Day 4 started out relaxed. It was our Blizzard Beach/Disneyquest day and there was no need to rush as BB doesnt open until 10:00. So I slept in. Until 7:00. Ha! Its pitiful. Excitement makes sleeping in impossible. But I was just excited that when I woke up it wasnt dark like it had been for the last 4 days. I just relaxed. Laid around. Played my DS.
At 8:30 I made eggs, sausage, and toast. And we drank our yummy juice. In the chaos that was Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving I had been on a quest for pulp-free orange juice. Anyone with a gaggle of kids knows that pulp-free juice is critical. In that determination to fight the crowds & grab the first bottle that said pulp-free on it, I accidentally got pineapple-orange juice. When I put the groceries away and noticed my error I was quite concerned as I dont know the boys preferences. But this juice was amazing and it was guzzled down in an instant. I also ended up with way too much pepper in the eggs because I was unfamiliar with the little disposable salt and pepper shakers we had bought. But that too ended up being a tasty mistake and the kids gobbled up the eggs too.
Here is Boo killing time by sitting on the dining table and playing with the Winnie the Pooh cards. When we first came into the house we removed anything breakable and put it either high or behind closed door. I wonder why...
By 9:40 a.m. we were dressed, well fed, and in the vehicles. By 9:50 we were parked at BB. Two notes, first parking is free here. Secondly, if you get there early you can park right next to the entrance. Quite nice.
It was very windy. Because of Jack-Jacks ear infection Suzy & I decided to park at Ski Patrol and try to stay out of the wind. She & I and the two babies chilled in the zero entry area and chitchatted about our great time so far, how chilly it was, and all the people who were slowly entering. And the rest went to ride all the big slides.
One thing that was interesting to us was a European family who was able to change out of street clothing and into bathing suits right there in public without in any way being immodest. It was incredibly impressive. How can you switch out of bra & panties into and Speedo swimming suit without showing any skin showing? Dont know. But I know it can be done because I saw a family do it.
We were also amused by the lady who had teenagers and she was in charge of the stuff, being mom, of course she was in charge of the stuff. She had a downsized backpack which was so full of stuff the zipper was breaking. I pondered her for awhile. And pondered my future. Honestly, I think when my kids are teens I wont carry anything but my cell & money. Lots of money. And they will have to carry their own junk or do without. With a stroller, Im willing. Im prepared. Without a stroller, carry your own junk. Im no pack mule. That is going to be my future plan for sure.
After about an hour they all came back and we moved to the beach. After just a tiny bit it started raining and it was very spotty so we had our stuff under the shelter and we kept going to shelter, going to the water, going to the shelter, going to the water. The big kids & Dads were way far out in the big pool and werent bothered by the rain. After about a half hour the sun came our & the wind stopped. There werent any people and it was so nice. We just floated along. So enjoyable. The family decided to do one last slide & Boo and I just spent the time enjoying our floating.
After everyone was back and all packed up we grabbed a funnel cake to share on our way out. Everyone grabbed a few pieces and it took the edge off our hunger. Boo LOVED the funnel cake and when hers was gone she looked over and Jack-Jack still had a bite. She screamed her head off and tried to wrestle out of my arms so she could go steal his bite. She cried all the way to the car.
No photos of BB as there were no photopass people this day out because of the wind, I'm assuming, and we took our waterproof cameras and the film is still in them. Sorry.
When we got home it, which fortunately was only 10 minutes away, it was a crazy mad dash to get ham and cheese sandwiches and milk and cookies. We sat down with our food and checked out the news because it was so black outside you could not see past the pool. We couldnt see the houses behind our house! The news said for the Disney World area and especially at 192 there were tornado watchess! And then warnings because tornados were seen in the area. Yikes! On the radar there was this tiny strip of no rain and then another horrible strip of weather. So we ate our lunch and got ready for Downtown Disney so that as soon as the tornados were cleared we were ready to make a run for Disneyquest.
Boo fell asleep in the van ride over so I put on the Ergo and her in it & then a poncho over both of us. We were set to go. We split from Suzy & Milo as this was Buzzs dream world to be in a 5 story arcade. So we just wanted the boys go at it and set a time to meet back so Suzy & I could escape.
