Disneyland 2024- Day 3: May 14

The App Is Useless So We Literally Met Geppetto Two Times

Another day in sunny California started out cool and cloudy. As always- Awesome Happy Disney People were in evidence. Security at Downtown Disney told Anabelle she had a nice name and complimented my Pirate belt buckle, asking if I got it at this Park. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was probably older than he was. Alas.
 
The Monorail looked like it had a huge line, but it turned out to be us still not used to all the lines existing “outside.” The station wasn’t open yet since the Park wasn’t open yet. (The importance of this fact escaped us- more foreshadowing.) Once it was, we breezed in and were speedily placed on a vehicle. Anabelle is not a fan of the Florida version of this transportation. However, she heaped praise on this Monorail due to the short ride and the fact that, “It doesn’t smell.”
YAAY!
 
We passed by one of the scary angler fish from the Nemo ride sitting on a crane. Nothing weird about that…
GAH!
 
In the little space themed gift shop at the base of the exit ramp in Tomorrowland, Rosa saw the snowglobish ornament with Park Icons in it similar to one she has for Disney World. As we can be taught, we didn’t immediately buy and lug a big fragile item around the park all day. Instead, we marked the spot for memory.
 
Rosa continued shopping and Anabelle and I tried out the Hyperspace Mountain overlay on the classic coaster in the dark. The Extra Magic Hour Half Hour was a huge boon, and we weaved our way through the enormous but empty line until we reached the boarding area. Before we got a hint of any awesomeness the Star Wars changes added, we learned there was a major upgrade compared to the Space Mountain we were used to.
 
Instead of the ride vehicles having single file straddle seats and all the discomfort that goes with them, it was a normal, two riders side by side, roller coaster seat. The safety bar was just that, a standard bar, not the reproductive organ grinding T-bar that is the reason I will not be riding the Florida version of this attraction again. In addition, with the cars having more capacity, the single line moved faster than the double one we were used to.
 

Space Mountain is normally fun because of all the surprise twists and turns in the dark. The Star Wars overlay added to it immensely. While John Williams music blasted throughout the experience, projections and voice overs transformed the “twenty-seven mile an hour coaster that could” into an epic space battle. Flying directly under a large TIE Fighter model (AAAAAH DUCK!!!) was a bonus!!! YAAAAAAY!!
 
Anabelle was thrilled to bop to the “Move it Shake It Celebrate It” song (YAAY!) as we exited and met up with Rosa again. Next door (very next door in the smashed together western Park) was Fantasyland. Captain Hook was meeting people near the Peter Pan ride. Almost everyone on the line was an old guy… like me! YAY! 

Anabelle had established a plan of being the one taking the photos to avoid interacting with the large and scary villain. Her plan did not work in the land of more boisterous character interactions. The Captain pulled her in for a highly uneasy looking photo. I promised to show her the picture from my sister's and my youth when Hook pulled me into a photo, in the good old, less litigious days, via his hook in my neck.

Very next door yet again, we entered StarWarsLand. An Awesome Happy StarWarsy Disney person greeted us. We got to see something that never came up on our Florida visit on that cloudy morning- Cold Weather Batuu Gear.

Rosa and I were hoping to jump on an early Rise of the Resistance as the main park opened. This was not possible as the ride was in its most common state of our vacation…
Broken. Alas.
Anabelle theorized it did not have the back up projection screen to cover for when the fancy schmancy Kylo Ren animatronic was down.
Freakin’ California.
 
We stood with the growing crowd, hoping the ride would start up again, in what we were told over and over again by Cast Members was “Not a Line!” After a few false hopes of different, technical crew looking, Cast Members vanishing into the queue, the ride remained closed, and we wandered around Batuu.
 

Over by the Millennium Falcon, I and another First Generation Star Wars Fan were hunting around the ship for the miniature Falcon that is supposed to be hidden on it. Luckily, a Batuu Resident told him that was only in Florida, and we both felt less insane for noticing the spot it ought to be.
We did not feel any less insane for looking for it in the first place.
 

