far with all the liquids. I called room service and they immediately inquired about his health even before I could place an order! AKL was impressing me at every turn! Since there is a flat charge for every room service request, they asked if I would like to add anything else to the order. MIL asked for some tea. Then I left her with the kids to do a load of laundry. I never thought I would every be one of those people who does laundry on vacation – never say never! After a few inquiries and misguided directions I finally found the laundry facility – it was actually quite convenient – on the first floor right next to our elevator. There is one other facility besides this one. I think I paid $1 for the detergent and $2.50 or $2 for the washer and then for the dryer. I stayed in the laundry room during the wash but left after putting my clothes in the dryer. When I got back up, everyone was ready to take a stroll around the resort.

We went to the lobby level and then out to Arusha Savanah. An AKL guide had just started a kids activity (tracking) so I had my kids join in. There was about eight other kids in the group. They enjoyed the activity and then we watched the animals for a bit. DS7 spotted the stairwell and wanted to ascend to the very top. Though he was disappointed, I persuaded him to stop at the next level because it would tire out ds4. This level has a lovely covered terrace with several rocking chairs that overlook the savannah. I needed to check on the laundry now so I parked MIL and the kids by the t.v. in the lobby while I went to gather the laundry. When I got back, I could see that ds4 looked really wiped out so I told MIL that I would go back to the room, order room service and then would call her to come up with the kids. She was really disappointed that we couldn’t eat in one of the restaurants and I would have to say that this is AKL’s weak point. Neither Boma nor Jiko is open for lunch and Boma only has a breakfast buffet. While Mara is fine for counter-service, I think every deluxe should have at least one sit-down place open for every meal.

At any rate, I ordered off the intriguing but expensive room-service menu. DS4 got chicken noodle soup (just the broth and noodles) and plain bread. I ordered a Flatbread topped with shredded beef, caramelized onions and blue cheese for ds7, a spicy barbecue chicken sandwich with fries for MIL, and a grapefruit and papaya salad for myself. It all arrived in a timely manner with all the condiments you could ask for and the food was all extremely tasty and served at the right temperature – even the fries were hot and crispy! After lunch we relaxed in the room – I was hoping DS4 would nod off to sleep early so we could potentially visit a park in the late afternoon. Despite his short night of sleep it took quite a while for him to nod off. I decided to nap with him and MIL took ds7 downstairs to the gift shop for some shopping. By the time I woke up two hours had passed and it was already late afternoon so now we had to decide what we would do next.

[Joy J]

I'm sorry to hear that you had to change your plans but it sounds like you had a relaxing day and that's always a nice way to recharge your batteries. I'm also glad to read that your DS seems to be well on the way to recovery.

Joy

[Stephanie P.]

Glad that DS was feeling better even though you had to change your plans.

[dsnytina]

Wow! Thankfully, he popped right back up the next morning! Sorry to hear you had the added expense of room service, but at least you didn't have to add an emergency room visit to that! I've heard the Celebration hospital isn't the best.
Thank you for this great report!
Tina

[Colexis Mom]

Glad your DS is feeling better! I hope things go better tonight and you're able to take in some more sights! Hurry back with more

[Annabel]

I'm glad your son recovered so quickly, that's great. Look forward to reading more of your report.

Annabel

[luvnwdwgal]

So glad your son wasn't ill for long! Looking forward to your next installment!!

[Singermom]

Day 3, Part 2 - An Evening of Adventure

Cast Members:

Me – age 38, WDW planner – 6th trip to WDW
MIL – age 62 – many trips to WDW
DS7 – older ds, age 7 and ¾, 3rd trip to WDW
DS4 – younger ds, age 4, 3rd trip to WDW


Now, although the day of rest had been imperative for ds4, I was feeling a bit bad for ds7 who would have enjoyed going out to the parks. If dh had been with us, it would have been a no-brainer….one of us would have taken ds7 out for the day while the other stayed back at the hotel with ds4. However, I didn’t think MIL would be comfortable on her own with ds4 and admittedly, I wasn’t all that keen on leaving ds4 alone with her. She has the habit, as most asian mothers do, to feed people whatever their disposition or mood. Even if I gave strict instructions not to give him certain foods, I could not trust that she would follow them. I suggested that she go out for a while with ds7 – if not to the parks, then perhaps to a movie – The Incredibles had just opened. They could take a taxi for convenience too. DS4 was seeming better and when I asked if he was interested in going to Epcot, he showed a lot of interest. Even though it wasn’t my first choice, I suggested that we all go together to Epcot, I would rent a stroller and MIL and ds4 could sit and relax while ds7and I did a few attractions. MIL seemed to like that idea a lot better so we got ready to head to the parks. It was already past five and the sun had nearly set by now so we took along some light jackets.

