Storybook
Dining at the Point of the Arteest ala Beast
Tired
schmired! Extra Magic morning hours in
the Magic Kingdom here we come!
YAY!
We made
it on time to see the opening show again. Instead of right up front, we were
angled to allow appropriate rope drop runs.
"Experience is the best teacher."
Most
of the gang went to Space Mountain. Veronica’s clearly subpar
clasping Magic Band disconnected midflight, fortunately being recovered. However, overall they had a
ride categorized as “more fun than usual.”
Grandma
made a bee line for Fantasyland to ride the Carrousel on her own without the disasters of
our group trip, and also to get in an extra Peter Pan. Most of life needs an extra Peter Pan.
Rosa
missed Anabelle’s trip to see Ariel on the crazy long day, creating a
requirement for the two of us to drop in Under the Sea, for both the grotto and
the ride.
After the initial split, we
all met up at Peter Pan. See, most of
life does need an extra Peter Pan!
YAY!
We
always make sure to take at least one Extra Magic ride to Neverland with the
new line. It’s ridiculous fun and changes regularly. There were new interactive
shadows we’d never seen before.
This was an important trip for Anabelle. After the last time on it she commented that it was odd the Lost Boys didn't appear on the ride. Most of us pointed out they were in Neverland, and a bit of discussion before and after revealed that her complete focus on the mermaids prevented her from looking in the Boys’ direction.
This
run became the first time she spotted them. The spotting was assisted by
Veronica leaning out of her ship and yelling frantically, “THERE THEY ARE!”
back to Anabelle while pointing downwards.
We’re
so fun in public.
Just
over the land border was the Haunted Mansion. We found the ghostly hitchhiker
PhotoPass location this time, as well as the addition of Maximus’s hoof prints
in the transition zone between the spooky carriage of the Mansion, and the
Rapunzel Potty.
YAY!
We
fragmented a bit en route, and planned on meeting up in the store. In this case it was too early, and the shop
was closed. Any other time we passed the gateway between Fantasyland and
Liberty Square, it is safe to assume at least a few of us got lost in Memento
Mori, looking at a world of Haunted Mansion swag.
We
entered the Mansion (YAY!) and it continued to be awesome.(YAY!) The trend of awesome rides we’ll do over and over
again forever continued back in Fantasyland on the small world. This time, the kids maintained a “broken
report” as to which little dollies were not performing as expected.
We
may have ridden that one a bit too extensively.
Morgan
brought his shirt with the Frenetic Four (or whatever you call the Big Five
minus Minnie) on the front and their butts on the back, so he could wear it for
Fillmore’s Magic, where you see Donald’s butt at the end of the show. He wore it the day it broke down and had to
make sure he wore it to the attraction.
Disney shirt planning struggles are quite real in our family.
Peter
Pan was flitting about along our path through Fantasyland as he left his
meeting area near the ride. We worked
our way back into Tomorrowland for the start of Ordinary Time. Yes, Disney is one of our religions.
The
total score of our group continued to drop.
Rosa and Grandma both decided to give up shooting to take in the
scenery. Anabelle and Morgan were
shooting, but since they also decided to spin the car the entire time and yell
“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” they didn’t add to the sum either.
The
Space Ranger himself had a short line outside his ride, and we skedaddled over to meet him in
the park where he’s real. Buzz knowing
he’s a toy is an example of expertly crafted character development in the
films, but Buzz thinking he’s really a Space Ranger is a much greater source of comedy material in both
movies and theme parks.
Hey,
he’s standing on a video game controller! How about that?!
There
was a major cross functional effort for all the needed photo equipment and
autograph supplies to make it out of the back packs on time. The kids had a great meeting, and then I
approached in my Buzz Lightyear shirt. Once again, it was a highlight of my
trip.
See-
Space Ranger meetings are way better than Toy meetings.
He
began by getting excited about the shirt and then wanted to push the buttons to
see what happened. The handler explained but, as usual, Buzz's mime was spot
on. We goofed around with this for a
bit, and then the handler asked about Spanish mode.
Now,
after a lifetime of listening to comedy, and eighteen years of marriage to a
woman born in Peru, there are a myriad of Spanish punch lines or running gags I
could have chosen, such as:
As
usual, I blanked in the heat of the moment and when he pushed the button I
said,
“um…
ole’?”
Somehow,
that was funnier than anything else I could have come up with. We posed in Spanish (awesome) and then he
left me in his place while he wandered off, like he did to Anabelle six years ago.
