MINMATES Trip Report: Pre-trip Drama
I think Im Gonna Be sick
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8284795#post8284795
MINMATES Trip Report: (Day 1) I Need A Vacation! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8284821#post8284821
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.1) Lions & Tarzan & Mickey, Oh My! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8288435#post8288435
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.2) Visiting WDW-One Potty At A Time! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792642
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.3) Magic Kingdom Nirvana
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8301761#post8301761
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 1) POOL Is One Letter Short of POO!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792687
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 2) Dont Rain On My Parade!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792750
ME (minmate)
DH -- Joe
DD6 Cali
DD5 Meg
DS4 Buddy
DD2 Jay Jay
4/5-4/12 7 nights at Pop Century
FRIDAY AM 4/8
I guess it was a blessing in disguise that we opted out of Epcots EMH evening. The mornings 6:30 wake up call came too soon. Id fresh run out of adrenaline and slept hard and fast last night only to wake too soon to Stitchs antics. Well, today is a new Disney Day! Wait, scratch that, reverse it Buddy sheepishly enters our room to confess hed had another accident! Are we having fun yet? Hes been out of diapers for 2 years folks. This was completely disorienting to all of us. Ive learned that vacationing is a messy business! We will definitely need to do laundry and leave another generous tip for the Micekeepers!
We all seem to be feeling better and enjoy a bit of pixie dust in the way of being able to just walk right onto a bus at the queue at Pop. I smiled as I remembered the security guard who checked my bags from last year. Okay, Im officially a Disney addict. We ended up being about the 4th family in line at the turnstile we chose. We truly have a half-hour (HALF AND HOUR) wait until the park opens. I bring out the big guns again. We get my mom, Granny Nanny, on the phone to chat it up with the kids while we wait. They let everyone enter beyond the turnstiles but not through to the stroller/ecv rentals. We were right at the rope. I thought the characters came out to greet us but I guess not at EMH, maybe only at the regular opening time? Well, the dropped the rope and its off to the races. It was a madhouse at the stroller area. People were pushing, shoving, clamoring. Wed already pre-paid for a multi-day pass, but I needed to get it stamped. Well, there was nobody manning the actual strollers. We were honest and got our ticket stamped, but it would have been easy to just walk off with a couple of strollers without paying for them. Usually, they have CMs checking and what not, but thats how crazy it was.
Joe took Cali and Meg and boldly went where this man has never gone (solo) before. He headed to Space Mountain, tentatively secure in his ability to find it and then find us again when they were done. As he took a left at the hub toward Tomorrowland I called after him, Go towards the white thingy! I love to be a dork sometimes! Its fun!
JayJay, Buddy and I veered toward Fantasyland. We were intercepted by a lonesome duo TweedleDee and TweedleDum. My two tweedles hopped out of the stroller to play with them. After that we headed over to a very quiet Tea Cups. As we were spinning, a relay of phone messages begins between Joe and I. The first one is him telling me that Space Mtn. is down and so he had to FP it. He only had two tix though (Im stingy with doling them out) and was worried if he was going to run into trouble later getting all three of them on the ride. He didnt know where to meet us. I immediately call back and suggest to him to meet us at Buzz. We sacrifice a ride on Dumbo to meet up with dad and the girls. On our way to Buzz, Joe calls back and says their on the TTA. Good idea, Meg loves that ride. Plus she gets a chance to see Space Mtn. lit up which is also good because she has not ridden it before and was a bit nervous of the unknown. I zip over and get the rest of the FPs needed for Space and then go on Buzz and by the time were off, Joe is in line for Buzz with the girls so we all go on again together.
We skipped breakfast again but nothing quick was open. So we elect to get drinks and use up some of our Snack Points at Enchanted Grove in FL. It takes forever. Nobody was in line, he just took forever. Something was wrong with his cash register like it was out of tape or something.
We head over to POTC. Buddy had been really good all morning and so gets him the $1.50 rubber irons. Yay, for Buddy. CMs continue to comment on these the rest of the trip, because of course, he has them on his person for most of the rest of the trip! JayJay also elects to get a pirate Eeyore as she had not joined in the POTC buying frenzy the last time.
