DHS Contd The Plan is not happy when two members of our family decide they have their own agenda
I forgot to mention this particular morning at DHS we had a celebrity sighting we saw Robert Irvine (from Food Networks Dinner Impossible we love that show!) and his family (well, we assumed it was his family himself, a woman who appeared to be about his age, and two or three kids, along with a CM) being guided through the park. DH saw him first and pointed him out to me. If youve seen the show, you know that Chef Irvine has quite the set of biceps. Let me tell you, in person theyre even bigger! Even though we saw him from several feet away, his upper body is just massive. WOW. Anyway, as neat as it would have been to meet him and tell him how much we love his show, we didnt think that was appropriate. Oh well
. We were excited to have seen a celebrity.
Anyway
.on with the TR
.after lunch, we headed to LMA! I was glad DH knows how to read a map, has a good sense of direction, and remembers how to get somewhere even if hes only been there once and it was ages ago
because I was so turned around and couldnt figure out how to get to LMA! from where we were.
Like I said, I get so mixed up and turned around in DHS. To me, its the least well-laid out park of all four parks and for someone who is as directionally challenged as I am (I still manage to get lost, even with a GPS in my car
), it can be very frustrating. Anyway
.we arrived at LMA! at 12:45 for the 1:20 show. On our last trip (during the YOAMD celebration), we were chosen as the family to start the show, which meant special seating and we got to be on the big video screen, introduced on camera, etc. It was fun, but it was blazing hot in July and those special seats they sat us in were not in the shade. While it was a neat experience, we were happy to have seats in the shade on this trip! We were on the far left end of the seating, about halfway up. We sat and waited
and waited
and waited
and were grateful for our little misting fans which kept us from having heat stroke. LOL The girls had fun playing with the camera and taking pictures of each other. The show started at 1:20 and we enjoyed it. Nothing has changed since we saw the show two years ago, but its at the top of DHs list of things to do at DHS and we all enjoyed it. It took a while to get out of the stadium after the show, though, with all those crowds.
After LMA! we went back to use our TSMM FPs. It was around 2:00 and all the FPs for the day had been distributed before noon. The FP return line was about 20 minutes. I was able to take a few pictures in line this time (will be posted in a future installment). We enjoyed the ride just as much this time as we did the first time we rode it that morning and I did manage to improve my score and beat Tinkerbell. Yea!
After TSMM, we headed to Star Tours and picked up FPs. The return was just a short time away (apparently I didnt write this information down in my notes bad on me!). While we waited, we grabbed a snack and some cold water and just looked around at things. This ride was another first for us as we hadnt ridden it on the last trip. I wasnt sure my stomach could handle this ride (I tend to get a bit of motion sickness) so DH and the girls rode while I stayed in the gift shop. The FP return line was only about 5 minutes. I found a lovely vent right at the door that was blowing ice cold air and I just stood right under it while I waited for them. It felt so good! A lovely woman was also waiting there with her toddler and he was so cute -- she and I had a nice conversation. DH and the girls really enjoyed the ride and have convinced me to try it on our next trip. I understand its going to be updated, which will be great.
After Star Tours, we headed to MuppetVision 3-D. The wait was about 20 minutes, which isnt too bad but the line is partially outdoors. Even though its shaded and has fans, it was still really hot. But it moved fairly quickly and we all enjoyed the show. I always have fun looking at the visual jokes in the indoor waiting area and pointing things out to the girls. I think DH just enjoys the fact that its air conditioned and has comfortable seats.
I noticed that the picture quality of the film isnt that great
even with the 3-D glasses it seemed blurry. I thought it was just me but Minnie mentioned the same thing and she has perfect eyesight. At any rate, we had fun and it was nice to sit in a cool, comfortable room for a little while.
