TO GO OR NOT TO GO, THAT IS THE QUESTION!!
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Nick and Ryans Mom · 08-04-2008, 09:40 PM

DO PEOPLE GIVE YOU DISNEY STUFF??

Being a known Disney fan I have people showing up with all sorts of Disney items.

Does this happen to you??

I've had kids bring over Disney toys from their cereal, princess tops from their suckers, pictures they've colored of Disney characters, etc.

I treasure each item and display it (for a while) then save it in our computer room where I have a small

collection of Disney items . Many people know that I collect books about Disney, I end up with a lot of Disney fiction (which I don't collect) and sometimes non-fiction (which I do collect).

This week I received a Mickey Mouse Club button, a Pocahontas cut-out doll book, and a Mickey/Minnie Easter egg dye kit.

A DISNEY SURPRISE:

At the end of June we went to a birthday party for one of my nephews.

My brother was giving me a tour of their most recent renovations when I saw 6 Disney snow globes sitting on his dresser. They were very elaborate. I’m not really into snow globes but they were very pretty. I made a comment on how nice they are and DB’s girlfriend says “They are for you!”

What?

“I wanted to get rid of them and we thought you would like them.” They are pretty so I made some room for them with my Disney book collection.

The bookshelves in our family room are full of Disney books (and now the snow globes). I collect books on Walt, the Parks, the Imagineers, the Movies, the Characters, etc…. I have about 225 books total.

Old fashioned Mickey and Minnie and Beauty and the Beast

Sorcceror Mickey

Ariel and gang

Cinderella

Snow White and the Dwarves

Kristen C. · 08-04-2008, 09:46 PM

Those are beautiful! They make a nice contrast to the books. I never realized how much Disney stuff we had till we cleaned the kids room...LOL

lauren-roxy · 08-05-2008, 12:03 AM

Very nice snowglobes!!

mcc0313 · 08-05-2008, 12:06 AM

What a wonderful gift....I love snow globes and those are beautiful and look very nice amongst your book collection...

What I found so cute is how the kids bring you anything Disney that they can find....that is just so sweet and shows how much they must adore you...

piratefreak · 08-05-2008, 12:07 AM

Love the snowglobes. What a great surprise. Almost time now!

**DyanKJ130** · 08-05-2008, 12:54 AM

Great update! The gondola theme sounds awesome!! I

the relationship you have with your neighbors. Mine bring me gifts, but not ones anyone would want to keep - you know, like cat poop, egg on the side of the house or chemicals poured on the lawn to kill it.

Tonight's 'gift' was a beat up/torn leather office chair

I realized we forgot to check the mail and when I asked DS to check, that is what he found on the sidewalk right in front of the door.

Dear lord! I have saved the evidence in the backyard for the police tomorrow morning.

Back on topic

Your snowglobes are wonderful!! We've bought a bunch and all but one are still in their boxes. We're planning on purchasing my parents home as soon as they get moving with the packing (it will be so hard to leave this neighborhood

), we'll be able to move in and display them. They look so nice displayed like you have them!

Hope the bus stop situation is situated soon! More please

**chezp** · 08-05-2008, 02:21 AM

Those are beautiful.

**Colexis Mom** · 08-05-2008, 07:40 AM

What great snowglobes!!

RobDVC · 08-05-2008, 09:24 AM

Love the updates! The UTT story is an all-out riot!

Your neighborhood sounds like my kind of place!

Love those snowglobes! What a nice surprise from DB and his girlfriend!

Nick and Ryans Mom · 08-05-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DyanKJ130

Great update! The gondola theme sounds awesome!! I

the relationship you have with your neighbors. Mine bring me gifts, but not ones anyone would want to keep - you know, like cat poop, egg on the side of the house or chemicals poured on the lawn to kill it.

Tonight's 'gift' was a beat up/torn leather office chair

I realized we forgot to check the mail and when I asked DS to check, that is what he found on the sidewalk right in front of the door.