Leaving
that part of the day’s Disney Magic behind us, I filled the water bottles at
the newfangled station before leading the troops up the ramp to the People
Mover.
Grandma
got in one of the best jokes/ references of the trip by stating that traffic
cones placed on the seats of out of service cars were “Buzz and Woody sneaking
on the ride.” Awesome!
The
kids rode together, and we could hear them whooping and laughing the whole way
through. Rosa saw someone riding solo
with their feet up, and asked if she could do the same. That worked great for her toes, but since it was
last minute, it left me with nowhere to go and in my confusion; I barely squeezed
in with the rest of the adults, including Grandma’s knees, my Plant Fishiness
and Kim’s…everything. Our car made a fair
amount of “whoop” noises on the ride as well.
On the plus side, we could see the impending TRON-ness!
YAAAAY!
YAAAAY!
We were delayed by having
to order there instead of online. It
wasn’t the ordering itself that caused a delay, but rather the excessively entitled and grouchy woman ahead of us insisting that her party of twenty-one be given the
utmost attention and speed through the registration process. Anabelle used the
time wisely by trading a Pumba pin for her Andrina. She got the shared magic
satisfaction of seeing a very excited little girl grab the Andrina pin before
we left the room. YAY!
One
side effect of my menu printing obsession was that all the kids were aware of
what Morgan’s choice off the children’s menu was going to be weeks in advance-
Feast Ala Beast.
While somewhat
disappointing in flavor, the name retained its awesomeness and was used as multiple parts of speech throughout our adventures.
The most common one was a direct expletive, and calling someone a “feast
ala beast” remained a common practice well after the end of the trip. This is what led to each day having an “ala
Beast” rhyme, helpfully thought up by Anabelle.
We
went for variety this time and sat in the Music Box room. The need for a large table ended up getting
us an obscured view of the giant music box the room was named for. However, we
were in a direct visibility line to the painting of Belle and the Beast trying
on various FANCY sunhats. According to my daughter this was the far better view,
and the FANCY must be stressed…yet again in a southern accent.
Aurora posed Ziggywig for many photos while we were waiting for our magically delivered meals,
including peering out of several cups in a devastatingly cute fashion. Veronica handing someone a knife in a way clearly
not approved by the Mouse safety inspectors added an extra thrill to the tasty
meal.
After
lunch we split up our merry band. Kim took her family for their traditional
silhouettes. We made a bee line to Circusland…
OOH
LOOK, there’s no wait for the Ariel ride!
Then
we made a bee line for Circusland.
Anabelle
picked out a leather bracelet with the Big Five on it in the circus tent gift shop. The main draw was they could burn her name
into it. She never finds stuff with her name on it, especially spelled
correctly. Therefore she was devastated when it disappeared shortly after we
got home. We looked everywhere, and
figured it got thrown out. For Christmas
I got her a replacement (Because I’m a softie like that.) along with a ornament featuring the year for Rosa (Because we forgot one, and I’m a softie like that.) plus glow in
the dark Haunted Mansion singing bust ears that were released after we left for
Anabelle. (Because, awesome!) Less than a week after Christmas, when vacuuming
under her bed in the same manner I and Rosa had done multiple times, the
original band showed up, and now lives in the Disney Drawer. Disney Magic is
a mysterious force.
Anabelle
continued enjoying interacting with Cast Members to trade pins, searching for
some “keepers” in Fantasyland stores as we targeted our meeting place. She swapped the Alice dress for Horace
Horsecollar in the Fillmore’s Magic store. For some reason she has an
attachment to the really old characters. Being spawned from a crusty old Disney fan had an effect after all. In the princess store, she traded the
nerdy Chip for her favorite Mer-sister- Alana.
Yes, as noted, she has a favorite Mer-sister. Our Disney addictions are both deep and wide.
We
all coalesced together for the Winnie the Pooh FastPass. YAY!!!!
After
that we split again. Rosa continued her determination to never go on any roller coasters and
switched her FastPass for Pirates of the Caribbean. While she was working through the line,
Captain Jack popped out of the jail area and scared the heck out of everyone.
YAY!
She
also bought her daughter the Peter Pan and his shadow pin Anabelle looked at in every
single store we passed.
(Because
she is also a softie like that.)
We’re
so fun in public.
Anabelle
showed her Disney past sense tingled appropriately by getting a picture of the
witch animatronic from the original Snow White’s Scary Adventures ride at the
tail end of the brief pass by the display area.
