All We Want Is To Spend Halloween With Mickey! w/MiniTR Oahu Makapu'u Lighthouse 9/13

[khertz]

I know I had bugged you with some questions about a D.C. trip for next year, but we actually decided to go with a DL trip instead, so needless to say, I was excited to see this update! I just had to turn my laptop to the side so Paxton couldn't see your pics because we are keeping the trip a surprise from him. I know he's going to go nuts when he sees Carsland for the first time, just like your kiddos did!! So glad you were able to get everything to fallinto place timing wise. Looking forward to the rest. I really enjoyed all of your Hawaii pics on Facebook too...it actually had us looking into a Hawaii trip before we settled on DL.

 

[MEK]

Welcome back!

I'm glad to see you are doing a mini-TR from your California adventures.

Perfect planning, I might add. Getting to ride the Racers twice before 8am is so awesome. Love it! I think you did great with only 4 hours of sleep.

I, too, loved all your pics on FB! Hawaii looked wonderful.

 

[khaleesi]

Yay!!! I'm not the only one who was AWOL and really, really behind!!!

Radiator Springs looks amazing!!! What fun!!!

Generally, I loathe layovers but I'm digging your version!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I'm sitting here at work on a boring (knock on wood) morning and saying "Wow!" and "That's incredible!" out loud. Good thing there's no one here to hear me talking to myself.

---> Got a good chuckle out of that. What a view! I don't blame you!

Well, you may have had a late night but by the sounds of it, it was worth it. Great tip by the CM and a lot of organization, but seriously, twice on Racers by 7:50 am?? Score. Put that baby in the win column.
Thanks for the fantastic walk through of the ride too. I've seen pictures of it but never had a description of the whole thing. It sounds really, really, really amazing. (And I'm not even a Cars fan!) Fantastic pictures too, so like the movie. Cliche or not!
The whole Radiator Springs area looks really well done, just amazing. And so gorgeous at night!

Yep, I was so happy when we were going on Racers for the second time. I didn't know what the wait times would be like during that EMH hour so was prepared to be content going on stand-by just once then pulling a FP for later in the day.

Can't say enough good things about Carsland!

I know I had bugged you with some questions about a D.C. trip for next year, but we actually decided to go with a DL trip instead, so needless to say, I was excited to see this update! I just had to turn my laptop to the side so Paxton couldn't see your pics because we are keeping the trip a surprise from him. I know he's going to go nuts when he sees Carsland for the first time, just like your kiddos did!! So glad you were able to get everything to fallinto place timing wise. Looking forward to the rest. I really enjoyed all of your Hawaii pics on Facebook too...it actually had us looking into a Hawaii trip before we settled on DL.

Ooooo, yes, Paxton is going to go crazy as soon as sees and steps into Carsland! Our DS was besides himself the whole time we were in Carsland. He also happened to watch Cars the movie 3 times on our flight to Oahu from DC so *ahem* that probably had something to do with it too.

Oahu was awesome and we had such a great and relaxing time. I'll try to post some mini-TRs on it after I'm done with this DL report including my 3 hour solo Lost location tour

Welcome back!

I'm glad to see you are doing a mini-TR from your California adventures.

Perfect planning, I might add. Getting to ride the Racers twice before 8am is so awesome. Love it! I think you did great with only 4 hours of sleep.

I, too, loved all your pics on FB! Hawaii looked wonderful.

Thanks! We had a wonderful time in Hawaii. I had put together a very laid back and relaxing itinerary in Oahu that the family didn't seem to mind one intense touring day at DCA.

Yay!!! I'm not the only one who was AWOL and really, really behind!!!

Radiator Springs looks amazing!!! What fun!!!

Generally, I loathe layovers but I'm digging your version!!

Spent all day yesterday catching up on everyone's TR and PTRs!

Yeah, with young children I've done everything to avoid layovers in our air travels but this deal was too good to pass up.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

It feels like I've hit another gear for our October trip planning and things are starting to speed up. Only 59 days to go! So a couple of updates on our plans.

