BroadwayHermione5
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
Omg my heart just grew ten sizes seeing that picture of her with Snow White!
Grand Theft 3D Glasses: A May 2022 Report. FINAL THOUGHTS 9/26
- Thread starter Verstehen
- Start date
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
A fun day in Epcot! Fun to introduce a first timer to the wonders of Disney. Too bad you had to cut it short but sounds like you really enjoyed what you were able to do. Soarin' never gets old for me. Wonderful you had a good experience at Artist Point! The pictures of your DD and Snow White were so precious. Love her little dress and yours too. The bottle cap - too funny! I would be telling him to shhh too
I will never forget that night as long as I live.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Thank you and welcome!
I know! I was tearing up just going through them.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Day 3 (May 6, 2022), Part 1
In my last post, I forgot to include this photo I snagged during Operation: Water Bottle Cap. So here it is!
This was to be one of our LL days, so I woke up a little before 7 to purchase Genie+ for all of us. I got us a return time for Kilimanjaro Safari, and I also bought ILL for my uncle and I to go on FoP (my dad elected to sit that one out as it never fails to make him sick).
Everyone else was still asleep and I didn’t really feel like sleeping anymore, so I snuck onto the balcony and just enjoyed some quiet time to myself for a little while. AK opened early that day, so I was able to make a second LL I think around 9:30, which I did for River Journey.
It was a beautiful morning and I tried to capture it with this hideous panorama.
For my fit today, I was wearing my Jungle Cruise dress and my peacock Hot Chocolate Design shoes.
April woke up around 10:15, and I think my dad and uncle were also up around the same time. We had some breakfast in the room and were out the door around 11.
This time, I remembered to bring my car keys, which was good, because after awhile of waiting for the bus with no update to the time, we gave up and decided to take the car instead. I hate walking in the AK parking lot (the trams still weren’t running here), but it was what it was.
We got to AK during our return time for FoP. We ducked into the little alcove with the flamingos that’s near Pizzafari, and there I left Dad and April while my uncle and I went into Pandora.
I think he was pretty impressed by the whole situation, but it was pretty clear that once was enough for him. I seem to be the only member of my family willing to ride this one multiple times, haha.
After we got off, I called my dad, who was all the way in Africa doing the Gorilla trail with April. He made his way back to us and we rode Na’Vi River Journey together. I know this one gets some flack for not having a “story,” but I think it’s a pretty little ride and I’ve actually always assumed the story was that these Na’Vi and animals are on a journey to see the shaman. It’s definitely not my favorite ride but there’s plenty of cool stuff to look at, and April loves it.
We did lunch at Satuli Canteen after that. I got a beef bowl with noodles and April got her favorite meal: a cheese quesadilla. Not 100% sure what bowls my dad and uncle got. I do think we were all fairly underwhelmed by our meals, though I still think Satuli is one of the best quick service places at Disney.
Next we went to redeem our LL for Kilimanjaro Safaris, or as I like to call it, the bumpiest ride in the African wilderness.
I wanted to ride Everest after that, which of course no one else wanted to join me on. So dad and uncle took April to the Maharajah Jungle Trek while I did Everest single rider.
On my way to Everest, I snagged a picture of this Kite Tails performance gone wrong.
On the ride, I took a video of the lift hill up, because I always forget how high it is!
Meanwhile, the rest of my party had an unfruitful search for tigers. I think I haven’t seen tigers on this trail more times than I have.
Maxed out on photos, so read on for the next post!
In my last post, I forgot to include this photo I snagged during Operation: Water Bottle Cap. So here it is!
This was to be one of our LL days, so I woke up a little before 7 to purchase Genie+ for all of us. I got us a return time for Kilimanjaro Safari, and I also bought ILL for my uncle and I to go on FoP (my dad elected to sit that one out as it never fails to make him sick).
Everyone else was still asleep and I didn’t really feel like sleeping anymore, so I snuck onto the balcony and just enjoyed some quiet time to myself for a little while. AK opened early that day, so I was able to make a second LL I think around 9:30, which I did for River Journey.
It was a beautiful morning and I tried to capture it with this hideous panorama.
For my fit today, I was wearing my Jungle Cruise dress and my peacock Hot Chocolate Design shoes.
April woke up around 10:15, and I think my dad and uncle were also up around the same time. We had some breakfast in the room and were out the door around 11.
