After Rock N Roller Coaster, we headed over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground to gather the family and eat some lunch. We were standing right by the stroller parking when what I can only assume were 2 little sparrows came flying by, missing my face by about 8 inches. I say I can only assume they were sparrows since all I saw flashing in front of my eyes were brown feathers and scenes from my life.
Since the Studio Catering Company is right there, we decided to have lunch. A place, I found out the
next day, that offers a 10% discount for DVC members. See kids? It pays to do your homework.
Oh, and the pulled pork sandwich was quite good.
After lunch, we walked over to the Monsters Inc Meet & Greet area, but only Mike was there. We were told that Sully would join him in about 45 minutes, so we walked over to where Lightning McQueen and Mater were waiting for us.
She's striking some kind of pose. What, I'm not sure. But it is some kind of pose.
We played in the HISTK playground for a few more minutes before going back over by the Monsters, Inc fellas, when the kids got a
very big hug
It may have been just a bit too big for Evan, because he would rather have Mom in the next picture with him.
By now it was getting about time to find a good spot for Block Party Bash. We contemplated sitting by the American Idol Experience and waiting for the second "show", but found some room over by the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Blvds. This would give us a head start to get over to the 4:00 show of Beauty and the Beast.
The Block Party Bash was fun - Madison got up and danced while Evan sat in my lap and just about fell asleep. Bambi noticed him doing his pre-sleep wiggling and took him away from the crowd to get a little nap in. And by "little nap" I mean he slept for probably 2 hours.
Bambi pushed him around in the stroller while she did some shopping. Grandma, Grandma, Madison and I took in the Beauty and the Beast show.
We met up again after wards and ran into Otto Von Bonn Bahn ("Director, und Genius!") setting up a casting call with Dorma Nesmond (seen below) and Paige Turner (not pictured).
Madison has been a fan of Otto's since our trip in Decmber of '08, when we was doing some streetmospher performing before Block Party Bash.
The premise of today's show was that Otto was casting the leading lady for his next film. Dorma, Paige and a member of the audience were auditioning. He would give them a line to say, he would start the camera, and yell "Und....Action!" Well, one of those times, he gave someone a line, started the camera, yelled "Und..." but paused just a bit too long before he said action. At least Madison thought it was too long, because she yelled it for him. So, Otto brings Madison up, sets her in the director's chair and makes her the assistant director.
Was Madison loving the attention? Umm... yeah. Was she hamming it up? Oh yeah. After yelling "action" a few times, she got a bit bored so the next time Otto yelled "Und..." and put the megaphone in front of her, she yelled - and to this day we have no idea why - "Order Up!". Otto had a hard time containing himself, only able to say something to the effect of "I hate it when they're funnier than us."
So Madison's directorial debut was a success, but a bit rushed at the end. We had to clear the street quickly because the High School Musical set was rolling through. We watched that show, then exited the park to the Wilderness Lodge and Whispering Canyon Cafe for Evan's Birthday dinner.
It was now Bambi and Madison's turn to ham it up in matching Mother/Daughter dresses.
Waiting for dinner
Our pager went off, and we were promptly escorted to a table - in the back room. If you've never been to this restaurant, let me set the stage. It's loud, wild, very interactive and a lot of fun. There's always a lot going on, including stick horse races for the kids. I didn't even know this little extra back seating area existed. There were maybe 6 tables, and it was quiet and isolated. This was not going to fly on Evan's birthday. I politely but firmly told the seater that we wanted a table in the main dining area. I'm sure they've gotten this before, because he quickly lead us back to the front, where we waited another 10 minutes or so for a better table.
Evan getting excited over the dozen or so straws that were thrown at us. You can see Grandpa's half empty bottomless milkshake in the foreground.
Be careful if you ask for too many refills on your ice tea. They start to think you're quite thirsty.
Mmm... cake
Our server, Rafael, asking for some of Evan's cake. Sorry, Rafael, that would be a no.
We had one problem during the stick pony races. Basically, a barrel full of stick ponies is wheeled out, every kid grabs one, and gallops around the dining room. We were sitting near the barrel, so Madison and Evan were some of the first kids to grab a pony and start riding around. However, instead of galloping back with the other kids that started out first, they came walking back dragging their sticks and looking all dejected. Turns out that a bunch of other kids cut them off.
The problem with raising nice, polite kids is having to deal with other kids that aren't.
I don't know if it was an off night or something, but the whole place just didn't seem quite a loud and crazy as the last time we ate her a few years ago. Maybe I inflated the memory in my mind.
Despite all that, the food was good, the kids had a
great time and Evan's 3rd Birthday was a success!
Coming up next: Nothing. Another quiet day with Grandma & Grandpa. But after that, it's the Beach Club Villas and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!