BrerMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2000
- Messages
- 2,205
To read Day 2, click here
Cast of characters:
Kim , 33, trip planner, mom,etc.
Dan , 35, thrill rider
Brady, 9, almost 10, beginning to get a bit more daring, but still very cautious
Mykiah, 8, my go-to girl
Chesney, 4, everything is an adventure
Dates: June 2-11, 2004
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside
Day 3, Friday, June 4: The One Where We Have Our Best Day Ever
I set our wake up call for 5:58 and thought I'd just hit the speaker phone button so everyone could hear Mickey's morning greeting. Tip for future vacationers -- this only works if you can quickly find the speaker phone button in the dark at 5:58 in the morning. Needless to say, I was awake but Mickeyless.
In yesterday's report, I forgot to give my impressions of our room. I really loved the furniture -- the log beds, the standing sinks, the armoire for our clothes and the "stuff" we accumulate. One of my favorite things was the little hat/coat shelf on the wall. I hung my various straw hats and our fanny packs from the hooks and our mugs perched on the shelf. Just a neat way to keep things from looking junky. Hey, if I'm going to live in a room for a week, I want some sort of order. However, clearly this room was in need of an upgrade. The carpeting was old and the tub was stained (worse than my tub at home and that's pretty scary). There was a stain on the wallpaper next to the toilet that would have come off with a little elbow grease, but it stayed there through our whole trip. The only thing that really bothered me is that somehow the TV had been messed with and the closed captioning and channel number were always on. The remote was very basic, as were the controls on the TV, so there was no way to turn them off. I just found it distracting and it's not like we watched TV that much anyway.
Our routine on vacation was pretty much that while Dan was showering, I woke the kids up. Then while I was in the shower, they grabbed breakfast. Dan got the easy part, since Chesney is not an easy child to wake. My job wasn't hard though because I had packed all the kids outfits into ziploc bags -- shirt, shorts, sock, undies and a hair bow for the girls. They just had to pull out a bag each morning and they were set.
By 7:15 am, we were at the bus stop to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hour. We were let into the park about 7:45 and walked down to the area in front of the Tree of Life. Standing close to the rope on the left side, we were able to see the character show and then follow the bus back to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Animal Kingdom is one of our favorite parks, so we were really looking forward to this day. We were on one of the first Safari vehicles of the day and had the fun experience of being stopped by a giraffe who had decided to eat from a tree while standing in the middle of the road. We were sitting in the front row and I could hear our guide calling animal control to have them come move the giraffe; it moved before they could arrive and we were on with our trip.
After the Safaris, it was off to watch It's Tough to Be a Bug. Chesney spent the entire show curled up on my lap and both Mykiah and Brady peeked over their glasses a few times, which was better than last trip when they didn't watch it at all. It's a fun movie, but I'm not sure it's worth the trauma for my kids.
We needed to be at Festival of the Lion King by 9:15 because we had Prince and Princess seating arrangements, so we wandered that way. At some point that morning we were able to see Lilo and Stitch and Minnie Mouse. Brady had decided that he was too cool for characters and autographs so he didn't get his picture taken with any of the characters today. I think later in the trip he regretted it (and when we got home he seemed sad that he didn't have a picture of himself with Lilo and Stitch -- I just can't win! ). I didn't pressure him to see the characters, I didn't want to be a pushy mom this trip.
When I made our seating arrangements for FOLK, I was told to be at the exit 30 minutes early. This wouldn't have been a huge problem except that the exit is in the bright sun and it was really hot by this time. The cast members working the attraction had us wait for several minutes before we were let into the theater. We had our choice of any seats; the general public would be let in after us. We chose a bench in the very front of what would be the giraffe section. I think Festival of the Lion King is one of the best shows I've ever seen anywhere. It moves me. I was so happy when Mykiah got picked to do the giraffe sound in the opening and she handled herself so well (even though she had no idea what sound a giraffe makes). I always come out of that show upbeat.
After the show, I had promised Dan that we'd try to hit Dinosaur, since it had just reopened from refurbishment. We walked across the park to the ride and discovered that the stand-by line was only 35 minutes, while the fast pass time wouldn't work because it conflicted with our priority seating for the Rainforest Cafe. Dan went ahead and hopped in line with Brady, who had decided that he could definitely do this ride. The bribe of a pin after the ride didn't hurt either.