This time, I remembered to bring my car keys, which was good, because after awhile of waiting for the bus with no update to the time, we gave up and decided to take the car instead. I hate walking in the AK parking lot (the trams still weren’t running here), but it was what it was.
We got to AK during our return time for FoP. We ducked into the little alcove with the flamingos that’s near Pizzafari, and there I left Dad and April while my uncle and I went into Pandora.
I think he was pretty impressed by the whole situation, but it was pretty clear that once was enough for him. I seem to be the only member of my family willing to ride this one multiple times, haha.
After we got off, I called my dad, who was all the way in Africa doing the Gorilla trail with April. He made his way back to us and we rode Na’Vi River Journey together. I know this one gets some flack for not having a “story,” but I think it’s a pretty little ride and I’ve actually always assumed the story was that these Na’Vi and animals are on a journey to see the shaman. It’s definitely not my favorite ride but there’s plenty of cool stuff to look at, and April loves it.
We did lunch at Satuli Canteen after that. I got a beef bowl with noodles and April got her favorite meal: a cheese quesadilla. Not 100% sure what bowls my dad and uncle got. I do think we were all fairly underwhelmed by our meals, though I still think Satuli is one of the best quick service places at Disney.
Next we went to redeem our LL for Kilimanjaro Safaris, or as I like to call it, the bumpiest ride in the African wilderness.
I wanted to ride Everest after that, which of course no one else wanted to join me on. So dad and uncle took April to the Maharajah Jungle Trek while I did Everest single rider.
On my way to Everest, I snagged a picture of this Kite Tails performance gone wrong.
On the ride, I took a video of the lift hill up, because I always forget how high it is!
Meanwhile, the rest of my party had an unfruitful search for tigers. I think I haven’t seen tigers on this trail more times than I have.
Maxed out on photos, so read on for the next post!
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
I went back to the trail after my ride to catch up with them. While on the trail, I passed through the bat house and had an annoying incident. The chaperone of a group of schoolkids was lining them up to count them. Which would have been fine, except she decided to have them line up ALONG THE DOORS TO LEAVE THE BAT HOUSE. Like directly against the doors, so no one could leave. I like to think of myself as a polite and patient person but I was not having this. I said excuse me and kind of parted the sea of kids so I could get through, and this lady had the gall to say, “Excuse you,” and glare at me. Like, lady, there’s a long wall right over there you could easily use to count the kids!
Finally, I caught up with my family in the aviary, and we decided it was time to head out. We took the path that goes past Dinoland on our way out so my uncle could take a look at that area as well, and then headed out of the park.
On our way to the parking lot, this happened.
Here’s the thing I learned about April’s naps at Disney, at least during this trip. We tried our best to get her back to the room in time for her nap, but if we missed the window and she fell asleep in the stroller or in the car, that was it. Even if she only fell asleep for a few minutes, she wasn’t going to take another nap when we got back to the room. It completely reset her wake window.
This is what we discovered when we made it back to Boulder Ridge and I tried to put her down for a nap. She was begging to get out of her pack n’ play almost immediately.
Oh well. My only concern was she would be cranky later, but that’s always a risk with a toddler.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
She can be a real trooper when Disney rides are on the line!A good day in AK! Nice you could start the day off with some quiet time. You got a lot accomplished in your time there. Great pictures of your Dad and DD! I would frame one of those
lauralynn0612
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2013
I know this pain with my almost two year old! She looks like she's having a blast.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Hope everyone is okay! We are at nearly the 60 day mark for our next trip in October, so I'm hoping to speed up the posting process for this in order to get it done before our next trip. It may be down to the wire if I make it at all!
Day 3, Part 2
We elected to head out to Magic Kingdom at about 6 pm. It does seem crazy that by this point, this was my uncle’s THIRD Disney park in two days. Taking a newbie to MK first seems like a no-brainer, but it’s just not how it worked out with park passes! Curse you, park passes!
On our way in, we got some Photopass pics.
I’d made a few more LL slots by this point, so we headed to Winnie the Pooh first, which is always a family favorite.
Next April saw the carousel and wanted to ride it. I may have mentioned in my last report that my dad tried to get her on the carousel but she was freaked out over it and we immediately got off before the ride started. So I was worried that would be the case here, but I was willing to try it anyway. Unfortunately, the line was super long, and I didn’t feel like it was a good use of our time to wait in a 30+ minute line for a ride she might not want to do. She had a mini tantrum, but after a few minutes we were able to distract her with a ride on Peter Pan’s Flight, which we also had a LL for.
