This Bridge is Old, Like You! - A July 2017 and April 2018 TR *Completed + New TR Link Posted

[amazingact21]

Hi guys, hope you all had a good Memorial Day weekend. My family went to the Netherlands; we visited a cheese and clog farm where the kids got to feed some cows.




And Landon got to help make a clog:




We also bought cheese to bring home:




Then, we went to a theme park called Efteling.




The park itself was absolutely stunning.




My phone flew out of my pocket and into this pond on our first day:

(Thank goodness for the new Iphone’s water resistant technology.)


Alex got to ride several coasters, Evie enjoyed the panoramic view of the park from a high viewing platform, and Landon took us on ride after ride. The park was extremely lax with their height restrictions so similar attractions he couldn’t do at Disney were available to him here.

For example, the Halve Maen he convinced me to do 3 times. It was the largest swinging ship ride in Europe and its twin RC Racer over in Disneyland Paris has a 47 inch height requirement!!!



That’s us on the ride. Evie could have ridden, too, if we would have allowed her. That blows my mind!

The best part of the trip, though, was all the delicious food we got to try. I had a roast duck with gnocchi that was out of this world, and the kids loved all the snacks that were at their fingertips.

The winner, though? That was the stroopwafels:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Warm cinnamon-y dough with hot caramel in the middle. I might or might not have insisted we stop at a grocery store in Belgium and buy some pre-packaged ones for later.


Another tasty treat were the poffertjes:
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

They looked like tiny pancakes but tasted more like funnel cake. Alex was a big fan.

Overall, it was a fun getaway and a nice little glimpse in to what the Netherlands has to offer.


Okay, back to Disney!




Thursday, April 26th, 2018 Part 1:

My goal was to be on the road by 7:30, but in reality we didn’t leave until 8:15. Between getting the kids fed and changed and loading up the car, we fell behind and that put us arriving after park opening.

I couldn’t stay stressed about it, though. The weather was gorgeous and provided a very mellow atmosphere as we headed on our way.

f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Sixties, sunny, and no humidity. This was not the Florida I was used to! Absolutely perfect park weather.

We made it to the entrance sign without event:
f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


And since Landon slept through the grand arrival last summer, I turned around to capture his expression this time around.


Buddy!!!

Missed it, again.


We parked the car, lathered on half a bottle of sunscreen, and waited for a tram to arrive to whisk us to bag check.



Words can’t describe how happy I was to have Alex with me this time around!


When the tram began moving, I happened to glance at the people who had forgone the wait and were walking to the front and noticed a girl with BRIDESMAIDS written on her back.

“Aw, another bridal party’s here today. Fun!”

“And look, she’s wearing a navy top just like our group is.”



“Oh, maybe that’s because it’s Liz….hi Liz!” I started waving wildly to her from the tram.

I felt so dumb for not recognizing one of the other bridesmaids immediately, but at least we now knew some of others were already at the park and could say our hellos.


Bag check was a breeze as was the ticket window that Alex stopped by to activate our tickets. In no time at all we met up with Liz and a gigantic group of other people. My other sister in-law was there, as well, and she had brought her friend who was a Cast Member along. The other million guys and gals were friends from Minnesota. The bride and groom have lived in Minnesota for the past 4 years and therefore a lot of their friends and coworkers had come down for the wedding and ultimately wanted to visit Disney during their trip.

It was way, way, way more people than we anticipated. Alex and I thought it was just going to be the bridesmaids and groomsmen and their significant others. This was a lot. This was a swarm.

Those Brazilian tour groups had nothing on our bunch!

(The final count later in the day was 36 people total.)


Most people wanted to wait for stragglers before heading into the park, but Alex wasn’t okay with that. He told everyone we’d meet back up with them later and steered us through the tapstiles.




Leslie (the other sister) and her Cast Member friend came with us and when they asked what we wanted to do first, I told them we had to get a rental stroller for the kids. We had made the judgment call to leave our stroller at home and spend the money to get a rental one. That way there would be no arguing over who got which one and no stress getting it gate checked.


