"I've been waiting my whole life for this!" (says the 3 year old) - A September 2023 WDW Trip Report!

[MamaMouse0920]

Tuesday 9/12/23 - Park Day 3: Hollywood Studios! (continued)

After DD4 and I got off ToT, we made our way toward Rock N Rollercoaster since I had at some point booked Matt & I a LL. DD4 was enamored by this giant guitar (we have regular "jam out" sessions at home with our old Guitar Hero guitars- the kids particular favorite hair band is Twisted Sister- they love "I Wanna Rock" & "We're Not Gonna Take It") so of course she had to pose for a picture:



I didn't really think Matt would want to do this one (he doesn't do well with the coasters that jostle you around more) but he claimed he did so I went ahead and booked it. DD4 and I had a quick potty break while waiting for Matt & a still sleeping DS3 to meet us in that area. As soon as they did, DD4 joined Matt and I scooted off to ride RnR first, as is our usual protocol since like I've mentioned, I usually ride first to "test it out" to make sure Matt will tolerate it, motion sickness wise. He and DD4 went to get ice cream, since DS3 was still sleeping. I'm not sure where they got it from or what they got, I just know she was promised ice cream, and dad delivered!

RnR was fun as usual, though I suspect it had gone down since juuuust before we entered the "recording studio" the doors remained shut for about 10 minutes or so. Eventually they opened and I was sure to make my way to the far side of the room, since I've ridden it before and don't need to watch the pre-show

I got seated next to a (young) single rider who was very sweet but VERY chatty turns out this was her second time ever riding this ride, and that a mere 10 mins prior she had been crying saying she didn't want to ride but eventually did & had a blast, so her and her brother hopped right back into the single rider line to go again.



After I got off, Matt & I swapped (it was a LL but no rider swap or anything since DD4 isn't tall enough)



Matt's picture That guy in the backrow looks like a blast! The girl in the front I'm not sure what her thoughts are and Matt is just...... Matt LOL. While Matt was riding I decided it was time for a beer so I grabbed one from the Sunshine Day Bar- asking the nice bartender if they had any smoothie type drinks for the kids. She said no (as this was just a bar) but advised I check out Fairfax Fare- where she recommended the Cup of Enchantment ("cranberry & passion fruit-orange-guava juices topped with yellow shimmer & strawberry boba pearls"). Heading over to Fairfax Fare, I asked the CM for the recommended Cup of Enchantment, but asked if they could give me an extra cup so I could divvy the drink up & the kids could share. The CM instead gave me TWO full cups! Another bout of pixie dust!!!

The drink was SUPER YUMMY with the kids particularly enjoying those boba pearls



While we sat there enjoying our drinks (waiting for dad), I booked a LL for Millenium Falcon Smugglers Run for about 10 mins from then. We hadn't done any Star Wars rides before (1. we're not big Star Wars people - in fact I've never seen a single one! and 2. Simulator/screens like Star Tours & Millenium Falcon made me nervous with how we would fare, motion sickness wise) but I guess the beer gave me some liquid courage and I thought "why not?". Trying to get them amped up, I asked the kids if they got to fly a space ship, would they want to be a pilot? Or the person who shoots the guns 'at the aliens'? DD4 said Pilot, and DS3 said shooter. And so after being reunited with Matt (me sharing the rest of my beer with him), we made our way toward Star Wars Galaxies Edge for the first time this trip, and for Matt the first time in daylight.

We approached the area, soaking in the sounds and sights when all of a sudden as we turned a corner there was Kylo Ren & 2 Storm Troopers walking right toward us!! I didn't get pictures but took video (which was of course adorable) that went like this:

**Bad guys approaching**
Matt: ooooooh you guys are in trouble!"
Me (laughing): "do you guys want to say hi?!"
Kids (waving cheerfully): "hi!!"

Kylo Ren walks passed them, pauses looking at them briefly, and I *think* he is saying a quote from the movie?? something about "who will save them?" But I'm not 100% sure as like I said, never seen the movies.

The kids were again star struck, even though they didn't know who he was

After we parked the stroller, I snapped a quick pic of the kids with the Millenium Falcon



We then realized that there was only a 5 minute wait so we cancelled our LL and walked through the standby line.

As we wove through the queue, DS3 announced loudly "I farted and am going to stink up this whole spaceship"

Sigh. Boys, amiright?

Stinky farts aside, we had a GREAT time! I was so surprised that we all actually really enjoyed this ride! Not once did any of us feel icky- granted Matt & I took our usual dose of Dramamine that morning while waiting for rope drop, but still. DD4 and I were the pilots, and DS3 & Matt were gunners- with one poor miserable sap that got stuck with our crazy crew being the engineer. Poor guy, he had me & DD4 driving- oof! I did apologize profusely as we got off but I don't think he minded much.

And so this ride started a huge love in both kids for all things Star Wars, and they did not want to leave the area! They wanted to ride again (we told them we would try to go again later). Matt and I made a mental note to watch the movies as a family since the kids were so enthralled- but it hasn't happened yet, a month (to the day!) later.

Since we had cancelled our Millenium Falcon LL and rode via standby instead, we had been able to book another LL as we wove through the queue so I had selected Alien Swirling Saucers, riding for a second time this day. By this time it was 4:30, and we had a 5:10 ADR for Mama Melrose's as part of the Fantasmic Dining Package, so we were keeping a close eye on the time as we made our way to Andy's backyard. We did stop briefly to watch a drum performance by the Green Army Men which was great. The kids had a fun time dancing along to the beat before we scanned in for our LL at 4:40. We had another great ride, swapping partners this time and I got DD4 while Matt and DS3 scrambled around together in their own spaceship.