Our girls had a mission. To ride Pirates because last time then had been too short. They & Donald went to stand in the line. It was about 20 minutes. Because Boo was asleep, I decided to just hang out in the arcade right there and play games. But there were only three different games in there. The main one with chairs, which I would have enjoyed sitting with a sleeping baby on my belly, were called some kind of Jungle Safari or some such thing and starred a giant tarantula. Now, Im not afraid of a lot but tarantulas are not my thing and there was NO WAY I was playing that game. I despise spiders. Honestly, I hated being in the room with all the spiders on all the screens.
The remaining 2 games were a driving game and some Indiana Jones maze type thing. The Indiana game was never going to be open because there was only one and 2 16 year olds were monopolizing it and beating off everyone who might try to play with their glaring insolence so I opted to do the driving game. I soon found out that I was terrible at it. It was not MarioKart, let me tell ya. So I quickly relinquished control to a 10 year old boy hovering near me. Curse those 16 year olds.
Here is the room. It wasn't was crowded as I thought it would be considering other arcades I've been in:
I then sat on the floor and leaned against a wall as Boo had awakened and wanted down to run around. You simply cannot even attempt to play video games while a baby is tugging at you. Hey, that can be my excuse as to why I was terrible at the driving game! This lady amused me. She wandered around for a long time glaring at us all. And then sat down like this:
I had to take a photo as I just thought it bizarre. Disney Quest is at Downtown Disney. If you truly despise the atmosphere of 10 year old boys running frantically around playing games that beep and make tons of noise then you could leave and go shopping. Or sit on a park bench outside. Anything, really, other than glare and make a big scene about how all of us who are enjoying ourselves are horrible and loud and annoying you to no end. Sorry if I misunderstood the facial expressions and she is a Disboarder who loves DQ. But for me, I just was fascinated with her. And my imagination of what she could possibly be thinking.
So, after I watched her for awhile I got a genius idea to stand in line for Jungle Cruise so that when the girls got out we would be at the front & just jump right on. It worked perfectly. I was behind one family and the girls came out. I handed off Boo and we were off to cruise down the river. It was really fun and you just get to giggling as you fly all over your raft. I wasnt convinced that my paddle was doing anything but Donald says that we got a lot further than the other people he was watching.
The girls really enjoyed Pirates also. They liked running their own cannons.
After that floor we opted to stand in line to do Aladdins carpet rides. The line wasnt that long so we hopped in. Too bad that there was some kind of shift change and some issues so I got impatient. This is the only time I can really think that I got impatient. As you are standing in line they fit you for your virtual reality hats so you are ready to go when it is your turn. I have a rather tiny head and the hat didnt really fit me, even with the turning of the thing and the little foam thingies. So to have to stand there with this giant thing on my head for seemingly forever was just annoying.
Finally, it was our turn. I was really worried we wouldnt beat it as it was just me and the girls since Donald had Boo down in the gift shop. Donald is our actual skilled video gamer. But at the last minute another guy jumped in and played with us and somehow between him & me, we played all the way to the end. And that was a miracle because my hat kept flying off every once in awhile which made it extremely tricky.
After this we met up with Suzy & Jack-Jack and McQueen and went to meet in the gift shop and grab our stroller.
Donald said that Boo had picked up every single stuffed animal systematically and rejected each and every one and finally settled on Mickey Mouse. I have a Disney Visa & get a 10% discount at World of Disney so I made the girls wait to buy anything they wanted that I knew was sold there. Obviously, a Mickey would be one of these things.
So, after organizing things a bit we set out. Meandering. I stopped to look at this glass store which I had spied the night before and not gone into. Donald graciously kept the kids outside so I could browse without the heart attacks.
Then I decided we need ice cream. I went into the Haagan-Daas and got a milkshake, a slushie, and a Diet Coke. The milk shake was a cookies and cream and it was quite delicious. But I felt this place was wildly overpriced for what we got, considering what is available at Downtown Disney.
The good thing about this is Boo and Jack-Jack were in the same stroller and up until this point Boo had been harassing poor Jack-Jack to death. But now she had a drink to hold. He, however, had been put in a bad mood and could not be pulled out of it. We just kept pushing.