Leslie’s friend…I’ll call him J, offered to go with me and when we got to the front of the line he jumped ahead and showed some kind of credential that got him the double stroller.

For free.

Whaaaa?!

I thought he was going to get a discount and was prepared to pay him back, but he showed me the receipt and there it was.

Zero dollars.

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow! Did we really just get a 31 dollar stroller for free? This was amazing!!




I thanked J over and over…and over again. He was completely cool about it and kept assuring me that it wasn’t a big deal. Meanwhile, Alex was standing around getting antsy.

There was a time to talk and then there was a time to tour Epcot, and the time to talk was over.

He mentioned that Landon was old enough to try Test Track and J immediately ushered him on, saying: “Go! Have fun, I’ll see you guys later.”

Leslie needed to do something, so we left them by Spaceship Earth and made our way further into Future World. We grabbed a Rider Swap at the entrance to Test Track and then the boys went one way while Evie and I went another.

We were all finally back in Epcot together. Time to get the day going!



Up Next…One Must Always Wear Proper Attire when Meeting an Idol

 

[rdkeim]

Sounds like a fun start to your day! I would have loved the sunny but cool temps. Makes walking the parks so much easier and pleasant.

 

[missangelalexis]

SOunds like a nice time in the Netherlands! Stroopwafels are sooooo good!

A free stroller? That's awesome!! Can't wait to hear about your time in Epcot as a family

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Looks like you all had a lovely time in The Netherlands
Love me some stroopwafels too! Yum
Perfect park touring weather in Florida though I had to laugh when I saw poor Landon slept through the big entrance again! Lol

 

[SarahDisney]

That Netherlands trip looks fun!

Oh, Landon sleeping through the entrance sign again. I get it, he's conserving his energy for the parks, but ... he's missing part of the fun.

Yay for a free stroller! That's a really nice surprise.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Warm cinnamon-y dough with hot caramel in the middle. I might or might not have insisted we stop at a grocery store in Belgium and buy some pre-packaged ones for later.

That sounds devine!

Buddy!!!

Poor guy.... Missed it again. One day!

Words can’t describe how happy I was to have Alex with me this time around!

The whole family together!!! YEAH!!!

Most people wanted to wait for stragglers before heading into the park, but Alex wasn’t okay with that. He told everyone we’d meet back up with them later and steered us through the tapstiles.

Good for you! You would have gotten nothing done if you stayed all together.

Leslie’s friend…I’ll call him J, offered to go with me and when we got to the front of the line he jumped ahead and showed some kind of credential that got him the double stroller.

For free.

Whaaaa?!

So nice!!!

 

[SweetSerenity]

Aw, I want to hear more about the trip to the Netherlands!

 

[khertz]

Touring with such a big group can be so tough. We usually make the decision to go on with what we want to do as well. I hate standing around waiting for people and then talking about what to do next!

Pretty awesome about the stroller!

 

[amazingact21]

Sounds like a fun start to your day! I would have loved the sunny but cool temps. Makes walking the parks so much easier and pleasant.

The weather was perfect for our entire trip! On our last day, I don't think the temperature got past 65. However, I know a few weeks later it rained for 10 straight days in Orlando, so I know what we had was an anomaly.

SOunds like a nice time in the Netherlands! Stroopwafels are sooooo good!

A free stroller? That's awesome!! Can't wait to hear about your time in Epcot as a family

I can't believe I had never had a stroopwafel before. They seem to be more popular than I knew!

Looks like you all had a lovely time in The Netherlands
Love me some stroopwafels too! Yum
Perfect park touring weather in Florida though I had to laugh when I saw poor Landon slept through the big entrance again! Lol

The Netherlands was really nice and made for a very relaxing getaway.
I couldn't believe it when I turned around and saw Landon napping...one day he'll be awake when we go through the entrance!

