Takin’ The In-Laws -- Day 4 (Part 2) – The Magic Kingdom Really Is Magic

[bdrex95]

Takin’ The In-Laws -- 4/5/2005 – Day 4 (Part 2) – The Magic Kingdom Really Is Magic
Cast of Characters
Me – DH32, love Disney and now a planner extraordinaire
Min – DW34, loves Disney too, but left the planning to me
Buddy – DS6, 3rd trip to Disney, 1st one he’ll really appreciate
Doodle – DD3, my princess and a DCL souvenir
BuckleBoy – DS21months, 1st time to WDW, obsessed with buckles
Meme – MIL65, Fun, nice, extremely quiet
Papa – FIL67, Big heart, Bigger talker with occasional bad timing
BIL – 37, Just a big kid

(Imagine this in your best Disney ride announcer voice) “For your safety, please remain seated and keep your hands and arms away from the monitor at all times.”

Quick Recap from Day 4 - Part 1:

Mickey and Stitch called.
Fixed a buffet for duckies and friends.
Saw opening ceremonies while refereeing.
Had an epiphany.
Did Fantasyland.
Did Tomorrowland.
Took a tumble.
Decided to stop being “commando crazy,” I think.

Now that you’re up to speed, lets continue…

The train ride gave me a few minutes to settle myself down a little bit. I was a touch rattled and extremely embarrassed. Maybe I had gone a little overboard this morning. Maybe I was pushing a little too hard. I decided that I would still try to stick to my plan, but just take it as it comes.

As we exited the train I was VERY careful. I kind of felt as if I had my proverbial tail between my legs. I felt like everyone was looking at me and whispering, “There’s the klutz who fell getting on the train, hehehehe!” Ok, the best thing to do is just get going and blend in. Forget about it and move on.

Lunch was going to be at Pecos Bill’s. I had heard lots of good things about that place here on the boards, and it was right near our next set of attractions. After we SAFELY disembarked the train, I told the crew to head over there and I’ll get a set of FP’s for either Splash Mountain or BTMRR. Well, BTMRR only had a 25-minute standby wait, while Splash had a 35-minute wait, so I grabbed FP’s for Splash. Let’s Eat!

I arrived just a couple minutes behind the rest of my group, and they were waiting for me. We head in to decide on our fare. The kids want chicken strips, again. “You guys have had chicken strips for lunch and dinner every day since Saturday night. Isn’t there something else you want to eat?” Of course not Dad, how silly can you be? On vacation, it’s all chicken strips, all the time! However, using my superior persuasion skills (“It’s hot dogs or nothing!”) I am able to convince them that hot dogs might be a better alternative. At least they haven’t had those since lunch on Saturday! We pay our bill at the cashier and move up to the counter to pick up our order.

At this point, for some unexplained reason, all h*ll breaks loose. Buckleboy decides that he needs to be picked up, NOW! He gets his point across very succinctly by reaching towards the sky and screaming at the top of his lungs. Buddy and Doodle decide that now’s a good time to loudly voice their displeasure over a hot dog lunch and stage a sit-in on the floor right in front of the counter. I begin to wonder, “How exactly will Min and I be able to successfully get 3 screaming, immobile children and 2 full trays of food and drinks to a table? By the way, are there any tables left?”

Our food is up and I try to reason a little. “Look at this, you get applesauce with your hot dogs!” Is there any child that would get excited about this? I guess when you’re desperate you’ll try anything. And at that point I was desperate. My kids were now flopping at the feet of the older couple in line behind us. I apologized profusely, and of course they said the understood, since their children were once that age. They had been there too. I’m sure what they were really thinking was, “Who let these terrors in? Will you please keep your children under control? There is no excuse for this kind of behavior!” All the while they were smiling that “knowing” smile. “Knowing” exactly what it was like!