Sad to report that I was not successful in locking in FP+s for Anna and Elsa. I expected as much so am not too disappointed. Our trip was so short and it appears that it is very difficult to get these FP+s during the first 5 days of your 10 day window when it opens up. In any case, I'll keep trying obsessively checking the website to see if I can get lucky and nab any cancellations. Also curious to find out what the wait times will be like during MNSSHPs.

I was barely able to reserve FP+s for the Mine Ride on the evening of our last full day so was happy with that. Also made FP+s for our departure morning just in case the kids are clamoring to go on the ride one more time.

The rest of the FP+s are pretty routine. Decided to make FP+s for 5:30pm-6:30pm on one of our party nights so that we can start the night out right with a visit with the Happy Haunts. Also did the same for Pirates on our second party night.

Speaking of the Halloween Parties, our kids have finally decided on their costumes! Both DD8 and DS4 wanted a Star Wars costume. So after combing through the options on the web, here's what they picked out.

Padme Amidala for DD


Captain Rex for DS


Now it's DW and my turn to pick out costumes. Most likely will stick with the kids' Star Wars theme but will have to give it a little more thought!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I totally missed that you had started this Dave - but am joining now.

They had started to put up the Fall/Halloween decorations while we were there last week (pumpkins out front of MK, fall colored buntings are up, etc.) - can't believe how close we are to it, and you to your trip!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I totally missed that you had started this Dave - but am joining now.

They had started to put up the Fall/Halloween decorations while we were there last week (pumpkins out front of MK, fall colored buntings are up, etc.) - can't believe how close we are to it, and you to your trip!

Great to have you on board once again!

The first MNSSHP is tonight! I'm eagerly awaiting photos and reports from people attending the party!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

This hasn't happened in awhile but this TR post has no photos. As you'll read, my head was not in the right place to pay attention to photography. Not to worry! I'm posting back to back updates today so the following post has more photos.


DS started asking whether we could go on “the Toy Story shooting game.” So we made our way over to Paradise Pier. Since Toy Story Midway Mania is not a FP attraction at DCA, I figured we had better get that done earlier in the morning before the wait times got too long although it never gets as long as it does in DHS. A funny thing happened on the way to TSMM. As we crossed the bridge into Paradise Pier and over the launch track for California Screamin’, DD began asking about the coaster. If you haven’t been, this one is very similar to Rock n Rollercoaster at DHS minus the corkscrews and it’s outdoors. She watched a coaster launch high speed and saw another one go through the loop then turned to me and said “I want to try that.” My eyes widened as to say “Whaaaaaa?”. This is our DD who after one try on ToT decided that she never wanted to step foot on it again and refuses to try EE because of the Yeti. I never included Screamin’ in our touring plans because I just assumed that DD would not be remotely interested. But she sounded serious about wanting to try Screamin’. I told her to think about it while we rode TSMM and if she still wants to go then I would take her.

We were in the standby line at TSMM for 20 minutes and finally got on. It’s been so much fun going on this ride with the entire family and observing DD and DS scores slowly and gradually increase each time. I remember it wasn’t too long ago that DS had trouble aiming and shooting the TSMM gun on his own but now he does it well. The kids once again had a blast. They wanted to go on it again but we opted to move on since this was one of the rides that we have and will continue to enjoy at WDW.