That Netherlands trip looks fun!

Oh, Landon sleeping through the entrance sign again. I get it, he's conserving his energy for the parks, but ... he's missing part of the fun.

Yay for a free stroller! That's a really nice surprise.

He knew he had a long day of touring Epcot ahead of him! Hopefully one day I'll catch him awake when we go under the arch.
We were really appreciative of Leslie's friend helping us out with the stroller. Such a kind gesture.

That sounds devine!

Poor guy.... Missed it again. One day!

The whole family together!!! YEAH!!!

Good for you! You would have gotten nothing done if you stayed all together.

So nice!!!

Stroopwafels are now one of my favorite treats!
I couldn't believe Landon missed the entrance again!

We were the only people with kids, so staying with the group seemed very impractical. What they wanted to do and what the kids had in mind were two very different things.

Aw, I want to hear more about the trip to the Netherlands!

I wrote about the cheese farm and Efteling more in depth on my blog: An Awfully Big Military Adventure

Touring with such a big group can be so tough. We usually make the decision to go on with what we want to do as well. I hate standing around waiting for people and then talking about what to do next!

Pretty awesome about the stroller!

It was a little stressful having so many people there and that comes into play later, but overall it was fine. I'm not jumping to do it again anytime soon, though!

 

[Steppesister]

I'm positive I went to that same cheese and clog factory on a high school trip. It was really fun!!

Our teammates were from Holland while we were in Kaz, and would often bring us stroopwaffle when they come back from a visit home. Yuuuuuuuuum!! Once in a while when I'm at World Market I pick some up as an extra special treat. They told us that the Dutch put them over their hot cups of coffee so they get soft and melty before they eat them.

Missed it, again.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Words can’t describe how happy I was to have Alex with me this time around!

I can only imagine!

It was way, way, way more people than we anticipated. Alex and I thought it was just going to be the bridesmaids and groomsmen and their significant others. This was a lot. This was a swarm.

Those Brazilian tour groups had nothing on our bunch!

(The final count later in the day was 36 people total.)

There is only one proper response to that,

"See you all later on!"

Zero dollars.

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow! Did we really just get a 31 dollar stroller for free? This was amazing!!

That's fantastic and saved you a bundle - that you KNOW you're going to spend elsewhere!

 

[amazingact21]

I'm positive I went to that same cheese and clog factory on a high school trip. It was really fun!!

Our teammates were from Holland while we were in Kaz, and would often bring us stroopwaffle when they come back from a visit home. Yuuuuuuuuum!! Once in a while when I'm at World Market I pick some up as an extra special treat. They told us that the Dutch put them over their hot cups of coffee so they get soft and melty before they eat them.

Small world! It was called the Clara Maria farm if that makes a difference...
Every time I ordered a coffee they brought me a small stroopwafel with it, so I could see that.

 

[amazingact21]

Thursday, April 26th, 2018 Part 2:

When I last left you fine folks, Alex was walking Landon into the Test Track queue and preparing him for his first spin on the attraction. I wasn’t privy to this event – no big deal; I got to see the reaction on Big Thunder Mountain and that was enough for me – but from Alex’s account it earned an OKAY vote.

Alex said Landon was excited throughout the long wait:



And loved designing his vehicle. It was his favorite part of the attraction, which truth be told…I kind of suspected would be the case. He made the second fastest car and colored it bright pink.



That didn’t surprise me in the least. I didn’t need my hyper five year old to come running up to me, yelling, “I got to have a pink car!” to guess what he had chosen. Whatever was the loudest, most ostentatious, obnoxious color was going to be what my son wanted.


When it came to the actual attraction, Landon lost some of that gung-ho momentum he had going. Alex promised there was no screaming or crying but there was also a decidedly obvious lack of smiles and laughter.



The ride design was definitely the winning portion of Test Track, but in Landon’s words: “I’ll go through with Test Track again if I get to make a new car.”

All right, we can work with that.