Thank goodness Meme, Papa, and BIL were in the next line over. Meme and Papa grabbed the kids and set off to find a table. “We’ll be over there.” “Ok, we’ll be right there.” Of course, we didn’t bother to look at them when they pointed in the “over there” direction. After the nice CM finished assembling our order we exited the line with our trays. Min and I look at each other. “So where exactly is ‘over there’ anyway?” “Is it over there, or over there, or over there, or outside?” Who knew this place was that big? How many do they seat here, like 5,000 at a time? We try to listen for screaming kids, but that didn’t work too well. We found some, but they weren’t ours. I have to ask the parents of those children, “How could you let you kids behave that way?” LOL! After a quick scan of the inside, they must be “over there.” After a few minutes of searching, we successfully find them outside and deliver the goods.

The food was pretty good, although I think the kids played with more than they ate. The applesauce was entirely uninspiring. But it was fun! I’d like to apologize to whoever sat at that table after us. No, my kids did not barf up their lunch – it only looks like that. It’s just hot dog applesauce soup.

(Overall rating for our dining experience at Pecos Bill’s: 2 ¾ Mickey’s (out of 4). The food was good – typical counter service; and the service was fine – heck they didn’t make my kids leave! The atmosphere was neat – we liked eating outside. We had never been there before, but we will make it a point to dine there again on future trips.)

I plan on approaching the afternoon much more leisurely. Min, BIL, Buddy, and I decide to head over to BTMRR and Splash, while Meme and Papa take Doodle and Buckleboy for a walk down to the Jungle Cruise to get FP’s. Hopefully, Doodle and Buckleboy will pass out in the stroller along the way.

BTMRR was about a 25-minute wait. FYI, this is the longest we had to wait for a ride the entire time we were at Disney. Not because the lines weren’t any longer, later in the day I saw lines of 60 minutes or more. No, it’s because of my superior planning abilities. This is where I realized I truly had become a planner extraordinaire!

Buddy had been complaining all day that his feet hurt, his legs were tired, he didn’t want to walk, yadda, yadda, yadda. This litany continued while we were in line for BTMRR. So, after the ride, Min decided to break down and rent a stroller for him. I know, I know, 6 years old is kind of old for a stroller, but it’s better than listening to him whine. Plus, we had a lot to do yet today and maybe he could even get a little shuteye.

Buddy decides that he would rather stay with Meme and Papa and the other 2 kids (who were napping now) instead of riding Splash Mountain. Try as I might, I couldn’t get him to go with us. So, it’s just BIL and me.

Usually, I ride rides with a girl. I hadn’t ridden a ride with just another guy in a long time. It was kind of weird. While we were in line, I kept feeling a need to hold someone’s hand or something, but there was only him. And those dark caves were almost romantic at times. You don’t realize how romantic a ride can be until you are there with only another dude. It’s just not right. Oh well, we both got over that weird awkwardness and had a great ride.

After Splash, we made our way down to Pirates. Min met us there with the beautiful blue rental stroller. She decided to sign up for a 2-day rental so we would have it tomorrow at Epcot as well. Plus she got a better deal – that’s my girl! After Pirates, they all took an ice cream break while I pushed the “new” stroller with Buddy in it up to Mickey’s Philharmagic to get FP’s. I now realize why those things are so difficult to control. First, they push very easily, which is a good thing. But second, the bottom part sticks out much further than you would think. Combining that fact with the excess speed you are carrying because it pushes so easily, it is very easy to run innocent bystanders over. I am no longer so quick to judge people who run into me. I now understand.

While we wait for the Mickey FP’s to ripen, we do Aladdin and the Jungle Cruise. The jungle cruise was fun, as always. That’s just a great ride. Their corny jokes always crack me up! Janet, our tour guide from Hong Kong, did a great job. After the cruise, BIL wanted to go to Main Street to look for a watch shop. He bought a cool Star Wars watch yesterday at MGM, and needed to get it sized. We make our way over in that direction and, lo and behold, there is a parade starting! Now who would have ever thought that? (Wink, wink.) “Hey kids, why don’t we just stay here and watch the parade while they find the watch store?” Chalk one up for the planner extraordinaire.