As we exited TSMM, DD once again confirmed that she did want to try Screamin’. I decided to take DD to ride it since DW doesn’t do well with coasters with loops. DW took DS over to the Boardwalk Games area while DD and I walked over to Screamin’. I had to remind her that she may not be tall enough since she didn’t make the height requirement for Primeval Whirl back in January which was also 48 inches. She cleared the measuring stick by at least an inch! She must have had a growth spurt in the past 6 months! The standby wait time at 9:30am was only 5 minutes so we breezed through the queue and soon was settling into our seats. I had to help DD get her harness bar down from the top as she was unfamiliar with this setup. Once we were seated and the coaster pulled out of the boarding area I was a little nervous for her although I didn’t show it. This was her first real coaster ride. The closest she’s come was Big Thunder Mountain so clearly we were about to take the kiddie gloves off. I could tell she was a little nervous but more eager to find out. The countdown started for the launch. 5.4.3.2….1! Off we went. I kept looking over during the ride to see how she was doing and her expression was pretty neutral throughout. She usually doesn’t show much emotion during the rides whether she likes it or not. I saw the loop coming up ahead and gave her a heads up. Still no sound from her. At least she wasn’t crying. As we finally pulled up to unload, I asked her “What did you think?” fully expecting the same answer she gave me on her first ride on ToT last January (which was “Once was enough.”). DD goes “Let’s go again!” Did. Not. See. That. Coming! Finally, we have broken through the thrill ride barrier with her! I was so ecstatic that she loved the ride that I didn’t think twice about going back in line which was still only a 5 minute wait. By the way, for those of you keeping track, in about 45 minute timespan I had ridden Mater’s Jamboree back to back then Screamin’ back to back. I just want you to keep that tally in mind as we slowly build a textbook prescription of sequence of rides at DCA that without fail will give you a nauseating world-spinning headache. Stay tuned!

We exited and hopped right back in line. I kept thinking about what this could mean for our future WDW trips! RnR and Space Mountain is now in play! It dawned on me that the thrill ride portion is never what bothered her for ToT or even trying EE. It was the “scary” theming of those rides that she didn’t like. I called DW to tell her the news that we were going on it again. In the mean time, DS apparently had won a bunch of stuffed animals over at the boardwalk games and the two of them were now in line to go on the fun wheel. Our second ride on Screamin’ was an equal success and DD still wanted to go again but I really had to put the breaks on as I started to feel too woozy for another spin.

So what did we do next instead? We tried to catch up with DW and DS over at the Fun Wheel. Genius. I know. By the time we got in line in the sliding car version DW and DS had already boarded their car. So DD and I eventually caught our own car. Now this ride freaked me out a lot more than I thought it would. I have an issue with heights. Coasters don’t bother me as much as long as I don’t look down during the ascent. This Ferris Wheel gave me all the time in the world to look down. And when our cart starting sliding down back and forth each time giving me the illusion we were about to slide right off the wheel and into the pier water, I could just feel my toes curl. Yes, I had some problems with this one especially since my head was already spinning before I even stepped foot on this one. I’m getting too old. Sigh.

When we finally got off, we caught up with DW and DS waiting at a bench. DS was eager to show off his new bounty and collection of stuffed animals he won at the boardwalk games. To give DD an equal chance we played a few more games before moving further down the pier towards the next set of rides that DD had spotted: the Silly Symphony Swings. DW immediately declared that she would be skipping out on this one. She usually does worse with these spinning rides which is why she never goes on RnR. I asked her to pull some FPs from Goofy’s Sky School while she waited for us. Since DD just turned 8 last month, she was finally at an age where she no longer needed an adult sitting next to her on Disney rides. So she picked a single swing behind me while DS and I strapped into a double swing. There’s not much to this ride……except spinning. And more spinning. The kids of course LOVED it.

By the time we got off, the clock read 10:30am. Our FP window for our third and final go on Radiator Springs Racers had arrived. So we walked back over to Radiator Springs. The kids were not surprisingly ecstatic that we got to go one more time. DS declared after the day was over that Racers was indeed his favorite ride and would tell everyone who would listen during our San Diego visit. The third time was great and you’ve already seen the photos.

Continued in next post!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

It was about 11:00am when we exited and now it was time for lunch so we headed into Flo’s V8 Café. The theming in here was equally awesome. The dining area also includes Doc Hudson’s medical office and that’s where we sat staring at his multiple diplomas framed and hanging from the wall along with an eye chart. I sadly only have one photo of this area as I was too busy feeding the kids and taking DS to the bathroom. The food was pretty decent for Disney QS fare.