We took the car and I dropped off MIL and the boys near the entrance and then I parked in the AAA diamond area – this was fairly convenient to the entrance. DS4 wasn’t looking all that great when I returned and I was beginning to regret my decision to bring him to the parks. We trudged slowly to the turnstiles as MIL had trouble walking. Since we would only be at the park for a few hours, MIL didn’t think it was worthwhile to rent the ECV.

Our first stop was Mission Space. This was yet another first for MIL and despite some initial misgivings, she ended up greatly enjoying this ride. It is a favourite of mine and of ds7. Next we decided to hit a few attractions in Futureworld before they closed at 7. I thought ds4 would like the Figment ride so we headed there first. As we walked through the queue, ds4 seemed to perk up. By the end of the ride, he seemed nearly himself again. We then went over to the Land pavilion to grab a quick dinner in the food court. I had originally made a ps for garden grill but knew ds4 didn’t have the appetite or energy for it today. The food in the Sunshine Fair was okay – ds7 had a barbecued pork sandwich he enjoyed, MIL had a stuffed baked potato and I ate the remains of ds4’s dinner of chicken rice soup and plain baked potato which he hardly touched. After dinner we walked back towards the dancing fountain and parked ds4 and MIL there.

DS7 and I raced to test track – hoping that either the standby line was not too long or that fastpasses would be available. It’s such along path to Test Track – I wish they would post the wait times closer to the main path. From what I could make out – it was about 25 minutes standby and no fast passes left. With MIL and ds4 waiting for us, we decided that wasn’t feasible so we turned towards Mission Space. To our surprise, the standby time was only 10 minutes. I had warned ds7 about the potential ill-effects of the ride but he was still anxious to try it. While I was a bit apprehensive myself (especially since we had just eaten dinner) curiousity also got the better of me. We took our place in the queue and struck up a conversation with the family in front of us. Apparently they had already been on the ride and did not feel it was too intense. DS7 and I were very impressed with just the queue area – it is all very realistic! Even with the assurances from the family in front of us, it was a bit intimidating to continually hear and see warning signs about the ride. It was finally our turn and we were hustled into the ‘briefing chamber’ and given our instructions. Then we lined up outside the bay leading to our capsules. I had the navigator role and ds7 was the pilot. The highlight of this attraction is the blast-off…..that was a fantastic experience! I followed the instructions about looking straight ahead at all times and experienced minimal motion effects – it feels pretty much like any motion simulator such as Star Tours. I was slightly dizzy and off-balance after exiting the capsule but that feeling passed very quickly. DS7 absolutely loved the ride and proclaimed it the favourite of the trip. We sent off an e-video after the ride and then spent some time browsing in the gift shop. I had called MIL after the ride to let her know we would be a few minutes later than our planned rendez-vous so she took the opportunity to do a little more shopping!

When we met up again, I thought we might slowly head out but MIL was very interested in seeing Illuminations which had viewed and enjoyed her last trip. I actually had not seen it as it fell too late in our previous trips fro the kids. I expressed my doubts to her about the walking distance – ds4 was okay in the stroller but MIL had no ECV. She insisted she would be all right. We walked towards world showcase but by the time we reached the bridge near Future world, she couldn’t go any further. MIL found a bench to sit on and the kids and I went a bit further into world showcase. From our vantage point we were able to see all low fireworks but not the globe very easily. I really enjoyed the music to this show! However, Fantasmic is still my favourite night time show. With the last bang, we quickly turned around and headed back towards MIL – fortunately hooking up with her quickly in the crowd. Since my car was parked fairly close, we all walked to it but it was apparent that MIL could barely make it.

We all pretty much hit the sheets as soon as we returned. I went down for a quick Mara run of coffee for the next morning, juice and milk and then I also retired for the night. After all, we planned to get up early for EE at MGM the next day!

[Big Baloo]

So glad to hear that DS is feeling better! Sounds like you were able to "salvage" the day pretty well--Can't wait to hear more....

[luvnwdwgal]

Great update!! Glad you and your son enjoyed Mission:Space!