Since the girls and I weren't riding we went in search of a cool place to sit and wait. I walked through the gift shop at the exit and found a nice space where we could watch the monitors showing ride pictures. We had barely sat down when I heard an announcement that they were having technical difficulties with the ride. This was just not OK. By now it was 10:45 and we had a 11:30 PS. I tried calling Dan's cell phone to tell him to get out of line, but he hadn't turned it on (despite the fact that he had just reminded me to turn mine on when we were separated). When 11 came and the ride still wasn't up and running, I started to seriously stress. At 11:10 or so, I wandered outside and saw that the Fast Pass return line was now clear outside the building. Assuming that they would let in all the Fastpass people before they started taking Stand-by riders, I just knew we weren't going to make our PS. Finally, at 11:20, they started running the ride again and then at 11:25, out came Dan and Brady. They had already been through the preshow area when it broke down and were some of the first on the ride when it started back up.
Since we were running later than I would have liked, I then led my family on the quickest exit from Animal Kingdom ever. (By the way, Chesney never used the stroller again after that morning at MGM. It was more hassle than it was worth and she never once complained or wanted to be carried.) We had our hands stamped on the way out of the park -- although we were never once checked for a hand stamp on re-entry -- and I checked us in at the podium just at 11:30. We waited a few moments and then were called back as part of several groups that were seated in the gorilla room. We had a nice server and got our food fairly quickly, but to be honest, it was air conditioned and the kids were occupied. What more could we want? I ordered the Rumble in the Jungle turkey wrap; I'm not normally a wrap-eating person but I wanted something light and this did the trick. I thought it was very good and had just a hint of a kick to it. Dan ordered pot roast, but he's pretty picky about his roast and this one had too many onions for his liking. He ate it all, but there was a pretty little pile of onions to the side when he was finished. A good pot roast and he'll leave the plate looking like there was never food on it. Brady had pepperoni pizza and the girls had the mini hot dogs. Total for our meal was $60.06 plus tip. After our meal, we stopped at the store outside the park to pick up Brady's pin (no time early in the rush to make it to lunch) and then caught a bus back to the resort.
With our full tummies, there was only one thing on our mind... a nap! It was e-ride night and we needed to catch a nap if we were going to last until midnight. Dan, Chesney and Mykiah went right to sleep but I was sleeping on the girls' bed next to Brady on the trundle and he was flipping and flopping and I had a really hard time getting to sleep. By the time I was drifting off, Dan and Mykiah were waking up. I sent Dan and the big kids to the pool, while I stayed in the room and kept an eye on Chesney. When she woke up, I got her ready to swim just in time for it to start raining.
About 4:30 we left for the Magic Kingdom. The bus was so full of excitement. I don't know if it was full of people going to e-ride night or if it was just our excitement at entering the Magic Kingdom for the first time, but I was so bouncing in my seat. We ended up putting on ponchos almost as soon as we walked through the gates because the rain was just heavy enough that we needed them. We stopped at Town Hall and got our wristbands (no line) and then wandered toward Adventureland. Our goal for tonight was to do the rides/shows that weren't available for either Extra Magic Hour or E-ride night. First up was the Magic Carpets. I told Dan to take the kids on the ride while I went to get Fast Passes for Jungle Cruise. Dan really considers the Jungle Cruise a "not-to-be-missed" attraction, while I think it's not worth waiting in a line. So Fast Pass was a good compromise. While they were riding the ride, I also had time to buy myself a Mickey icon straw hat that I had admired earlier. I really needed something to keep the rain out of my face so I wouldn't have to constantly clean my glasses.
When the carpets returned to earth, we decided it was time to grab a bite to eat. Pecos Bill's was close, so we headed in that direction. Brady wasn't happy with the kids meals here so I split a Bacon Double Cheeseburger meal with him (I ordered an extra bun -- which we weren't charged for -- and we each had a single burger with 1/2 the fries). Dan also had the bacon double cheeseburger meal and the girls had hot dogs. I loved the fixings bar; what a great idea.
After our meal, it was still raining fairly hard, so I told Dan that I thought if we went out the back way, we could walk undercover back to Adventureland and come out right across from Pirates. I was right, as usual, and we only had to make a little jog through the rain to the Pirates queue. Unfortunately, for the first time, Chesney balked at going on a ride. We got about 3 feet into the "dungeon" line area and she started screaming. I just didn't want to push it; we were having such a good time. So we went to see the Tiki Birds instead. I never did get to see the Pirates and it's one of my favorites, but I told myself before coming on the trip that this was a trip for the kids and that I would find my pleasure in their joy. So while I'm a little sad, we had so much fun otherwise that it totally eclipses the fact that I didn't ride my favorite ride.