We try to eat at Pecos but they arent open yet so we do Splash. Stand-by is 15 min. We get the ride switch coupon because JayJay was too short to ride. She gets a VIP pass from the CM upon our request and Joe takes her to the Laughin Place Playground. Buddy decides he does not like this ride. It is contagious. Now, Meg, who liked this ride last year, decides she does not like it anymore either. They get mad at me. Why? I dont know. I told them they didnt have to go again. We decide to wait on using the ride switch (in my heart I know we will probably not make it back over that way though). Oh well, Joe gets to do Space Mtn. while I got Splash. Good deal in my opinion.
We decide to take the train over to Toon Town so JayJay can ride Barnstormer. The line for Barnstormer is the longest we have to wait in for any rides/attractions. In the ballpark of 20 minutes. JayJay loves it and smiles for miles! Everyone is happy and in a good mood, but hungry. So we take the backway path toward Tomorrowland and Joe splits off with Cali and Meg to do Space Mtn. We agree to meet at Cosmic Rays where I will order us lunch. I explain how to get from Space to Cosmic Rays, very well, I think short of telling him exactly how many paces they are apart. I dont know that, but Im sure someone does!
Well, Joe definitely got the longer end of the stick here. Have you ever tried to order 3 trays worth of food with two kids who want to be held at the same time? Not the easiest thing in the world. JayJay is getting tired because she walks into a chair again and bumps her eye. She starts crying so I sit her down next to me and that makes things worse. Finally, I figure out what shes saying. She wants to sit next to Buddy. So we get that squared away. Joe calls and leaves a message that he doesnt know where to go because he cant find Cosmic Rays. Its not on the map. Map reading is apparently not at the top of his skill set now are they? So, I get him on the phone and eventually he finds us. We spend more time in Cosmic Rays than I expected, but it was cool a bit loud because of the singing, but good.
We head over to Carousel of Progress and shake our heads again as we pass by the Stitch ride. Mid-way through the ride Buddy has to go potty. Hey, imagine that! We get ice cream treats from a less than hospitable CM and decide its time to go back to the hotel.
Joe gets to do the walk from the MK exit to the bus stop twice thanks to the girls finding that magic hidden bladder filling spot in the pavement. When the bus rolls up they are still nowhere to be seen, but they make good time and actually make it back on the same bus as we do. The bus ride back seems long. Maybe I was just tired.
When we got back to the room I just plopped down on the bed and zoned out for a bit while the kids did their Thanks to the Micekeepers chant/dance. The kids asked to go for a swim so we hit the bowling pin pool again. JayJay is so daring. She was jumping on by herself. Once, she fell and got a black-and-blue mark from hitting her leg on the edge of the pool. But dont you dare try to catch her. She didnt really cry when she fell but she definitely yells and points her finger at me, Dont you catch me mommy! If I try to catch her when she jumps in. I wonder what other parents think when they see me throwing her up in the air to splash down into the pool, underwater. What does that woman think shes doing to that little baby?!!! Hey, she loves it! I never did that with the older three. But JayJay might as well be a fish or a duck with as much as she loves the water.
After a nice long swim we freshen up and head to MGM. I instruct Joe that at the end of the blvd. we will split up, I will go left for RNR FPs and he will go right for TOT FPs. I figure those stations are closer, less likely he will get lost. See, we can get FPs for both because we have five tix. Only 3 will ride TOT at a time and only 2 will ride RNR at a time. We figured wed ask for ride switch tix and if they didnt give them to us, wed do the FP again after our time was available. As it turns out, Joe doesnt know how to go right. Maybe because hes a lefty. Maybe because he just doesnt listen to me. He was headed toward RNR, but Id already gotten the FPs for that. So, exasperated, I ask him to surrender the tickets and I got the FPs for TOT. Then, we headed off to Star Tours. Joe had psyched Buddy up for this as he is a newbie Star Wars fan. Hed gotten light sabers for his birthday right before we left for the trip. He said he was homesick for them. That kid! Joe thought Star Tours would cheer him up! JayJay fell asleep in the stroller and I relaxed with her at the tables between Star Tours and Indiana Jones. I caught up on my journal and just relaxed. Before I knew it Joe, Buddy, Cali and Meg were done with Star Tours. Theyd just walked right on. Buddy was bubbling. He wanted to go again. Cali and I joined him. Meg and Joe stayed back with JayJay. Joe wanted to try to squeeze in his ride on TOT. He had never done it. But I convinced him that we should go to our PS for Hollywood and Vine first. We were doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package. We had a HALF AND HOUR wait for our PS. It wasnt that bad but everyone was hungry. They probably could have squeezed in TOT if they hustled there and back!