Don’t any of you people tell him that he could do the design portion in the after area, either! He’ll learn that trick soon enough. Let us get a few more rides in on a fun coaster before that bubble is burst.



So that was the boys’ adventure. A short distance away my gal pal, Evie, was helping me peruse MouseGears with the hopes of finding some nice teacher appreciation gifts for Landon’s preschool instructors. His main teacher is a huge Mickey Mouse fan; I knew I’d like her from the start when at the class orientation I spotted a subtle hidden Mickey tattoo on her wrist. I tell anyone and everyone I can that she is one of the best preschool teachers out there. Landon has flourished in his education, his emotions, his gross motor skills…it’s all been amazing to watch and most of it is because he’s because of Ms. B.’s guidance. Therefore, it was very important to me to find her something nice as a thank you for all she’d done. I volunteered in the class once a week and made a point to scope out her desk to see what Mickey Mouse knickknacks and she had and what she might need.

With that knowledge in mind, Evie and I began the hunt!

Unfortunately, we kept getting distracted.



I let Evie try on that one and a Baymax pair and she wanted to stay and check out more of the selections, but my friend’s kid had gone through a lice ordeal a month ago and it has since shattered my illusion of head ware in stores.


Call me paranoid, but now that THAT possibility is lodged in my mind I can’t un-think about it.

Yuck.


We moved on and were stopped almost immediately by this beauty:


Think anyone would notice if Alex wore that tie to the wedding in two days’ time???


I seriously considered buying it for Alex, because I had a feeling it would be something he’d love. But he rarely has to wear ties (the perks of his job having a uniform) and we had splurged and bought him a nice new one for the ceremony.

Regretfully, I put the tie back and forgot to show the photo to Alex before we left the park. Had I done that and seen his reaction to it (“THAT’S AWESOME!”) I would have caved and bought the accessory. And then the wedding pictures would have been way more interesting.


I then moved on to toys (because that’s where all the gift ideas would be, of course) and looked at getting Evie another Animators series set since she loved the Belle one so much. It was there that Leslie and J found me and started looking around, as well. I began asking J questions about his job and his love of Disney and before long the goal of buying gifts was out the window.

J had recently switched from one position to a new one and was still in training. I’m not going to blast his personal information on the internet without his permission, so I’ll just say that his new job was at a swanky signature restaurant. I’ve never eaten there and wouldn’t dream of trying to take my kids at this point in their lives, and I was fascinated hearing about everything from how many wines were available to how busy the restaurant gets to what made that position better than the former he held.

I was basically being a big old Disney nerd, probably boring Leslie to death. However, J was forthcoming with his answers and was adding his own comments to the conversation so I don’t think I was pestering him too much.

This report kept up as we left MouseGears and walked over to the Starbucks to let me get a coffee. The line in the store was insane but was to be expected. I wasn’t the only guest needing their morning caffeine fix. (Okay, second dose. I had my first back at my mother in-law’s house.)


We got my drink and some waters and went back outside to find a shaded spot to sit while my coffee cooled by about a thousand degrees. By this point I had left Alex almost forty five minutes ago and was starting to get worried we would miss our 10:30 Fastpasses. I sent him a text and he replied that they were almost to car design spot.

Ouch.

Not having a Fastpass really hindered us on Test Track. It was another twenty minutes before Alex messaged me again and said they were on their way over to us. I’m sure having a Fastpass would have made the wait go a little faster, but honestly, when the rumored new Rider Swap system was announced the other day, all I could think about was how rare it is to get through a coaster in less than an hour. I kept thinking about this and how if the supposed 1 hour rule goes into effect, rides like Test Track will turn into a 1 parent attraction.

But that’s my little soapbox rant for the day. In truth, by the time we get back to Disney we could not even qualify for Rider Switch anymore. Evie’s already 36 inches and shows no sign of slowing!