After debarking we made our way toward the Muppets area, this time headed for Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano, where we checked in with the nice hostess and had about a 5 minute wait - perfect timing for us all to go potty and wash our hands before we ate!

For some reason my pictures aren't loading so I'm going to pause here while I try to troubleshoot & hopefully can get it resolved Consider this a placeholder!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

How stressful!!! Glad it wasn't a stomach bug that made the rounds in the family. That is literally the worst!!

Hollywood Studios loooks like a great day!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Tuesday 9/12/23 - Park Day 3: Hollywood Studios! (continued)

For some reason all of my photos are giving me a "The HEVC Video Extension is required to display this file" message, I'm guessing it has something to do with a Windows update that was recently installed?! It seems all of my iPhone images are no longer jpegs, and are "HEIC files" instead.... whatever that means. So far the only workaround I've discovered is editing all of my photos in Lightroom & saving a copy, which has been a real pain since I have approximately 19234872395871982714 photos from this trip. Boo, Windows!!!!

Anyway, where I last left of we had just been seated for our dinner ADR that we really only booked so we could get primo seats for Fantasmic, since our kids had never seen any sort of fireworks/nighttime show at Disney yet and we wanted the best views without needing to stake out a spot for over an hour. As we entered the restaurant I noted how cozy it felt, very intimate with twinkly lights & the walls were all adorned with Mickey pictures- the kids loved looking at them all, Matt & I loved trying to see if we knew who each of the celebrities was.

When we were seated our waitress came to introduce herself and give us the low-down on how the Fantasmic dining package worked - basically we were allowed 1 appetizer & 1 entrée, and the kids basically just had a regular kids menu. This is different than what I was led to believe from the website, where it said (or at least I thought it did) that all guests are entitled to an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. The adults were not very hungry so I wasn't about to fight her and say "WHERE'S MY DESSERT, DARN IT" but I still scratched my head a bit.





Right off the bat looking at the menu and noticing no garlic bread/breadstick type option (which I know the kids would devour) I said "is there any way instead of two appetizers we can just get like garlic bread or something?" and she cut me off and said "oh don't worry, bread is coming!" so I thought we were on the same page. Instead what arrived was rock hard dinner rolls, which we hardly ate because they were so hard it hurt our teeth.

Matt & I did end up ordering appetizers for the table to share - Matt got the fried fresh mozzarella (basically 3 small mozzarella sticks in a bed of marinara) & I ordered a margherita flatbread. Both were delicious but as I said none of us were ravenous and we saved most of our tummy room for the meal. For our entrees, Matt got the Charred Strip Steak (Four-Cheese macaroni with Pancetta, Aged Balsalmic Shallot Butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction), I ordered Mama's Italian Pasta (Fettuccini tossed with Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic, Artichokes, Butter, and White Wine Sauce topped with Ricotta Salata), DD4 got penne noodles with a white (alfredo) sauce, and DS3 got spaghetti & meatballs- and both kids got veggies (cauliflower, carrots, & green beans).







I thought the grownups food was delicious, but was really not happy with what the kids received - the white sauce was literally just jarred alfredo, the spaghetti sauce the same and the veggies were clearly frozen & then steamed (which no one in our family cares for). I'm not judging on jarred sauces or frozen vegetables it was just such a stark difference from the adults fresh high quality meals. Plus for $22 per kid, I would have expected a bit more... BUT as I said in my PTR, we went into this with low expectations and really only did it for the Fantasmic seating so oh well.

The kids were also thrilled to receive their own little bowls of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce & Mickey sprinkles!





Unfortunately shortly after this picture, DD4 knocked her bowl of ice cream on the floor (it didn't spill thankfully, but we still didn't want her eating it anymore) and since our waitress didn't return after running Matt's credit card (total came to $182 after tax/tip) she was one very sad little girl to have only gotten a few bites. She got over it pretty quickly though and was back to her happy self in no time.

All said & done our experience at Mama Melrose's wasn't as bad as I was expecting (the perks of having LOW expectations!), the grownups food was actually pretty yummy (I even tried to find a copycat recipe just a few weeks ago- and am happy to report it turned out delicious!) and $180 after tip & tax is only a tad bit higher than standard for a family of 4 these days- though admittedly Matt & I did not get any alcohol with this dinner which obviously shaved off some potential added costs. I didn't feel that it was "wasted time" which I would have in a park like Magic Kingdom since there is so much more to do - instead it was a good way to get off our feet and get some AC while the wait times were still high for the more popular rides. Plus by 5pm a lot of the shows (Beauty & the Beast, Indiana Jones) were done for the day so we really didn't have as many options around that time anyway.

After walking out of the restaurant we decided to head to the nearby Muppets 3D for our second viewing of the day- what better way to let our tummies settle after all that heavy pasta?!



There were a few raindrops before/after Muppets but they weren't bothersome in the slightest and we enjoyed the slight drop in temp. After Muppets we were feeling at least a little but more digested, so we headed next to Star Tours (our first time!) since it was a 5 minute wait and as I said none of us had done it before. We wove through the queue and only as we were juuust about to enter the theater (or whatever you'd call it?) the CM said "oh let me just measure him quick!"

