The Day I Became Doc McStuffins

TurtleMy kids love the new Disney Junior show, Doc McStuffins.  They love the characters, the songs, and even the lessons about staying healthy.  Of course, the fact that the show has a plethora of toys for Doc to interact with doesn’t hurt.

I’ve written before about Doc’s father, but the other day, I felt like Doc herself.  The kids were getting ready for bed.  They were in their PJs, nighttime allergy medicine was taken, teeth were brushed and they were climbing into their beds.  As NHL picked out which toys he wanted to cuddle with that night, he let out a cry.  Something was seriously wrong.

I came to see what was the matter and he explained that his turtle’s leg was coming loose.  This was a turtle that he had won at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Dinoland party.  I checked the turtle out and immediately saw the problem: A busted seam.  It was bad, but completely fixable.  I reassured NHL, took the turtle with me, got my sewing kit and got to work.

Stitch

Pretty soon, the leg (fin?) was fixed.  The stitching might not have been as clean as the original, but I reinforced mine so that it would last.  Plus, it’s not really that noticeable unless you really look for it.

My only disappointment was that, in hindsight, I wish I had taken some photos of the busted seam and the sewing in progress.  My mind wasn’t focused on "This is a blog post in the making", though.  Instead, it was mainly focused on "I’m fixing NHL’s stuffed animal the way Doc McStuffins would fix a toy."

Yes, I channeled my inner Doc to get his toy feeling better.  And, yes, I was a little disappointed when the turtle didn’t leap up post-toy-surgery to sing "I feel better!"  Still, The appreciation from NHL when he saw his turtle was fixed beat any magical turtle serenade.

The #DisneySMMoms Report: Dinoland Party

Note: To see all of my posts on DisneySMMoms 2012, go here.

When we last left off, we were done with the speakers for the day.  As we had some time and as that night’s party would take place in Animal Kingdom’s Dinoland, we decided to head to Animal Kingdom early.

While there, we rode the Kilimanjaro Safari and looked at the flora and fauna around the Animal Kingdom.

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Of course, we also saw a very lucky bug.

Finally, it was time to head into Dinoland, USA for the party.  What awaited us was amazing.  First, Chester and Hester greeted us at Dinoland’s entrance.

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The tables had great centerpieces and the food was spectacular.  Of course, all that was only part of the party.  There were some great characters to meet:

characters

And there were four rides open for our enjoyment: Triceratops Spin, Primeval Whirl, Dinosaur, and Expedition Everest.

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The boys immediately wanted to ride the rides, so we didn’t even eat, but secured a spot and then split up.  B took NHL on Primeval Whirl (twice) while JSL (too short for that ride) went on Triceratops Spin with me.  Then, we switched.  NHL went on Primeval Whirl with me three times in a row.  We didn’t even have the leave the car since there was no line.  We just kept going around and around and around again.  By the end, I was ready to eat.  However, after taking a quick photo with some characters, NHL grabbed B’s father for another Primeval Whirl run.  (I don’t think he liked it at all.)

After JSL ate, B took him to something that we’ve never let the boys do before.  You see, in Chester and Hester’s, there are dinosaur-themed carnival games.  We’ve never let the kids play them because they usually require you to pay for each play.  ($2.50 a pop, I believe.)  For the party, however, they were free.

JSL came back to me so proud that he had won a turtle.

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After NHL finally stopped riding enough and ate some food, he and I joined in the game playing fun.

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In the end, NHL walked away with five stuffed animals.  One from each game he tried.  This would later become an issue when JSL complained that he only had 2.  (We still hear "NHL has more stuffed animals than me" to this day.)

Stuffed animal dilemma aside, the boys, B’s parents, B and I had a blast.  Disney sure knows how to throw a prehistoric party!

Disclaimer: We paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Though we were given an incredible deal from Disney, they never asked us to blog about this event. All opinions expressed above are my own.

The Luckiest Bug in Disney World

lucky-bug

Before I relate what happened at the Dinoland Party at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I wanted to relate the story of a bug.

Since we had some time before the party, we went to the Animal Kingdom, rode the Kilimanjaro Safari (where I saw some of the places I’d see on the Wild Africa Trek the next day), and then went to the front of the park to await the rest of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration crew.

While talking to some other DisneySMMoms attendees, a bug began to fly around us.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  After all, it was April in Florida.  We swatted at it and it fell to the ground.  This is where the fun began.

My father-in-law began egging the boys on to squish the bug, but I told them not to.  At this point, the bug wasn’t bothering them so I didn’t see any reason for them to go out of their way to kill it.  So instead, we watched it.  It walked away from us seemingly unable to fly.

Unfortunately, Animal Kingdom was closing and so people began to leave en masse.  Up came a group of about 20 people.  They were walking right for the bug.  Surely, it would soon be squished, right?  We watched in disbelief as foot after foot missed the bug.  A few came close, but always missed.  (Lest you think people were intentionally avoiding it, their eyes were fixed ahead on the exit and not on the bug underfoot.)

After the first group came another.  And another.  Feet after feet after stroller wheel after stroller wheel missed the bug.  We kept looking on in more and more disbelief.  This bug was defying all the odds and, I’ve got to admit, I found myself rooting for it.  There’s nothing like an underdog to gain my sympathy.

Sadly, the bug didn’t make it.  Eventually, someone came along and stepped on it.  Still, for a time there, that was the luckiest bug in all of Disney World.

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