Alex and Landon found my group and I promptly left him to man the bag while I went to do a quick wardrobe change on Evie. I had a suspicion about something and was curious to see if it would prove true…


When I walked back outside, the group had exploded. Everyone else had arrived, including the bride and groom. I said my hello’s to them, gave them hugs, and listened as everyone turned around and saw Evie and gave a big “Awwww."

Evie looked around and saw the attention directed at her, glanced down at her new outfit, then broke into a massive smile. THIS was the kind of stuff she liked at Disney. You want to take me on a dark ride? No way. You want to compliment my outfit? Go right ahead.


Alex and I had to give quick goodbyes to the group since our Fastpass was on the verge of expiring. We walked around the corner and into the Character Spot building, where we were about ten families back.

In order to mark the special meets, Evie had donned her Minnie Mouse dress:







The first character up was Mickey Mouse and only Landon was willing to say hi to him.

f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


Fortunately, Goofy watched as Evie squirmed uncomfortably in my arms and didn’t try to talk to her at all. Instead, he gave Landon a huge hug, some high fives, and posed for a picture.
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Near the end, Evie was acting like she interested but whined every time I asked if she wanted to say hello. It wasn’t until later in the day that I realized what Evie was up to, and I’ll get into that in another update. But needless to say it was ridiculous…


Minnie Mouse was the last character up and by some miracle, Evie was perfectly fine letting me walk up and stand next to her. She didn’t want Minnie to touch her, but when I pointed out to Minnie that they were both “rocking the dots” Evie grinned like mad and became the happy girl I knew her to be.




Hooray! We were on an uphill path to successful plush character interactions. Alex and I joked with each other as we walked out, “Guess Evie just needs to be wearing matching clothes to like meet and greets.”

I’ve probably got a future Disney bounder on my hands.


We walked back to our parked (free!) stroller and I asked Evie, “Do you want to change back into your regular clothes now?”

“Nooooo!”

Really? That polyester material had to be insulating the Florida heat and roasting her little body.

“I stay as Minnie Mouse, please!”

Alex shrugged. Whatever floats her boat.



When both kids were comfortable in the stroller and re-lathered with sunscreen, Alex began pushing them towards the World Showcase. It was after eleven o’clock so the countries were open and, more importantly, so were the food booths!

Along the way, I snapped my favorite photo of the trip:


This has no filters or editing to it. It was just that beautiful of a day out. It’s my new wallpaper on my laptop; I believe it perfectly captures what’s so beautiful about the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot.

Whatever I do for the rest of my life, I hope it includes many more days getting to stare at that sight…


We walked farther into the park and got to see more signs of the festival. Everything was bright, the colors popped, and there was an earthy floral smell about the place.

I loved it and couldn’t wait to see more.





Up Next…You Want to Eat AGAIN?!

 

[missangelalexis]

Evie is certainly a girl's girl!! Glad she warmed up to Minnie!

Along the way, I snapped my favorite photo of the trip:
View attachment 327606

This photo is gorgeous!!

 

[mommaof3boys]

“I stay as Minnie Mouse, please!”

A girl after my own heart! Life is always better when you are dressed like Minnie!

 

[MeghanEmily]

My family went to the Netherlands; we visited a cheese and clog farm where the kids got to feed some cows.

How cool!! Your kids are going to have the most amazing childhood memories.

(Thank goodness for the new Iphone’s water resistant technology.)

Wow! That could have been bad!

That’s us on the ride. Evie could have ridden, too, if we would have allowed her. That blows my mind!

And since Landon slept through the grand arrival last summer, I turned around to capture his expression this time around.

Baahaha!

“And look, she’s wearing a navy top just like our group is.”



“Oh, maybe that’s because it’s Liz….hi Liz!” I started waving wildly to her from the tram.

Those Brazilian tour groups had nothing on our bunch!

Oh my goodness!! This is so real!

Leslie’s friend…I’ll call him J, offered to go with me and when we got to the front of the line he jumped ahead and showed some kind of credential that got him the double stroller.

For free.

Whaaaa?!