There was some indication on the App that Rey and Chewie were supposed to come out and hang around by the Falcon, behind the fence where Guests can walk up and take pictures and stuff. Instead, in a much more Relaxed and Groovy way concerning both time and location, they wandered out well after their listed schedule and started walking across Batuu.

I fired off a Shyriiwook howl in greeting. Chewbacca looked quite startled then waved to us. Anabelle also looked quite startled and stated, “I always forget you can do that until you whip one out.”
 

Anabelle went up to Rey to show her the Droid Rights Poster she made. (The Power of Pixar Fest meant her shirt Rosa printed with that image on it didn’t make the cut.) Rey was impressed and said they could use her in the Resistance.  YAAAAAAAAAY!! 
While Anabelle was dancing on air Rey said to be sure to show that to R2-D2 who would be around later. This was confusing as he wasn’t listed ANYWHERE as being present.
Freakin’ California.
 
After this bit of excitement, Rosa sat down for a spell while Anabelle and I zipped through the single rider line for Smuggler’s Run. Luck was with us, as we were pulled into the same cockpit with a Latin family of four. YAY!

 
Luck was with us even more as we had an extremely wild and entertaining ride. Whether its that the ride is older now, or that they’re more Relaxed and Groovy, instructions on how to perform everyone’s missions were minimal to non-existent.
 
The two daughters were the Pilot and Co-pilot. (Yes, I know the ride calls them “left pilot” and “right pilot.” I believe I have watched more than enough hours of Star Wars films to be allowed to use the correct titles.)
 
The Grandmother was the left Gunner in front of Anabelle and the Mother was the right Gunner in front of me.
We were highly busy Engineers.
 
Our busy-ness was because it was extremely clear that only the Pilot had any idea of what she was doing. There was a great deal of yelling in Spanish and the Mother was trying to film her family during the wildly careening ride- meaning she was flailing in her seat and could barely reach her buttons most of the time.
 
After a couple instances where the Pilot had to point to her sister’s Co-Pilot panel to show her what to do, she finally yelled, (In Spanish) “PUSH THE BUTTONS THAT ARE FLASHING.”
(From google- “los botones que parpadean.”
From Rosa- “Presiona los botones q se estan illuminando!”
Or “Apreta los botones”
Or “q esta’n parpadeando”
Anabelle on what she actually said- “Apreta los botones que se estan iluminado!!!”
You see my problem?)
All three of her family members replied, “Ooooooh.”
And our poor Captain facepalmed.
 
Things didn’t change all that much, as the Mother was still filming, (and flailing) and it takes a run or two to get comfortable with the sensitivity of the Pilot/ Co-pilot controls. The Grandmother, however, heard the instructions clearly. It reminded me of learning about Nana’s revolutionary past in Blue Beetle. The woman said, “Ah…SI!” locked in complete, laser like, focus and blew the snot out of any TIE fighter dumb enough to get near us.
YAAAAAAY!!
 
On the way to the final landing, we smacked directly into one of the Spires that gives the outpost its name.
AAAAAAH!
 
The jostle filled ride had popped the cover off the hand sanitizer on the Manly Fairy backpack and it was quite coated.
 

Exiting one of the three StarWarsLand routes (one extra compared to the StarWarsLand we’d visited before) we worked our way around to New Orleans Square and to the original Pirates of the Caribbean. The outside line was confusing to us once more. Anabelle didn’t realize her Cruz Ramirez nail had fallen off somewhere around it until much later. Major alas. 

The ride is longer in California and tells the story better. There is also an extra drop to maneuver the ride in the tighter space. YAAY! Anabelle is convinced they pump in Melatonin along with the water smell as she almost always nods off on this ride. I made sure she saw the different ending, as it retains the old “powder room” scene before the final appearance (closer up) of Captain Jack and the treasure. Anabelle is never a fan of “closer up” with Animatronics.

 
Perhaps we shouldn’t have scheduled this ride directly before breakfast, as we all returned to Main Street and our Plaza reservation with wet behinds from the pirate boat bench. Anabelle was specifically doubting her outfit grid choices since she had chosen light colored red shorts this day.
 