After that, we took a moment to assess what we wanted to do. I had one more stacked LL for Haunted Mansion, but it wasn’t for another couple of hours and we couldn’t get another LL yet, and all the standby lines for things we wanted to ride were longer than we were willing to wait. I took a look at other return times and found out it’s a small world had a return time we could use immediately, so I elected to switch it to that, and then once we tapped in I made another HM return time for later.
This moment kind of represents a pattern I’ve noticed with LL. The demand for any individual attraction remained pretty consistent throughout the day. So if at 9 am you see a return time for a ride that’s just a few minutes in the future, you can be pretty assured that any time you want to get a return time for that ride, you’ll be able to. On the other hand, if the return time is several hours ahead by that point, you should snag it while you can if it’s important to you. Demand generally didn’t speed up or slow down for any attraction that I noticed.
After iasw, we were hungry and ready to get a spot for fireworks. I had a brilliant idea that I still maintain is brilliant despite some hiccups. We went over to Main Street and found a spot in the road in front of Casey’s, and while we were on our way over there I put in a mobile order for them. So we got to have a quick, delicious dinner without giving up our fireworks spot.
The hiccup in question came mostly when it was time to actually pick up the food. My dad took my phone because it had the order number on it, but it was apparently a madhouse in there, because I’m sure a lot of people had the same idea we did. So it took awhile for him to come back with the food, but when he did, it was great. I didn’t take pictures but I know we got a couple of hot dogs and corn dog nuggets, plus lots of fries and a couple of the mint lemonades. The lemonades were my absolute favorite thing of the meal, maybe one of my favorite things I’ve ever ate at Disney. I drank all of one by myself, and a significant portion of the other one.
Soon after we finished, the fireworks started. I have to say, I don’t love Enchantment. I had the pleasure of seeing Happily Ever After opening night and instantly fell in love with it. I thought the music was catchy, the projections and use of fireworks were great and memorable. I honestly struggle to remember the music for Enchantment and can’t tell you any visual moments that stood out for me, and by now I’ve seen it several times. I hate to sound like a curmudgeon but I do hope Happily Ever After comes back.
When the show was over, we decided we didn’t want to leave with the massive crowd and acted like salmon swimming upstream to get to Haunted Mansion for our fastpass. This is the kind of ride I think every Disney first-timer should experience. I love it.
Next we figured we had time for one more ride before we left, and we gave April the option of the carousel or the Tiki Room. She picked the carousel, so we headed over there, and by now there was no wait. Again, I was nervous about how she’d do on it since she would have to sit on a horse by herself, but she ended up loving it.
After that, the park entrance had cleared up enough that it finally felt like time to head back to the Wilderness Lodge. We got on a boat and then headed up to our room, where we all had a good night’s sleep.
Day 3, Part 2
We elected to head out to Magic Kingdom at about 6 pm. It does seem crazy that by this point, this was my uncle’s THIRD Disney park in two days. Taking a newbie to MK first seems like a no-brainer, but it’s just not how it worked out with park passes! Curse you, park passes!
On our way in, we got some Photopass pics.
I’d made a few more LL slots by this point, so we headed to Winnie the Pooh first, which is always a family favorite.
Next April saw the carousel and wanted to ride it. I may have mentioned in my last report that my dad tried to get her on the carousel but she was freaked out over it and we immediately got off before the ride started. So I was worried that would be the case here, but I was willing to try it anyway. Unfortunately, the line was super long, and I didn’t feel like it was a good use of our time to wait in a 30+ minute line for a ride she might not want to do. She had a mini tantrum, but after a few minutes we were able to distract her with a ride on Peter Pan’s Flight, which we also had a LL for.
After that, we took a moment to assess what we wanted to do. I had one more stacked LL for Haunted Mansion, but it wasn’t for another couple of hours and we couldn’t get another LL yet, and all the standby lines for things we wanted to ride were longer than we were willing to wait. I took a look at other return times and found out it’s a small world had a return time we could use immediately, so I elected to switch it to that, and then once we tapped in I made another HM return time for later.
This moment kind of represents a pattern I’ve noticed with LL. The demand for any individual attraction remained pretty consistent throughout the day. So if at 9 am you see a return time for a ride that’s just a few minutes in the future, you can be pretty assured that any time you want to get a return time for that ride, you’ll be able to. On the other hand, if the return time is several hours ahead by that point, you should snag it while you can if it’s important to you. Demand generally didn’t speed up or slow down for any attraction that I noticed.