By now the park was fairly uncrowded due to the rain so we were able to knock down quite things on our list. After Tiki Birds, it was back for a spin on the Carpets (or the "Spit Camels" as Chesney called them -- it was her favorite ride in all of WDW). Our Fast Pass time for the Jungle Cruise was up and we walked right on a boat. Chesney really did not like this ride. During the whole trip, she always wanted to know if we were going to see real things or robot things. She preferred to see "real" things (even if they were in costume). She hated robot things (except Figment!). During the tunnel on Jungle Cruise, she looked at me and said, "Mom, when are we going to get back to Disney?"
Since she'd been such a trouper, I thought we should take Chesney to ToonTown. Here it was, the 2nd evening of our trip and we still hadn't seen one character! First, we had to ride Barnstormer. Before the trip, we had told the kids that they could negotiate some rides, but others we would do as a family. Barnstormer was a family ride, because Chesney was excited about it. This was our biggest problem with having a family of 5 -- the big kids are OK on rides that are a bit scary, but only if they have an adult by them. The Barnstormer only seats 2 people across (and not to comfortably at that). In the end, Brady sucked it up and sat by himself, I sat with Mykiah, who screamed at the top of her lungs through the whole ride, and Dan sat with Ches, who threw her hands up through the whole ride. For their bravery, we went over to the store across the street, where I bought Brady a Barnstormer pin and the girls each got a Goofy charm for their necklaces.
Once our purchases were on necklaces and lanyards, it was time to finally meet some characters. Our choices were Minnie and friends, which we knew we would see at 2 character meals this trip, Pooh and friends, who are not our favorites or Storybook Friends, which would be Cinderella. We hopped in line for Cinderella and were the first people let into the room. Such fun for the girls!
By this time, it was 8:30 and Fantasyland was still crowded. I had hoped it would be slow and we could ride Dumbo before the park closed, but it would have to wait until EMH. Instead we grabbed a cookie and drinks at Mrs. Potts and had a little snack. After finishing it, we decided to head towards the Mountains in Frontierland. Due to the rain and Dan's need to constantly be riding something, I had pretty much given up hope of watching Wishes this evening. So I let myself be talked into walking onto Big Thunder Mountain. Never, ever again. We were seated in the back, Dan riding with Mykiah and then Brady, Chesney and I in the very back. I know that the back is a coveted seat, but it was not fun for me or my head. Actually rattled me so much I was nauseous for the next half hour or so. And Chesney did not like it at all. I had to bribe her with a stuffed Pluto in order to get her to even stay in the park.
Luckily, Wishes was starting as we exited Big Thunder, so we were able to catch the fireworks and Tink's flight from the bridge in front of Splash Mountain. Unfortunately, that area has tons of mosquitoes who saw us as their dinner buffet. After a few minutes, we gave up and went to ride Splash while there were no lines. I really do love Splash Mountain, but my stomach was still bugging me from Big Thunder, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. I sat with Ches and Mykiah with Dan and Brady behind us in a boat all to ourselves. The picture, which I bought, is hilarious. The front seat girls are all screaming, Dan is relaxing and Brady's looking a bit nervous. I had the picture sent to our resort; it was my first time using this service and it was so nice! Much better than carrying around a photo and frame the rest of the night. While I was buying the picture, I sent Dan with Chesney to look for a stuffed animal, since I had promised her one after Big Thunder. She settled on a small Brer Frog, which I let her carry the rest of the night.
By the time we finished Splash, a nice line was building up, so we went on to do Fantasyland. Here there were 15 minute lines for everything. We did Peter Pan, then watched Mickey's Philharmagic for the first of 3 times, and then rode Pooh. Lots of very small children and babies in Fantasyland tonight. I'm sure this is why they changed the line-up of available rides during e-ride to include some Fantasyland attractions. They all looked to be doing OK with the late hours, so I suppose it works well for everyone.
