ChaseTheWind
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- Joined
- Jan 1, 2017
I forgot to mention that before we made our pit stop at the Tangled toilets, I had taken a wrong turn and guided us back to Gaston's tavern. Gaston was out meeting people, and here was R's chance. For weeks she'd been saying she wanted to go up by herself, be brave, and tell Gaston to stop being so mean. The sight of him was too much, though, and she turned to us and said, "Maybe I will do it later." We didn't push it, though I do wonder what that would have looked like had she screwed up the courage to do it! There's always next time!
Now we were in search of D, who was dutifully saving a spot on the shady side of the parade route near Country Bears Jamboree. B was in search of something else though, the evidence of which ended up only on R's face:
The last remaining bits of a Mickey Ice Cream bar! While we waited for B to purchase this, R and I stood in the shade of the cart where another employee perked up the sweaty R by giving her a Stitch sticker. It was sweet and kind, and also kind of amazing that the employee seemed to know that she needed just a little something at that moment. Of course, to have a sticker followed by a Mickey ice cream bar is no bad thing at all!
The parade essentially began early, as there was a large group of young students - I think they were in some sort of Disney student success program - who preceded the official parade with characters in tow. Here comes a wall of photos!
Goofy gets up close and personal!
The "real" parade, as R called it, began:
This time around, the Mad Hatter approached R and asked her name. She was decidedly less nervous and happily obliged!
This parade was no less exciting for R than the previous one! We had the fortune of great seats, shady seats, that less us see the parade just as it began before moving along in search of the one thing R had asked for all trip: a Mickey lollipop. We bought a bunch in the gift shop outside Pirates, then moved back toward Aladdin for our 5th FP of the day.
After this, D and K kindly took R for another spin to look at the boats coming down Splash Mountain and gave us their other 2 paper FPs so that we could enjoy the Haunted Mansion. The ride broke down a total of three times: twice while we waited in line after the stretching room, and once while we were on it, very near the end.
By this point, it was about 4:30 and I had managed to make a 6th FP for Buzz at 5:30. We decided to have an early dinner, and since repeats were the order of the day, I was more than happy to have a second lobster roll at Columbia Harbor House. Everyone else had shrimp, minus the kid who had a pbj. Again it was quiet and again we sat upstairs, the sun glinting in as we started to do the thing that always means a trip is ending: talking about how amazing everything had been. We talked about favorite moments, about adorable things R had said and done, and about how hard it was going to be to leave tomorrow. R seemed to understand that in less than 24 hours we'd be getting on a plane and heading home, but then she said, "That's good. I will go home and take a nap, and then we can come back to Disney World when I wake up." Oh the heartbreak and smile with which I had to deliver the news that such things weren't possible. We diverted conversation back to the fun still yet to be had today, and with that we moved in the direction of Buzz.
R rode with her grandparents, leaving me with this guy, who cleaned up on this ride as usual:
After Buzz, we took a spin on the People Mover. R of course adored the inclined moving walkway, and it was nice to take a leisurely ride around as the sun continued to set.
We said a special goodbye to the castle:
After exiting the ride, we parted ways with D and K, who were going to try to stick it out a bit longer. FPs were no longer available for the day (perhaps because of a paid evening event?), so I assumed we were done and would be heading to the exits. I got a little teary as we hugged goodbye, thinking this was nearly the end.
R ducked into a gift shop to "show me one thing," which turned out to be a small plastic Mickey Mouse bracelet. She asked to use her piggy bank money to pay for it, and I was glad to let her. I'd been carrying $25 of her piggy bank money with me all week on the promise that she could pick one thing to buy for herself before we left. She hadn't forgotten. It was under $10, so I felt like it was a major score!
As we were strapping her into the stroller, prepared to make our sad exit, R said she hadn't gotten to do the pirate ride again. Well, we can't deprive the girl of one last rerun, can we? The app said the wait was 20 minutes, but by the time we'd crossed the park it was posted at 35. We probably waited somewhere in between, riding in the last row of the boat on our last ride on our last day at Disney.
When we exited the ride, in one last surprise, D and K were waiting for us, having decided to leave with us rather than fight the growing crowds that were pouring in. I made sure to stop them as we got close to Main Street so that I could hold and snuggle R while we each said goodbye to the castle. I then had to put her in her stroller and walk quickly, pretending to be focused on weaving our way out of the park but really just blinking back, and then not being able to blink back, the tears at all. I could not have asked for a more perfect day.
We waited no time at all for a bus - one was standing there waiting - but we were the last ones on and had to stand. We all hung on for dear life in the dark, but I was still somehow wishing the bus would slow down. It didn't, and soon there was nothing left to do but walk back to our room.
While R snuggled into bed, I began the packing process, hefting the dirty clothes into one suitcase and the remaining clean clothes into the other. The rest would have to wait until tomorrow.
