We decided we needed something a little less dark, noisy or scary. So, we piled onto the raft and headed for Tom Sawyer's island--where we immediately explored a dark, scary cave. Sarah, Dave and I did, anyway. Scotty opted for a potty break, which was probably wise.
For all the high-tech thrills at Disney World, I really enjoy the laid-back charm of TSI. I find it hard to resist the simple charm of exploring caves, forts, rope and barrel bridges, etc. Our kids seemed to take to it right away. They liked finding little spots like Harper's Mill or the windmill, and loved making the bridges bounce. All of that paled in comparison to Fort Langhorn, however.
You can't beat forts. Especially when they have mounted guns that make firing noises when you pull the trigger. And you can aim them at the Liberty Belle or the trains on Thunder Mountain. This was only a single-shot rifle, but Dave somehow managed to make it sound like an automatic weapon as he pumped a runaway train full of lead:
We exited the fort through the Escape Tunnel. Sarah took one look at the sign and said, "Es-KAH-pay...hey! That's spelled like escape!" I was so proud.
Scotty, of course, was scared the whole way through the tunnel.
But we finally found something he liked--bouncing on the barrel bridge. (insert sigh of relief here)
Back on the mainland, it was time to use our Peter Pan Fast Passes. I offered to take anyone to the Haunted Mansion as we passed, but...oddly enough, no takers on that one.
We did manage to take the first of our many Stupid Hats Pictures©.
We made it to Peter Pan, and Scotty and Dave proudly hopped aboard a ship by themselves, rode with no issues, and immediately announced they would ride again.
Would you believe they sat in indifferent silence?
All right, how about: hands over the ears and cowering in fear? Sigh. Julie rode with Scotty and I had Dave and Sarah in my flying ship. With great reluctance, we found ourselves entering PINHEADS mode (Parental Idiocy Necessary to Help Ease the Anxiety of Dave and Scotty). You've been there before. You start acting as though the ride is the greatest highlight of your life: "Oh wow! There's Peter Pan! And Wendy!" "Hey, the pirates are firing at us! Let's shoot back! (followed by finger-pointing gestures and pathetic 'kapow' noises)" "Hey, there's Neverland!" "Yay, Peter beat Captain Hook!" "There's the alligator, isn't that funny? (over-the-top-maniacal-laughter)". Basically, we acted like idiots.* It worked, too. No tears, although we did get the hands over the ears again. You know, just in case it was loud.
*(Note: don't leave your camcorder running when in PINHEADS mode. Otherwise, your commentary will be recorded forever, and you will sound like a dork. Your friends will tease you mercilessly for this when watching your home movie later. Not that this has ever happened before.)
That was enough of Fantasyland. On to Tomorrowland. The boys really wanted to try the Tomorrowland Racers. 7 mph of unbridled mild-breeze-in-your-hair speed as you slam repeatedly into a guide rail. Pardon me for my lack of enthusiasm. Anyway, the wait time was listed at 30 minutes, which felt about 30 minutes too long. I asked Sarah if she was ready to try Space Mountain, but she backed away and said maybe Friday (which would be our 2nd day at MK). Allrighty then. How about Buzz Lightyear? Yes! That was acceptable.
The line there was 30 minutes, so we got Fast Passes and then went straight into the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. None of us had ever seen this show before.
And we loved it! Unfortunately, none of us was chosen to be That Guy, but it got solid approval from every member of the family. From there, we jumped right onto Buzz Lightyear, where I beat everyone out with my high score of 153,000. (Hat tip to carrollchristoph, who told me about the 100,000 point target on the robot's wrist in the first room)
We stumbled onto a few characters. The line to meet Buzz was too long, but Stitch had no one around him, so the kids went right up and met him. Then Scotty spotted them: Chip and Dale.
Somehow, Scotty fell in love with C&D on our cruise last year. It was probably the channel on the TV that played old Disney cartoons incessantly. They've been his favorites ever since. He had gotten Chip and Dale stuffed animals with
DCL uniforms on them, and on this trip he was determined to also get "Naked Chip and Dale".
The characters were terrific with the kids. Here, Chip tries on Dave's sunglasses:
My parents had left earlier while we were waiting in the character lines and we'd agreed to meet them in Adventureland. So, we marched straight to the Hub...
...and straight into the roped-off Celebrate Vague Achievements Parade, or whatever it's called. D'oh! Time to head through Fantasyland and see if we could get around it.
"You're going the wrong way!" someone called.
How would he know where we're going? I wondered. We got through Liberty Square, heading for the cut-through to Adventureland, but no dice: the parade was heading this way, and was roped off here, too. Double D'oh!
I know, lots of people like the parades. My feeling is (and my kids have caught this from me), parades are there to distract people while I go on more rides with less lines. In any case, we were stuck here, so we watched and the kids had fun waving to the characters.
By this time it was mid-to-late afternoon and hot as blazes outside. Snack time. And by snack time, I mean it was time for a Dole Whip, the Official Snack of the DIS Dads Club ®.
True confession time: In my nearly 36 years of life, I had never had a Dole Whip. (hanging head in shame) After hearing so much praise about them here on the boards, this had to be rectified. I was excited but nervous, hoping they hadn't been over-hyped too much for me to enjoy it. And...
Oh, Sweet Nectar of Life. How have I gone so long without this? Best. Use. Of. A. Snack. Credit. Ever.
Ahem. We met up with my parents and decided there was no way in you-know-what that the boys would go on POTC, so Julie and I took Sarah there while my parents took the boys to the Magic Carpets. Then we hit the Jungle Cruise. Our guide was decent, but pretty much stuck to the script and over-sold the jokes. To be fair, I believe we were the only people who spoke English as a first language on the boat, so it was a tough crowd. My parents said they had ridden it earlier with a guide who got to the cave and announced, "Well, I have no idea where this goes. Here, kid, you steer," and handed the controls to a kid.
We were all pretty beat at this point, nearing the end of the day. On the bright side, we'd hit almost everything in MK in one day. While it had felt crowded (and there was a
MNSSHP later that evening), it wasn't so bad that we were stuck in lines. The adults still wanted to do the Haunted Mansion even if the kids didn't, so my parents watched the kids while Julie and I did the ride, and vice versa. One of those famous 10-minute Florida afternoon showers hit while we were in line for the ride. It was weird going in while it was sunny and dry, and walking out and seeing the ground completely wet.
We'll come back with a short update to wrap up our day with dinner and some miscellaneous pictures, but in the meantime, I'll leave you with another Stupid Hat Picture©.
Coming Up Next: Do I really need to spell this out? Liberty Tree Tavern. And we get to try out our new travel tripod! Is that exciting or what?
(cut us some slack, we're from Delaware. Not much happens here)
I could claim my lack of talent there on the fact that movies are shown dubbed into German here in Germany (not a custom I approve off!), but seriously quotes are one of the few things I can't remember very well... 
I guess I'm probably disqualified from getting points though. 
