At some point during the morning, Aunt Debbie came up with our
Rule of the Day: No backtracking. Believe it or not, we managed to follow the rule pretty well all day, and our feet thanked us for it later.
After Pooh, Ashley took a solo spin on the Teacups. None of the rest of us can handle spinning rides (I can't even handle Dumbo, much less the Teacups!), but Ash didn't mind going alone. She sat with another family and had a good time. While Ashley was riding, Aunt Debbie went ahead to the Speedway kiosk to do some shopping, I sat down to watch Ash spinning wildly, and Mom got in line to get autographs for Ashley from Alice and the White Rabbit. Alice was still there when Ashley's ride was over, so she and Mom got back in line so they could get a picture.
We headed over to find Aunt Debbie near the Speedway, then we all rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority with (of course) no wait. I love facing forward on that ride and enjoying the breeze -- what a nice refresher!
Ashley and Debbie got FastPasses for Space Mountain, then we decided to wait for the Carousel of Progress to open. This was another one that I was determined to see, just in case the rumors of it closing have some truth to them. There was a
HUGE line by about 10:45, so Mom volunteered to stand in line, and the rest of us joined her when she got closer to the turnstiles (I felt ever-so-slightly like I was budging, but nobody seemed to mind). We were at the front of the line for the second showing, and we all liked it (even Ashley, which surprised me a little). Later, I sheepishly admitted to the others that as much as I enjoyed it, I had a little trouble staying awake toward the end. I didn't feel so bad when both Ashley and Debbie said, "Me too!"
Then it was time for Ashley and Debbie to head back toward Space Mountain (some of the only backtracking we did all day), and Mom and I shopped at the kiosk in front of Buzz Lightyear. Ashley really liked Space Mountain, as I knew she would, and Debbie did too, I think -- I know she was surprised by the differences between this Space and Disneyland's. While they were riding, Mom and I got four Buzz FastPasses, and the timing was perfect -- by the time Ashley and Debbie got back from Space, it was time for Buzz. We loved this ride!! It was the first time for all of us, and Ashley won -- she had something like 201,200 points. Mom had 75,600; I had 37,800; and Debbie had something less than 20,000. I could ride this one over and over again.
Just by chance, we caught the "Disney Mania" show at the theater near the Buzz exit -- it was cute (singers, dancers, and characters -- how can you go wrong?), but we agreed it wasn't something we'd have to make a point of seeing. A nice little break in our day, though, and since we were there at exactly the right time, it was worth staying to see.
By that time, we were hungry, and I suggested the Plaza for lunch; Jean and I ate there on our November trip, and I knew it was on our way out. By this time, Aunt Debbie's poor feet really needed us to follow the "no backtracking" rule, so I led them to what I thought was a shortcut, and then prayed that I was right. Instead of crossing the bridge back toward the hub, then turning up (down?) Main Street, I turned left before the bridge, then cut through that eating area, past the restrooms, and ... right to the Plaza!!
Whew. Aunt Debbie congratulated me for knowing the shortcut, and was I ever happy and relieved that I remembered it correctly! I'm not sure how much shorter it actually is to go that way, but it worked out well for us, especially since we stopped at the restrooms.
We gave our name to the CM and sat down to enjoy our wait in the sunshine. It was a surprisingly short wait -- maybe 10 minutes? -- and then we were led inside to that cute little corner room. Love that room! Lunch consisted mostly of french fries. Mom had a salad and fries; I had a sandwich and fries; Debbie had a vanilla shake and fries; and Ashley had an iced cappucino and fries. Could we get any more carbos, please?
Not the healthiest table full of food, but pretty darn tasty. Besides, we're on vacation. Calories don't count. Mickey told me so.
After lunch, we did some shopping on Main Street. Jean (my sister) had asked us to look for a Goofy watch for her -- the kind with the hands that go backward -- but no such luck. I don't remember if anyone else found anything, but I found the figurines for my collection. On each trip to WDW, I get a "baby" character figurine (about one inch tall), and a Mickey figurine (about three inches tall) -- this time, I got Baby Eeyore and Fireman Mickey.
We stopped at the Camera Center to look at our picture -- it was really, really bad of me, and I don't mean bad like everybody says their own pictures are bad. I mean
REALLY bad, as in
please-take-that-thing-off-the-monitors-before-anybody-else-sees-it bad.
Burn-that-negative-now bad.
I was disappointed, because it was pretty good of the others. We decided not to get any, and I think Ashley was bummed, but she didn't complain. Next time, Ash!!
While we were there, I mentioned to Mom that I thought this was where you could sometimes find the Seven Dwarfs, so she and Ashley went back to find them. They were all there, along with Pinocchio and one of the Tale Spin characters, so Ashley got pics and autographs with all of them. My favorite picture from that day is Ashley kissing Grumpy's nose. Makes me laugh just thinking about it.
I got my picture with Dopey (love him!) and then it was time to go.
We found the ferry to the WL, and just as we got there, it started to rain. There weren't very many people under the awning, and they nicely made room for us. I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes for the ferry -- what a great alternative to buses!