I can certainly see why people might not understand how others can visit a place like this over and over. I admittedly didn't understand it myself. But on Monday and Thursday, we'd done pretty much that: fun things, time and again, returning to places and images and people we'd visited once before. In both sets of moments I saw my daughter filled with love and joy, and I won't ever again question people who only want to see that kind of rerun over and over again.
Now we were in search of D, who was dutifully saving a spot on the shady side of the parade route near Country Bears Jamboree. B was in search of something else though, the evidence of which ended up only on R's face:
The last remaining bits of a Mickey Ice Cream bar! While we waited for B to purchase this, R and I stood in the shade of the cart where another employee perked up the sweaty R by giving her a Stitch sticker. It was sweet and kind, and also kind of amazing that the employee seemed to know that she needed just a little something at that moment. Of course, to have a sticker followed by a Mickey ice cream bar is no bad thing at all!
The parade essentially began early, as there was a large group of young students - I think they were in some sort of Disney student success program - who preceded the official parade with characters in tow. Here comes a wall of photos!
Goofy gets up close and personal!
The "real" parade, as R called it, began:
This time around, the Mad Hatter approached R and asked her name. She was decidedly less nervous and happily obliged!
This parade was no less exciting for R than the previous one! We had the fortune of great seats, shady seats, that less us see the parade just as it began before moving along in search of the one thing R had asked for all trip: a Mickey lollipop. We bought a bunch in the gift shop outside Pirates, then moved back toward Aladdin for our 5th FP of the day.
After this, D and K kindly took R for another spin to look at the boats coming down Splash Mountain and gave us their other 2 paper FPs so that we could enjoy the Haunted Mansion. The ride broke down a total of three times: twice while we waited in line after the stretching room, and once while we were on it, very near the end.
By this point, it was about 4:30 and I had managed to make a 6th FP for Buzz at 5:30. We decided to have an early dinner, and since repeats were the order of the day, I was more than happy to have a second lobster roll at Columbia Harbor House. Everyone else had shrimp, minus the kid who had a pbj. Again it was quiet and again we sat upstairs, the sun glinting in as we started to do the thing that always means a trip is ending: talking about how amazing everything had been. We talked about favorite moments, about adorable things R had said and done, and about how hard it was going to be to leave tomorrow. R seemed to understand that in less than 24 hours we'd be getting on a plane and heading home, but then she said, "That's good. I will go home and take a nap, and then we can come back to Disney World when I wake up." Oh the heartbreak and smile with which I had to deliver the news that such things weren't possible. We diverted conversation back to the fun still yet to be had today, and with that we moved in the direction of Buzz.
R rode with her grandparents, leaving me with this guy, who cleaned up on this ride as usual:
After Buzz, we took a spin on the People Mover. R of course adored the inclined moving walkway, and it was nice to take a leisurely ride around as the sun continued to set.
We said a special goodbye to the castle:
After exiting the ride, we parted ways with D and K, who were going to try to stick it out a bit longer. FPs were no longer available for the day (perhaps because of a paid evening event?), so I assumed we were done and would be heading to the exits. I got a little teary as we hugged goodbye, thinking this was nearly the end.
R ducked into a gift shop to "show me one thing," which turned out to be a small plastic Mickey Mouse bracelet. She asked to use her piggy bank money to pay for it, and I was glad to let her. I'd been carrying $25 of her piggy bank money with me all week on the promise that she could pick one thing to buy for herself before we left. She hadn't forgotten. It was under $10, so I felt like it was a major score!
As we were strapping her into the stroller, prepared to make our sad exit, R said she hadn't gotten to do the pirate ride again. Well, we can't deprive the girl of one last rerun, can we? The app said the wait was 20 minutes, but by the time we'd crossed the park it was posted at 35. We probably waited somewhere in between, riding in the last row of the boat on our last ride on our last day at Disney.
When we exited the ride, in one last surprise, D and K were waiting for us, having decided to leave with us rather than fight the growing crowds that were pouring in. I made sure to stop them as we got close to Main Street so that I could hold and snuggle R while we each said goodbye to the castle. I then had to put her in her stroller and walk quickly, pretending to be focused on weaving our way out of the park but really just blinking back, and then not being able to blink back, the tears at all. I could not have asked for a more perfect day.
We waited no time at all for a bus - one was standing there waiting - but we were the last ones on and had to stand. We all hung on for dear life in the dark, but I was still somehow wishing the bus would slow down. It didn't, and soon there was nothing left to do but walk back to our room.
While R snuggled into bed, I began the packing process, hefting the dirty clothes into one suitcase and the remaining clean clothes into the other. The rest would have to wait until tomorrow.
I can certainly see why people might not understand how others can visit a place like this over and over. I admittedly didn't understand it myself. But on Monday and Thursday, we'd done pretty much that: fun things, time and again, returning to places and images and people we'd visited once before. In both sets of moments I saw my daughter filled with love and joy, and I won't ever again question people who only want to see that kind of rerun over and over again.