Doodle enjoyed this parade almost as much as the one at MGM yesterday. She had a great time waving to all of the princesses and other characters, and seeing them wave back! After the parade, we head up to Mickey’s Philharmagic to use our FP’s. As we came around to the backside of the castle, I grabbed Doodle and made a detour into Tink’s Treasures. “Hey Doodle, want to see Tink?” I took her over to the chest of drawers and told her to look in the keyhole. “Tinkerbell! Daddy, it’s Tinkerbell!” It was another one of those little magic moments that make Disney trips so memorable.

Next was Mickey’s Philharmagic. In my opinion, this is the best 3D show in any of the parks! I REALLY enjoyed this one. It incorporates so many characters and takes some great twists and turns. This was the first time we had seen this, and we will DEFINITELY make it a must do for every trip from now on.

Buddy wanted to go on Peter Pan again, and Doodle wanted to meet Ariel, so we decided we would split up for a little while. Nobody else wanted to go on Peter Pan, so it was just me and Buddy. We got a chance for a little much needed father son time. When we got to Peter Pan, the line was showing 60 minutes - way too long. I said, “Let’s get Fastpasses for this (he was beginning to understand the whole FP thing), check on Mom, then we’ll do something else.” He was ok with this. We walked by Ariel’s Grotto and it was showing a 45-minute wait. I figured we had plenty of time so we just kept walking. We stopped at the teacups. “How ‘bout the teacups, Buddy?” He liked that idea. The posted time was 20 minutes, so we got in line. We had a nice talk in line. We talked about school, about his friends, about how much fun he was having at Disney. He gave me a big hug and told me he loved me, entirely on his own, out of nowhere. We are bonding and I’m eating it up. This is what life’s all about.

Whenever Min’s around for spinney rides, she makes me take it easy. She gets real queasy on rides like this, so she doesn’t ride. But she still makes me take it easy so the kids don’t get sick. Well, she’s not here right now. “Hey Buddy, wanna see how fast we can make it spin?” I grabbed the wheel, and got it spinning as fast as I could. “Your turn!” I yell, as my arms are about to fall off. Buddy spins it for about 10 seconds and gets tired. “Dad, take over!” WAAAAHHHHOOOO! I keep spinning as fast as I can until the ride stops. We stand up. We almost fall over. We’re dizzy. We both had a blast. I checked the clock and the ride and line combined only took about 15 minutes. We’ve still got time.

“Hey Buddy. You know, I’ve still got 2 Fastpasses in my pocket for Space Mountain. Wanna go?” Much to my surprise, he agrees! I was really surprised. I was just kidding when I asked him, but I wasn’t going to argue with his answer. I don’t think he really wanted to ride Space Mountain in particular, I just think he enjoyed having me to himself for a while and just wanted to do something, anything with me. On the way over there, I told him how, when I was just a little older than him, I rode Space Mountain with my dad – just us guys. He and I were carrying on a tradition, and someday, he will do the same with his son and tell him this story. I really felt like we were creating lifelong memories that he could look back on fondly and would share with his kids someday. It’s truly a great feeling.

This time Buddy really liked Space Mountain. Evidently it’s much better when you don’t have to pee (we visited the potties before we got in line this time). He even said it was his favorite ride. I was so happy because it is my favorite ride too!

After Space Mountain, I called Meme to find out where they were. They were still waiting for Ariel, but they should be done soon. I said we’d start heading that way. We stopped for a drink and the phone rang. It was Min and they were done with Ariel. Since it was almost dinnertime, I suggested that they come down to Tomorrowland and do TTA, and then we could go to dinner. While we were waiting, Buddy and I sat on a bench in the shade, and just chilled while sharing a Sprite. This hour we got to spend together was the best part of the whole trip so far, at least for me. Thanks Buddy. You helped me to really experience the magic of Disney. This is what the magic of Disney is all about, and you helped me to see that.