Our H&V server was pleasant. We got our Fantasmic Reserved Seating Ticket right away and she told us when and where to go. She also deducted the meal from our Dining Plan which I wasnt sure was possible, but asked anyway! Yay!
While Joe was up getting his food, Buddy had a fit about his chicken nuggets (well what did you think hed be eating?) having slid into the ketchup. He was insisting I wipe the chicken nugget clean. Sometimes I dont know whether to laugh, cry or walk away. Id done all three on this trip already! JayJay announced she had to go potty. I wasnt going to make the same mistake twice. As fast as you can say Fantasmic! I whisked her out of her chair, got Joes attention so hed know I was leaving the table and rushed JayJay to the bathroom. Thankfully, there was no wait. Whew!
Joe had appeased Buddys ketchupy chicken dilemma by pretending to clean it and replacing it with a new one. Does that count as a white lie? While getting dessert I saw the father and daughter from the airplane. She was whining and the father looked exasperated. Now, I know I shouldnt take joy in other peoples misery. I suppose, it was more like taking comfort in knowing I wasnt alone in the World with whiny kids. Every time I saw or heard a whiny, crying or upset kid, I never complained or commented. I just sent up a prayer thanking God it wasnt my turn this time!
After dinner (I know we are daredevils. We do all the thrill rides AFTER we eat!) we head over to TOT. Joe, Cali and Meg ride it while Buddy (who, of course brought his pirate gear) and JayJay had a grand ol time sword fighting. We chatted with another mom and little boy who were also waiting for family to get off of TOT. Joe and the girls exited TOT and Joe was smiling but shaking his head. I knew this meant Meg did NOT go for this ride at ALL! She was fine on the ride and looked fine as she approached us, but with each step closer to me, I saw her shell begin to crack. I was so proud of her for at least branching out and trying something new (albeit scary for her). I hugged her and told her that. She told me it was a stupid, stupid ride and she never wanted to ride it again! Well, that was fine with me. She calmed down and we headed over to RNR. Cali and I rode it. I was nervous for HER. I knew shed be fine my adventurous, unaffected little girl. This was her first BIG coaster, the first time shed be inverted on a steel machine. Know what she said when we pulled in after it was over That was it? That was too short! Know what her expression was on the pic? Totally stoic, like, ok, whens the party gonna start? Geesh! Its hard to impress this girl! Know what her expression is like on the pics I took in front of the big guitar? As if she is saying, yeah, yeah, I rode it, so whats the big deal? This is the girl that was quick to tell everyone last year when she rode TOT she was the ONLY one that didnt scream. I tried to explain to her that screaming is part of the fun.