After a good meal, we once again exited Radiator Springs. DS was beginning to show signs of fatigue and fussiness of having little sleep the night before. We made it back over the end of Paradise Pier where we had left off to use our FPs for Goofy Sky School. I split off from my family to take a detour by Soarin’ the pick up another set of FPs and rejoined them by the Sky School. Since DS was not tall enough for this ride, I had the distinct pleasure of taking DD on this one back to back using the four FPs we had previously collected. DD wanted to keep going and going on this ride. I on the other hand was pretty sure I sustained a concussion after this one from the whiplashes. As DD bounced down and out of the exit queue and I stumbled behind her, DS and DW were enjoying a cold refreshing lemonade slushie. DS was a bit perturbed by the fact that DD got to go on a ride without him. So he insisted that I take him on a ride without DD and pointed to the Golden Zephyr.

I took him on this one and DD stayed behind with DS to enjoy their drinks. DS enjoyed it but it’s a simple, wait for it, spinning ride. Instead of a flying elephant, magic carpet, or triceratops, we were riding a rocket ship that was being centrifuged by a few cables very similar to the Symphony Swings.



Aaaand, of course as soon as we got off DD wanted to try going on it so the three of us went right back on it.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is how I ended up with a nagging headache for the rest of the day and it was barely past noon. To recap: Two doses of Mater’s Jamboree, two punches of Screamin’, a dash of Fun Wheel and Symphony Swings, load up your stomach with some lunch just for giggles, then grind in two portions of Goofy’s Sky School and finally sprinkle in two servings of Golden Zephyr. There you have it. The perfect script for a pounding headache.

I finally called a moratorium on all spinning rides and popped a couple of ibuprofen before we moved over to The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure which is the exact same ride as MK’s Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid (minus the interactive queue). Someone was clearly bored and thought giving the two identical rides identical names would just be silly. We had been mostly focusing on rides that were not available at WDW but along with TSMM, Soarin’ and ToT we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go on our favorites. Fun was had by all and this time I spent a whole lot less time looking through the lens during the attraction. But still snapped a couple.

It's becoming increasingly hard to find shots that I haven't tried before after being on this attraction a few times with my camera. I for some reason had always failed to capture this one in the past mainly because I never could get my camera ready in time.



Yep, looks about the same as the one in WDW!



I think this is the first time I noticed this school of fish.



Aaaand the obligatory over-exposed shot of Sebastian.



This guy always seem to make my album too.











Ok, you're right. That was more than just a couple of photos.

DS was really sputtering out as we left the ride and started falling dozing off in his stroller as we made our way down to Soarin’. He really enjoyed his first outing on Soarin last January so I wanted to try to squeeze this last ride in before he zonked out for an afternoon nap. DD was excited once again to be going on one of her favorite rides. DS was half asleep when finally arrived at Condor Flats so I carried him in. He couldn’t remember very well what Soarin’ was all about so I had to jog his memory in hopes that the anticipation would wake him up as we waited.

They had updated the introduction video in the loading wait area to include some Planes characters as each location was introduced. I thought I had remembered reading somewhere that the on-ride footage itself was either updated or in the process of being updated so was a little excited about the possibility of seeing a cleaned up digital version of the ride but I was mistaken. Everything was exactly the same as I remember which is perfectly fine and enjoyable. And I can never get tired of Puddy giving us the safety instructions on the video screen. DS and DD adored this ride once again. The breeze. The scents. The hair-raising feeling when we first “ascend” into the clouds. What’s not to love?

As soon as I placed DS back into his stroller and we started moving he was out. DD had been asking and asking to go back to California Screamin’ so I took this opportunity to take her hoping that the standby wait wasn’t too bad while DW would slowly stroll her way down towards Hollywood Land where we would regroup with her to watch Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. DD once again thoroughly enjoyed Screamin’. When we pulled up to exit, she was disappointed that the ride was already over and wanted to go on it again but we had a show to catch so we had to say bye to Screamin’ for this trip.