Minnie Mouse met guests outside the Plaza as we waited to be seated. My Merlin shirt (made by Rosa) stating “Life Goal Achieved” above his quote, “There, you see? I’m an ugly, horrible, grouchy old man!” got me a face palm from our hostess.
 
We found out why Relaxed and Groovy California only had one character meal in the parks. It is because there were no characters left for other meals. There was a total of TEN characters. It was crazy. YAAAAY! 

Before we could get settled at our table, Tigger bounded up. He was thrilled to see himself on Anabelle’s Pooh and Friends shirt and we all took turns getting photos with him.
 

Rosa got a gluten free tour of the buffet area, but also got her waffles and meats specially delivered, because even when it’s Relaxed and Groovy, Disney will take excellent care of its allergy sufferers. We therefore had a mix at the table. Her waffles were standard Mickey shaped, and we were pulling Minnie Waffles off the line. The buffet had an extensive selection and some outstanding offerings. Though called the Plaza, it had much more of a Crystal Palace vibe.
(Yes, Anabelle the restaurant that you suggested.)
 

Chip came while Anabelle and I were perusing the offerings leading us to sprint back while he was being excited over Rosa’s other shirt with him and Dale on it.

YAAAY!

The cavalcade of characters continued while we ate. Suzy Mouse from Cinderella snuck up behind Anabelle, leading to one of multiple jump scares of the trip. (AAAAH!!) There were many hugs and more of those weird, kiss, popping noises. Chip and Tigger made them too, but we tried not to think about it.
 
Looking out the window behind us, the Disneyland Marching band passed by, and (for reasons the App would be no help in determining -Freakin’ California) Cinderella happened to be in the area and danced and twirled to their music.
 

While we were having a distribution of potatoes discussion, Perla Mouse joined us for a bit of fun and hugs and stuff. [“YAY, Perla!!!!” – Anabelle]
 

Anabelle went back to believing she made the right choice of shorts, as they were her “Pooh Meeting Pants.” Winnie the Pooh came by, gave Rosa a big hug, and was quite jolly about seeing himself on Anabelle’s shirt.
YAAY!
 

We’d seen Daisy in the distance, leading Anabelle to pull her Tiny Donald out of the Princess backpack. Tiny Donald had ridden on her fanny pack throughout the entire last humidity soaked Disney World vacation, and it was clear by this point that he had “seen things.”

Daisy had to stop because the little girl in the Frozen dress nearby almost exploded. They had their amazingly magical moment together. YAAAY!
 
At our table, Daisy was sooooo excited to see Tiny Donald, and tried, yet again, to steal him. There was more posing, hugging, and weird kissing noises.
 
Dale never came over to us. We’re not sure if he and Chip swapped off times, or that they split the restaurant in half. Either way there was enough other characters to keep us busy. Minnie was the only greeter, but the “exit interview” alternated between Pluto and Eeyore.
 
Anabelle waved to Pluto in the restaurant, had seen him on our arrival, and knew he would be at the last day meal. Therefore, we waited for the shift change before walking out to meet Eeyore. There were no kisses from Eeyore, making us like him already. Out of the three characters we met on Anabelle’s shirt, he seemed to like it the most. Awwwww. 

I posed with him as well, making a sad face. Eeyore was extremely small. This may have been a conscious decision of using the larger height range available to reduce his “lurking horror” nature for little ones. We went back to the table to finish up the excellent meal before really leaving. On the way out, I continued my East Coast habit of thanking the Character Handler at a meal, because, “They get all the hugs, but you do all the hidden work to make sure everyone gets the hugs.” The Relaxed and Groovy Cast Member appreciated that just as much as others have.
 
It was time to try another attraction specific to Disneyland, the Storybook Canal Boats. Rosa thought the miniatures were really cute, and the boat ride looked fun from a distance. The wait was one of the longer ones, through a confusing mass of chained off zigzags. The low throughput of the ride using actual self-guided water vessels contributed to that. The fact that they were one of the few non-track riding boats came as a surprise to my wife and daughter as we gingerly boarded. Anabelle has never been a boat fan, and Rosa’s neck was not a fan of the angles required to look at the miniature replicas of movie locations.
(“Ooh look… tiny things. And look there… MORE tiny things.” – Anabelle imitating Samwise)

This journey removed the need to try the equally cramped Disneyland Circus Train through the same area.
At least they agreed sailing into Monstro’s mouth was cool.