Dear lord! I have saved the evidence in the backyard for the police tomorrow morning.

Back on topic

Your snowglobes are wonderful!! We've bought a bunch and all but one are still in their boxes. We're planning on purchasing my parents home as soon as they get moving with the packing (it will be so hard to leave this neighborhood

), we'll be able to move in and display them. They look so nice displayed like you have them!

Hope the bus stop situation is situated soon! More please

Wow, your neighbors are horrible!!

That must be so stressful.

I hope you are able to move soon.

Nick and Ryans Mom · 08-05-2008, 12:21 PM

CEDAR POINT

Saturday we took a ride over to Cedar Point. It is funny because we live fairly close and this is only the 2nd time the boys have been there.

A lot of people around here have APs but not us.

Why not? Well until recently Ryan was too short and unlike WDW there is not a whole lot for a family to do together if you have different size people in your party.

There are two children areas (Camp Snoopy & Planet Snoopy) and a few family rides (carousel, sky ride, train, paddle boat, etc.).

You go to Disney for the Magic.

You go to Cedar Point for thrills.

I grew up in a thrill lovin family so it is hard for me to comprehend that Ryan is not a thrill rider. Eric and I used to go to CP every year back in the day.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/index.cfm

About a month ago my mom called and asked if we would be interested in going.

She could get us 2 free tickets and the other tickets would be $25 (her company picnic was going to be held there). Fifty bucks to go to CP? For the 4 of us? Sure, we’ll go!

Last week mom called back and asked if we would be interested in going to Soak City (CP’s outdoor waterpark, they also have Castaway Bay an indoor waterpark which we’ve been to and enjoyed). It would be an extra $18 per person. No thanks, we’ll pass.

Oh, Dad is treating for all of the tickets and the SC passes could be used any day this season. Thanks Dad!

Then she breaks the news that my oldest brother is coming with his family. Hmm…. My oldest nephew is the same age as Ryan and he LOVES to ride!

Maybe he can lure Ryan over from the Dark Side!!!

Well, we got to the park and DN1 wants to ride Top Thrill Dragster first. No way is Ryan riding that!!

120 miles within 4 seconds shooting 420 feet into the air. That was that. Off went DB1, DB2, DN1, and niece of DB1’s girlfriend. We never saw them again.

Power Tower and Corkscrew

DD & DM took DB1’s girlfriend and their two sons to Camp Snoopy. We never saw them again either.

The whole family did meet up at 3:00 at Soak City but we didn’t go.

DB1 can be very hard to deal with and he was in a VERY foul mood that day.

He ranted about the foreigners who work at the park, go to the park, how stupid DN1’s mother is (which I told him to STOP doing, she is a wonderful person and a great mother – it is true she is not the sharpest tool in the shed but if she was she would never have gotten together with him!!!). He was mad at his girlfriend and had to tell us what an idiot she is.

I honestly don’t know how she stands him. They own a duplex, he lives upstairs and she lives downstairs with the kids. I feel very bad for his kids, I can’t imagine having to deal with him all of the time. DN1 asked his mom to put in her will that if something happens to her he wants to live with Aunt Cheryl NOT with Daddy. I try to keep my mouth shut but I won’t subject my children to his insanity.

So we were off to ride rides. Eric realized he left the cell phone in the car so he went back to get it (luckily we were still by the back entrance where we parked). While he was gone Nick and I hopped on the Witches Wheel.

Ryan didn’t want to go and is too short (it has a height requirement of 54” and he is only 53”). He waited on a bench while Nick and I rode.

Eric returned so off we went to ride!! How about the Matterhorn? No.

Scrambler? No.

Wildcat? No

Iron Dragon? No.

At this point I called my parents to check if we could bring Ryan to them, he is too tall for many of the kiddie rides but he can push the stroller.

Ryan doesn’t want to go with Grandma and Grandpa.

We stand around for a while debating what to do.