We walked back over to Hyperion Theater. DW was taking a slow stroll with DS napping in the stroller somewhere and we had apparently beat her to the theater. I pulled ToT FPs and finally caught up with her. We got in line for the Orchestra Section and as soon as we entered the queue they closed it and declared it full. Wow. That was a bit of luck. The next 15 minutes was not so lucky as we stood in line waiting for the theater doors to open while I was holding DS who was still napping soundly against my shoulder. After what seemed like an eternity the doors finally opened and all of us spilled right in to the theater. We took one of the side sections and moved up as much as we could. I was excited to share this show with the kids as I was smitten with it when I first saw it a couple of years ago during a solo visit. The production value is definitely a notch up compared to the stage productions at DHS. The kids did indeed enjoy the show. Even DS who eventually woke up right before the show began enjoyed it. A few photos I captured during the show.



Despite how this photo makes it look, Aladdin IS trying to escape from these two castle guards and not dance with them.



Hope that's not the same apple that the Evil Queen used. By the way, Abu is conspicuously missing from this show because it just would be logistically difficult to include a monkey in a live show. Magic carpet and Magical Genies are no problem. Monkey is where we draw the line.



My favorite shot from the show.



Here's Genie!!



And yes, those nipples are as distracting as George Clooney's Batman suit.







Jafar's default expression. Perturbed and grumpy.





I have to say that seeing this show not long after the death of Robin Williams carried extra meaning and emotions. You could sense that undercurrent running through the audience and when Genie first made his first appearance the crowd responded with extra applause. A similar show of appreciation and remembrance was later seen during World of Color. Rest in Peace Robin Williams.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I had a similar experience at the local fair with too many spinney rides in a row ... and with those being not as high quality as Disney attractions it didn't take too many to bring on the headache

My daughter is similar in that it is the coaster or fast part of the attractions it is the scary parts - so she loves Big Thunder but won't go near ToT due to the ghost part not the drop part. She went on some new/bigger ones this past trip with, um, mixed results.

The Aladdin show looks really good! We saw the Broadway one in the spring and can definitely see some similar elements. They didn't have an Apu either ... nor a Iago (or they did, but it was a person, not a parrot)

 

[ElenaJane]

Just caught up wit your DL mini-TR! I have only been once, like 5 or 6 years ago, before Carsland. Obviously we need to go back! It sounds like you guys had a great time! Hawaii and DL back to back! Hard to top that!

I bet your Starwars costumes will be awesome. I can't believe you couldn't get A&E Fps! I thought by now, the hype would have died down a little. They are supposed to be at MNSSHP, so I bet the wait won't be long. Maybe....

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK, so apparently I'm a doofus and didn't clue in that you also had a PTR going and currently with the same TR. So I don't feel left out, I'll just come over here to read.

One more addition to the RnRC/Screamin comparison and that is Screamin' is SO MUCH LONGER!!!! So awesome DD loved it too. Way to go!!!

You sure did get a lot done utilizing standby and paper FP's. Hmm... paper fastpasses... what a concept. They should try that in WDW some day.

Wow yeah, I hadn't thought about the extra emotion that must result from the Aladdin show now. Definitely bitter sweet.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Loving your "mini-TR"! I still hope so much to go to DLR someday; that is AWESOME that DD loved Screamin' so much - it DOES open up so much more to the ride palate!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I had a similar experience at the local fair with too many spinney rides in a row ... and with those being not as high quality as Disney attractions it didn't take too many to bring on the headache

My daughter is similar in that it is the coaster or fast part of the attractions it is the scary parts - so she loves Big Thunder but won't go near ToT due to the ghost part not the drop part. She went on some new/bigger ones this past trip with, um, mixed results.

The Aladdin show looks really good! We saw the Broadway one in the spring and can definitely see some similar elements. They didn't have an Apu either ... nor a Iago (or they did, but it was a person, not a parrot)

This version did have an Iago with an actor using a handheld puppet like they do in the Finding Nemo Musical at AK. It was done pretty seamlessly.

Yeah, with the spinning rides age is clearly catching up with me because I didn't use to be sensitive to them.

