Here it goes..the Missy and Jeff had a meltdown at Disney update!
We had just finished playing with Andys toys on our 2nd TSM ride of the day and we were ready to slow down a bit and head to Pizza Planet for dinner. Keep in mind that we had arrived at DHS about 8:30 am, been up late the night before watching Wishes at MK, and been fighting the heat and humidity as well as the crowds all day. If any of you have been reading along since my PTR, you know that my son Dan deals with some generalized anxiety issues for which he takes medication. Well....that apple doesnt fall too far from the tree, if you know what I mean.
Jeff does not do well in crowds or in situations where he feels he needs to do many things at one time. Disney is challenging for him because it is
ALL of those things! He manages very well for the most part, but every now and then it gets the best of him and he reacts....poorly in this case!
As we were strolling toward Pizza Planet, we decided to check in a couple of gift shops for a plush Eve that Dan had been looking for...we figured
Pixar Place would be the place to find it if we were going to find it at all. (We didnt.) Im not sure exactly what happened, but the two older boys were behaving inappropriately at one point and Jeff kind of just flew off the handle. He really blew it way out of proportion, making it a bigger deal than it was. (If you ask him
now, hell tell you he was being a JERK!) That got me all upset so I jumped in, which then just made Jeff lash out at me....UGH..this is going from
BAD to
WORSE! I was upset that he was so uptight, that he overreacted, that the kids had to watch us argue...you name it, I was upset about it. I tried to just move on, but he could tell I was not OK...I was emotional and teary through most of dinner and cant even really remember what we ate.
He was very apologetic, both to me, and to the boys. He is very good about coming back after a big meltdown like that and being sure he lets all of us know how sorry he is and that he knows he was wrong to react to the anxiety and stress in such a way.
The boys asked to go off and play some video games, so Jeff gave them some money and he and I were able to sit and talk and try to come down off the emotional roller coaster! It really helped and I felt much better after a while. Anxiety is a tough thing to handle..I see it in Dan and I see it in Jeff and sometimes it just gets the better of them. Fortunately, this was the only issue we had all week.
We did end up enjoying Pizza Planet...I do remember that we got salad which was so good! I love my veggies! Once we all collected ourselves, I was able to get some pics of the boys enjoying the arcade.
This is the view from our table...we sat in the upper part of the restaurant.
My little pinball wizard!
Dan playing the Star Wars game.
This boy ALWAYS wears what he eats!
It was getting late and we wanted to be in line for the 8:30 Fantasmic! show by 7:30, so we said good-bye to Pizza Planet. I needed a little alone time so I sent Jeff and the boys ahead to use the RnRC FPs we had not used earlier. I told them Id meet them at the entrance to the Fantasmic! theater. I also wanted to get a spicy jalapeno pretzel to enjoy during the show and I could do that on my way!
It was nice to just stroll through the park on my own. The AIE was just doing its final show for the day and they had it playing on the big screen outside the theater....lots of people were standing around watching. Very cool! I got my pretzel and headed toward the other side of the park and my waiting family. Here are a few random pictures I took on my little stroll
.
I met the boys as planned at the entrance to the theater and we began to make our way inside. Now I had heard all the stories about the crazy crowds...get there an hour early, be prepared to stand, etc. So....there we were....an hour before showtime heading into the theater. I was pretty darn proud of us, until we heard this over the loudspeakers.
To those guests entering the theater, please be aware that we are at STANDING ROOM ONLY for the 8:30 show.
WHAAAAATTT???????
It was only 7:35! That couldnt possibly be the case. I had done everything right! Surely they must be mistaken.
NOPE! We were directed to the far left side of the stadium to the Standing Room section. As we were being herded there, we saw a CM pointing out a section on the FAR other side of the theater that had some seats...we followed her lead.....UNTIL we were turned away and told we had to go to the SRO section. UGH!! After criss-crossing the entire theater twice, we ultimately ended up on the far RIGHT side of the theater in the section for standers. (Its a good thing Jeff got his meltdown out of his system, because this was certainly prime conditions for one!) Here is a photo I took looking over the crowd from where we stood.