Up the hill a bit from where we hauled ourselves out of the boat was the Fantasyland Theater, the former home of Lion King Show West. For us it was the Pixar Pals Playtime Party. A Relaxed and Groovy mix of character meetings, a stage show, and a dance party.
 

We came in to see the Incredibles join Toy Story friends and dance to “Macho Man.” Bo Peep was really going for it. Both times at this party led to discussions where we decided even if she didn’t have the smallest “head size” to manage, her dance skills and dedication to the moves would have put her well above her fellow characters. Perhaps she attended Danceworks at some point.
 
Up in the area where characters from Luca were scheduled, Anabelle colored, and Rosa danced along with the show. I enjoyed the performance as well. (I’m pretty sure it is obvious that I did not dance.)
 
We were waiting calmly until Ian came out by the reproduction of Guinevere, the van from Onward, below us. Anabelle sprinted down the steps to get on line, and we followed her.
 
At this point, “Shake It Off” played. Mr. Incredible revealed himself as a Swifty by getting totally into it. In contrast, Mrs. Incredible looked like she had better things to do, and at one point looked frightened by her husband’s antics. Bo Peep, unsurprisingly, continued to "slay" I believe is the term. ["Stop being old." - Anabelle]

 
Anabelle had what she rated as one of her greatest character interactions. She told Ian he helped her learn to drive as she always feels like he did when she has to merge. When she yelled, “THERE’S SO MANY CARS!” He was clearly miming agreement and “I KNOW!!!!” They bonded over this, and he suggested many poses leaning on Guinevere.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

While the dancing continued, we ran back up the stairs to return to wait for Luca and Alberto. There was a lot of fun interactions with them and their Handler. He had called them Italian, and they were trying to point out that they lived under the ocean. His reply, “Yes, but the ocean is in Italy.”
YAY!

Considering how often they posed with the “Silencio Bruno” (aka “Atsa matta for you?”) hand position, I tended to agree with the Handler.
 
Across the top of the theater, we found Merida and squeezed onto the end of her (like every other one we saw) soon to be closing line. The rapid transition of characters had not fully hit us yet. She complemented Anabelle’s “bear ears” and they had a discussion about wanting to be bears, since her brothers had such fun with it, and Anabelle is a bear enthusiast.
YAAAY!

Then she stated Anabelle was a redhead like her, and therefore decided she was Scottish.
As we were at the end of her line, it was possible the fair skinned Merida had been out in the sun too long.
 
We shuttled back and forth to the rest rooms near the theaters as they were some of the best Disneyland had to offer.
(Mark that spot down.)
 
While I was on my own for a bit, two things happened.

The first was Alberto and Luca went back to the coffee break room, and Luca did the same little stage leaving kick as he left that Anabelle had when she was a Hot Box Girl in Guys and Dolls. There have been reports of Alberto and Luca holding hands as they traveled back and forth to their meeting place. I guess the Relaxed and Groovy characters are braver than their Pixar film making co-workers.
 
Also, I heard the announcement as the Disneyland Railroad was leaving the Fantasyland station that it was going on a trip “Around the Magic Kingdom.” This made me far less embarrassed for screwing up and calling Disneyland that multiple times a day.
 
A return to Mr. Toad was next on our plan. While outside on line we could hear the Carrousel play “Whistle While You Work.” I was signing along, using the version my Mom heard when she was little and World War Two was very fresh in everyone’s mind.
“Whistle while you work,
Hitler was a jerk,
Mussolini lost his weenie.
Now it doesn’t work.”
Anabelle’s response- “Your Mother is crazy.”
 
Someone else on line laughed at my shirt and said, “I wouldn’t say horrible.”
I did say thanks, but realized later that she was confirming “ugly” “grouchy” and “old.”
Freakin’ California. “Nice but not kind.”
 