After exploring the RNR bathroom area we headed over to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground. They loved that, went wild over there! I realized it was now 7:42. We were told that they closed the gate to reserved seating PROMPTLY at 8pm. We didnt want to miss out on it so we got in our cardio workout for the day as we corralled the kids and headed up to Oscars. We got from HISTK to the front of the park (Oscars) in six minutes. I dont know if thats good time but we made it. Apparently, we were ahead of the rest of the reserved seating crowd because we basically had the pick of the section. The rest of the theatre was packed and within five minutes so was the reserved seating. We now had a true HALF AND HOUR for the show to start. We took turns doing potty breaks. I took JayJay and Cali. JayJay was so cute as she wiggled, waddled and danced her way to the bathroom. The CM at the top of the section joined in with her. Cali heard the song she is doing for her dance recital later this year and I begged her to show me some of it. She started to but then said she couldnt do the rest because she has to get on the ground. I havent seen their routine yet, so I have no idea what she was talking about and let it slide. We entertained the kids with Bejeweled on our cell phones for the last 15 minutes of our wait. I was amused by the family behind me as they said some of the same things to their kids about not needing more stuff and to learn to appreciate what they do have and to just appreciate getting a vacation in the first place. I was amused by two things: 1) My kids had been awesome today. They didnt ask for anything even when the spinny, twirly light sellers came by; and 2) Even though they were sitting behind me and based on her comments to her kids, they were obviously whining, I never heard the kids say a peep! I found myself wishing my kids whined that quietly! How come my kids are so loud, I wondered? Well thats a question for another day because Fantasmic started, and let me just say, it was nothing short of Fantasmic! Joe and I had seen this at Disneyland years ago but on a whole this just blew that out of the water! This by far, is one of our favorites at WDW. We left yearning to see it again. We contemplated trying to fit it in another day but again, me, being a line-waiting snob, didnt want to stand in line to see it. Ultimately, we decided some things are just best when you leave them yearning for more. Despite all the downs on our trip, the ups were skyrocketing past them and by now I knew Joe was definitely in for a future trip. So, it was nice feeling to be able to think and say, We can see it again next time!
Somehow, even though the kids had to walk from the theatre to the bus stop we didnt have our strollers anymore and we took our time, we beat the crush to the bus stop. We were maybe the 10th in line. The kids were fabulous. I enjoyed them. I enjoyed watching them watch Fantasmic as much as the show itself. I only wish I knew how to better photograph the whole experience.
We were back in the room by 10. Joe did his nightly exercise to and from the Food Court for mug refills and whatnot. The kids and I played I Spy with the framed posters in the bedrooms. Theyre great for this! Wed taken up playing this a lot! It was special! JayJay cracks me up. I think shes a genius trapped inside a two-year-olds body! Meg astounds me with her I Spy abilities!
By the time Joe returned, Meg, JayJay and I were asleep in one double bed! And thus, out of the ashes rises the phoenix. Our Ep-ri-cot Disaster was all but erased from our minds by our perfect day.
MINMATES Trip Report: (Day 1) I Need A Vacation! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8284821#post8284821
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.1) Lions & Tarzan & Mickey, Oh My! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8288435#post8288435
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.2) Visiting WDW-One Potty At A Time! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792642
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.3) Magic Kingdom Nirvana
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8301761#post8301761
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 1) POOL Is One Letter Short of POO!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792687
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 2) Dont Rain On My Parade!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792750
ME (minmate)
DH -- Joe
DD6 Cali
DD5 Meg
DS4 Buddy
DD2 Jay Jay
4/5-4/12 7 nights at Pop Century
FRIDAY AM 4/8
I guess it was a blessing in disguise that we opted out of Epcots EMH evening. The mornings 6:30 wake up call came too soon. Id fresh run out of adrenaline and slept hard and fast last night only to wake too soon to Stitchs antics. Well, today is a new Disney Day! Wait, scratch that, reverse it Buddy sheepishly enters our room to confess hed had another accident! Are we having fun yet? Hes been out of diapers for 2 years folks. This was completely disorienting to all of us. Ive learned that vacationing is a messy business! We will definitely need to do laundry and leave another generous tip for the Micekeepers!
We all seem to be feeling better and enjoy a bit of pixie dust in the way of being able to just walk right onto a bus at the queue at Pop. I smiled as I remembered the security guard who checked my bags from last year. Okay, Im officially a Disney addict. We ended up being about the 4th family in line at the turnstile we chose. We truly have a half-hour (HALF AND HOUR) wait until the park opens. I bring out the big guns again. We get my mom, Granny Nanny, on the phone to chat it up with the kids while we wait. They let everyone enter beyond the turnstiles but not through to the stroller/ecv rentals. We were right at the rope. I thought the characters came out to greet us but I guess not at EMH, maybe only at the regular opening time? Well, the dropped the rope and its off to the races. It was a madhouse at the stroller area. People were pushing, shoving, clamoring. Wed already pre-paid for a multi-day pass, but I needed to get it stamped. Well, there was nobody manning the actual strollers. We were honest and got our ticket stamped, but it would have been easy to just walk off with a couple of strollers without paying for them. Usually, they have CMs checking and what not, but thats how crazy it was.
