Damian's Disney Surprise

Last Saturday started out like any other regular Saturday around the Drucker house. Michael and Damian headed out to run some work errands and Madelyn and I went to the grocery store. Damian knew the two of us were going to go on a special date that night but he thought we were going to go to Zaxbys and the library. Little did he know what I had planned!


The day before Damian asked Michael’s mom, Susan, to come over and look at “the world’s biggest train track.” It literally went from the play room through the guest room down the hall and into Damian’s room. It was pretty impressive! Damian asking her to come over and it couldn’t have worked out any better. About 1:30 she came over to see it. Right after she got to our house Buzz Lightyear called and said he left something for Damian outside because he didn’t have enough time to come in. Outside Damian found this…

Dear Damian,


The universe needs our protection and I called upon my best space ranger for help. I have a very special mission for you, Damian. My sensor indicates Zurg is in the area on an evil mission to take down Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney World. This is a huge intergalactic emergency that will call for my best space rangers help for the mission. I need you to get down there immediately and save the party. I have a jet waiting for you, your mommy and both of your grandmothers so please go quickly. When you arrive at the Orlando airport please go straight to Chef Mickey’s for a good dinner to have big, strong muscles for your mission. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald have missed you and can’t wait to see you. Please be in the park at 8 to save the party and the rest of the planet from Zurg. If you are able to beat Zurg you will be invited to go to the Mickey’s Christmas Party. Good luck, Damian. I will see you in the morning. To Infinity, and Beyond!


Buzz Lightyear


As I was reading the letter to him he had the biggest smile on his face and was dancing and squealing. He couldn’t believe it. He was the happiest kid in the world until he asked one little question… “Mommy, how are we going to get there?” When I told him we were going on an airplane he lost it. He is scared to death of heights and was petrified. He had a complete nuclear meltdown for about five minutes and then came around. He just had one request… how was Cheezers (our Elf, yes, I know he came up with a really odd name) going to report his behavior to Santa if he didn’t come with us? Plus, if he flies to the North Pole every night to see Santa he must be an expert at flying. Since Damian can’t touch Cheezers I put him in my purse. So, Susan, Damian, Cheezers and I headed off to the airport.

Once we got to the airport we ran to the bathrooms and when we came out we met my mom. Damian was very happy to see her. We were early so we grabbed a bite to eat before we boarded the plane. Damian was so cute getting on the plane. When we were walking on he said hi to the pilot and he invited him in to see the cockpit. He thought all of the buttons were cool. We then went and found our seats. While we were waiting to take off Damian kept wanting to know if we were flying yet. I thought he could break down after taking off and held my breath waiting to see if he would be ok. When we did take off he loved it. He made me switch seats with him so he could see out the window. He kept saying the cutest things that had everyone around us laughing. When we landed he loudly exclaimed, “That was a fantastic landing Mr. Pilot!” I guess he thought one flight made him a flying expert!

Once we got our car (which by the way was pretty awesome, it was a Cadillac DTX. It cost the same amounts of points as the cheapo car so why not get the pretty one?) we headed straight to Chef Mickey’s. We did take a wrong turn on the highway which made Damian say, “Mommy, did these old ladies already get us lost?” It was pretty funny. When we got to the Contemporary we were right on time. We only had to wait about five minutes before we were seated. Damian was the exact same way he was when we were there in October, he loved it! He gave all of the characters big hugs and they were all so nice. Actually, Minnie was not very nice. We were there late and she obviously wanted to get off work. She literally posed for one picture as she walked by. I don’t pay those ridiculous prices for the food. I pay those ridiculous prices for my child to see his favorite characters and when they are rude it makes me really mad. Damian really didn’t notice. If he had then I would have thrown a fit. After dinner we rode the monorail to get our tickets for the next morning. We did get to watch part of Wishes which was nice. I LOVE Wishes and was happy to see the regular version. We got our tickets and headed to the hotel.

We stayed at the SpringHill Suites and it was very nice. The beds were soooo comfy and it was very clean. It was perfect for our trip. The best part about it was that it was free! We literally slept and showered on the room only. We all fell in the bed and were ready to wake up bright and early to hit the Magic Kingdom.