After iasw, we were hungry and ready to get a spot for fireworks. I had a brilliant idea that I still maintain is brilliant despite some hiccups. We went over to Main Street and found a spot in the road in front of Casey’s, and while we were on our way over there I put in a mobile order for them. So we got to have a quick, delicious dinner without giving up our fireworks spot.
The hiccup in question came mostly when it was time to actually pick up the food. My dad took my phone because it had the order number on it, but it was apparently a madhouse in there, because I’m sure a lot of people had the same idea we did. So it took awhile for him to come back with the food, but when he did, it was great. I didn’t take pictures but I know we got a couple of hot dogs and corn dog nuggets, plus lots of fries and a couple of the mint lemonades. The lemonades were my absolute favorite thing of the meal, maybe one of my favorite things I’ve ever ate at Disney. I drank all of one by myself, and a significant portion of the other one.
Soon after we finished, the fireworks started. I have to say, I don’t love Enchantment. I had the pleasure of seeing Happily Ever After opening night and instantly fell in love with it. I thought the music was catchy, the projections and use of fireworks were great and memorable. I honestly struggle to remember the music for Enchantment and can’t tell you any visual moments that stood out for me, and by now I’ve seen it several times. I hate to sound like a curmudgeon but I do hope Happily Ever After comes back.
When the show was over, we decided we didn’t want to leave with the massive crowd and acted like salmon swimming upstream to get to Haunted Mansion for our fastpass. This is the kind of ride I think every Disney first-timer should experience. I love it.
Next we figured we had time for one more ride before we left, and we gave April the option of the carousel or the Tiki Room. She picked the carousel, so we headed over there, and by now there was no wait. Again, I was nervous about how she’d do on it since she would have to sit on a horse by herself, but she ended up loving it.
After that, the park entrance had cleared up enough that it finally felt like time to head back to the Wilderness Lodge. We got on a boat and then headed up to our room, where we all had a good night’s sleep.
rdkeim
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
What a nice evening in MK! The photo pass pictures in front of the castle are great! You made some smart ride decisions to make the most of your time. Glad your DD loved the carousel - she looks so happy. At this point in your trip, wondering what your Uncle is thinking about WDW?
BroadwayHermione5
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
Love the carousel photo!
suse66
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true!
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2008
Geyser Point is always great!
I love and enjoyed both those options last summer. So well done!
Oh no! Poor you....hope there were no lingering effects.
Love the Seas! Especially the manatees.
Your outfits were stunning!
Looks like fun!
Nothing can beat HEA. Enchantment is ok but is disjointed.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
He was still loving it! He was honestly impressed by everything he saw. His general interests are very far removed from Disney and I think he had no idea what to expect; most likely he thought it would be a very expensive Six Flags.
Me too!
Hi! Yes, we are all much better. I had a lingering cough for a few weeks but other than that we are all good, thank God!Geyser Point is always great!
I love and enjoyed both those options last summer. So well done!
Oh no! Poor you....hope there were no lingering effects.
Love the Seas! Especially the manatees.
Your outfits were stunning!
Looks like fun!
Nothing can beat HEA. Enchantment is ok but is disjointed.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Day 4 (May 7th), Part 1
This was another LL day, so I woke up around 7 and booked us on Jungle Cruise, since MK would be our first park of the day. We had Hollywood Studios planned for the evening and I booked a Rise ILL as well. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but it turned out to be very easy. The system knew we all had reservations for another park so it simply only showed us available times after 2 pm. I wasn’t sure what time we’d make it to HS so I booked for around 7 pm.
We were switching resorts today as well, so we had to spend some time this morning packing and calling bell services. One thing I didn’t realize is that when switching resorts (and I believe in general when having your luggage stored), bell services will not refrigerate any items. The CM said that this was because they’d had incidents in the past with things like insulin going bad, which is a real shame. Not sure what people on insulin are expected to do now, but luckily for us, we just had some food and we did have insulated bags that would keep them cool until we needed them.
While all this was happening, I made another LL, this one for the Mickey meet and greet at MK. Once the room was clear, we went down to the dock and took a boat to MK. We checked out the fire house when we arrived since my dad is a volunteer firefighter.
Then we turned the corner on Main Street just in time for the first showing of Festival of Fantasy, which is always a really fun time! I don’t know why, but I always tend to arrive at the park just when it’s starting, haha.