Joe took Cali and Meg and boldly went where this man has never gone (solo) before. He headed to Space Mountain, tentatively secure in his ability to find it and then find us again when they were done. As he took a left at the hub toward Tomorrowland I called after him, Go towards the white thingy! I love to be a dork sometimes! Its fun!
JayJay, Buddy and I veered toward Fantasyland. We were intercepted by a lonesome duo TweedleDee and TweedleDum. My two tweedles hopped out of the stroller to play with them. After that we headed over to a very quiet Tea Cups. As we were spinning, a relay of phone messages begins between Joe and I. The first one is him telling me that Space Mtn. is down and so he had to FP it. He only had two tix though (Im stingy with doling them out) and was worried if he was going to run into trouble later getting all three of them on the ride. He didnt know where to meet us. I immediately call back and suggest to him to meet us at Buzz. We sacrifice a ride on Dumbo to meet up with dad and the girls. On our way to Buzz, Joe calls back and says their on the TTA. Good idea, Meg loves that ride. Plus she gets a chance to see Space Mtn. lit up which is also good because she has not ridden it before and was a bit nervous of the unknown. I zip over and get the rest of the FPs needed for Space and then go on Buzz and by the time were off, Joe is in line for Buzz with the girls so we all go on again together.
We skipped breakfast again but nothing quick was open. So we elect to get drinks and use up some of our Snack Points at Enchanted Grove in FL. It takes forever. Nobody was in line, he just took forever. Something was wrong with his cash register like it was out of tape or something.
We head over to POTC. Buddy had been really good all morning and so gets him the $1.50 rubber irons. Yay, for Buddy. CMs continue to comment on these the rest of the trip, because of course, he has them on his person for most of the rest of the trip! JayJay also elects to get a pirate Eeyore as she had not joined in the POTC buying frenzy the last time.
We try to eat at Pecos but they arent open yet so we do Splash. Stand-by is 15 min. We get the ride switch coupon because JayJay was too short to ride. She gets a VIP pass from the CM upon our request and Joe takes her to the Laughin Place Playground. Buddy decides he does not like this ride. It is contagious. Now, Meg, who liked this ride last year, decides she does not like it anymore either. They get mad at me. Why? I dont know. I told them they didnt have to go again. We decide to wait on using the ride switch (in my heart I know we will probably not make it back over that way though). Oh well, Joe gets to do Space Mtn. while I got Splash. Good deal in my opinion.
We decide to take the train over to Toon Town so JayJay can ride Barnstormer. The line for Barnstormer is the longest we have to wait in for any rides/attractions. In the ballpark of 20 minutes. JayJay loves it and smiles for miles! Everyone is happy and in a good mood, but hungry. So we take the backway path toward Tomorrowland and Joe splits off with Cali and Meg to do Space Mtn. We agree to meet at Cosmic Rays where I will order us lunch. I explain how to get from Space to Cosmic Rays, very well, I think short of telling him exactly how many paces they are apart. I dont know that, but Im sure someone does!
Well, Joe definitely got the longer end of the stick here. Have you ever tried to order 3 trays worth of food with two kids who want to be held at the same time? Not the easiest thing in the world. JayJay is getting tired because she walks into a chair again and bumps her eye. She starts crying so I sit her down next to me and that makes things worse. Finally, I figure out what shes saying. She wants to sit next to Buddy. So we get that squared away. Joe calls and leaves a message that he doesnt know where to go because he cant find Cosmic Rays. Its not on the map. Map reading is apparently not at the top of his skill set now are they? So, I get him on the phone and eventually he finds us. We spend more time in Cosmic Rays than I expected, but it was cool a bit loud because of the singing, but good.
We head over to Carousel of Progress and shake our heads again as we pass by the Stitch ride. Mid-way through the ride Buddy has to go potty. Hey, imagine that! We get ice cream treats from a less than hospitable CM and decide its time to go back to the hotel.