My time stamp for this picture says 7:56.
The area was like big, wide steps. There was room to sit down, but they kept coming and telling us we had to STAND....whatever! Most of us sat while we waited for the show to start. Here is a pic of the boys enjoying their glow sticks while they wait. NOTE.....Jeff looks very relaxed!
Once the show began, we did end up standing so we could see. We were way far away, but the view wasnt too bad. The worst part was that we couldnt see the parts of the show on the water very well...so the boats during the Pocahontas scene, etc. were tough to see. I didnt take a lot of pictures for 2 reasons. They never turn out very well because I have not yet mastered the night-time photo and also because we were fairly far away. I did take a couple...here they are!
We really love this show and even from far away it was amazing! As it ended, we gathered up our belongings and jumped into the mass of people exiting the theater. The boys wanted to ride ToT again, so I told them if the stand-by line was 30 minutes or less we would. It was 50 minutes so we made our way to the exit. But first a night photo of the creepy Hollywood Tower Hotel!
The line for the 10:00 show of Fantasmic! wound all the way down Sunset Boulevard and continued to the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard.
INSANE!! 
On our way out, we had this PhotoPass pic taken.
As we head out to catch the bus back to POR, lets recap our DHS day.
*Rope Drop
*Toy Story Mania (2X)
*ToT (2X)
*HSM show
*Lost and recovered wallet
*Magic of Disney Animation Tour
*Meet and Greet with Mickey and the Incredibles
*Lunch at Backlot Express
*Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show
*Frozen Lemonade!
*Block Party Bash and a little dancin in the streets
*Beauty and the Beast
*RnRC (2X for most of the family!)
*Lost and recovered cell phone
*Ugly family moment
*Dinner at Pizza Planet
*Play in Arcade
*Spicy Cheese Pretzel
*Fantasmic!
Not a bad day....TIRING, but FUN! This is Isaiah on the bus ride home.
CLASSIC!
When we got back to POR, we had promised the boys we would take them to the main pool for a night swim. Dan opted to stay in and go to bed...that boy knows when to call it quits. If hes tired, he goes to bed. Jeff and I took the other two to Ol Man Island for a dip.
Jeff and I went in the hot tub and I took of my TinkerBell watch so I could get in. Not surprisingly, I left it at the pool when we went back to the room.. After asking about it at the desk the next day with no luck, it became the ONE AND ONLY thing we lost that we never saw again. Now that we have officially LOST something, the keeper of lost things is satisfied and we go without losing another thing the rest of the vacation. Who knew?!
So.....the million dollar question I know you are all asking is was it worth it to go to DHS on a Fantasmic! day? Well....Fantasmic! is an amazing show and, no doubt, one of our favorites. The crowds at the park were worse than we saw at any other park the rest of the vacation, but they were manageable with a good strategy so that wasnt really a problem. However, if I had known that in order to get a seat for the show you needed to be there at least 2 hours in advance, not 1, I may have done things differently. Its hard to say. Sitting and WAITING for a show for 2 hours is questionable, no matter how good that show is. Lets hope that Disney sees fit to add Fantasmic! back onto the schedule more than twice a week and maybe we wont have to make that choice in the future!
Whew....another day complete! We are now on to Day 6 of our vacation and our FAVORITE PARK!! Stay tuned, thanks for reading, and have a very
HAPPY 4th of JULY!
Jonah has always wanted to do all the things he was too short for..now he's tall enough and he's thrilled! 
You are busy!! Take your time. We will all still be here when you get time. 
I made a funny....get it missy....Missy. 
...we went t DHS with plans to do a couple of quick things and get a FP for TSM. But, Ashton & I ended up waiting in line while the older kiddies were getting dressed at the resort and Danny rode RnRC. I would not have minded but the show ended up being CX due to rain. After we sat in the rain and waited
(Dayne on the other hand usually walks as far away as he can; if he sees it coming--LOL!
)
So, from my standards of a day at Disney ya'll had a great day (even w/the meltdown)...and I love that ya'll ended the day by relaxing in the pool
--sorry about the watch, though; I love how Isaiah can power nap anywhere