It was hot as heck, so we wanted some nice air conditioning since we didn’t have our first LL for a little bit. We went over to Tomorrowland and enjoyed the Carousel of Progress. My uncle actually went to the World’s Fair in 1964 and believes he saw the Carousel in its original incarnation, but he doesn’t have a memory of it. I love this attraction but I hope it gets some TLC soon!
After the Carousel, we were eligible to make another LL, so I checked the app and found a slot for Buzz that we could use immediately. So I booked that and we headed over to redeem it.
I had a respectable but not my best score. It’s hard to shoot with a toddler trying to crawl on you.
Then it was time to redeem our Jungle Cruise LL, so we headed across the park to do that.
After our tour of the exotic rivers of the world, we wanted some refreshments. I did a mobile order at the Sunshine Tree Terrace and got us some orange Dole Whips and potstickers for April. Potstickers are one of her favorite foods, so this was a nice easy lunch for her.
At this point, even though we hadn’t been in the park for long, we were already pretty tuckered out and ready to get our stuff in our new resort. I went into the app and swapped our Mickey meet and greet LL for a Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway LL for later in the day, since Hollywood Studios would be our hopper park later.
We said goodbye to MK for this trip and took the boat back to WL. Then we headed to the car and drove over to the Boardwalk. April took a short nap on the way, and we were ready to tackle the second half of our day!
This was another LL day, so I woke up around 7 and booked us on Jungle Cruise, since MK would be our first park of the day. We had Hollywood Studios planned for the evening and I booked a Rise ILL as well. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but it turned out to be very easy. The system knew we all had reservations for another park so it simply only showed us available times after 2 pm. I wasn’t sure what time we’d make it to HS so I booked for around 7 pm.
We were switching resorts today as well, so we had to spend some time this morning packing and calling bell services. One thing I didn’t realize is that when switching resorts (and I believe in general when having your luggage stored), bell services will not refrigerate any items. The CM said that this was because they’d had incidents in the past with things like insulin going bad, which is a real shame. Not sure what people on insulin are expected to do now, but luckily for us, we just had some food and we did have insulated bags that would keep them cool until we needed them.
While all this was happening, I made another LL, this one for the Mickey meet and greet at MK. Once the room was clear, we went down to the dock and took a boat to MK. We checked out the fire house when we arrived since my dad is a volunteer firefighter.
Then we turned the corner on Main Street just in time for the first showing of Festival of Fantasy, which is always a really fun time! I don’t know why, but I always tend to arrive at the park just when it’s starting, haha.
It was hot as heck, so we wanted some nice air conditioning since we didn’t have our first LL for a little bit. We went over to Tomorrowland and enjoyed the Carousel of Progress. My uncle actually went to the World’s Fair in 1964 and believes he saw the Carousel in its original incarnation, but he doesn’t have a memory of it. I love this attraction but I hope it gets some TLC soon!
After the Carousel, we were eligible to make another LL, so I checked the app and found a slot for Buzz that we could use immediately. So I booked that and we headed over to redeem it.
I had a respectable but not my best score. It’s hard to shoot with a toddler trying to crawl on you.
Then it was time to redeem our Jungle Cruise LL, so we headed across the park to do that.
After our tour of the exotic rivers of the world, we wanted some refreshments. I did a mobile order at the Sunshine Tree Terrace and got us some orange Dole Whips and potstickers for April. Potstickers are one of her favorite foods, so this was a nice easy lunch for her.
At this point, even though we hadn’t been in the park for long, we were already pretty tuckered out and ready to get our stuff in our new resort. I went into the app and swapped our Mickey meet and greet LL for a Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway LL for later in the day, since Hollywood Studios would be our hopper park later.
We said goodbye to MK for this trip and took the boat back to WL. Then we headed to the car and drove over to the Boardwalk. April took a short nap on the way, and we were ready to tackle the second half of our day!
rdkeim
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
Nice morning in MK! I love taking the boat there from WL. Sometimes it's better to bail out a little early than push everyone to their limits. Especially when it's hot. Hope you loved the next room. Your plans for part 2 sound fun! P.S. Your outfit for the day is great!
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Thanks! It's one of my favorites. DH jokes that I have too many outfits that make me look like a CM, but so far, nobody has asked me for directions lol.