Joe gets to do the walk from the MK exit to the bus stop twice thanks to the girls finding that magic hidden bladder filling spot in the pavement. When the bus rolls up they are still nowhere to be seen, but they make good time and actually make it back on the same bus as we do. The bus ride back seems long. Maybe I was just tired.
When we got back to the room I just plopped down on the bed and zoned out for a bit while the kids did their Thanks to the Micekeepers chant/dance. The kids asked to go for a swim so we hit the bowling pin pool again. JayJay is so daring. She was jumping on by herself. Once, she fell and got a black-and-blue mark from hitting her leg on the edge of the pool. But dont you dare try to catch her. She didnt really cry when she fell but she definitely yells and points her finger at me, Dont you catch me mommy! If I try to catch her when she jumps in. I wonder what other parents think when they see me throwing her up in the air to splash down into the pool, underwater. What does that woman think shes doing to that little baby?!!! Hey, she loves it! I never did that with the older three. But JayJay might as well be a fish or a duck with as much as she loves the water.
After a nice long swim we freshen up and head to MGM. I instruct Joe that at the end of the blvd. we will split up, I will go left for RNR FPs and he will go right for TOT FPs. I figure those stations are closer, less likely he will get lost. See, we can get FPs for both because we have five tix. Only 3 will ride TOT at a time and only 2 will ride RNR at a time. We figured wed ask for ride switch tix and if they didnt give them to us, wed do the FP again after our time was available. As it turns out, Joe doesnt know how to go right. Maybe because hes a lefty. Maybe because he just doesnt listen to me. He was headed toward RNR, but Id already gotten the FPs for that. So, exasperated, I ask him to surrender the tickets and I got the FPs for TOT. Then, we headed off to Star Tours. Joe had psyched Buddy up for this as he is a newbie Star Wars fan. Hed gotten light sabers for his birthday right before we left for the trip. He said he was homesick for them. That kid! Joe thought Star Tours would cheer him up! JayJay fell asleep in the stroller and I relaxed with her at the tables between Star Tours and Indiana Jones. I caught up on my journal and just relaxed. Before I knew it Joe, Buddy, Cali and Meg were done with Star Tours. Theyd just walked right on. Buddy was bubbling. He wanted to go again. Cali and I joined him. Meg and Joe stayed back with JayJay. Joe wanted to try to squeeze in his ride on TOT. He had never done it. But I convinced him that we should go to our PS for Hollywood and Vine first. We were doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package. We had a HALF AND HOUR wait for our PS. It wasnt that bad but everyone was hungry. They probably could have squeezed in TOT if they hustled there and back!
Our H&V server was pleasant. We got our Fantasmic Reserved Seating Ticket right away and she told us when and where to go. She also deducted the meal from our Dining Plan which I wasnt sure was possible, but asked anyway! Yay!
While Joe was up getting his food, Buddy had a fit about his chicken nuggets (well what did you think hed be eating?) having slid into the ketchup. He was insisting I wipe the chicken nugget clean. Sometimes I dont know whether to laugh, cry or walk away. Id done all three on this trip already! JayJay announced she had to go potty. I wasnt going to make the same mistake twice. As fast as you can say Fantasmic! I whisked her out of her chair, got Joes attention so hed know I was leaving the table and rushed JayJay to the bathroom. Thankfully, there was no wait. Whew!
Joe had appeased Buddys ketchupy chicken dilemma by pretending to clean it and replacing it with a new one. Does that count as a white lie? While getting dessert I saw the father and daughter from the airplane. She was whining and the father looked exasperated. Now, I know I shouldnt take joy in other peoples misery. I suppose, it was more like taking comfort in knowing I wasnt alone in the World with whiny kids. Every time I saw or heard a whiny, crying or upset kid, I never complained or commented. I just sent up a prayer thanking God it wasnt my turn this time!