I thought he was going to get a discount and was prepared to pay him back, but he showed me the receipt and there it was.

Zero dollars.

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow! Did we really just get a 31 dollar stroller for free? This was amazing!!

No. Way. That's amazing!! What an awesome sprinkling of pixie dust!!

That didn’t surprise me in the least. I didn’t need my hyper five year old to come running up to me, yelling, “I got to have a pink car!” to guess what he had chosen. Whatever was the loudest, most ostentatious, obnoxious color was going to be what my son wanted.

I love Landon's spunk!

but in Landon’s words: “I’ll go through with Test Track again if I get to make a new car.”

All right, we can work with that.

Haha whatever works!

I let Evie try on that one and a Baymax pair and she wanted to stay and check out more of the selections, but my friend’s kid had gone through a lice ordeal a month ago and it has since shattered my illusion of head ware in stores.

*shudder*

Evie looked around and saw the attention directed at her, glanced down at her new outfit, then broke into a massive smile. THIS was the kind of stuff she liked at Disney. You want to take me on a dark ride? No way. You want to compliment my outfit? Go right ahead.

What a cutie.

Minnie Mouse was the last character up and by some miracle, Evie was perfectly fine letting me walk up and stand next to her. She didn’t want Minnie to touch her, but when I pointed out to Minnie that they were both “rocking the dots” Evie grinned like mad and became the happy girl I knew her to be.

So nice! Of all the characters for her to warm up to, Minnie was an excellent choice based on her wardrobe alone.

Really? That polyester material had to be insulating the Florida heat and roasting her little body.

“I stay as Minnie Mouse, please!”

Alex shrugged. Whatever floats her boat.

This has no filters or editing to it. It was just that beautiful of a day out. It’s my new wallpaper on my laptop; I believe it perfectly captures what’s so beautiful about the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot.

This is soo beautiful. I love this view so much. You photo came out wonderfully.

 

[SweetSerenity]

That is a lovely picture!

 

[amazingact21]

Evie is certainly a girl's girl!! Glad she warmed up to Minnie!

This photo is gorgeous!!

She really is. And she's stuck with the most tomboy mom ever. Poor girl.

A girl after my own heart! Life is always better when you are dressed like Minnie!

Haha, Evie definitely likes dressing for the occasion.

How cool!! Your kids are going to have the most amazing childhood memories.

I love Landon's spunk!

So nice! Of all the characters for her to warm up to, Minnie was an excellent choice based on her wardrobe alone.

This is soo beautiful. I love this view so much. You photo came out wonderfully.

I sure hope living over here has shaped them into little world travelers.
Landon's personality sure is unique.

I've heard that Minnie is one of the easier plush characters for kids to warm up to since she's smaller than the rest. I do think that played a small part, but it was probably also because of the matching dress....

That is a lovely picture!

Thank you!

 

[khertz]

Aw, Evie in her Minnie outfit is precious! I'm glad she was game for a character meet even if it was only one of three characters and only because she was dressed like Minnie. lol

I love Epcot all dressed up for F&G! I'm so glad we got to check it out briefly that year we had APs. I've never seen Epcot more beautiful!!

 

[Steppesister]

Sounds like a lovely morning in FW! And yes, that photo is just lovely! Been far too long since I"ve been to WDW during F&G!

 

[paradesintherain]

Oh man, I just read through this whole report! Loved all of it, and reading about your adventures living abroad! I'm visiting Germany in September so would love any tips you want to send my way.

“Okay.” He stood up and gave Tinker Bell a big hug. Started to walk towards me. Then immediately ran back to her and wrapped his arms around her again.

“One more hug.”

This made me cry, for real. Actually reading it again to post this made me cry a second time. It's so sweet and pure!

Earlier this month, Alex’s father passed away so we had to fly back to the states.

I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope you and your family have found some comfort and healing.
That Disney day with him will be such a special memory to have

This is a really beautiful shot, way to go!