Just caught up wit your DL mini-TR! I have only been once, like 5 or 6 years ago, before Carsland. Obviously we need to go back! It sounds like you guys had a great time! Hawaii and DL back to back! Hard to top that!

I bet your Starwars costumes will be awesome. I can't believe you couldn't get A&E Fps! I thought by now, the hype would have died down a little. They are supposed to be at MNSSHP, so I bet the wait won't be long. Maybe....

Saw some encouraging signs with the wait times during the first MNSSHP yesterday that meeting Anna and Elsa might be doable during or right before the party starts. Although it seems like yesterday's party had an unusually low crowd level thanks to being Labor Day so will have to see how things look for the rest of the parties.

OK, so apparently I'm a doofus and didn't clue in that you also had a PTR going and currently with the same TR. So I don't feel left out, I'll just come over here to read.

One more addition to the RnRC/Screamin comparison and that is Screamin' is SO MUCH LONGER!!!! So awesome DD loved it too. Way to go!!!

You sure did get a lot done utilizing standby and paper FP's. Hmm... paper fastpasses... what a concept. They should try that in WDW some day.

Wow yeah, I hadn't thought about the extra emotion that must result from the Aladdin show now. Definitely bitter sweet.

No worries on missing the PTR. As you can see, I had neglected it for a full month so you didn't miss much.

You're right - Screamin is definitely longer! But still not long enough for DD who would be perfectly happy just taking the ride in loops over and over again.

Loving your "mini-TR"! I still hope so much to go to DLR someday; that is AWESOME that DD loved Screamin' so much - it DOES open up so much more to the ride palate!

Thanks! It's definitely worth a trip if you're ever in Southern California. Probably won't need as many days as you would on a WDW visit to tour the two parks but very enjoyable.

 

[afwdwfan]

The pictures of Radiator Springs are excellent. I'm glad you were able to get into the park early and get so much done before the masses joined you. I can't wait to see it myself!

Now it's DW and my turn to pick out costumes. Most likely will stick with the kids' Star Wars theme but will have to give it a little more thought!

If you're not Vader, I'll be disappointed.

I told her to think about it while we rode TSMM and if she still wants to go then I would take her.

If she says she wants to ride a rollercoaster, by all means, GO!!!!! Don't give her time to think it over!

DD goes “Let’s go again!” Did. Not. See. That. Coming!

But I'm glad to see that it worked out well and she enjoyed it!

It was about 11:00am when we exited and now it was time for lunch so we headed into Flo’s V8 Café. The theming in here was equally awesome. The dining area also includes Doc Hudson’s medical office and that’s where we sat staring at his multiple diplomas framed and hanging from the wall along with an eye chart. I sadly only have one photo of this area as I was too busy feeding the kids and taking DS to the bathroom. The food was pretty decent for Disney QS fare.

Wow... I wish you had more pictures of this! I never knew it existed. I always assumed Flo's was some type of an outdoor seating place based on the drive in theme. This looks pretty awesome.

Sorry about the headache, but it looks like you had a good time earning it anyway.

The Aladdin show looks like a lot of fun too. I've heard great things about it and I really hope we can work it into our Disneyland visit.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The pictures of Radiator Springs are excellent. I'm glad you were able to get into the park early and get so much done before the masses joined you. I can't wait to see it myself!

If you're not Vader, I'll be disappointed.

If she says she wants to ride a rollercoaster, by all means, GO!!!!! Don't give her time to think it over!

But I'm glad to see that it worked out well and she enjoyed it!

Wow... I wish you had more pictures of this! I never knew it existed. I always assumed Flo's was some type of an outdoor seating place based on the drive in theme. This looks pretty awesome.

Sorry about the headache, but it looks like you had a good time earning it anyway.

The Aladdin show looks like a lot of fun too. I've heard great things about it and I really hope we can work it into our Disneyland visit.