After our return journey to the fiery inferno, we took another shot at figuring out the Relaxed and Groovy character meeting times.
 
While we were trying to ascertain where and when everything meant, Geppetto walked up to the small world promenade. We waited on line to meet him, and he got all excited about Anabelle’s Winnie the Pooh friends’ shirt, miming asking who she had seen. They both expressed frustration with the lack of Rabbit in the parks. Overall, it was kind of surreal. I took a picture with him as well, due to the “old Italian” connection.

As we got off the line, Pinocchio walked out to join his father, meaning we needed to get right back on the same line.
Freakin’ California.

Geppetto was very understanding that Anabelle was only there to see Pinnoch’ and gave them space for a greeting. YAAAY!
 
We walked a little ways into the middle of Fantasyland and were debating what to ride next. The App also listed Mary Poppins and Bert were out. We felt it was lying to us again because…
Well, because the Freakin’ California App lied to us all the time.
But also, because Pinocchio had just come out and his time couldn’t possibly be completed yet.
 
Turns out the Relaxed and Groovy set are big believers in, “You snooze you lose.”
 
Mary Poppins and Bert were in the exact spot we had just left meeting the little wooden boy.
 

They were very excited as to how colorful we were, Anabelle’s rainbow glasses and my sneakers specifically drawing their attention. When Anabelle went up, they asked her name and the glasses colors inspired Bert to talk about chalk drawings and how to jump into them. He had the three of them do the:
“Think, Wink, Double Blink, aaaaand JUMP!”
They finished in the same place they started, but since it was already Disneyland it was still pretty magical.
YAAAAY!
 
Line lengths were on the upswing and parade time was drawing nearer. That’s why we decided on a restful train ride around the Park. We boarded at the Fantasyland station and saw the first difference on the tour around the smaller and more urban located theme Park. All the seats in the train faced the same way, into the Park, ensuring we couldn’t see the surrounding traffic. The train ride started off by going behind the small world, leading to much enthusiasm from Anabelle. This evaporated immediately when she learned the back side of the small world is undecorated in any way. Alas.

The excessive amount of Disney Bounding skewed our perspective. Rosa saw a woman in a distinct outfit at the Main Street stop who was also walking outside the train when we boarded. Rosa wondered if she ran along with the train. Not quite… She was the conductor. We spotted Ariel greeting guests outside the gate below us as we passed. Sure, because there was no way we could reach her.  As we headed towards the closed station near Splash Mountain the announcement for Frontierland also included going back to the age of the dinosaurs.
 
“Excuse me, WHAT?” shouted Anabelle. 

The left-over dioramas from the World’s Fair were not copied on the Disney World Railroad, hence her confusion.

 
After completing the trip around the Park, we exited in Fantasyland again, and found no places to watch the parade near where we saw it come out on Sunday by the small world. Part of the problem was many areas that looked (to our Florida Park visiting eyes) to be prime viewing locations, were banned for parade watching. Relaxed and Groovy they may be, but space is a premium and they still needed to let people navigate the Park while the parade ran.
 
We found ourselves further and further from the Parade Start and were bummed that our plan of, “Catch the Parade early then use the rest of the crowd watching it to get on a shorter line,” was failing. We eventually found a spot on Main Street. On the way, a woman went insane over my shirt, and started reading it over and over doing a fair impression of Merlin’s voice. Another fun and weird moment inspired by my wardrobe.
 
It turned out luck was with us that day. Yes, the small scale of the Park limited the viewing areas for the parade. However, it also meant there wasn’t the backstage area capacity to reset the parade every day. Therefore, whenever the parade ran, it was in the reverse direction it did the last time. This time it curved towards and right by us on the Main Street Circle.
YAAAAAY!
Granted, there was no shade there and we’re pretty sure that’s where we all got sunburned, but still, YAAAAAY!
 
Rosa made an Instant Latin Disney friend and the two women exchanged comments in Spanish about the incredibly rude family behind us trying to push through our groups, and everyone else who found a spot before them, to see the parade.
  