DOH! *slaps forehead* Star Tours has a 40 inch height requirement!!! How could I have forgotten?! Remembering Big Thunder Mountain from a few days prior I held my breath- waiting for the meltdown that was sure to occur after being told he was once again too short... only to see him bonk his head on the measuring stick and the CM sent us on our way. Whaaa...???? This ended up being our first of several experiences where the height requirement checker things varied. For extra head-scratching context, this was the end of the day (7pm), whereas our being turned away from Big Thunder Mountain was first thing in the morning, and he was wearing the same shoes both times.

Anyway, we all got to ride! Yahoo!!



We all had fun- the kids especially! Matt & I both felt fine queasiness wise so that was a relief, especially after our huge dinner. I was SO glad I decided to give these rides a try that I had been ruling out for years due to fear of getting motion sick. Dramamine FTW!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Tuesday 9/12/23 - Park Day 3: Hollywood Studios! (continued)

After Star Tours it still was only like 7:15 so we still were trying to find ways to fill the time until we needed to check in for Fantasmic (not until 8). Just before we approached the Frozen Singalong (also done for the day) we noticed the little Mickey's Shorts theater which had its next showing in 5 mins. Perfect! It was a nice way to rest & catch some AC, I'll try to remember that this exists next time we're in this park, lol!



After exiting the theater the kids wanted to check out all the little props and stuff - especially the Potatoland set up! But there was a line of people behind us wanting to take their picture with the potato so we shuffled out quickly, not getting a good picture ourselves:



By that point it was still only 7:30 so we just moseyed around the area, slowly making our way toward Sunset Blvd- stopping to say hi to Gertie.



As we approached Sunset Blvd we were blown away by the line of people- HOLY MOLY. It literally spanned the whole entire street. We overheard someone mentioning the Fantasmic Dining Package and we had a moment of panic- what?! THIS is the line for the primo seats?! We quickly found a CM who directed us instead to an area just before Tower of Terror- phew! But there was already a ton of guests making their way that direction, so it was pedal to the metal, feeling like we were battling Black Friday shopping type crowds- everyone trying to get to the same exact place, and everyone thinking that they matter more than anyone else.

As Matt pushed the double stroller we were walking next to a dad with a single stroller, and he had another person with him, a maybe 30 year old male? Who was walking in front & a little to the left of his single-stroller companion. As the crowds started to funnel into the narrow pathway, we approached little divider things that are usually used to stop vehicles entering an area - and as the crowds continue to narrow, and narrow, and narrow, finally the single non-pushing-stroller man literally JUMPED over and in front of our stroller's front wheels but when he landed on one foot, it was too late & Matt had already clipped his ankle. The man turned around and gave Matt a nasty look and put his hands up like "what the hell?", which unfortunately brought out a bit of an ugly side of my usually calm, easy-going husband. He responded "What did you expect to happen? Get out of the way then!" or something similar. It was then that single stroller pushing buddy of his started going at it with Matt, and the two of them had about 30 seconds of toddler style bickering back and forth ("We're all dealing with strollers, man!" "He shouldn't have JUMPED in front of me then, what if he had landed on my kids?!" "Yeah you keep running your mouth when you're the one who did something wrong!" etc.) until eventually the two other men huffed off to find the rest of their group.

Now I understand, trust me I do. It's the end of the day. It is HOT. You are exhausted, you're tired of dealing with crowds and screaming kids and all that not-so-fun stuff that goes along with Disney World. I get it! But even with ALL of those things going on, neither Matt, nor non-stroller-guy who made a bad choice & ended up getting clipped nor single-stroller-pushing guy needs to act like this. After the other two men had left the area I quietly let Matt know how upsetting his behavior was and reminded him that he is surrounded by kids- his kids included - who are watching him and learning from him. It took him all of about 1 minute to realize that he had overreacted but by that point the damage was done- we were both in terrible moods. The kids were thankfully blissfully unaware of all of this - except perhaps the man who got his ankle clipped, since that happened about 12 inches in front of their faces. After we had parked the stroller, Matt by some miracle had spotted both of those men off in the distance and told me he was going to go say sorry. This shouldn't have surprised me because it's totally the kind of person Matt is, but it still did a little bit. I took the kids hands (it was a hectic, crazy ZOO of people at this point) and joined the long line of people waiting to fill the middle section of bleachers. Matt eventually caught up with us and told me how the conversation went:

Matt, approaching single-stroller-pushing guy (I'll call him John): "Are you the guy who was with the person I clipped with my stroller?"
John (doesn't answer):
Matt: "I just wanted to come over here and apologize to you both"
John: "Yeah, you were over there running your mouth--" *holds up four fingers & thumb making 'blah blah blah' gestures with his hand*
Matt (cutting him off): "listen, I didn't have to find you and apologize but I wanted you to know that I was sorry and that's what I'm trying to do here"
John (realizing at this point that he's right): "thank you, we're all doing our best here"

Or something along those lines. Basically he didn't want to accept his apology at first and almost let the argument start all over again, and then realized that it was very big of Matt to do that, and accepted his apology.

I was still in a bit of a sour mood as he re-joined us and we were seated in our bleacher seats, but Matt was doing his best to cheer me up (guilty conscience much? LOL), and as I said the kids were totally clueless to everything going on and were being adorable- playing games with each other, making silly faces, and befriending some kids in the row ahead of us.







Eventually it was time for the show to start and we were all in much better moods- we LOVED Fantasmic!!!! This is where DS3 said "THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!!!!" which was adorable and I was so glad to see them both so happy and really enjoying the show.