By now, it was getting close to 4:00 and we had 4:10 ADRs at Hollywood and Vine (Fantasmic dinner package), and we were hot and tired so we decided to head over that way. We were seated quickly and our waiter gave us our Fantasmic card (insert foreshadowing, mysterious music here....). Honestly, we werent wow-ed by this meal, but we didnt expect to be. We had eaten here on our last trip as part of the Fantasmic dinner package and the only reason we ate here again was for the dinner package. We had wanted to try 50s PTC or Sci Fi but they dont have the dinner package and we didnt want two TS meals in the same day. There is not much on the menu at Mama Melroses that I can eat due to my dietary restrictions, and DH and the girls werent interested in trying The Brown Derby, so we stuck with H&V. The girls tried the salmon and said it was ok, the roast beef was very good, the barbeque pork loin was pretty good, the lime and (insert name of spice here that I cant remember so it obviously wasn't any good) chicken was terrible, and the pineapple ginger chicken was good. Our favorite thing was the dessert bar and we sampled most of them. LOL The mini cheesecakes were a favorite, as was the chocolate mousse (although it seemed to be very thick and heavy, not as light as I like my mousse to be) and the berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream was also good. As most buffets tend to be, it was overpriced for the quality of the food. Honestly, the only reason I was willing to pay that much for a buffet meal was because of the dining package, and the next time I think well try The Brown Derby whether my family wants to or not. LOL As we were eating, I was going over The Plan for the evening with the family and not paying much attention to anything else...like what I might or might not have remembered to pick up from the table when we left.
Next up, The Plan had us scheduled to go to the Beauty and the Beast show, which I was really looking forward to. But, much to The Plans chagrin and my dismay, DH and Tinkerbell decided they had didnt want to follow The Plan! They wanted to go back to the hotel and rest! We had planned to take a hotel break on this day but it just hadnt happened, and they were hot and tired. And DH is NOT a fan of musicals in general and really didnt feel like watching Beauty and the Beast. The fact that it was in an outdoor theatre didnt help The Plan and I make our case, either. I think Tinkerbell just wanted a chance to swim. So we split up
DH and Tinkerbell back to the hotel with instructions to meet us by 7 pm, and Minnie and I headed to the Beauty and the Beast show, doing a little shopping along the way. The girls thoroughly enjoy pin trading so we spent some time looking at pins and then looking in some of the shops. It was here that we learned an important lesson if you see something you really like, just buy it because there is no guarantee youll be able to find it later. She saw a pink t-shirt that she really liked and I thought it was cute, too
so I went ahead and bought it for myself in navy blue but she decided to wait and look around in other shops and other parks to see if she saw something she liked better. This decision will come back to haunt us
The Beauty and the Beast show was at 5:45 and we arrived at 5:15. Our seats were in the center section of the theatre, about 2/3 of the way up from the stage. They were really good seats. It was hot, but we entertained ourselves by taking pictures with our cell phones and just talking. It was fun to spend some one-on-one time with Minnie
.until I realized that I had left our Fantasmic card at the restaurant!
It was about 10 minutes until the show so I asked a CM if I could leave and get it and then get back in but he said he couldnt guarantee that I would be able to get back in (they were roping off the entrances). He suggested I call the restaurant. I called Disney Dining and they only number they had for the restaurant was for the managers office and of course the manager didnt answer. I was really stressed about it after spending that much money on a so-so meal just to get the preferred seating for Fantasmic, I was really unhappy (not to mention kicking myself for forgetting the yellow card -- I pride myself on being organized and not forgetting things)! Minnie and I enjoyed the show but were both thinking about that little yellow card the entire time. As soon as the show was over, we fought through the crowds and quickly made our way back to H&V. Fortunately, our server was still there and he recognized us and had our yellow card in his pocket. He also gave us another one and told us to spread the magic and give the card to another group of four people in the stand-by line and make their day! I thought that was very sweet of him.
Minnie and I took the opportunity to have a few PhotoPass pictures taken together and we got the Stitch magic shot. (Pictures will be posted in another installment). We were both pretty hot and so we stopped for a drink (frozen lemonade for her, frozen Coke for me) and decided to go check out One Mans Dream, which we had never seen before. We really enjoyed the exhibit. It was so fun to see the original stuffed animals, the models of the castles, costumes, etc. She and I both enjoy things like that so we were glad we did it. We took our time and looked at every single exhibit. We skipped the movie, though, because it was getting close to time to meet DH and Tinkerbell. Sure enough, as we exited One Mans Dream, they called to tell us they had arrived and where to meet them. And of course, being directionally challenged as I am, I couldnt figure out where they were. Fortunately Minnie has a good sense of direction and she led us right to them.
When we met up, Tinkerbell surprised us all by saying that she wanted to ride RNRC with DH. Really, she and Minnie had been picking at each other a few times during the day and Minnie kept saying she was too scared to ride RNRC, so I think Tinkerbell saw this as an opportunity to one up her older sister. Lovely sibling rivalry...