We discuss with Ryan that we want to ride something, everything has the potential to be scary but you have to deal with it.

All of the rides are safe.

Ughh…

Finally we head over to the Dodgems. Yes, he will ride – if Mommy rides with him. Okay!

We had a great time but the car was a tight fit and I ended up getting my leg slammed against the steering wheel once when we were rammed.

We then headed over to the Cadillac Cars. Ryan again wanted to ride with me but Nick said it was his turn. So off we went.

Here is where I really missed WDW. As you are riding in the car you can see all of the other rides, there is some theming (you drive under and through a covered bridge, there are some old fashioned signage) but you can also see the Raptor, Turnpike Cars, Calypso, etc… If this was WDW you would really feel like you were back in the old days driving along. Oh well.

Next we headed over to the Derby Downs. It is a carousel on steroids. There are 4 horses per row and they “race”. So you go up and down AND back and forth.

Quickly. Ryan insisted on riding on my horse with me (they are designed for 2 riders). Right before the ride started he panicked and wanted to get off.

Too late! He loved it.

We had to ride it again and he wanted to keep riding!! All you have to do is give it a chance!!!!

At this point we headed back towards the Red Garter Saloon to eat. Nick wouldn’t eat anything on the menu.

Nothing.

So he had a soda. I had a “club” sandwich (ham, turkey, cheese, & lettuce), Eric had a pulled pork sandwich (both of our sandwiches included a pickle spear and a bag of chips), Ryan had the Cheesy Nachos and a soda (Eric and I drank water). Our bill was $29.87 plus tip.

Ryan in the stockade

We headed to the back of the park. Nick spotted a funnel cake shop so we stopped to get one (not a very nutritious lunch I know

). Can we ride Thunder Canyon? No.

Snake River Falls? No.

We stopped to watch the people on the bridge at SRF get soaked. It was warm outside but these people were getting soaked.

It looked like a tsunami hitting the bridge! No thank you! Finally we jumped on the Wave Swinger. It looks like a bunch of baby swings hanging in a circle. Ryan was fine until the ride started.

As we lifted up he started to work himself up. You lift up a few feet and then start to gently go in a circle. Okay the ride was fun! Not as bad as he thought!!

We hit the Antique Cars (just like the Cadillac cars). I rode with Ryan. Nick let Daddy ride with him, but he had to sit in the backseat! Poor Eric.

Poor Daddy is not allowed to ride in front

Ryan will ride BTMR at WDW so we hopped on the Mine Ride

(they had just reopened it so there was no line – unfortunately Ryan had seen the ride stuck earlier). As we were waiting on the platform Ryan turned around to look at the track.

In the background you can see the 125 foot hill of the Gemini (dual racing coaster, wooden with steel tubular track). Since the Mine Ride is also wooden he freaked out thinking they were the same ride.

I tried to explain that the tall hill was a different ride, then the idiot in line behind us says “It IS this ride” CAN I REPEAT IDIOT??? I say in my calm voice “That hill is part of the GEMINI, not part of this ride. Are you going to believe your mother who loves you or the noisy ignorant person behind us who OBVIOUSLY has no idea what they are talking about?” Needless to say we didn’t ride.

We walked through and ended up waiting for Eric and Nick. How frustrating. I can feel evil Mommy lurking below the surface. I want to ride!! Is this what Disney is going to be like????

Then I took a deep breath. It is going to be fine.

Ryan is not going to ride.

But Nick, Eric, and I can still ride.

Ryan was in tears and wouldn’t stop.

I told him he needed to calm down or he would have to write a 5 paragraph essay when we got home on proper public behavior (assigning essays is one of my punishments – I find it very effective

). Nick wanted to ride the Mean Streak (one of the tallest, fastest and steepest wooden roller coasters in the world. At 161 feet tall with speeds of 65 mph it lasts almost 3 minutes!!! I

love

this ride!!!) and it only had a 30 minute wait so we left Eric and Ryan and we went to ride.