After it was over it was your usual nightmare- first finding your parked stroller amongst about 10,000 other strollers all crammed in a tiny space with the narrowest of walkways, then joining the throngs of people all trying to leave at the same exact time (park closed at 9pm this day, with Fantasmic starting a little bit late at about 8:40). Thankfully leaving Fantasmic is nothing like leaving after fireworks at Magic Kingdom and you follow that loooooong and wide pathway behind the scenes of the park, and overall it wasn't a bad exit it was just a long walk. Once we made it to the park's exit we thankfully were only the 3rd car in or whatever so at least THAT part was brief!

We were back to the hotel at 9:45, with this being the latest we had stayed out/up thus far! I was proud of the kids for being troopers and staying up so late. After showers & getting things ready for the next day we didn't go to bed until about 10:30 with our alarms set for 6:30. Those poor kids were so tired!


TOTAL STEPS: 26,675

Up next: Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom! 9/13/23

 

[Jack Kerouac]

Tuesday 9/12/23 - Park Day 3: Hollywood Studios! (continued)

For some reason all of my photos are giving me a "The HEVC Video Extension is required to display this file" message, I'm guessing it has something to do with a Windows update that was recently installed?! It seems all of my iPhone images are no longer jpegs, and are "HEIC files" instead.... whatever that means. So far the only workaround I've discovered is editing all of my photos in Lightroom & saving a copy, which has been a real pain since I have approximately 19234872395871982714 photos from this trip. Boo, Windows!!!!

Anyway, where I last left of we had just been seated for our dinner ADR that we really only booked so we could get primo seats for Fantasmic, since our kids had never seen any sort of fireworks/nighttime show at Disney yet and we wanted the best views without needing to stake out a spot for over an hour. As we entered the restaurant I noted how cozy it felt, very intimate with twinkly lights & the walls were all adorned with Mickey pictures- the kids loved looking at them all, Matt & I loved trying to see if we knew who each of the celebrities was.

When we were seated our waitress came to introduce herself and give us the low-down on how the Fantasmic dining package worked - basically we were allowed 1 appetizer & 1 entrée, and the kids basically just had a regular kids menu. This is different than what I was led to believe from the website, where it said (or at least I thought it did) that all guests are entitled to an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. The adults were not very hungry so I wasn't about to fight her and say "WHERE'S MY DESSERT, DARN IT" but I still scratched my head a bit.

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Right off the bat looking at the menu and noticing no garlic bread/breadstick type option (which I know the kids would devour) I said "is there any way instead of two appetizers we can just get like garlic bread or something?" and she cut me off and said "oh don't worry, bread is coming!" so I thought we were on the same page. Instead what arrived was rock hard dinner rolls, which we hardly ate because they were so hard it hurt our teeth.

Matt & I did end up ordering appetizers for the table to share - Matt got the fried fresh mozzarella (basically 3 small mozzarella sticks in a bed of marinara) & I ordered a margherita flatbread. Both were delicious but as I said none of us were ravenous and we saved most of our tummy room for the meal. For our entrees, Matt got the Charred Strip Steak (Four-Cheese macaroni with Pancetta, Aged Balsalmic Shallot Butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction), I ordered Mama's Italian Pasta (Fettuccini tossed with Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic, Artichokes, Butter, and White Wine Sauce topped with Ricotta Salata), DD4 got penne noodles with a white (alfredo) sauce, and DS3 got spaghetti & meatballs- and both kids got veggies (cauliflower, carrots, & green beans).

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I thought the grownups food was delicious, but was really not happy with what the kids received - the white sauce was literally just jarred alfredo, the spaghetti sauce the same and the veggies were clearly frozen & then steamed (which no one in our family cares for). I'm not judging on jarred sauces or frozen vegetables it was just such a stark difference from the adults fresh high quality meals. Plus for $22 per kid, I would have expected a bit more... BUT as I said in my PTR, we went into this with low expectations and really only did it for the Fantasmic seating so oh well.

The kids were also thrilled to receive their own little bowls of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce & Mickey sprinkles!

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Unfortunately shortly after this picture, DD4 knocked her bowl of ice cream on the floor (it didn't spill thankfully, but we still didn't want her eating it anymore) and since our waitress didn't return after running Matt's credit card (total came to $182 after tax/tip) she was one very sad little girl to have only gotten a few bites. She got over it pretty quickly though and was back to her happy self in no time.

All said & done our experience at Mama Melrose's wasn't as bad as I was expecting (the perks of having LOW expectations!), the grownups food was actually pretty yummy (I even tried to find a copycat recipe just a few weeks ago- and am happy to report it turned out delicious!) and $180 after tip & tax is only a tad bit higher than standard for a family of 4 these days- though admittedly Matt & I did not get any alcohol with this dinner which obviously shaved off some potential added costs. I didn't feel that it was "wasted time" which I would have in a park like Magic Kingdom since there is so much more to do - instead it was a good way to get off our feet and get some AC while the wait times were still high for the more popular rides. Plus by 5pm a lot of the shows (Beauty & the Beast, Indiana Jones) were done for the day so we really didn't have as many options around that time anyway.

After walking out of the restaurant we decided to head to the nearby Muppets 3D for our second viewing of the day- what better way to let our tummies settle after all that heavy pasta?!