Moana was very chatty with the crowd this day, and waved to Rosa, so did Prince Philip at the end. Pinocchio reached out to her as he passed.

 
One of the dancers did an awesome triple pirouette, Anabelle with the experience and skill to recognize how hard and clean it was cheered. He stopped to give her aggressive “oh yeah, I did that” eye contact before moving on. YAAAAY! 

Anna waved to Rosa while Anabelle was frantically also waving and yelling her name. This turned out to be worth it as Kristoff, pushing his wagon after the Frozen float, stopped and asked Anabelle directly if she had seen Anna. YAAAAAAY!!!

[“I almost peed myself!!” - Anabelle]
 
Anabelle did some research before and after the trip and there seems to only be a single Kristoff in the Disneyland parade. This is the guy’s one job. Anabelle’s assessment, “He serves.”
 
I had on my Merlin shirt right at the front of the crowd, and Merlin was on the front of the Sword in the Stone float, meaning he had direct line of sight to me…
Or he would have, except his constant and frantically wild dancing (which required him to be bolted onto the float) meant his glasses were fogged over, becoming completely opaque.
Alas.

At the end of the Parade, while the crowd dispersed, we saw an unimaginable tragedy. The holder of a Turkey Leg in the Wild dropped it on the ground.
A sympathetic Alas for their giant, meaty snack.
  
We took the little hidey hole passageway from the front of the castle blend of Main Street and Fantasyland into Frontierland.
 
Amazingly, Mirabel was where she was supposed to be in front of the painting of the Family Madrigal. She was extremely chatty, pelting Anabelle with a lot of questions about family and other things. She noticed the similarity in their names, “MiraBEL, AnaBELLE.” Anabelle and Rosa’s name were greeted with her Columbian accent.
“And Jeff.” She told me not to feel bad as she was usually the odd one out. YAAY! 

It was this meeting we noticed another difference between characters. Besides being more animated and interactive, they also knew they were in Disneyland, asking about rides and stuff. It threw us off a bit whenever it happened.
[“I was not a fan of this. It made me uncomfortable. They know too much.” – Anabelle]
 
Following that success, we decided to try trusting the App again and returned to StarWarsLand. While not quite where they were supposed to be, we did run into the Mandalorian and Boba Fett! (YAAAAY!) 

Anabelle was kind of freaked out by both the characters themselves and how they continued walking along meaning you have to almost be rude to get in a picture with them. They did stop themselves for little kids… as it should be.
 
Anabelle said hi to Grogu, who was carried by Mando and was much easier for her to relate to. 

I snuck in next to Boba Fett after they split up to allow Rosa to snap a quick shot.
SQUEEEE!
 
Around the corner of the marketplace, Chewie was working his way back to the Falcon. He stopped to give a guy directions which was, on the whole, pretty surreal.
 

Knowing how close I dance to CrazyHungryLand on any visit and being able to sense Anabelle’s genetic predisposition to do the same, I grabbed a soda and a Ronto Wrap for us to split, heading off some possible issues.
 

Sabine was supposed to be up in the Market Place. Luckily, we rested a bit following Rontoing, because she was making her Relaxed and Groovy way, down in the area we were in below that Market. Anabelle, with Rebels as one of the key elements of “her Star Wars” was delighted. She showed the Mandalorian artist her “Droid Rights” poster. They talked about sharing paints and Sabine said, “I could use your skills.” Anabelle politely thanked her.
Then Sabine continued walking and Anabelle said, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

We split for a little while. I followed Anabelle through the Droid Shops where she would pose with her Droid Rights Sign in front of their dismembered bodies and removed heads.

Rosa told us she waved to Kylo Ren. FUN!
 

We met up by the recently repaired (again) Rise of the Resistance. Rosa and I took advantage of the listed forty-minute wait. (This time, it was less, which was odd as there were announcements saying the wait would be longer than posted. Relaxed and Groovy.) There were obviously many “regulars” on line making a lot of jokes, including a few Dune references. Rosa had a much better time when she could actually pay attention to everything going on. The stand-up part moved a lot less than we remembered, maybe that’s what had broken? We were in a different car than our first trip, which meant we could see the side of the AT-AT instead of the front. YAAAY!