TTA is a cool ride. It’s pretty simple, but it’s cool. It’s one of those “nothing” rides, that I really enjoy. It’s simple, it’s relaxing, and something about it makes it fun. Maybe it’s the rotating platform, or the stair less escalators, I can’t put my finger on it. But it is one of my favorite rides.

We arrived at Crystal Palace about 20 minutes before our P.S. I stood in line while the rest of the crew sat down. While in line, I met a very nice lady from Ohio. She said they ate at Ohana last night and highly recommended it. I hear that same thing a lot. Next time we’ll have to try it. While we were waiting we got to see a good portion of Cinderellabration. We had a great view (even if it was a little far away) from the porch of Crystal Palace. It looks like a great show. Lots of princesses – Doodle liked it!

Crystal Palace was a nice experience. We had never done a character meal before, and it was nice to have a little personal time with the characters. We saw each one at least once, and they were very generous with their time. Of course, Buckleboy was scared of them, but he did give Piglet a kiss on the nose – very cute! Just like last night, I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating. They had some kind of soup, which was quite good. I had pizza (not great), turkey, beef, chicken, potatoes, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember. The food was good, especially for a buffet. The desert spread wasn’t as elaborate as last night at Hollywood & Vine, but the chocolate chip cookies were to die for!

(Overall rating for our dining experience at Crystal Palace: 3 ¼ Mickey’s (out of 4). The food was very good, especially for a buffet, and the service was good. I gave it the same rating as H&V because of the characters – it made for a great atmosphere. We will definitely return someday.)

The kids were getting a little rowdy, so Min took them outside while I waited for our bill. When I came outside, they had found the duckies! They were feeding them goldfish (crackers, not real ones) through the fence. They were enthralled and the ducks were eating well. I think they emptied 2 boxes into the grass, and there weren’t any left when they were done! Doodle even tried to jump the fence to play with them!

From there we decided to head over to Haunted Mansion. This is another ride that I have always really liked. Buddy refused to go because he gets scared pretty easily. So, it’s just Papa, BIL, and me. While we were in line, we got to see the eyes move on the tombstone. We all got a kick out of the names and sayings on the tombstones. The best part of the ride, though, is when the ghost is riding with you. When we came out, I remembered to ask a CM to show me the wedding ring. He told me to look down. “Oh, very helpful.” But he was right; I was standing almost directly on it. He said I was about the closest person to it that has ever asked him. It wasn’t quite what I expected. It was plainer. But still pretty neat, though, because I can say I have seen the ring!

After that, we used our FP’s for Peter Pan, then made our way to Tomorrowland. On the way, Buddy and I lagged behind a little bit. We made a secret stop at the wishing well, and we each threw a penny in and made a wish. I’d love to tell you mine, but I’m still hoping it comes true. Buddy wouldn’t tell me his, but he says it did come true. See, wishes really DO come true!

When we got there we had to decide between Buzz and Stitch. They both were about a 20-minute wait, and we didn’t have time for both of them before we had to find a spot for Wishes. We gave Buddy the choice and he picked Stitch. Buddy really enjoyed it; I found it to be really similar to the old Alien Encounter that it replaced. It’s definitely not worth the hour wait that the line was earlier, but 15 or 20 minutes was ok. Of course you exit the attraction through a souvenir shop, and Buddy suckered Papa in. I was able to say no, but he knows just how to work Papa. Buddy scored himself a cool Stitch spaceship for today’s souvenir.

We were able to stake out a great spot for Wishes on the Tomorrowland Bridge, right under Tink’s wire. (Unfortunately, Tink didn’t fly tonight. Too windy? Who knows.) BIL ran to get popcorn and pop while we waited for the show. Doodle slept through the whole thing, but everyone else was wide-awake. We only had minimal fighting over the Stitch ship and the popcorn, but that all ended as soon as the show began.

