Written by Carrie B.
We woke on day two in the Davy Crockett ranch with a positive attitude and renewed energy. Maybe the magic that Disney promotes was finally breaking through the Paris stress that we had incurred at the half way point of the trip. Our plan for the day was to wake early in the morning and get to the park so we could be on the road to Belgium no later than noon.
Disney allows guests of their hotels to enter the park at 8am before any other people can arrive. We decided to take advantage of this magical perk to beat the lines and let the girls ride as many things as possible before we left. What a fabulous plan, right?
After another successful breakfast hunt and gorging ourselves with more croissants than we usually eat within a year, we packed up the car and drove to the park. Yes, we were actually close to getting there at 8am as planned...we were only an hour behind. Once we arrived at the park, Elise had decided that she wanted to brave the Tower of Terror and Grace and Ellie were very excited to go back and ride it for the second time. I wasn’t so sure that I was ready because the first time I rode it seven years ago I was scared to death. I have to admit that this was probably why I allowed Elise to back out of the ride the day before as I could feel my heart beating out of my chest while we were standing in line. But, since there was no doubt that she was feeling brave this time, I decided I needed to practice what I preach and be a risk taker along with her.
We walked up to the Disney Studios park and, can you believe it, the park wasn’t open yet! The girls were disappointed but we quickly turned their disappointment around by walking over to the main park. Unfortunately a lot of the rides were not running which made our early bird entrance to Disney not so productive. I would hope that Disney, being a family friendly park, has a panel of people with small children in a focus group that provide them with valuable information regarding early bird entrance. I would love to be a member of that panel and offer real life feedback such as if you promote opening the park early as a perk of staying at a Disney owned hotel, then maybe you should have all the rides running. That way parents can decide if we would rather have a lazy, relaxed morning versus racing out of the hotel early so we can beat the crowds. Believe me, children don’t want to get to Disney two hours before the park opens to shop in the souvenir stores...especially when their parents won’t buy them anything anyway.
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In the Davy Crockett Ranch with our
mess of dirty laundry |
Once we made it to the main park we stood in line for 20 minutes just to ride the carousel which was really uneventful for children that enjoy fast rides. By the time we were done with the carousel, Disney Studios was ready to open. On our way out of the park we stopped in one of those souvenir stores that I just spoke so kindly of and bought the girls sweatshirts. These weren’t bought so the girls could remember going to Disney Paris but out of pure necessity...they needed them because they were out of clean clothes to wear the next day. They had worn the same pair of pajamas for six nights in a row, their jeans and shirts more than once, and were down to their last pair of clean socks and underwear. We were desperate for clean clothes...even for Carrie and I. I figure this is another valuable lesson for the girls when they enter college...pack less and wear your clothes more than once.
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| Looking scared before the Tower of Terror |
Once inside Disney Studios the girls ran to the Tower of Terror and we were excited to see that there was only a 5 minute wait to get on the ride. Ellie held Elise’s hand while we were waiting in line and coached her through everything just as her mom had done to calm Grace’s fears the day before. Ellie made sure Elise was aware that the cobwebs were fake and the furniture was created just for the Tower of Terror as everything was staged and not real. Elise was taking in everything Ellie was telling her and although they wanted to sit next to each other on the ride, they both decided it would be safer if I sat between them. Honestly, I wasn't sure how it would be safer since I was more scared than both of them put together but I went with it! The ride wasn’t as scary as I remembered, in fact, the only reason I didn't like the ride before is because of the feeling I got in my stomach when the platform dropped which I learned on this trip is remedied by holding my breath. After the ride was over, we found the picture of us that they took right as we dropped for the first time and I laughed when saw Ellie looking straight at the camera with a huge smile on her face while I had practically crawled in to Elise’s seat making it look like there were empty seats to the right and left of her. See what I mean? I’m not so sure having me sit in between the girls was the "safe" option, especially when I just about smothered my 6-year-old out of fear. I stayed back to purchase the picture of us while Carrie took the girls to get in line for Crush’s coaster, a roller coaster that we didn’t do the day before (unfortunately it was closed due to technical difficulties). While I was walking to the coaster to meet the girls, I looked a little closer at the other people in the photo and laughed out loud at the girl in the middle row. I’m not sure I need to say much, you can look yourself...but let me just say I wouldn’t be surprised if her chin was bruised after the ride. Wow...talk about defying gravity!
After lunch, we said goodbye to Mickey Mouse land and got in the car for our drive to Antwerp, Belgium. Grace’s best friend in Norway, Anika, is from The Netherlands and her family has an apartment in Antwerp as a “home away from home”. Her mother had offered for us to stay in the apartment during our visit in Antwerp and Carrie and I were happy to take her up on the offer to stay in real accommodations with a washer and dryer.