The First Order officers are MUCH nicer in the Relaxed and Groovy Park.
 

Anabelle did some more protesting and then exited Batuu to cross Fantasyland. She just missed Ariel, who she saw get distracted by a cute little girl in a dress that matched hers. Anabelle made it over to Toontown for a rare West Coast appearance of Donald Duck. He was thrilled to see Tiny Donald and gave him kisses as well.

Having met her favorite duck, Anabelle recrossed the park. (Which we all did a great deal of. Its much more tempting when the Parks are both “One Square Foot.”) Back in Batuu (pausing at her “staging garbage can” to pull out the Droid Rights poster again) she gave someone directions. (That’s my girl!) She also saw Kylo Ren’s butt leaving the area. Presumably, the rest of him was attached to it.
 
As we met up again and were passing out of the Market Place, Chewbacca loped through on his way back to the Falcon, giving everyone quick hugs as he passed.
Really quick hugs.
Really quick, but completely enveloping hugs.
I was spitting out Wookie hair for much of the rest of the night.
YAY!

Ptoo ptoo, but still-
YAY!
 
We took a short rest near a Sabbac demonstration table. A bit more foreshadowing here, but I wish I paid much more attention to it.
 

Over by the “garage” where a landspeeder and other vehicles were parked they had a BD Droid demonstration. The little guy was walking about an interacting with the crowd. Anabelle held up her Droid Rights sign for it and it did a little dance!
YAAAY!
 
Completing our Star Wars time, we transitioned over to Adventureland. It was hard to find the Tiki Room at first until we figured out, instead of a pre-show, there was a Dole Whip stand in that area. The Relaxed and Groovy Tiki Room allows eating within. Anabelle claimed this was “genius.”
“I have my Dole Whip; I need a place to sit and eat it. I guess I’ll go see the singing birds.”
It was nice seeing the whole original show with the fountain and stuff. However, having the seats in a square instead of a circle was kind of weird.
Still, Tiki Room! YAAAAY!

 
Remaining in Adventureland, the Jungle Cruise had quite a few differences from what we were used to. For one, the line stayed significantly shorter. Its possible that this was because the ride itself was shorter, not having the “inside the spooky temple” section. The boats were also open topped, something the monsoon filled Orlando area couldn’t pull off. 

The jokes were terrible, but I loved them anyway. The speaker was really staticky, unfortunately meaning it was hard to understand them. We had discussed a “night” Jungle Cruise, but this was more “night-ish.” I was hoping the shorter line meant we might have another shot at it.
Rosa and Anabelle- “Nope.”
Alas.
 
Over in the tiny part of Critter Country that was open, we went for dinner. It was the second direct reference to the no longer on this coast Country Bear Jamboree. The Hungry Bear restaurant did look like our type of thing, and it was. We lucked out as shortly after our vacation, it (and the Davey Crocket Canoes along with Anabelle’s heckling ability of them) closed with the remainder of Critter Country. 

They had a gluten free salad for Rosa, an impossible burger for me, and Anabelle who was still full from the half Ronto Wrap went down a level from the kids’ meal and tried the “toddler” mac and cheese.
 
I believe the people ahead of me on line had never seen food before. That’s the only explanation why it took them that long to order. Learning that one of the Cast Members working the register dropped out of school at fourteen did not help speed things up. The Relaxed and Groovy guy ordering, however, was overly excited about my colorful sneakers, going off on a full artistic review of them.
 
I brought the food downstairs to the underpatio area where they had secured a table. Anabelle was glad for the half Ronto as the “toddler” sized meal was about five pieces of macaroni.
It was excellent though.
 
Down in there with us was a metric crapload of ducks. Since that seemed to be their main diet, I didn’t feel too bad about hand feeding one a French Fry. Anabelle figured they were looking for Aurora, who is no fan of any bird.
We told them, “Aurora isn’t here!”
And they all left.
Whoah!
 
The sun set, we put our hoodies on against the cool desert night air and wandered a bit aimlessly. Initially we passed through StarWarsLand again because Anabelle expressed interest in maybe giving Rise of the Resistance another shot.
It was broken.
Alas.
 