YAY!
Due
to this we interacted with Cameron, an amazing Cast Member that really
personified the magic of Disney. Dave
was talking to Cameron when the switching out was happening, and Aurora was
disappointed as she really wanted to meet the Fairy Godmother. After chatting
for a bit, Cameron kept asking where we were going next, and I thought he was
trying to give us directions. We explained we were meeting my wife at Pirates
of the Caribbean, and he almost chanted, “Follow me!” and began escorting
us.
As
we were about to cross into Liberty Square, I noticed Grandma was falling
behind. We told Cameron that the reason we were there was she brought us for
her birthday. Grandma said she could
follow at a distance, but he waited until she reached him, asked if she liked chicken
and then said, “Grab a wing” extending his elbow.
We
didn't have one, but he escorted her (and us) straight to and through the
FastPass entrance. His enthusiasm and friendliness ended up as one of her biggest
highlights of the entire vacation. I sent along many thanks to both him and whoever trained him via customer service when
we got home and they said they’d be passing it along. Rosa kept texting me to ask which direction
she should be looking, and all I could say was, “I’m pretty sure you’ll see us
coming.”
Disney
customer service once again surpassed itself making a Pirates of the Caribbean
ride even better than usual.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!
Anabelle
used this opportunity, and her Disney enhanced interpersonal skills to help out
a Duffy collector lady. YAY instant Disney friends!
Outside
we got on line for Aladdin and Jasmine right before they were going to come
back from a coffee break. Time was filled by Deidre, the Awesome Happy Disney
PhotoPass lady who told us many behind the scenes stories, including a
hysterical one about endangered Sandhill cranes travelling the monorail tracks
like they owned them.
The
royal couple came out to much fanfare, and went straight outside the line to
pull in and meet with a Make A Wish Kid. We’d seen the same thing happen
waiting for Buzz. Disney is awesome!
We
heard people ahead of us on line discussing how Aladdin and Jasmine are like
Belle with Gaston. Sometimes I still
need to be physically restrained in Disney World.
The
meeting was a hoot and the couple decided Ziggywig was some kind of weird parrot. Due
to how well trained (or magnetized) he was, they asked Aurora if he could give lessons
to Iago. When she told him his name, Aladdin
said, “Gesundheit.” And when Anabelle shifted to the back after collecting the autograph books he said, “Don’t
treat her like Abu.”
YAY!
I
don’t think the fact that we regularly recognize face characters means we go
too often. It means we’re a comfortable part of the Disney family.
YAY!
Hey,
we’ve got some free time; let’s hit the Tiki Room again. YAAAY!!!!
Hey
we got some more free time; let’s hit the Country Bears again! YAAAAAY!
Note-
All free time brought to us by the Where Will We Go Next Guy losing the times
guide…again.
The
deer on the wall had some eye control issue prompting Anabelle to state as we
left,
“Max
looks high as a kite!”
We’re
so fun in public.
Kim
likes Frontierland as much as I like Adventureland and her family parked at the
shooting gallery for a bit. The rest of
us worked down Main Street to get ready to be unceremoniously thrown out for
the Halloween Party.
Anabelle
traded for an Eeyore pin, and was thrilled to get a wave from Judy Hopps up on the train station. YAY! (This marked the only interaction with the "special appearance" characters during our stay. Alas.)
We hung around watching all the Halloween
costumes coming in the main gate (along with the guest's wearing them), while Kim worked on her own awesome aim and training her family in theirs, for a while.
Disney is a lot less strict than they used to be about unceremoniously throwing people out.
Disney is a lot less strict than they used to be about unceremoniously throwing people out.
Once
everyone was together, we hit the boat dock for the Wilderness Lodge and Jeff
the boat guy ferried us over. YAY!
Anabelle
celebrated her triumphant return after almost ten years to the Bridge of Wahs. She expected Disney Magic to make her suddenly
remember why she named it that.
Sadly, there are still some limits to Disney Magic.
Alas.
Grandma
bought souvenirs for the kids, because that’s what she does. YAY! Anabelle was fully into pin trading now,
including one of its weirdest parts. Grandma got her a set of Disney snack
pins, none of which she wanted to keep, solely for trade. It's a strange system,
but if it increased her interpersonal skills, I surely am not going to question
it. This purchase was appropriate here as the Awesome Happy Disney guy running
the pin trading kiosk next to the historic and oddly named site was our first encounter with the whole pin phenomenon back
during the Bridge of Wahs visit.