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There were a few raindrops before/after Muppets but they weren't bothersome in the slightest and we enjoyed the slight drop in temp. After Muppets we were feeling at least a little but more digested, so we headed next to Star Tours (our first time!) since it was a 5 minute wait and as I said none of us had done it before. We wove through the queue and only as we were juuust about to enter the theater (or whatever you'd call it?) the CM said "oh let me just measure him quick!"

DOH! *slaps forehead* Star Tours has a 40 inch height requirement!!! How could I have forgotten?! Remembering Big Thunder Mountain from a few days prior I held my breath- waiting for the meltdown that was sure to occur after being told he was once again too short... only to see him bonk his head on the measuring stick and the CM sent us on our way. Whaaa...???? This ended up being our first of several experiences where the height requirement checker things varied. For extra head-scratching context, this was the end of the day (7pm), whereas our being turned away from Big Thunder Mountain was first thing in the morning, and he was wearing the same shoes both times.

Anyway, we all got to ride! Yahoo!!

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We all had fun- the kids especially! Matt & I both felt fine queasiness wise so that was a relief, especially after our huge dinner. I was SO glad I decided to give these rides a try that I had been ruling out for years due to fear of getting motion sick. Dramamine FTW!

When we went in August, I took my three boys on Star Tours and we all loved it. I still find it funny that my three year old was the spy the Stormtroopers were looking for.

Really enjoying the TR and it makes me excited to go back next year.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We love fantasmic and have seen that line stretch all the way down Sunset Blvd!! It looks overwhelming but isn’t bad since there is so much seating.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

Tuesday 9/12/23 - Park Day 3: Hollywood Studios! (continued)

After Star Tours it still was only like 7:15 so we still were trying to find ways to fill the time until we needed to check in for Fantasmic (not until 8). Just before we approached the Frozen Singalong (also done for the day) we noticed the little Mickey's Shorts theater which had its next showing in 5 mins. Perfect! It was a nice way to rest & catch some AC, I'll try to remember that this exists next time we're in this park, lol!

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After exiting the theater the kids wanted to check out all the little props and stuff - especially the Potatoland set up! But there was a line of people behind us wanting to take their picture with the potato so we shuffled out quickly, not getting a good picture ourselves:

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By that point it was still only 7:30 so we just moseyed around the area, slowly making our way toward Sunset Blvd- stopping to say hi to Gertie.

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As we approached Sunset Blvd we were blown away by the line of people- HOLY MOLY. It literally spanned the whole entire street. We overheard someone mentioning the Fantasmic Dining Package and we had a moment of panic- what?! THIS is the line for the primo seats?! We quickly found a CM who directed us instead to an area just before Tower of Terror- phew! But there was already a ton of guests making their way that direction, so it was pedal to the medal, feeling like Black Friday shopping type crowds.

As Matt pushed the double stroller we were walking next to a dad with a single stroller, and he had another person with him, a maybe 30 year old male? Who was walking in front & a little to the left of his single-stroller companion. As the crowds started to funnel into the narrow pathway, we approached little divider things that are usually used to stop vehicles entering an area - and as the crowds continue to narrow, and narrow, and narrow, finally the single non-pushing-stroller man literally JUMPED over and in front of our stroller's front wheels but when he landed on one foot, it was too late & Matt had already clipped his ankle. The man turned around and gave Matt a nasty look and put his hands up like "what the hell?", which unfortunately brought out a bit of an ugly side of my usually calm, easy-going husband. He responded "What did you expect to happen? Get out of the way then!" or something similar. It was then that single stroller pushing buddy of his started going at it with Matt, and the two of them had about 30 seconds of toddler style bickering back and forth ("We're all dealing with strollers, man!" "He shouldn't have JUMPED in front of me then, what if he had landed on my kids?!" "Yeah you keep running your mouth when you're the one who did something wrong!" etc.) until eventually the two other men huffed off to find the rest of their group.

Now I understand, trust me I do. It's the end of the day. It is HOT. You are exhausted, you're tired of dealing with crowds and screaming kids and all that not-so-fun stuff that goes along with Disney World. I get it! But even with ALL of those things going on, neither Matt, nor non-stroller-guy who made a bad choice & ended up getting clipped nor single-stroller-pushing guy needs to act like this. After the other two men had left the area I quietly let Matt know how upsetting his behavior was and reminded him that he is surrounded by kids- his kids included - who are watching him and learning from him. It took him all of about 1 minute to realize that he had overreacted but by that point the damage was done- we were both in terrible moods. The kids were thankfully blissfully unaware of all of this - except perhaps the man who got his ankle clipped, since that happened about 12 inches in front of their faces. After we had parked the stroller, Matt by some miracle had spotted both of those men off in the distance and told me he was going to go say sorry. This shouldn't have surprised me because it's totally the kind of person Matt is, but it still did a little bit. I took the kids hands (it was a hectic, crazy ZOO of people at this point) and joined the long line of people waiting to fill the middle section of bleachers. Matt eventually caught up with us and told me how the conversation went:

Matt, approaching single-stroller-pushing guy (I'll call him John): "Are you the guy who was with the person I clipped with my stroller?"
John (doesn't answer):
Matt: "I just wanted to come over here and apologize to you both"
John: "Yeah, you were over there running your mouth--" *holds up four fingers & thumb making 'blah blah blah' gestures with his hand*
Matt (cutting him off): "listen, I didn't have to find you and apologize but I wanted you to know that I was sorry and that's what I'm trying to do here"
John (realizing at this point that he's right): "thank you, we're all doing our best here"

Or something along those lines. Basically he didn't want to accept his apology at first and almost let the argument start all over again, and then realized that it was very big of Matt to do that, and accepted his apology.