The next morning we were all going bright and early. My mom and Susan ate breakfast at the hotel and Damian kept telling them to hurry up we had to go quickly. Actually, Damian wasn’t able to attend… Buzz Lightyear went with us! He takes going to Disney World very seriously and wore his Buzz costume. Both of us were happy to get back in the Magic Kingdom. I’m the first to admit that I LOVE that place. I’m definitely hooked. When we got there we immediately went to ride Buzz. To say the park was empty was an understatement. There was no one there. We rode Buzz a few times and only a few other people were on it with us. I read online where the big targets are so I did great. My husband would have been jealous!  We then headed to Fantasyland to ride Winnie the Pooh. Just like Tommorowland it was empty too. We rode Buzz, Winnie the Pooh twice, It’s a Small World, Snow White and the Haunted Mansion all within our first hour in the park. It was amazing. We grabbed a snack and sat down to eat in Adventureland. I have the wait time app on my Iphone and noticed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had no wait so I headed over to ride. I literally walked right on a train that was only 1/3 full. That will probably never happen again in my life. I was back to them before Damian even finished his popcorn. It was crazy seeing Splash Mountain with all of the boats coming through empty. Maybe one in five boats would have two or three people. It was crazy empty! We rode a few more things and then Damian started to melt down. My child usually requires no sleep, but he was exhausted. I had paid for regular admission for the two of us plus our party tickets so you couldn’t have pried me out of the park. Susan took him back for a couple hours and my mom and I rode.

My mom and I got a ton of rides in. My mom even rode Space Mountain! I kept asking to make sure she was still alive! She really wanted to go into the Hall of Presidents so after everything she rode for me I went with her. Surprisingly, I really liked it. When we went in it was sunny, but apparently while we were in there it poured. We walked out and it was sunny again. By that time Damian and Susan were on their way back so we went to meet them.

We met up with Damian and Susan at the dock entrance to ride the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge. That is one hotel I debated staying at next year and I’m really glad I got a better look at it. I much prefer the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It is close, but the boat can take a long time. I would love to stay at a monorail resort, but that is more than I would like to pay. We do have to eat the rest of the year! Damian enjoyed the boat ride and kept pretending the first mate was Captain Hook.

We had dinner at the Whispering Canyon Lodge. Our reservations were for 5 (opening time) and there were a ton of people there. Damian played with Lincoln Logs while we waited and was in such a good mood. The restaurant was really fun. It is a “rude” restaurant. For example, one man was talking on his cell phone and a waiter went over and yelled to the entire restaurant, “Excuse me everyone, this man is talking on his cell phone so can you please be quiet?” It was funny. Damian really got into it. They even got little play ponies out and let the kids ride them around the restaurant. It was definitely a fun place. We finished and rode the boat back over to the Magic Kingdom.

I was very disappointed in the Very Merry Christmas Party. It was nothing compared to Halloween. I guess Halloween is much more of a “party” holiday. The castle looked gorgeous, but I expected everything else to be covered in lights. I was wrong. It was pretty, but Disney usually goes above and beyond. The park was empty so we rode a ton of rides.

I had a feeling there would be a dance party in the Diamond Horseshoe and I was right. Woody and Jessie were there waiting on Damian. They were the nicest characters we have ever met. Woody was following Damian around to dance with him. It was so cute. He had the biggest smile on his face. Damian was so shy around Jessie. Jessie kissed him in October and I knew that had something to do with it. He got over his shyness quickly and he must have kissed her 20 times. She was so sweet! She would kiss him and then put her hands on her face like she was embarrassed. He must have stood there kissing Jessie for ten minutes.

We went back to ride Winnie the Pooh and while we were riding he bottom fell out. We went in the connecting gift shops and I spent $16.00 on two ponchos. Can you say rip-off!? I got Damian’s on and was putting mine on when the skies cleared. I’m just going to keep them in my book bag for when we go back. Hopefully, I’ll never need them! We rode Buzz and then went to watch Wishes. I didn’t like it nearly as much as the regular Wishes. After that Damian was tired so we left. The party was a lot of fun, but Halloween was much better.

I can honestly say that I love Disney World! I’m so excited for Madelyn to go next year. She has already changed so much from when she was there in October so I know she is going to really get it next year and have fun. I’ve already got all sorts of princess things planned for my princess! We had a really great trip. We had fun with both grandma’s and will definitely never forget our 48 hour Disney World extravaganza!