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Day 4, Part 2
I think our room wasn’t quite ready when we arrived, or I just hadn’t gotten the text about it yet, so my uncle and I went to the front desk while my dad parked the car. We were on the second floor, which was great because it’s the same level as the lobby, albeit a bit far down the hallway. I do hate that there’s only one set of elevators on the DVC side!
We got to our new villa and I called bell services for our luggage. It came pretty quickly, but there was one piece missing, which was a basket that I’d brought from home holding April’s sleeping blanket and a couple of her toys and stuffies. I called them back and they said they would look for it, and in the meantime we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios.
We took the boat rather than walking since it was pretty hot out. It was crowded, so I shoved myself and April into a corner.
Our MMRR return time window was occurring as we got to the park but the ride was sadly down, and spoilers, it ended up remaining like that all night :-( Since we were hungry, we decided to instead try to check in early for our dinner reservation, which was at Sci-Fi. The CM working the podium said we were a little too early (we’d been able to check in early before but it’s really luck of the draw), so we decided to check out Muppet Vision while we waited.
April sits pretty well through this show but consistently refuses to wear the 3D glasses, as she did this time. So imagine my surprise when, as we were exiting, she flat out refused to return her glasses to the bin. Suddenly, it was of paramount importance that she keep them. I was worried we’d get in trouble, but figured better to ask forgiveness than permission, and let her wear them. She insisted on doing so upside-down.
And that, my friends, is how we got the title of this TR. You can see from her face that she is still getting over her tantrum. She almost looks like a mob boss to me. And I look like what I was in that moment. A tired, frustrated Mom who just wanted her kid to stop crying. You can also see my dad, who thought the whole thing was hilarious.
We got a lot of amused looks and giggles from other guests. I’m sorry to say they broke relatively quickly once we got them back to the villa. If you can believe it, they aren’t very well made.
Anyway, by this point, it was time for dinner, so we checked in and were brought to our car soon after.
April and I took the front row, my dad and uncle took the second, and two adult sisters vacationing together took the third. They looked a lot alike and my dad and his brother look a lot alike too, but none of them are twins so they all had a good talk about how they often get asked if they’re twins, and challenged each other to guess which sibling was oldest.
One little hack about Sci-Fi is if you want a beer but don’t like the selection on the menu, you can always sneak next door to Baseline Tap House and bring back a beer from there. I did this since I really like their blood orange cider. April tried to drink some and I told her she couldn’t because it was a “grown-up drink,” to which she replied, “Can I try grown-up drink?” Can’t get anything past her!
I can’t remember what my dad and uncle got; Sci-Fi isn’t the best venue for food pictures. But I got the buffalo chicken tenders and fries, and I think April got the mac and cheese? It was good food overall, and of course the theming and atmosphere can’t be beat.
After dinner, it was time for our Rise LL! My uncle has never seen any of the new Star Wars movies but the plot is pretty straight forward. Evil guys are in black and military-like, good guys are scrappy rebels.
He took one step into the queue and pretty much went insane with wonder, snapping pictures left and right. I think that’s what’s so great about this attraction. Even if you’ve never seen a single Star Wars movie, or the new ones, it’s clearly an impressive showcase of technology and special effects. He of course assumed that the “shuttle ride” pre-show was the attraction itself. We had a bit of a wait after that to go into the interrogation room, and he had a lot of fun watching the First Order CMs. Soon enough, we were boarding our ride vehicle.
And then we stopped, just at the part where Kylo Ren is stalking you down a hallway.
See that black blob? That's Kylo.
The entire ride shut down. Meanwhile, my dad was texting and trying to call me. Turns out that while Rise was down, the fates aligned and April picked that moment to have what my father could only assume was the biggest poop of her life. I’m not sure what he expected me to do about it, or what advice I could have given him. He still talks about how gross it was. And no, I don’t know how many diapers he changed when I was little.
Anyway, while he was going through that harrowing experience, my uncle and I were getting evacuated off Rise, which involved a CM coming to “rescue us. Again!” (since the whole conceit of the ride is that you’re being rescued from the First Order. He unlocked the ride vehicle and led us through a side door right next to it. I was really hoping we’d get to walk through more of the attraction, but pretty much all the evacuation process took us through were some boring back hallways and stairwells. Either way, we weren’t allowed to take pictures until we got outside.