Having done almost everything in the park already, all that was left to conquer was Tomorrowland. First stop was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Dan had his own car, Brady and Mykiah rode together and I rode with Chesney. She's just not strong enough to operate one of those guns. She could aim, but not shoot, or she could shoot, but not aim. I ended up pressing her button, while trying to spin us and shoot my own gun. Dan kicked my butt with points, while the big kids were arguing over their 4000 or so points. The only ride left that was still open was Space Mountain. Dan decided to ride it now while there wasn't a wait, so he walked on while I took some pictures of the kids and did the Dance Revolution game in Tomorrowland. I'm sure I looked like a fool, but it was fun. We met back up with Dan and started towards the castle so we could leave. Just then I ask Chesney where her Brer Frog is. She doesn't know. The last place I remember her having it is on Buzz, so we go back and ride again. As we're getting off, I ask the cast member if he's seen a stuffed frog. First he pulls out a large stuffed cat from the Aristocats. Umm, no. Next try was Brer Frog! Whew! Thank heavens we remembered before we left the park.
I thought we'd walk over to the castle and then out of the park so we could see the kiss goodnight (castle lights changing colors). As we crossed the bridge, we saw Chip and Dale and Pluto out front signing autographs. There were only a few people around, but just as we were walking up we heard the dreaded "characters are going in for a break" announcement. They were supposed to be back out in 5 minutes, so we just hung around. Chip and Dale were the first ones back out and we were first in line. That's when it happened. I could just feel the magic. Chip and Dale were being so playful and my girls, Chesney in particular, were just loving it. I wish I had some way to capture her laugh that night. She just thought they were the funniest thing ever. I managed to take a picture of her laughing, which although it's not framed well, is still one of my favorites because you can see the delight on her face. After Chip and Dale we saw Pluto, who also seemed unusually playful tonight.
What a day we'd had. While waiting for Philharmagic, Mykiah asked me, "Mom, was it just today that we ate at Rainforest Cafe?" Yup, baby, it was. We had seen quite a bit of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in one 24 hour period. This was easily the best day of our trip. We were blessed with low crowds, great meals, and wonderful characters. For Dan and I, the rest of the trip was kind of a let down. You just can't plan a day like we had just experienced. It takes so many things to fall together just right. But when it happens, it's magic.
To read Day 4, click here
Cast of characters:
Kim , 33, trip planner, mom,etc.
Dan , 35, thrill rider
Brady, 9, almost 10, beginning to get a bit more daring, but still very cautious
Mykiah, 8, my go-to girl
Chesney, 4, everything is an adventure
Dates: June 2-11, 2004
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside
Day 3, Friday, June 4: The One Where We Have Our Best Day Ever
I set our wake up call for 5:58 and thought I'd just hit the speaker phone button so everyone could hear Mickey's morning greeting. Tip for future vacationers -- this only works if you can quickly find the speaker phone button in the dark at 5:58 in the morning. Needless to say, I was awake but Mickeyless.
In yesterday's report, I forgot to give my impressions of our room. I really loved the furniture -- the log beds, the standing sinks, the armoire for our clothes and the "stuff" we accumulate. One of my favorite things was the little hat/coat shelf on the wall. I hung my various straw hats and our fanny packs from the hooks and our mugs perched on the shelf. Just a neat way to keep things from looking junky. Hey, if I'm going to live in a room for a week, I want some sort of order. However, clearly this room was in need of an upgrade. The carpeting was old and the tub was stained (worse than my tub at home and that's pretty scary). There was a stain on the wallpaper next to the toilet that would have come off with a little elbow grease, but it stayed there through our whole trip. The only thing that really bothered me is that somehow the TV had been messed with and the closed captioning and channel number were always on. The remote was very basic, as were the controls on the TV, so there was no way to turn them off. I just found it distracting and it's not like we watched TV that much anyway.
Our routine on vacation was pretty much that while Dan was showering, I woke the kids up. Then while I was in the shower, they grabbed breakfast. Dan got the easy part, since Chesney is not an easy child to wake. My job wasn't hard though because I had packed all the kids outfits into ziploc bags -- shirt, shorts, sock, undies and a hair bow for the girls. They just had to pull out a bag each morning and they were set.