Yeah, I was also surprised to find so much indoor dining space at Flo's V8! They did such a great job with its exterior that when you look at the building from the front it does look like it's just a gas station but hidden behind are all these corridors and halls for dining. Really cool.

I am debating Anakin since Captain Rex is the clone who usually goes on missions with him in the Clone Wars series and he also fits the theme with Amidala. But Anakin's outfit is just so clunky and ugly....really not feeling it.

 

[frzndaqiri]

Such lovely photos! I can't believe you carried a 70-200 around - I shot with it once (and fell in LOVE) but thought my arm was going to fall off. Major kudos. I'm hoping to get a good telephoto lens for the Oct trip but looking for something a little more compact.

Can't wait to see/read more.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Such lovely photos! I can't believe you carried a 70-200 around - I shot with it once (and fell in LOVE) but thought my arm was going to fall off. Major kudos. I'm hoping to get a good telephoto lens for the Oct trip but looking for something a little more compact.

Can't wait to see/read more.

Thank you! It's funny how I insist on lugging my extra lenses around including my 70-200 even though I may use it for just a few instances. I think it's because I had too many moments during my earlier trips where I wish I had my 70-200 for a shot that I wanted but didn't because I left it in the hotel room. And like you said, it's an awesome lens. It gives me good exercise at least carrying that around.

Hoping to post another update tonight!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Once we exited the theater, it was time to decide what to do with our ToT FPs. DD had been telling us all day that she did NOT want to go on it. DS on the other hand had been saying that he wanted to try it for the first time. Although he didn’t phrase it that way, DW and I knew he was saying that to show up his big sister. We tried to convince DD to go so that the whole family could ride the elevator but she wasn’t having any of it. So I decided to stay with DD while DW took DS. For those of you who have been following my past trip reports, you know that this is my favorite attraction at Disney so it took a little bit of effort to hold myself back from going. DD and I spent the next 25 minutes looking through the ToT’s gift shop and waiting by the exit.

A photo of the famed hotel I took while waiting.



All that time I was very curious as to how DS did. Did he even make it on to the elevator without freaking out? Did he love it? Will he want to go again? Finally, I saw the two of them exit with a bunch of people that were on the same elevator. I began waving at them and asked how it went. All of the other guests as they walked by me told me how great he did. “He was a trooper!” said one lady. Another guy said “He was the MAN!” DW described to me a funny scene as they were standing in front of the elevator doors where he was by far the smallest rider in line and the only other child in the group was an older girl abour DD’s age. A couple of the adult guests who were trying ToT for the first time were starting to get a little freaked out with a hint of panic as they waited for the elevator doors to open. Then one of them turned around, saw pint-sized DS standing there calmly (although I’m very sure he was all nervous on the inside) and said “Wait, **He’s** going on this???” Apparently that calmed their anxieties seeing that a 4 year old was going, it couldn’t be that bad. As DW is telling me this story, there was DS standing with this proud look on his face. But on closer inspection of his body language and his expressions, I could tell that the ride did spook him a bit but he would never cop to it. When I asked him if he wanted to go with me to use up the remaining FPs his answer was a firm no. So for the first time, I never got to go on ToT on a Disney trip. I guess I could have gone by myself but it would have been another 25 minutes even with the FPs and I didn’t want to leave the kids in limbo for that long especially DD who already waited that long.

It was almost 4pm and I led our gang over to Monsters Inc Mike and Sulley to the Rescue. This was one of the rides that didn’t have a twin over at WDW so I wanted to make sure we took the kids on it. The kids were starting to wear down a bit between the lack of sleep the previous night and being hungry since it had already been a few hours since we had our early lunch at Flo’s. My plans had this in mind and we were beginning to wind down our touring of the park.

The Monsters Inc is one of those dark rides that takes you through the movie’s story. We boarded a taxi cab and was set upon a tour of Monstropolis as we visited many of the signature scenes from the movie. I don’t recall any animatronics and pretty much everything was stationary and statuesque. The kids still enjoyed it.

If only Mike knew what kind of evening was ahead of him.



From the restaurant scene when Boo gets loose!