I just asked Donald where Suzy was and why we had Jack-Jack to begin with and he said, We didnt have Jack-Jack. Sorry sweetie, but we did. Not only do I remember it & remember going into Haagan-Daas to stop the crankiness but I have photos to prove it.
See how she is harassing him?
Well, forget it. I wont try to piece together what happened, Ill let Suzy tell you what was happening with the rest of her family. Ill tell you what happened with mine.
We had the babies & ice cream. And Ariel & Mulan. And we were ready to shop.
As we pulled out of the West Side to Pleasure Island Donald said, I do not feel the need to ever go to DisneyQuest again.
Now, this was my first and only time in the place so I dont agree with him but here is my summary for those interested: It is a giant arcade which you pay entrance for and then dont pay for any games inside. The games I played, I liked. It was in no way more annoying than any other arcades Ive been in. I thoroughly enjoyed the virtual reality games I played and didnt feel like I waited a crazy amount of time to play them. I also didnt find the kids here irritating. They werent amazingly accommodating either. But Ive never met an accommodating 10-18 year old boy. Charming is as close as they come and Im here to tell ya, he can be lost in his own world while playing a game the same as all other boys.
I, personally, would like to do this again and get to do a bit more and not be hampered by the baby. This is NOT a place for babies. They hold you back, plain and simple. You cant take in strollers (for good reason), it is loud, and there is nothing for them to do.
Donalds take is he hates waiting in line to play video games.
So, we were walking. You know, at some point Donald went to get himself a drink on this little walk too.
Here is the crowd level. Not too bad:
Im sorry, but Downtown Disney has so much to see and I had a lot of kids and the details of what happened when here is a bit muddled. Its not the same as first we rode Dumbo and then Winnie and then Snow White, etc. Its just randomly looking at random things.
OK, I think I remember. I think Suzy took McQueen to build his own light saber. So we went to Once Upon a Toy also. I handed off Jack-Jack at some point and sat on the floor talking on the phone and watching Boo play with these pens.
I took a photo because it was hilarious. She can be very possessive. The reason she is possessive is because things need to stay in the proper order. It was very important that these pens be properly ordered.
Well, people kept coming over to buy pens and she was extremely frustrated by them. They would not put the pens back in the appropriate place. And some people went so far as to take pens AWAY and buy them! Her pens. They took them away! There was crying. There was grabbing. There was confusion. Not on Boos face, but on the other customers trying to buy pens.
And there was me. Sitting a bit away from the scene laughing at it all and doing nothing to stop it. I love stuff like this and I feel like it isnt my job to stop it or alter it in anyway. Boo is her own person. And she wasnt really bothering anyone. She was just organizing pens that the evil people were stealing. It wasnt until she decided that the customers couldnt be trusted and the pens all needed to be moved that I stepped in.
After that I moved her to where Jack-Jack was reorganizing toys.
Im not sure what everyone else was doing as I was simply trying to keep the chaos controllable. Can you do that? Control chaos? Well, I cant. But I was at least giving it my best shot. So, I think you know now why I really have absolutely no idea what was really happening with anyone else.
At some point we went to the pin store. You know the glorified kiosk with a million pins. Ariel was bound and determined to find a Buttons pin from Bolt. We scoured that store and finally asked a CM who said they dont have a Buttons only pin available. So then we just looked for a cat only pin of any cat. But no. No cats only pins available. So then she decided to just pick a pin out. So this was like the fifth time Id circled the store. She had one she wanted that she had seen but couldnt remember where. So we circled 3 more times. Stupid pin store. We did buy two very cool pins when all was said and done.
Too many photos, next post:
So we had to wait in the stroller parking area with the other trapped parents until the parade was over. And we weren't close enough to actually see the parade. Fortunately, it wasn't too long and only mildly frustrating. So just be forewarned if it is parade time.
My dinner was O.K. I ordered roasted chicken with potatoes and baked beans. But I ordered it because I knew I could share pieces of it with the kids, which worked, but if I went back I would order something different. The chicken was on the dry side.