So DH and Tinkebell headed off to RNRC while Minnie and I waited. They got there at 7:10 and used the FPs from earlier in the day and they waited about 20 minutes while Minnie and I did some window shopping. When they got off the ride, Tinkerbell was so excited she couldnt stop smiling and bouncing!
DH said he thought she would chicken out the entire time they were in the ride because she was so nervous, but she insisted on riding. She said her eyes were closed on most of the ride because she was so terrified, but that once the ride was over she loved it and couldnt wait to ride again. She was SO proud of herself, and DH was excited that she had ridden with him a lovely father-daughter bonding moment (I bond with my girls over shopping, he bonds with them over thrill rides LOL!). Of course Minnie wasnt happy now that her little sister had overcome her fear of the ride first
and asked if we could change The Plan for later in the week so we could come back so she could ride.
We headed off to Fantasmic and had fairly decent seats. DH hates being there so early (about 45 minutes to an hour early), especially because those metal bleachers are so uncomfortable and there isnt much leg room. He and the girls played with the camera and the misting fans while I struck up a conversation with the lovely family seated next to us. They were from New Jersey and had a DD about the same age as Minnie, and a son. They were really sweet, fun people and we enjoyed talking with them. It turns out that they are DISers, although they mostly lurk and rarely ever post (and of course I forgot to ask for their usernames). We started comparing planning techniques and they were quite impressed when I pulled out The Plan, as were several other people around me. A woman in front of us pulled out her trip notebook and we were comparing plans, notebooks, etc. DH looked at me like I was insane.
The family from New Jersey was telling me about how they use their laptop every evening in the hotel to update their plan information and print out their touring plans for the next day. I thought that was neat. We had a lot of fun comparing notes and talking.
Before Fantasmic started, I quietly suggested to DH that he and Minnie could slip out early and try to ride RNRC before the park closed. He thought that was a good idea. We really enjoyed Fantasmic and, about 5-10 minutes before it was over, DH and Minnie slipped out to hurry over to RNRC so Minnie could ride it. They only waited in line about 10 minutes, so by the time Tinkerbell and I we were out of Fantasmic, they were off the ride and we were able to easily meet. Minnie also loved the ride and the girls started asking when we were coming back to DHS so they could ride again. DH was thrilled that he had gotten to ride RNRC twice he wont ride the rides by himself so he hadnt ridden RNRC on our last trip and it hadnt looked like he was going to get to ride on this trip, either.
So he was very, very happy. The grins on their faces were just priceless.
We headed out to the bus and back to CBR, where we all fell into bed, looking forward to being able to sleep in a bit the next day before our first trip to Typhoon Lagoon.
Next Up: Typhoon Lagoon and DTD Yes, I really did ride Crush N Gusher three times in a row!
What is the other thing the girls are wearing under their lanyards, red strap with characters? You know I have to know every little detail. 
Cant wait! DH still doesnt know if he will be going with us or not. 
and boarded the ride. All I can say is that we absolutely LOVED it. LOVED it! Of course I didnt do very well the first time through (visions of being severely outscored on Buzz Lightyear came to mind
) but we really enjoyed the ride. It is a bit jerky in some spots, but thats not a big deal. Loved all of the effects. We all enjoyed it and got off the ride and I headed straight for the FP line, which by this time was almost non-existent. They did seem to be having problems with the FP machine, though, because there were CMs standing with the machines, having to manually get the FPs from the machine from time to time. Our FP return time was 12:35
even though we had gone straight to the ride and gotten on almost immediately (literally within 10 minutes of park opening!), the FP return time was already for that afternoon. Wow!
in the attempt for DH to quickly ride RNRC as the stand-by line was 80 minutes (and it looked to be every minute of that, according to DH) so we quickly regrouped. Since it was already hot and we had some time to kill before we could get another FP, we headed for the Great Movie Ride. Honestly, I dont care much for this ride. The animatronics need to be updated (Dorothy and the munchkins look rather freaky and possessed to me), and the Alien part terrifies me so I close my eyes all through that section (yeah, Im a wimp). But the girls think its fun and so we went on it. The posted wait time was 10 minutes but we only waited 5. We saw some blatant line-cutting and that really frustrated us. Its just so rude!!
DHS really needs more air conditioned CS places! We were able to sit in the shade to eat but it was still hot. Fortunately, a cold bottle of water and some food perked me back up. We took our time eating and resting a bit, though, and then did a little shopping on our way to LMA!
I think it's great both girls have experienced RnR and that your husb got to ride twice in one day!