I was still in a bit of a sour mood as he re-joined us and we were seated in our bleacher seats, but Matt was doing his best to cheer me up (guilty conscience much? LOL), and as I said the kids were totally clueless to everything going on and were being adorable- playing games with each other, making silly faces, and befriending some kids in the row ahead of us.

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Eventually it was time for the show to start and we were all in much better moods- we LOVED Fantasmic!!!! This is where DS3 said "THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!!!!" which was adorable and I was so glad to see them both so happy and really enjoying the show.

After it was over it was your usual nightmare- first finding your parked stroller amongst about 10,000 other strollers all crammed in a tiny space with the narrowest of walkways, then joining the throngs of people all trying to leave at the same exact time (park closed at 9pm this day, with Fantasmic starting a little bit late at about 9:15). Thankfully leaving Fantasmic is nothing like leaving after fireworks at Magic Kingdom and you follow that loooooong and wide pathway behind the scenes of the park, and overall it wasn't a bad exit it was just a long walk. Once we made it to the park's exit we thankfully were only the 3rd car in or whatever so at least THAT part was brief!

We were back to the hotel at 9:45, with this night being the latest we had stayed out/up! I was proud of the kids for being troopers and staying up so late. After showers & getting things ready for the next day we didn't go to bed until about 10:30 with our alarms set for 6:30. Those poor kids were so tired!


TOTAL STEPS: 26,675

Up next: Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom! 9/13/23

Sorry to hear about your husband's issue with the other men.

During our past trip, our party of seven was getting into line to ride Spaceship Earth. One of my sons and I scanned in and then a lady and her daughter cut in front of the other five in our party to scan in. My mom said something to her about the seven of us being together and we had already started scanning in. The lady was adamant that my mom was the one cutting. So my son and I stopped and let her go in front of us so we could join the others. It didn't bother me at all since it wasn't a huge deal. But the lady who was now in front was ticked off and stayed that way the entire time in line. She kept looking back over her shoulder with a sour look towards us.

Oh well, some people will find a way to be less than happy in the happiest place on earth.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2!

Man, oh man, Matt & I usually don't go to bed til about 10:30 most weeknights and are up at 6am for work but let me tell you - when 6:30am rolled around and our alarms went off I was Tired with a capital T! Buuuuuut still easier to roll out of bed on a Disney day than any other day, amiright?

After I got dressed & ready for the day, I did my best to hastily prepare/pack up/clean as much as I could in preparation for tomorrow's check out - since we were PLANNING on leaving at our usual 7am to rope drop Epcot. Matt and I had decided at some point either the night before or that morning that we would have to leave Magic Kingdom, maybe around the kids nap times? and make a Walmart run for a couple of those styrofoam coolers. We had realized the night before that we had NO idea what we were planning on doing with all of the contents of our fridge while we were 1) at Epcot and 2) in our tiny room at CBR that only has a mini fridge/small beverage cooler. We had a lot of perishables that we had been planning on bringing with us to Ft. Myers and we really didn't want to have to throw all that perfectly good food away- so that was the plan we came up with.

Around 7:25am we left the room & made our way to the car- Matt first retrieving it from the parking ramp we had to park in the night before - so just the kids and I rode the elevator together, DD4 with her shoulder buddy Pascal- DS3's giant 18" plush Maximus already in the stroller with dad.



We made it outside and about halfway to the ramp (Matt hadn't made it back to Tower 5 yet so we figured we'd meet him in the middle) when all of a sudden DD4 cries out "where's Pascal?!". Sigh. The shoulder buddies were cute and all but they were becoming a pain in my rump - the magnets just weren't big/strong enough so they kept falling! Mental note in case I attempt to DIY those again. So we hoofed it back into the resort, me asking out loud (more to myself than the two young kids LOL) "which elevator were we in?!" since there is a bank of 4. A man poked his head around the corner and goes "are you looking for a little lizard toy thing? I reply "yes!!!" and he said he had just put it on the front desk. Whew! Crisis averted! I thanked the man and by that time Matt was pulling up in front of the resort, so we buckled the kids in and were on our way. By 7:40am this was our view:



And by 8am we were riding on the ferry, the kids super excited to be back at Magic Kingdom since it's their favorite (like their mama's!).



After entering the park right away we stopped for some family castle pics which unfortunately the more zoomed in versions turned out poorly - my face was blurry and the lighting looks off- it looks like they tried to edit them somehow and they just didn't turn out great. They don't look so bad on here but if you were to print these out and put them on a Christmas card for example, you would notice it. Oh well- still cute though!







Those out of the way, by 8:25 Matt & I were taking our usual Rope Drop selfie in Adventureland!





After snagging our spot in line (the first spot behind the rope- huzzah!) we decided I would run off to Starbucks on Main Street to pick up a giant coffee for us to share while we wait for rope drop. This took about 20 minutes, so by 8:45 I was back with the family, but first taking some coffee + castle shots



They let us into the park a little bit early, and by 9:00am we were weaving through the queue for Jungle Cruise. We had Skipper Alex and he was funny! As usual we had a great cruise - sad that this would be our last time riding it this trip!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

After Jungle Cruise we made a quick potty break at the bathrooms between Adventure & Frontierland, which is where I had noticed in the MDE app that the castle photos were in but not looking great- so after Matt & DS3 got back from the mens room I decided we'd try to find another Photo Pass photographer for a 2nd set of family photos.