The woman in front of us chatted with me through the line. This usually irritates Nick but he was fine, he even responded to questions her 8 year old had.

I pretty much learned this woman’s life history in 30 minutes.

How funny! Her husband and the 8 yr old’s twin brother do not like to ride the big rides and were on the Dodgems. I think this is part of our problem, Eric and I BOTH love the big rides. When we were planning a family we wanted an even number to facilitate riding on the rides. Even Nick enjoys the thrill rides!

We took the train back to the center of the park. I have to admit CP has a superior train ride; there is so much to look at and they have a lot of theming along the train track.

I wish MK would do more with their train ride. We then walked over to the Sky ride and rode that to the front of the park. Ryan started off fine but was almost hyperventilating by the end.

Ryan wanted to ride the carousel but Nick refused. We headed over to Disaster Transport but they had a 60 minute wait.

Everyone was starting to get cranky because of Ryan so I decided we would head over to the Extreme Sports Stadium for the 3:00 show. We had a blast! There were skateboarders, bicyclists, gymnasts, and rollerbladers. Very action packed. We had never seen Tarzan Rocks and I really regret it, I wish Disney had something like this. The boys (all 3 of them) were entranced.

After the show the boys wanted Icees so we stopped at the Create Your Own Icee stand.

They each got a cup ($6) and could fill it with whatever flavor Icees they wanted. Eric and I went to a bar in DC once (I think it was called Fat Tuesdays) and they had a wall of Icce like machines, yummo!!

They had Cherry, Watermelon, Lemon/Lime, Blue Raspberry, Grape, and Orange flavored Icees. Eric grabbed a fresh cut French Fry for himself and a glass of water for me (just like WDW the water was free).

We headed back to Disaster Transport (an indoor roller coaster – it has some minimal theming, the old Avalanche Run enclosed). I like this ride.

The queue area is air conditioned and is lit up with blacklights. Just inside the door they were selling glow necklaces with skulls ($7). Ryan and Nick both wanted one, Nick said they would be cool to wear at Fantasmic.

He obviously knows the way to his mom’s heart!

We waited about 45 minutes for our turn. Ryan again panicked and refused to ride.

Okay, I had been pretty confident this would happen. I asked the ride attendant if there was a chicken exit. Yes, right over

I told Ryan to go out the exit and we would meet him at the end of the ride. When Eric realized what I had done he almost had a heart attack.

I guess I should have discussed this with him beforehand.

Ever since I read Cam’s trip report and she talked about Stephanie waiting for her and Luke to ride it has been swirling around in my mind. Ryan in almost 9, there is no reason he cannot wait a short time without us.

At the end of the ride Eric hustled down to find Ryan who was happily checking out everything while waiting for us.

Once Eric realized Ry was fine and not traumatized he was ok.

We headed back to the Iccee station for $3 refills and then over to Ocean Motion.

Ryan very reluctantly got on the ride with tears in his eyes.

Now that he has the freedom to wait for us why does he have to ride?? Ocean Motion is basically a pirate ship that rocks back and forth. Nick wanted an end row (so we would go higher in the air) but I picked a middle row (so we wouldn’t go as high for Ryan’s sake). Once again Ryan enjoyed himself after all.

Then we headed back to Derby Downs for another horse race. Great job Ryan!

Ry wanted to go on the turnpike cars so we headed back that way. The Blue Streak had no line so we parked Ryan on a bench in the shade and the 3 of us went to ride. Ryan

I love the Blue Streak, it is an old fashioned wooden coaster that jars your head off of your shoulders and bounces you all around!

Excellent ride!! Nick prefers the newer smoother coasters but still had a good time.

We hit the cars and Ryan got to drive Mom. Eric and Nick each drove their own car. Ryan wanted to ride the Calypso so we did that next. I’m not a fan of rides that spin but I don’t have a problem with them. Ryan got off the ride and was stumbling around like a drunk!