We were given a LL to use any time for the rest of the day through close the next day, but I mentioned that we had another party member who had been waiting to ride, and that we also didn’t plan to return to HS the next day. They advised us to talk to Guest Services the next day. Honestly, I wasn’t worried. I’ve never had a situation like this that Disney didn’t make right. Other guests, however, were not happy. I guess a lot of attractions had been down that day, but obviously there was nothing these poor CMs could do about it.
Continued in next post!
I think our room wasn’t quite ready when we arrived, or I just hadn’t gotten the text about it yet, so my uncle and I went to the front desk while my dad parked the car. We were on the second floor, which was great because it’s the same level as the lobby, albeit a bit far down the hallway. I do hate that there’s only one set of elevators on the DVC side!
We got to our new villa and I called bell services for our luggage. It came pretty quickly, but there was one piece missing, which was a basket that I’d brought from home holding April’s sleeping blanket and a couple of her toys and stuffies. I called them back and they said they would look for it, and in the meantime we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios.
We took the boat rather than walking since it was pretty hot out. It was crowded, so I shoved myself and April into a corner.
Our MMRR return time window was occurring as we got to the park but the ride was sadly down, and spoilers, it ended up remaining like that all night :-( Since we were hungry, we decided to instead try to check in early for our dinner reservation, which was at Sci-Fi. The CM working the podium said we were a little too early (we’d been able to check in early before but it’s really luck of the draw), so we decided to check out Muppet Vision while we waited.
April sits pretty well through this show but consistently refuses to wear the 3D glasses, as she did this time. So imagine my surprise when, as we were exiting, she flat out refused to return her glasses to the bin. Suddenly, it was of paramount importance that she keep them. I was worried we’d get in trouble, but figured better to ask forgiveness than permission, and let her wear them. She insisted on doing so upside-down.
And that, my friends, is how we got the title of this TR. You can see from her face that she is still getting over her tantrum. She almost looks like a mob boss to me. And I look like what I was in that moment. A tired, frustrated Mom who just wanted her kid to stop crying. You can also see my dad, who thought the whole thing was hilarious.
We got a lot of amused looks and giggles from other guests. I’m sorry to say they broke relatively quickly once we got them back to the villa. If you can believe it, they aren’t very well made.
Anyway, by this point, it was time for dinner, so we checked in and were brought to our car soon after.
April and I took the front row, my dad and uncle took the second, and two adult sisters vacationing together took the third. They looked a lot alike and my dad and his brother look a lot alike too, but none of them are twins so they all had a good talk about how they often get asked if they’re twins, and challenged each other to guess which sibling was oldest.
One little hack about Sci-Fi is if you want a beer but don’t like the selection on the menu, you can always sneak next door to Baseline Tap House and bring back a beer from there. I did this since I really like their blood orange cider. April tried to drink some and I told her she couldn’t because it was a “grown-up drink,” to which she replied, “Can I try grown-up drink?” Can’t get anything past her!
I can’t remember what my dad and uncle got; Sci-Fi isn’t the best venue for food pictures. But I got the buffalo chicken tenders and fries, and I think April got the mac and cheese? It was good food overall, and of course the theming and atmosphere can’t be beat.
After dinner, it was time for our Rise LL! My uncle has never seen any of the new Star Wars movies but the plot is pretty straight forward. Evil guys are in black and military-like, good guys are scrappy rebels.
He took one step into the queue and pretty much went insane with wonder, snapping pictures left and right. I think that’s what’s so great about this attraction. Even if you’ve never seen a single Star Wars movie, or the new ones, it’s clearly an impressive showcase of technology and special effects. He of course assumed that the “shuttle ride” pre-show was the attraction itself. We had a bit of a wait after that to go into the interrogation room, and he had a lot of fun watching the First Order CMs. Soon enough, we were boarding our ride vehicle.
And then we stopped, just at the part where Kylo Ren is stalking you down a hallway.
See that black blob? That's Kylo.
The entire ride shut down. Meanwhile, my dad was texting and trying to call me. Turns out that while Rise was down, the fates aligned and April picked that moment to have what my father could only assume was the biggest poop of her life. I’m not sure what he expected me to do about it, or what advice I could have given him. He still talks about how gross it was. And no, I don’t know how many diapers he changed when I was little.
Anyway, while he was going through that harrowing experience, my uncle and I were getting evacuated off Rise, which involved a CM coming to “rescue us. Again!” (since the whole conceit of the ride is that you’re being rescued from the First Order. He unlocked the ride vehicle and led us through a side door right next to it. I was really hoping we’d get to walk through more of the attraction, but pretty much all the evacuation process took us through were some boring back hallways and stairwells. Either way, we weren’t allowed to take pictures until we got outside.