Instead, we took the Fantasyland exit and went back to Anabelle’s new favorite Dark Ride:
Pinocchio!
“I DON’T WANNA BE A DONKEY!”
 

Afterwards, I learned a plan was made to ride the small world. It was clarified.

“This is our plan… not you.” *Dismissive hand wave*
Parenthood, the gift that keeps on giving.

We rode it, and it was, as always, a mess of fun. We did have a “I didn’t want to see that” moment when we passed the curtain pulled back where they route boats off the main track for repairs, and where one assumes they bolt lost children down before teaching them the song. [“The forbidden small world.” – Anabelle]  Along with the layout, the décor was different from the version we normally rode. The back “wall” of every room was giant curtains, hence the “pulling back” of one to move the boat. Also, due to the low humidity one would surmise, the animal dollies tended to be fuzzier and sparklier than in Disney World. That is the only part of this version Anabelle was not a fan of. 

 
Pirates had a short line, and Anabelle pointed out, “We’ll have to hike.”
Then clarified, “I mean, hike the two feet that this park is.”
 
I thought Anabelle was joking about “wake me up for the part that’s different” but after being full of excitement and animation on the way over, she became a complete dead weight on my shoulder.
 
We finished my favorite ride with wet butts once again, and I finished it with the boat bumps aggravating that rib muscle and knocking the wind out of me again.
Three-thousand miles away, and the Pirate store still had no good shirts or hats…
Alas.
 
We took the Frontierland route this time, and as we reached my favorite Disney roller coaster of all time- Big Thunder Mountain…
We heard someone asking what was in Frontierland and the information Cast Member telling her “Well there’s only one attraction… and it just broke down.”
Alas.
Artistic License Note- Big Thunder Mountain was closed at this time. The exchange reported did not happen at this time, but earlier in the day (or some other day).
No one cares- moving on.
 
In front of us were a couple of guys talking and one asked, “Wait, you mean you’re dating Mrs. Incredible?”
To which the other replied, “Yes, It’s my greatest achievement.”
YAAAY for you, Dude!

We gave up and turned back towards Fantasyland.

 
Peter Pan was listed as having a twenty-minute wait…
Or was it forty?
(It was forty… Freakin’ California.)
 
Some younger guys in line really liked my shirt and kept laughing when we’d pass in the zigzag pattern. Anabelle was kind of zoning out. “I ride pirates, I fall asleep, and I leave, I don’t know what this is.”
 
The Jolly Roger boats were bigger there, which meant we could all ride together. It was also not an Omnimovier. The boat stops, guests wiggle in and off it goes. No pixie dust though, alas. 

I didn’t realize how different it was. Even though we said getting it this night meant we didn’t have to run to it on the next Extra Magic Hour Half Hour, we all wanted to do it again. There were no crosses on the beds because the whole bedroom was seen from higher up.
 
That was the key difference, each “room” was larger, and the boat spent more time flying higher over things, swooping, (Weee!) and displaying different parts of each room. YAAAY!
[“Like Never Land, with all the sparkly stars. It was incredible.” – Anabelle]
 
Anabelle was happy to report this version had no Lost Boys for her to miss.

We crossed in front of the carrousel, with no one eager to jump on (yet) and passed through the Castle. 

We stopped for a night PhotoPass by the Castle. Apparently, the long days and jet lag took their toll on me giving Anabelle a second “soulless Dad” photo. I was a little slow reacting to the Magic Shot. Therefore, Rosa and Anabelle were staring in wonder at Tinkerbelle in our hands…

And I was staring straight ahead without a thought in my brain.
 
We left, waving good bye to the lights on Main Street.
For anyone who forgot where we started yet another fifteen and a half hour marathon day, this meant we did not pass the store we intended to hit to get Rosa’s ornament on the way out.
 
Back in the hotel room, it was Anabelle’s turn to fall asleep on the couch.
I fell asleep as well before getting fully ready for bed and had to wake up to do that.
 
22803 steps
8.7 miles 

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