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| Workbook time! |
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| Learning about Belgium |
The drive to Belgium was quick and uneventful...just as we like them to be! It took us a little over 3 hours and I drove then entire way while Carrie L typed about the previous days events so we could update the blog once we were settled inside. As soon as we opened the door to the apartment, the girls dropped their bags and immediately began playing with the toys they found in the children’s rooms. Carrie and I did the same, except it wasn’t toys that we dropped our bags for but our iPhones to see if there was a wifi connection within the apartment. Finally...a connection to the outside world provided by someone within the building. I wanted to find the owner of bbox2-0edc and give him/her a huge kiss for not password protecting their Internet connection which allowed us to hack in for free. It was nice to finally be in a place where we didn’t have to continually tell the girls to be quiet and allowed us enough room to spread out and relax.
We struggled with the idea of venturing out to find a place to eat or just ordering in but after seeing a Domino's menu on the kitchen counter we quickly decided on delivery. The places in the area near the apartment looked amazing...for young professionals without children. Carrie and I dreamed of being able to walk down to the bar/restaurant and sit outside by the water with a glass of wine. But, this wasn’t that kind of trip...you know, the kind where you relax and do whatever you want when you want to do it. Nope, we were slaves to a itinerary and to the three little children that were traveling along with us. Instead of joining the hip crowd around the corner, I poured a glass of wine and began sorting loads of laundry, which as sad as it sounds, made me just as happy.
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| Ice cream for all! |
While waiting for the pizza to arrive the girls got out their workbooks and finished the lesson on Belgium that they had started in the car. After filling up on pizza and the four containers of Ben and Jerry’s that we couldn’t resist ordering (to celebrate Carrie L's birthday of course), we relaxed in the living room while the girls retreated to the bedroom to watch several episodes of Good Luck Charlie. It was a very uneventful night but after all the Paris chaos it was exactly what we needed...Internet access, spacious accommodations and clean clothes. It’s the little things in life that make all the difference.
After another successful breakfast hunt and gorging ourselves with more croissants than we usually eat within a year, we packed up the car and drove to the park. Yes, we were actually close to getting there at 8am as planned...we were only an hour behind. Once we arrived at the park, Elise had decided that she wanted to brave the Tower of Terror and Grace and Ellie were very excited to go back and ride it for the second time. I wasn’t so sure that I was ready because the first time I rode it seven years ago I was scared to death. I have to admit that this was probably why I allowed Elise to back out of the ride the day before as I could feel my heart beating out of my chest while we were standing in line. But, since there was no doubt that she was feeling brave this time, I decided I needed to practice what I preach and be a risk taker along with her. 
We walked up to the Disney Studios park and, can you believe it, the park wasn’t open yet! The girls were disappointed but we quickly turned their disappointment around by walking over to the main park. Unfortunately a lot of the rides were not running which made our early bird entrance to Disney not so productive. I would hope that Disney, being a family friendly park, has a panel of people with small children in a focus group that provide them with valuable information regarding early bird entrance. I would love to be a member of that panel and offer real life feedback such as if you promote opening the park early as a perk of staying at a Disney owned hotel, then maybe you should have all the rides running. That way parents can decide if we would rather have a lazy, relaxed morning versus racing out of the hotel early so we can beat the crowds. Believe me, children don’t want to get to Disney two hours before the park opens to shop in the souvenir stores...especially when their parents won’t buy them anything anyway. 
Once inside Disney Studios the girls ran to the Tower of Terror and we were excited to see that there was only a 5 minute wait to get on the ride. Ellie held Elise’s hand while we were waiting in line and coached her through everything just as her mom had done to calm Grace’s fears the day before. Ellie made sure Elise was aware that the cobwebs were fake and the furniture was created just for the Tower of Terror as everything was staged and not real. Elise was taking in everything Ellie was telling her and although they wanted to sit next to each other on the ride, they both decided it would be safer if I sat between them. Honestly, I wasn't sure how it would be safer since I was more scared than both of them put together but I went with it! The ride wasn’t as scary as I remembered, in fact, the only reason I didn't like the ride before is because of the feeling I got in my stomach when the platform dropped which I learned on this trip is remedied by holding my breath. After the ride was over, we found the picture of us that they took right as we dropped for the first time and I laughed when saw Ellie looking straight at the camera with a huge smile on her face while I had practically crawled in to Elise’s seat making it look like there were empty seats to the right and left of her. See what I mean? I’m not so sure having me sit in between the girls was the "safe" option, especially when I just about smothered my 6-year-old out of fear. I stayed back to purchase the picture of us while Carrie took the girls to get in line for Crush’s coaster, a roller coaster that we didn’t do the day before (unfortunately it was closed due to technical difficulties). While I was walking to the coaster to meet the girls, I looked a little closer at the other people in the photo and laughed out loud at the girl in the middle row. I’m not sure I need to say much, you can look yourself...but let me just say I wouldn’t be surprised if her chin was bruised after the ride. Wow...talk about defying gravity! 
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