These turned out better, though in hindsight Matt should have taken his hat off and I should have taken off my sunglasses + cross body bag, but oh well- the kids have genuine smiles and we're all looking at the camera...which is a feat in and of itself!









After what happened with DS3 on Star Tours yesterday, we decided to try out our luck for Big Thunder Mountain. Maybe his diet consisting almost entirely of chicken tenders, french fries, and mac & cheese caused him to grow .5 inch in 3 days?! And as luck would have it... the CM at the entrance to the queue said h was tall enough to ride!!! Yay!!



And so DS3 got to go on his first ever Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!!





He doesn't look it but he was actually very thrilled!! And because clearly we were on a lucky streak... him & Matt even got to ride THE VERY FIRST TRAIN!!! Can you believe it?! What a great start to our morning!!!



He had such a blast, he actually cried a bit after we got off because he wanted to ride again. Since we had walked on via Standby, I promised him we would get to ride again (as a LL next time as the wait times grew longer) later today, which he accepted and we moved on to the next attraction. At 7am that morning I had made my first LL for Peter Pan (have you worked out my usual pattern? Rope Drop Jungle Cruise - head over to Frontierland to knock out those other less-busy-first-thing-in-the-morning rides, and make my first LL for Peter Pan, usually around 9:30am), so that was where we headed next. As dad parked the stroller over by the carousel, I snapped this picture of the two kids in an embrace:



After scanning in to the second touch point of Peter Pan, I booked us a LL for Pirates for 10:10. So after our flight with Peter Pan was over we had some time to kill - not to mention the kids were already asking for ice cream so we made our way back over to Adventureland, hoping to get our hands on a Dole Whip.

Instead we passed by Sunshine Tree Terrace and got an Orange Cup & some fried pot stickers ("pork and vegetable with an orange sesame ginger sauce"). DS3 stuck his nose up at the Orange Cup since clearly this suspicious looking orange stuff was NOT the genuine real-deal ice cream he was promised, but once he finally agreed to try a bite realized it was pretty darn delicious and then he ate every last bite.



Out of picture space so I'll pause here!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

I call this one "DS3 Experiences Brain Freeze: A Series"






Hahahaha poor kid. After our snack (those fried potstickers were delicious!) we made our way over to Pirates, this time all of us agreeing to look like pirates for the ride photo (me with an eye patch, DS3 was supposed to hold up a hook finger- he failed - DD4 and Matt pretending to have swords). For the most part we succeeded! At least we didn't have blank stares like we do 99% of the other times we ride Pirates!



After getting off, we hung around the exit shop for a while - since DD4's birthday party in 2.5 weeks is Pirate's themed. The kids wanted EVERYTHING in the store. It was hard, but Matt & I held strong and did not cave to getting them everything they wanted since we already have a lot of pirate stuff at home. Instead, we took pictures of the kids with one of the treasure chests





After Pirates (it may have actually been before, I'm not 100% sure) I decided I wanted to try to get a picture of DD4 in her Rapunzel dress in front of the Tangled bathrooms/Rapunzel's tower before she got all sweaty/covered in sunscreen and/or food. I don't remember why but as we approached the bathrooms she was in a mood and was NOT feeling this photo shoot- as evidenced by the grump face here:



And the "you done yet?" look here:



Not getting the pictures I wanted anyway, DS3 led us to the Wanted Posters and it seems she opened up a bit after a few of those:

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)











After we had scanned into Pirates earlier I had made a LL for Winnie the Pooh for 10:45, so after our mini photo shoot was complete we headed that way- riding around 11:15am.





After scanning in to Pooh I had made a LL for for Tomorrowland Transit Authority Speedway (fondly referred to as "the cars" by our family ) with a return time of 11:45, which was about 20 mins from that time. Shortly after debarking our honey pots the kids had started grumbling about being hungry, so since we had a few minutes we made a quick pit stop across the way in Cosmic Rays for a bathroom break, a water refill, and an early lunch.



As we entered the long, hotter-than-the-sun queue for TTA, we realized we had left the kids hats in the stroller. Oops! It was a LL but still at least a 15 minute wait so the kids sought refuge under the protection of my skirt



Don't worry- I had shorts underneath!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

This go around I was paired with DD4, and Matt with DS3. We had warned the kids that this was going to be our last ride of the morning (it was noon by this point) as we were going to leave the park for our midday errands (AKA Walmart run) after this ride. DD4 and I were in the car in front of the boys, and unfortunately the car in front of us was clearly not working properly and could only go a measly 1.5mph (it's funny because those cars are already so slow to begin with that you can't even understand how painful it was being stuck behind this defective car- SO PAINFULLY SLOW) so we never even got a good breeze while on this attraction. After she made it around the loop and parked her car a CM immediately got in - clearly they are watching while you're on the track or something? Because it is apparent that they knew it was broken immediately.

After collecting the stroller, we made our way toward the park exit- me ONCE AGAIN not owning a watch apparently?!!?!? And forgetting that they have that little thing called the parade every single day at noon How and why I forget this every darn trip and coincidentally seem to time my departures/haircut appointments at the precise time as the parade, forcing us to battle horrendous parade crowds is beyond me. Seriously, I should tattoo it on my arm next visit "PARADE - 12 & 3PM".