By 7:15 am, we were at the bus stop to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hour. We were let into the park about 7:45 and walked down to the area in front of the Tree of Life. Standing close to the rope on the left side, we were able to see the character show and then follow the bus back to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Animal Kingdom is one of our favorite parks, so we were really looking forward to this day. We were on one of the first Safari vehicles of the day and had the fun experience of being stopped by a giraffe who had decided to eat from a tree while standing in the middle of the road. We were sitting in the front row and I could hear our guide calling animal control to have them come move the giraffe; it moved before they could arrive and we were on with our trip.
After the Safaris, it was off to watch It's Tough to Be a Bug. Chesney spent the entire show curled up on my lap and both Mykiah and Brady peeked over their glasses a few times, which was better than last trip when they didn't watch it at all. It's a fun movie, but I'm not sure it's worth the trauma for my kids.
We needed to be at Festival of the Lion King by 9:15 because we had Prince and Princess seating arrangements, so we wandered that way. At some point that morning we were able to see Lilo and Stitch and Minnie Mouse. Brady had decided that he was too cool for characters and autographs so he didn't get his picture taken with any of the characters today. I think later in the trip he regretted it (and when we got home he seemed sad that he didn't have a picture of himself with Lilo and Stitch -- I just can't win! ). I didn't pressure him to see the characters, I didn't want to be a pushy mom this trip.
When I made our seating arrangements for FOLK, I was told to be at the exit 30 minutes early. This wouldn't have been a huge problem except that the exit is in the bright sun and it was really hot by this time. The cast members working the attraction had us wait for several minutes before we were let into the theater. We had our choice of any seats; the general public would be let in after us. We chose a bench in the very front of what would be the giraffe section. I think Festival of the Lion King is one of the best shows I've ever seen anywhere. It moves me. I was so happy when Mykiah got picked to do the giraffe sound in the opening and she handled herself so well (even though she had no idea what sound a giraffe makes). I always come out of that show upbeat.
After the show, I had promised Dan that we'd try to hit Dinosaur, since it had just reopened from refurbishment. We walked across the park to the ride and discovered that the stand-by line was only 35 minutes, while the fast pass time wouldn't work because it conflicted with our priority seating for the Rainforest Cafe. Dan went ahead and hopped in line with Brady, who had decided that he could definitely do this ride. The bribe of a pin after the ride didn't hurt either.
Since the girls and I weren't riding we went in search of a cool place to sit and wait. I walked through the gift shop at the exit and found a nice space where we could watch the monitors showing ride pictures. We had barely sat down when I heard an announcement that they were having technical difficulties with the ride. This was just not OK. By now it was 10:45 and we had a 11:30 PS. I tried calling Dan's cell phone to tell him to get out of line, but he hadn't turned it on (despite the fact that he had just reminded me to turn mine on when we were separated). When 11 came and the ride still wasn't up and running, I started to seriously stress. At 11:10 or so, I wandered outside and saw that the Fast Pass return line was now clear outside the building. Assuming that they would let in all the Fastpass people before they started taking Stand-by riders, I just knew we weren't going to make our PS. Finally, at 11:20, they started running the ride again and then at 11:25, out came Dan and Brady. They had already been through the preshow area when it broke down and were some of the first on the ride when it started back up.
Since we were running later than I would have liked, I then led my family on the quickest exit from Animal Kingdom ever. (By the way, Chesney never used the stroller again after that morning at MGM. It was more hassle than it was worth and she never once complained or wanted to be carried.) We had our hands stamped on the way out of the park -- although we were never once checked for a hand stamp on re-entry -- and I checked us in at the podium just at 11:30. We waited a few moments and then were called back as part of several groups that were seated in the gorilla room. We had a nice server and got our food fairly quickly, but to be honest, it was air conditioned and the kids were occupied. What more could we want? I ordered the Rumble in the Jungle turkey wrap; I'm not normally a wrap-eating person but I wanted something light and this did the trick. I thought it was very good and had just a hint of a kick to it. Dan ordered pot roast, but he's pretty picky about his roast and this one had too many onions for his liking. He ate it all, but there was a pretty little pile of onions to the side when he was finished. A good pot roast and he'll leave the plate looking like there was never food on it. Brady had pepperoni pizza and the girls had the mini hot dogs. Total for our meal was $60.06 plus tip. After our meal, we stopped at the store outside the park to pick up Brady's pin (no time early in the rush to make it to lunch) and then caught a bus back to the resort.