We were given a LL to use any time for the rest of the day through close the next day, but I mentioned that we had another party member who had been waiting to ride, and that we also didn’t plan to return to HS the next day. They advised us to talk to Guest Services the next day. Honestly, I wasn’t worried. I’ve never had a situation like this that Disney didn’t make right. Other guests, however, were not happy. I guess a lot of attractions had been down that day, but obviously there was nothing these poor CMs could do about it.
Continued in next post!
Verstehen
I break for the Nautilus
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
We looked around for my dad, who wasn’t answering his phone (at this point I’m not sure if I knew about the poop saga, or if he had just been trying to text me about it). I ended up finding our stroller by the round bench area near the bathrooms in the marketplace, so I knew they were in the bathroom. I waited by the stroller while my uncle looked around and took some more pictures.
A few minutes later, they emerged. April was very happy to see me. My dad looked like he’d seen the devil himself.
At this point, the park was due to close pretty soon, and we still had one more anytime LL we could use since MMRR had been down, and in fact still was, so we decided to head over to Toy Story Land and do one of our favorite rides: Midway Mania!
I don’t think the standby line was very long, but it was nice to at least skip the queue switchbacks.
It was a very fun game, definitely my favorite of the two Toy Story-based gamified attractions at WDW. After that, it was time to head out, but not before we were handed a FREE box of popcorn by some CMs who needed to get rid of their remaining boxes before the end of the night. Score!
We decided to walk back to the Boardwalk since the boat line was a bit long.
I have in my notes that “April was sad” but no clue why or to what extent or at what point, but I assume she was just cranky after a long day and not much of a nap. Sometime after she went to sleep, maybe around the same time, I went to sleep as well. We had a big day tomorrow, because it was finally time to see April’s daddy!
A few minutes later, they emerged. April was very happy to see me. My dad looked like he’d seen the devil himself.
At this point, the park was due to close pretty soon, and we still had one more anytime LL we could use since MMRR had been down, and in fact still was, so we decided to head over to Toy Story Land and do one of our favorite rides: Midway Mania!
I don’t think the standby line was very long, but it was nice to at least skip the queue switchbacks.
It was a very fun game, definitely my favorite of the two Toy Story-based gamified attractions at WDW. After that, it was time to head out, but not before we were handed a FREE box of popcorn by some CMs who needed to get rid of their remaining boxes before the end of the night. Score!
We decided to walk back to the Boardwalk since the boat line was a bit long.
I have in my notes that “April was sad” but no clue why or to what extent or at what point, but I assume she was just cranky after a long day and not much of a nap. Sometime after she went to sleep, maybe around the same time, I went to sleep as well. We had a big day tomorrow, because it was finally time to see April’s daddy!
BroadwayHermione5
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
Shame about Rise! Especially for a first timer!We looked around for my dad, who wasn’t answering his phone (at this point I’m not sure if I knew about the poop saga, or if he had just been trying to text me about it). I ended up finding our stroller by the round bench area near the bathrooms in the marketplace, so I knew they were in the bathroom. I waited by the stroller while my uncle looked around and took some more pictures.
A few minutes later, they emerged. April was very happy to see me. My dad looked like he’d seen the devil himself.
At this point, the park was due to close pretty soon, and we still had one more anytime LL we could use since MMRR had been down, and in fact still was, so we decided to head over to Toy Story Land and do one of our favorite rides: Midway Mania!
I don’t think the standby line was very long, but it was nice to at least skip the queue switchbacks.
It was a very fun game, definitely my favorite of the two Toy Story-based gamified attractions at WDW. After that, it was time to head out, but not before we were handed a FREE box of popcorn by some CMs who needed to get rid of their remaining boxes before the end of the night. Score!
We decided to walk back to the Boardwalk since the boat line was a bit long.
I have in my notes that “April was sad” but no clue why or to what extent or at what point, but I assume she was just cranky after a long day and not much of a nap. Sometime after she went to sleep, maybe around the same time, I went to sleep as well. We had a big day tomorrow, because it was finally time to see April’s daddy!
I love how that is how you got the title!
suse66
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true!
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2008
Jungle Cruise is a good first pick. It'll be my choice for tomorrow.
Love that they have an early parade now.
Always a solid choice!
Haha! Smart girl!
Great choice!
I love that walk along the canal.
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