I now know why many people consider Wishes to be the premier nighttime show at WDW. It was amazing. I had a lump in my throat and my eyes were welling up. I even knew what to expect because I watched it online before we left home! It finds a way to touch almost every emotion inside you and bring it to the surface. Hopes, dreams, wishes, love, fun, all the good stuff inside you finds its way to the surface. If you love Disney, this show will pull your strings in just a perfect way. It truly was magical. I can’t say enough good things about it, or find the right words to express how it made me feel. You just have to experience it for yourself, if you haven’t already.

As we were walking out, I saw something that convinced me that this place truly is magical. Meme and Papa were holding hands. Now, understand, that Meme and Papa show very little affection towards each other. I can’t remember the last time I saw them kiss or hug. They never hold hands when they are walking or anything. But tonight was different. It appears an old spark may have been rekindled.

The Magic Kingdom really is magic!

(Imagine again in your best Disney ride announcer voice), “Please remain seated until the story has come to a full and complete stop. Please exit to Day 5. Thank you.”

Takin' The In-Laws -- Pretrip
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=793737
Takin' The In-Laws -- Day 1 - Blankie & Buddy... MIA
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8324050#post8324050
Takin' The In-Laws -- Day 2 - Kennedy, Dixie and Will
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8342639#post8342639
Takin' The In-Laws -- Day 3 - Fire Alarms, Fighting, and Fantasmic! (Part 1)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8364237#post8364237
Takin' The In-Laws -- Day 3 - Fire Alarms, Fighting, and Fantasmic! (Part 2)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8379122#post8379122
Takin’ The In-Laws -- Day 4 (Part 1) – Commando Crazy
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8391188#post8391188
Takin’ The In-Laws -- Day 4 (Part 2) – The Magic Kingdom Really Is Magic
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=803835
Takin' The In-Laws -- Halftime Update - Wishes Come True
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8517400#post8517400

 

[lUVTOGO]

Another great report!! You are a great writer! Waiting for the next one!

 

[Mary Anne]

What a wonderful day.

 

[mommic32]

I am truly enjoying your report! Thank You so much for taking the time to write such a great report, I feel as if I can visualize the whole trip, and it makes me so excited to get there in 2 weeks!!!

 

[toystoryduo]

I am really enjoying your trip report. What a blessing that you have some wonderful memories of your WDW vacation and that your family had a chance to experience the Disney "magic". Makes all of it worth while doesn't it? You are doing a great job with these reports!

 

[Alice28]

Wonderful! I love that you & your son had some bonding time- sounds magical!

 

[TeresaNJ]

I'm really enjoying reading your report, can't wait for the next installment. Don't sell yourself short, you are a great writer!! I love reliving moments from when my children were your children's ages. It brings it all back. My sons are now 24 & 25, and my daughter 19, and they DO remember all those special moments. My kids found the wonder of WDW, and you are instilling that in your children too.

 

[KittyKitty]

I wasn't blessed with children of my own, but have a niece very close to my heart. And spending time just the two of us is very special. She did the same thing to me one time as your son. "I love you Aunt Sue". I thought I was going to turn into a bowl of puddin'!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write your report. They bring a tear of happiness to me reliving those bonding moments. Yes, that is what's life about.

 

[toystoryduo]

Anymore installments to your trip report? These are great!

 

[pplasky]

Can't wait for day 5!

 

[Alice28]

We want more!!!!!!!!

 

[dizluvr71]

Me too!!

 

[off to neverland]

Great writing, I am enjoying this so much!

We just returned from WDW and ate at O'Hanas..... Though we loved the appetizers, we were very disappointed with it, especially after the great reviews. I was surprised at the slow service and burned, tough meats, and it was very loud and frantic. Not sure we'd go back.

I can't wait to read the next installment!