With our full tummies, there was only one thing on our mind... a nap! It was e-ride night and we needed to catch a nap if we were going to last until midnight. Dan, Chesney and Mykiah went right to sleep but I was sleeping on the girls' bed next to Brady on the trundle and he was flipping and flopping and I had a really hard time getting to sleep. By the time I was drifting off, Dan and Mykiah were waking up. I sent Dan and the big kids to the pool, while I stayed in the room and kept an eye on Chesney. When she woke up, I got her ready to swim just in time for it to start raining.
About 4:30 we left for the Magic Kingdom. The bus was so full of excitement. I don't know if it was full of people going to e-ride night or if it was just our excitement at entering the Magic Kingdom for the first time, but I was so bouncing in my seat. We ended up putting on ponchos almost as soon as we walked through the gates because the rain was just heavy enough that we needed them. We stopped at Town Hall and got our wristbands (no line) and then wandered toward Adventureland. Our goal for tonight was to do the rides/shows that weren't available for either Extra Magic Hour or E-ride night. First up was the Magic Carpets. I told Dan to take the kids on the ride while I went to get Fast Passes for Jungle Cruise. Dan really considers the Jungle Cruise a "not-to-be-missed" attraction, while I think it's not worth waiting in a line. So Fast Pass was a good compromise. While they were riding the ride, I also had time to buy myself a Mickey icon straw hat that I had admired earlier. I really needed something to keep the rain out of my face so I wouldn't have to constantly clean my glasses.
When the carpets returned to earth, we decided it was time to grab a bite to eat. Pecos Bill's was close, so we headed in that direction. Brady wasn't happy with the kids meals here so I split a Bacon Double Cheeseburger meal with him (I ordered an extra bun -- which we weren't charged for -- and we each had a single burger with 1/2 the fries). Dan also had the bacon double cheeseburger meal and the girls had hot dogs. I loved the fixings bar; what a great idea.
After our meal, it was still raining fairly hard, so I told Dan that I thought if we went out the back way, we could walk undercover back to Adventureland and come out right across from Pirates. I was right, as usual, and we only had to make a little jog through the rain to the Pirates queue. Unfortunately, for the first time, Chesney balked at going on a ride. We got about 3 feet into the "dungeon" line area and she started screaming. I just didn't want to push it; we were having such a good time. So we went to see the Tiki Birds instead. I never did get to see the Pirates and it's one of my favorites, but I told myself before coming on the trip that this was a trip for the kids and that I would find my pleasure in their joy. So while I'm a little sad, we had so much fun otherwise that it totally eclipses the fact that I didn't ride my favorite ride.
By now the park was fairly uncrowded due to the rain so we were able to knock down quite things on our list. After Tiki Birds, it was back for a spin on the Carpets (or the "Spit Camels" as Chesney called them -- it was her favorite ride in all of WDW). Our Fast Pass time for the Jungle Cruise was up and we walked right on a boat. Chesney really did not like this ride. During the whole trip, she always wanted to know if we were going to see real things or robot things. She preferred to see "real" things (even if they were in costume). She hated robot things (except Figment!). During the tunnel on Jungle Cruise, she looked at me and said, "Mom, when are we going to get back to Disney?"
Since she'd been such a trouper, I thought we should take Chesney to ToonTown. Here it was, the 2nd evening of our trip and we still hadn't seen one character! First, we had to ride Barnstormer. Before the trip, we had told the kids that they could negotiate some rides, but others we would do as a family. Barnstormer was a family ride, because Chesney was excited about it. This was our biggest problem with having a family of 5 -- the big kids are OK on rides that are a bit scary, but only if they have an adult by them. The Barnstormer only seats 2 people across (and not to comfortably at that). In the end, Brady sucked it up and sat by himself, I sat with Mykiah, who screamed at the top of her lungs through the whole ride, and Dan sat with Ches, who threw her hands up through the whole ride. For their bravery, we went over to the store across the street, where I bought Brady a Barnstormer pin and the girls each got a Goofy charm for their necklaces.
Once our purchases were on necklaces and lanyards, it was time to finally meet some characters. Our choices were Minnie and friends, which we knew we would see at 2 character meals this trip, Pooh and friends, who are not our favorites or Storybook Friends, which would be Cinderella. We hopped in line for Cinderella and were the first people let into the room. Such fun for the girls!