When
all of us reached dangerous fidgeting levels, I went up to the desk for this
new and hard to get reservation, and was astounded and thrilled to get
seated early. YAY Disney luck of the draw!
As
soon as we were settled in, Dopey came to see us.
He was appropriately,
extremely silly. For a change, the character’s silence was a positive in the
recreation of the film.
YAY!
yay.
Then
the “one each for everyone” appetizer tiered trays came out.
I
gotta admit, when I saw mushroom soup on the menu, I was less than enthused.
However, the whole family thought it was awesome. And that’s not only because
of the return of the never-ending southern accented “stringy mushroom” references.
There
was also some weird meat and ginger cracker thing that had tasty elements. The kids (and me) couldn't pronounce Charcuterie
Plate, therefore they all called it the “Chugga Chugga Choo Choo Plate,” with
appropriate (or inappropriate) train noises.
We’re
so fun in public.
The
shrimp were massive and in a fantastically seasoned sauce. YAY!
At
this point the drink orders came in, continuing Disney levels of awesome. Rosa worked out a series of "steal third" like hand signals with the waiter to keep her cranberry juice refills coming. Kim had the transformation potion, which was
basically lemonade with a chemistry class mixer that made cool color changes.
I
got the Antidote- a fantastic rum concoction with a heck of a
kick and a bit of confusion.
My complaints about alcohol on the
meal plan were long gone by this point.
My bit of confusion came from two
sources.
A)
The name- Antidote- had no connotations with it.
And
B)
There was an herb in the drink not identified on the menu.
I
asked around and it was identified by Grandma and other more experience chefs
at the table.
It
was thyme.
The
drink was the antidote.
"Thyme
heals all wounds."
I
love Disney.
While
we were enjoying the appetizers, Anabelle was having a great time making faces
at a baby, and keeping it entertained, for about twenty minutes. That runs in
the family too. Her cousins also filled
time by noticing when she smiled and her forehead crinkled; she had a Hidden
Mickey on her face. She reacted to this
by putting a heart confetti on her nose, to say “I heart Mickey.”
We’re
a very Disney family, and so fun in public.
The
main course came.
YAY!
Rosa
made a yummy face for the duration of her interaction with the oso bucco pork shank. Most
of the rest of the table had amazing prime rib with an equally amazing popover. Anabelle and I had pork with clams. On retrospective review it must have been Bashful’s fish of the day- weird choice,
but very tasty.
Snow
White skipped everywhere she went but continually “pulled a Piglet,” by being
distracted before reaching our table. At
one point she almost reached us, and then “Whistle While you Work” played to a
huge fanfare. We expected a procession, or some kind of napkin spinning
celebration.
No,
Snow just frolicked around the room all by herself. YAY!
Her frolicking was to such a level that I was unable to capture an unblurry picture...alas.
Her frolicking was to such a level that I was unable to capture an unblurry picture...alas.
She
was freakin’ terrifying.
Kim
had the guts to ask her to send a message one of the kid’s teachers at home who
is a huge fan.
I
just stared, cowered and burbled a lot. The Queen
did look confused at my Snow White and a Xenomorph shirt, but the handler
thought it was hysterical.
“The
hat is delicious!”
“Hey,
there’s chocolate rocks in here!”
Snow
White finally came, and Veronica was overwhelmed with Snow Whiteness to the
point that afterwards, she ran into the “pull” bathroom door and pushed for way
longer than it should have taken her to notice after bouncing off of it.
Grumpy returned, forgetting he'd been to our table already and was...himself I guess, since the kids were more focused on eating dessert than him. I gave him another hug though. YAY!
For
some reason, it seemed to me that taking a bus Downtown, and then home would be
shorter than facing the Halloween party crowds. In hindsight, with the awful
reviews of the party due to it being overcrowded this year, this was probably the right
choice. However, it certainly didn’t feel like it at the time.
It
took a long time to get to Disney Springs. (We believe the new motto is, “Can’t
you just smell the snooty?”)
Then
it took what felt like a longer time switching from one “Downtown” bus stop to
the other.
Veronica
passed the time by singing a Bean song. I guess there was leftover Snow White
magic there.
We
thought we were finally free of it when we reached our hotel and the kids were
too tired to be silly.
If
you know our kids, that is mind bogglingly tired.
However,
Grandma was just tired enough to be silly and launched into another chorus of
the bean song as we staggered back to our rooms.
9.3
miles
20,658 steps
1 floor
20,658 steps
1 floor
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