After dinner (I know we are daredevils. We do all the thrill rides AFTER we eat!) we head over to TOT. Joe, Cali and Meg ride it while Buddy (who, of course brought his pirate gear) and JayJay had a grand ol time sword fighting. We chatted with another mom and little boy who were also waiting for family to get off of TOT. Joe and the girls exited TOT and Joe was smiling but shaking his head. I knew this meant Meg did NOT go for this ride at ALL! She was fine on the ride and looked fine as she approached us, but with each step closer to me, I saw her shell begin to crack. I was so proud of her for at least branching out and trying something new (albeit scary for her). I hugged her and told her that. She told me it was a stupid, stupid ride and she never wanted to ride it again! Well, that was fine with me. She calmed down and we headed over to RNR. Cali and I rode it. I was nervous for HER. I knew shed be fine my adventurous, unaffected little girl. This was her first BIG coaster, the first time shed be inverted on a steel machine. Know what she said when we pulled in after it was over That was it? That was too short! Know what her expression was on the pic? Totally stoic, like, ok, whens the party gonna start? Geesh! Its hard to impress this girl! Know what her expression is like on the pics I took in front of the big guitar? As if she is saying, yeah, yeah, I rode it, so whats the big deal? This is the girl that was quick to tell everyone last year when she rode TOT she was the ONLY one that didnt scream. I tried to explain to her that screaming is part of the fun.
After exploring the RNR bathroom area we headed over to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground. They loved that, went wild over there! I realized it was now 7:42. We were told that they closed the gate to reserved seating PROMPTLY at 8pm. We didnt want to miss out on it so we got in our cardio workout for the day as we corralled the kids and headed up to Oscars. We got from HISTK to the front of the park (Oscars) in six minutes. I dont know if thats good time but we made it. Apparently, we were ahead of the rest of the reserved seating crowd because we basically had the pick of the section. The rest of the theatre was packed and within five minutes so was the reserved seating. We now had a true HALF AND HOUR for the show to start. We took turns doing potty breaks. I took JayJay and Cali. JayJay was so cute as she wiggled, waddled and danced her way to the bathroom. The CM at the top of the section joined in with her. Cali heard the song she is doing for her dance recital later this year and I begged her to show me some of it. She started to but then said she couldnt do the rest because she has to get on the ground. I havent seen their routine yet, so I have no idea what she was talking about and let it slide. We entertained the kids with Bejeweled on our cell phones for the last 15 minutes of our wait. I was amused by the family behind me as they said some of the same things to their kids about not needing more stuff and to learn to appreciate what they do have and to just appreciate getting a vacation in the first place. I was amused by two things: 1) My kids had been awesome today. They didnt ask for anything even when the spinny, twirly light sellers came by; and 2) Even though they were sitting behind me and based on her comments to her kids, they were obviously whining, I never heard the kids say a peep! I found myself wishing my kids whined that quietly! How come my kids are so loud, I wondered? Well thats a question for another day because Fantasmic started, and let me just say, it was nothing short of Fantasmic! Joe and I had seen this at Disneyland years ago but on a whole this just blew that out of the water! This by far, is one of our favorites at WDW. We left yearning to see it again. We contemplated trying to fit it in another day but again, me, being a line-waiting snob, didnt want to stand in line to see it. Ultimately, we decided some things are just best when you leave them yearning for more. Despite all the downs on our trip, the ups were skyrocketing past them and by now I knew Joe was definitely in for a future trip. So, it was nice feeling to be able to think and say, We can see it again next time!
Somehow, even though the kids had to walk from the theatre to the bus stop we didnt have our strollers anymore and we took our time, we beat the crush to the bus stop. We were maybe the 10th in line. The kids were fabulous. I enjoyed them. I enjoyed watching them watch Fantasmic as much as the show itself. I only wish I knew how to better photograph the whole experience.
We were back in the room by 10. Joe did his nightly exercise to and from the Food Court for mug refills and whatnot. The kids and I played I Spy with the framed posters in the bedrooms. Theyre great for this! Wed taken up playing this a lot! It was special! JayJay cracks me up. I think shes a genius trapped inside a two-year-olds body! Meg astounds me with her I Spy abilities!
By the time Joe returned, Meg, JayJay and I were asleep in one double bed! And thus, out of the ashes rises the phoenix. Our Ep-ri-cot Disaster was all but erased from our minds by our perfect day.
Oh, what a wonderful day !! 