By this time, it was 8:30 and Fantasyland was still crowded. I had hoped it would be slow and we could ride Dumbo before the park closed, but it would have to wait until EMH. Instead we grabbed a cookie and drinks at Mrs. Potts and had a little snack. After finishing it, we decided to head towards the Mountains in Frontierland. Due to the rain and Dan's need to constantly be riding something, I had pretty much given up hope of watching Wishes this evening. So I let myself be talked into walking onto Big Thunder Mountain. Never, ever again. We were seated in the back, Dan riding with Mykiah and then Brady, Chesney and I in the very back. I know that the back is a coveted seat, but it was not fun for me or my head. Actually rattled me so much I was nauseous for the next half hour or so. And Chesney did not like it at all. I had to bribe her with a stuffed Pluto in order to get her to even stay in the park.
Luckily, Wishes was starting as we exited Big Thunder, so we were able to catch the fireworks and Tink's flight from the bridge in front of Splash Mountain. Unfortunately, that area has tons of mosquitoes who saw us as their dinner buffet. After a few minutes, we gave up and went to ride Splash while there were no lines. I really do love Splash Mountain, but my stomach was still bugging me from Big Thunder, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. I sat with Ches and Mykiah with Dan and Brady behind us in a boat all to ourselves. The picture, which I bought, is hilarious. The front seat girls are all screaming, Dan is relaxing and Brady's looking a bit nervous. I had the picture sent to our resort; it was my first time using this service and it was so nice! Much better than carrying around a photo and frame the rest of the night. While I was buying the picture, I sent Dan with Chesney to look for a stuffed animal, since I had promised her one after Big Thunder. She settled on a small Brer Frog, which I let her carry the rest of the night.
By the time we finished Splash, a nice line was building up, so we went on to do Fantasyland. Here there were 15 minute lines for everything. We did Peter Pan, then watched Mickey's Philharmagic for the first of 3 times, and then rode Pooh. Lots of very small children and babies in Fantasyland tonight. I'm sure this is why they changed the line-up of available rides during e-ride to include some Fantasyland attractions. They all looked to be doing OK with the late hours, so I suppose it works well for everyone.
Having done almost everything in the park already, all that was left to conquer was Tomorrowland. First stop was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Dan had his own car, Brady and Mykiah rode together and I rode with Chesney. She's just not strong enough to operate one of those guns. She could aim, but not shoot, or she could shoot, but not aim. I ended up pressing her button, while trying to spin us and shoot my own gun. Dan kicked my butt with points, while the big kids were arguing over their 4000 or so points. The only ride left that was still open was Space Mountain. Dan decided to ride it now while there wasn't a wait, so he walked on while I took some pictures of the kids and did the Dance Revolution game in Tomorrowland. I'm sure I looked like a fool, but it was fun. We met back up with Dan and started towards the castle so we could leave. Just then I ask Chesney where her Brer Frog is. She doesn't know. The last place I remember her having it is on Buzz, so we go back and ride again. As we're getting off, I ask the cast member if he's seen a stuffed frog. First he pulls out a large stuffed cat from the Aristocats. Umm, no. Next try was Brer Frog! Whew! Thank heavens we remembered before we left the park.
I thought we'd walk over to the castle and then out of the park so we could see the kiss goodnight (castle lights changing colors). As we crossed the bridge, we saw Chip and Dale and Pluto out front signing autographs. There were only a few people around, but just as we were walking up we heard the dreaded "characters are going in for a break" announcement. They were supposed to be back out in 5 minutes, so we just hung around. Chip and Dale were the first ones back out and we were first in line. That's when it happened. I could just feel the magic. Chip and Dale were being so playful and my girls, Chesney in particular, were just loving it. I wish I had some way to capture her laugh that night. She just thought they were the funniest thing ever. I managed to take a picture of her laughing, which although it's not framed well, is still one of my favorites because you can see the delight on her face. After Chip and Dale we saw Pluto, who also seemed unusually playful tonight.
What a day we'd had. While waiting for Philharmagic, Mykiah asked me, "Mom, was it just today that we ate at Rainforest Cafe?" Yup, baby, it was. We had seen quite a bit of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in one 24 hour period. This was easily the best day of our trip. We were blessed with low crowds, great meals, and wonderful characters. For Dan and I, the rest of the trip was kind of a let down. You just can't plan a day like we had just experienced. It takes so many things to fall together just right. But when it happens, it's magic.
To read Day 4, click here
but I'm sure that your children will always remember this trip for the rest of their lives.