It was dinner time so we headed over to the Joe Cool Café.

Nick and I split a pepperoni pizza, Eric had a plate of pasta, and Ryan had the mild boneless wings. The boys and I had root beer floats to drink.

Ry and Eric ended up trading plates half way through their meal (the wings were too hot for Ryan and Eric loves hot wings). Nick and I made a good dent on the pizza. I felt bad because our pizza order was misplaced and we had to wait a long time, poor Nick hasn’t really had anything to eat all day (except for the funnel cake). Dinner was $51 plus tip. While we were eating my mom called to let me know they were home.

She said my brother had ended up losing the kids and getting angry (should I say angrier?).

She and dad were exhausted from chasing after DN2 & DN3 (they are 1 and 3 years old). Since they have APs for Cedar Point they didn’t mind watching the boys or not riding the rides.

The boys each wanted to try a couple of the Midway games so we headed over there to throw away some money. Neither of them won. Surprise, surprise.

Nick started to get upset but I was able to help him get back under control (an 8 paragraph essay on the risks associated with gambling?

).

We headed back over to Derby Downs for yet another race. I wanted to ride the Paddle Wheel and Eric wanted to ride the Maverick so we headed towards the back of the park. We stopped to watch Top Thrill Dragster for a few minutes.

Ryan spotted the Super Himalaya. I acted as if I wouldn’t ride it so he insisted we all go on.

He laughed the entire time. He held his hands up in the air to insure that he smashed against me.

He wanted to ride again but I wanted to get to the paddle wheel ride. On our journey we walked by a sno cone stand and a frozen fruit ice stand. The boys wanted a snack but I said not until we are ready to leave.

While waiting for the boat we debated what to do. Eric was willing to skip the Maverick and we were very near the exit where we were parked so we agreed to leave after the ride.

It was fun, the captain tells corny jokes (like on the Jungle Cruise but without the excellent theming).

After the ride we walked back for the frozen treats for the boys.

Eric went to the restroom and we watched Top Thrill Dragster some more. Where is that water coming from? Oh, it is drizzling.

Big, black rain clouds are rolling in off of Lake Erie.

Glad we are leaving!

Rain clouds near the Top Thrill Dragster

It took 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot, 40 minutes to get home. We got home around 10:00.

I have to say we had a good time. We agree that Ryan can wait for a short time by himself.

If there is a long wait he can wait in line with us an then take the chicken exit. Ryan was surprised by how much he enjoyed the rides.

Nick had a good time but lectured us on the way home about the quality of the park in comparison to WDW.

Nick loves the audio animatronics at WDW and he discussed those (in detail) during the car ride. Sometimes he just cracks me up.

Kristen C. · 08-05-2008, 12:45 PM

Glad you got to have some pre vacation fun...LOL! I know how you feel, My DH & I are both adreniline junkies when it comes to park atractions, unfortunatly only 1 of our DS's is like us....DS2 hates coasters or anything too fast or scarey.
I have the same problemwhith my DB.....he was fine with his ex-GF until he recently got married, now she is the worlds worst mom...BLAH<BLAH<BLAH. I told him she was good enough to spend 5 years with and have a DD with, granted not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree...LOL

B.M. · 08-05-2008, 02:10 PM

Sounds like a great day! We have a similar ride problem with my oldest son (11). When we went to Disney I allowed him to wait out some rides and he did fine with it. I did similar to you- If the line was more than a few minutes, I made him go thru the line with us and then use the chicken exit so that he was never by himself for long periods of time.

mousestruck · 08-05-2008, 02:12 PM

All caught up! Wow... you have been one busy beaver! Love the Christmas in July celebration and those snowglobes. We started a snowglobe collection and have them displayed together, but I really like how you've scattered yours among the books. I'll have to consider a re-arrangement! Sounds like you had fun park excursion before WDW. Hope your Disney stash is beefing up and you're getting excited!