And her escape from the restaurant tucked inside a take-home box.





Mike W in the middle of his trademark panic phase.



Sort of funny that the sound effects for this scene includes Boo singing while on the potty.



Randall up to no good.



Boo getting even with Randall



We took a break on a bench outside of Monsters Inc in front of the Photopass area that had a backdrop of a dormitory of Monsters University. We bought the kids a couple of bags of cotton candy. Yep, our answer to fatigued and sleep deprived children? Sugar! It was a nice little break as the clock hit 4:30pm. The only thing left on my to-do list at this point was to watch the Pixar Parade at 5:15pm so we had some time to improvise. DD really wanted to partake in another session of Turtle Talk with Crush so we made our way over to the Animation Building which housed this attraction along with Sorcerer’s Workshop and Animation Academy. As soon as we walked into the lobby I thought to myself “We should have come here earlier!” The lobby was spacious with plenty of spots for families and children to sit on the floor and watch the clips of animation from various Disney films being played on the multiple giant screens mounted on the walls. It was very well air conditioned and dark. Perfect for a mid-afternoon nap for the little ones and a great escape from the heat for the adults.

I went up to the CM at the waiting area for Turtle Talk who told me the next show wasn’t going to begin until 5:00pm. The show runs every 30 minutes and we had just missed the 4:30 one. With the parade scheduled for 5:15, I didn’t think we had enough time to do Turtle Talk and watch the parade. DD got a bit upset that we were discussing skipping Turtle Talk in favor of the parade. I went back to the CM to ask how long the session runs and if we would have enough time to go back out to watch the parade. She said that our session would be over at 5:15 and if we headed straight out in front of the building right after the parade would still not have reached that portion of the route and we would have enough time to find a spot. I’ve had my share of CMs giving erroneous information in the past but sometimes you can tell when a CM is giving you valuable and accurate info based on the details being provided. This CM was clearly knew what she was talking about so we decided to do Turtle Talk first which was a big relief for DD who had been wanting to be picked to ask a question to Crush.

The setup was nearly the same as the one in Epcot except the seats for the adults in the back half of the area were actual chairs rather than benches. DD found her spot upfront in the floor seating area and soon enough the show began. Crush didn’t sound like Crush in this particular session which was a little surprising and his comedic timing was a bit off but the kids didn’t seem to notice. DD did get picked during the Q+A session and she asked Crush how fast he could swim. The two of them then discussed about how she’s still learning to swim and him giving her advice on keep trying.

As soon as the show ended we bolted out of the exit and headed outside the building. Indeed, we were able to find a viewing spot across the street and within about 5 minutes the first float of the parade reached us. It was a cute parade. Definitely a step up from the now retired parade at DHS.

The cheerleaders of Monster U.





Sulley!!



I should point out at this point that this parade was a bit unfriendly for photographers in that there was a lot of water being sprayed towards the viewing audience. I had to tuck my camera away on several occasions.

The Incredibles portion of the parade.



Festival of Fantasy may have a fire breathing dragon but this Pixar Parade has Jack Jack's hair that goes up in flames! Thought this was the most awesome part of all of the floats.



The Nemo portion of the parade looked like they were using the same props from Finding Nemo the Musical in AK.





I love that A Bug's Life has representation here at DCA! Both in rides and in this parade!



And Toy Story brings up the final section of the parade.







To Infinity......


I've got one last update coming up for DCA and how we ended our day at World of Color!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great update - the parade looks really fun!

The characters in the Monsters Inc ride look really well done, but definitely appear to be kinda static which is a disappointment

Great job by your son putting on a brave face and making it through ToT. We had a very similar experience our trip and I made FP+ for it, but my daughter just wouldn't go on it. She fully admits it is for the ghost part and not the dropping - that part she would enjoy. Granted we might not have been able to go on anyway due to dinner running so long (but I am getting way ahead in my TR at this point). Still kind of a bummer as, like you, ToT is one of my favorite rides - but you gotta do for your kids what you have to do