Chapter 21: Party With Pooh, Dally For Dumbo
Still Tuesday, 11/6:
When I left off, we had just finished with a little family photo shoot in front of the Castle. Now we parted ways with my sister’s family and headed over to the
Crystal Palace for our early breakfast with Pooh. This is what we found on the covered verandah:
….And this was just the queue to
check in! All available seats on the porch were taken by hungry guests, anxious to be called, and even more people stood around them waiting and inadvertently blocking the stairs for those trying to climb up onto the porch to check in.
It was just a bit too close for comfort, so the rest of the family waited down on the “sidewalk” while I joined the convoluted line on the porch. I was pleasantly surprised to find it moving steadily forward as two very efficient CMs checked us in and distributed pagers. I barely had time to squeeze back through the crowd and find the others when our pager went off. It was
8:10...the exact time of our ADR!
Still shaking my head in amazement at how we were seated so quickly, I momentarily forgot to ask the hostess for a table by the wall or window (for Billy).

Oh well, the place was filling up quickly and our server was taking our beverage order before we even settled into our chairs! What the hay, it’ll be noisy and crowded in the entire restaurant anyway.
We went up to the buffet in shifts, hoping to get our plates filled and be back in our seats before the characters began circling around our area. Luckily, they were working the other side of the restaurant first. We got ourselves situated and I took a big swig of yummy O.J. ...eww, pulp! (I usually by no pulp OJ at home.) But, it was still good; cold and sweet!
I really like breakfast buffet... there’s always something for everyone.

Hot cereal, cold cereal, fruit, yogurt, eggs, waffles, bacon, sausage, Danish, muffins... you name it! And as long as the park wasn’t open yet, we weren’t missing any action, either! I gazed around at the tall windows, the topiaries, the mirrored walls and the white gingerbread trim. Lovely!
Pooh-Bear 
came ‘round first... hugs and pix... then came
Eeyore 
…hugs and pix….
Billy snuggled right up to Pooh, but he seemed a bit leery of Eeyore this time around!
Then the music began playing and all the kids were invited to parade around the room with the characters. Billy jumped from his chair and began dancing excitedly to the music.
Then, unexpectedly, he ran off to join the parade, singing, “Hip-Hip-Hooray for Piglet and for Pooh!” He was having himself a good old time…never mind that he stood about two heads above all the other kids in the parade!
I followed him around at a short distance. I couldn’t really get next to him because of the strollers and dozens of parents running after the kids with cameras. But, he didn’t seem to notice. It was just that I knew from experience that the parade ended when the song did, sometimes stranding kids far away from their tables. I didn’t want Billy to get upset if he couldn’t find us.
Silly me!
When the song ended, he made it all the way back to the table before I did! (He has a very good sense of direction, I think.) A few more nibbles on his Cheerios and then
Tigger bounced over.
Hugs and pix... hugs and pix...
We were all just about finished eating and I sheepishly admit that my eyes were on my watch. It was getting awfully close to 9am and park opening. A little OTP voice inside my head began to chant,
Hurry up! Get to Dumbo! Hurry up! The line will be growing! and I signaled the server for the check. Then I started to gather our things.
“But Mom, we haven’t seen
Piglet yet!” exclaimed Tricia. Piglet had been close by just a minute earlier, but had been whisked away by his handler before coming to our table.
I shot her a look. “Tricia, do you r-e-a-l-l-y need to see Piglet? The park is opening! Hoards of people will be swarming up Main Street in a few minutes!!” I was interrupted by Ed.
“Well, we can’t leave right away, anyhow. I need to use the restroom.”
Terrific.
“And it won’t be quick,” he added.

Wonderful.
“Me, too!” chirped Aunt Rae.
“I think I need to go, too, Mom,” said Tricia. What!? Even the girl with the iron bladder needs to go now!?? I sighed heavily. Better let Billy go, too. We all trucked off to the restrooms and ran smack into…
More humongous lines!
My mind worked feverishly as we (Tricia, AR, Billy & I) waited for our turns in the tiny restroom. (Normally Ed would take Billy if it was going to be a quickie... if you get my drift... but he couldn’t this time, so Billy was relegated to the line with us.)
??Were there any other restrooms between here and Dumbo??
??Weren’t there some just outside the Crystal Palace??
??Would it be worth it to ditch this line and try the other facilities??
??What if they were just as crowded with folks waiting to be seated??
Oh, I just
couldn't make up my mind!!
Tick...tick...tick..

I squirmed as the digital numbers on my watch clicked over to
9:00!
To be continued…..
Kathy