And so, parade crowds were battled- until I realized that Rapunzel's float was right in front of us!! So I quickly hustled ahead with DD4 and parked at the very edge of the white tape, shouting haphazardly at a trailing Matt "get your phone ready to film this!!"

Rapunzel's float rolled closer and Rapunzel made a big adorable gesture at DD4's dress, which of course DD4 loved and I was so thankful that Matt was capturing this on his phone so I could focus on the moment.


So while I was parked at the very edge of the white tape, when Matt & the giant stroller arrived they were very clearly in an area they were NOT supposed to be- so just as the float drove away, a CM was yelling at Matt that he had to keep moving. The poor guy was so flustered, it only made matters 10,000x worse when 2 seconds later I discovered he had in fact NOT filmed any of the adorable exchange between Rapunzel & DD4. Instead he had captured about .05 seconds of all of our feet

HE FELT SO BAD. I kept reassuring him that literally every person who has ever owned a phone/camera has done the same thing and to not beat himself up but still- he felt awful.


We exited the park, me snapping this picture at 12:25



We had a long wait for a ferry (should have just taken the monorail) and as we were waiting a CM was next to us, it looked like she was about to start her shift onboard the ferry. We asked her how the ferry works in terms of timing, when it's not peak hours (AKA morning/night) how do they decide when it's time to go? Surely they don't wait for it to be full, like they do in the mornings? And she answered it like this:

In the mornings and evenings when it's busy and there are hoards of people trying to come or go, they wait until the person doing the body count clicker thing gets to 600. Once they hit 600 bodies onboard, they leave. During the day and when it's slower, they wait until the ferry leaves from the dock that they are heading to- so when the ferry leaves the TTC dock, the ferry waiting at the park leaves, and vice versa.

I thought that was a kind of cool tidbit of knowledge so I figured I'd share it with all of you

Anyway, while we were on the ferry I decided to switch my shoes. Despite wearing my beloved Brooks which have never given me any grief before, I had a small blister form on the outside of my big toe on my left foot. So bizarre! It wasn't even really hurting I just could feel it forming in my sock, so I took my shoe and sock off right there (thankfully there was no one around! Don't worry, I wouldn't be THAT GUY with a bunch of people around me), put on a Band-Aid and switched to my walking sandals. Much better!

When we got to our car, we were sad to be giving up such a nice parking spot so we asked one of the parking attendant CMs how it works when you leave and return? Surely there are available, open parking spots near the front (like the one we were about to make available ourselves), so when we return are we able to just peruse the parking lot ourselves until we find a great spot? Like you would at any old shopping mall? But he said no, you have to follow where the CMs direct you to park. It was then that we decided we'd just splurge and upgrade for an additional $20 to park in the Preferred Parking. Not ideal, but better than the alternative I guess and we NEEDED to get to Walmart & start packing up.


By the time we left Magic Kingdom's parking area the kids were already completely zonked out. We let them sit in the AC while Matt stayed with the car & I ran in to Walmart to grab those coolers. It was barely 10 minutes and we were already driving back to our resort - me snapping this picture from our resort's parking lot at 1:30pm:



We attempted to keep the kids sleeping for as long as possible, and were able to get them from car > stroller just fine but DD4 woke up when we tried to go from stroller > bed. Oh well! Being 4.5 she really doesn't even NEED to nap anyway, but she's like her mama and still does from time to time DS3 on the other hand stayed asleep for another 45 mins or so while Matt & I packed up as much as we could.

We arrived back at the TTC at 3pm (the preferred parking was nice, but not much better than our early rope drop parking spot), this time opting to take the monorail. We used the time to reapply sunscreen, and the kids really enjoyed looking out the monorail windows.



It was about 3:25 when we scanned back into the park, snapping these pics on our way- taking advantage of the lack of crowds!





After entering the tunnel we realized we once again were catching the very tail end of the parade (I'm cursed lol) so the kids got a few waves in to Mickey & Minnie but we were on our way shortly after that. While we were running errands, our VQ had been called for Tron, so we made our way to Tomorrowland.

I rode first, with Matt taking the kids to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I really do like that coaster, it's so smooth! I just wish it were a bit longer- and I wish that someday I can ride it with a partner instead of a stranger I also hope to eventually get to see a ride photo, one of these times!

After I got off and Matt & I did the rider swap, I took the kids over to Sleepy Hollow since I was getting hungry and wanted to try that spicy chicken waffle sandwich.



HOLY MOLY WAS IT SPICY. The slaw & waffle only brought down the heat minimally and I swear I was dying hahaha okay and yes, I am a weenie when it comes to spice but in all my Disney research I have NEVER heard anyone complain about the spiciness of this chicken. I don't even know what would have made it more tolerable for me, mayo sounds weird (but almost like a McChicken from McDonalds???) I really don't know. The kids were too chicken to try (after my antics & complaints about the heat I can't say that I blame them) and I ended up eating more waffle than chicken- under the guise of "wanting to save some for dad to try" but in reality it's because my mouth was on fire and I was worried I would never get my taste buds back if I kept eating the chicken. The kids had been munching on the chips so I didn't really have those to soothe my tongue either. Waaah!

As promised to DS3, I had booked a LL for Big Thunder Mountain so after my spicy chicken waffle we made our way toward Frontierland- stopping at a cart to get a giant pretzel for the kids to share. We parked the stroller over near BTMRR/Splash Mountain's stroller parking and the kids ate the pretzel there- DD4 making this sad face upon seeing all the scaffolding etc covering her favorite Splash Mountain.



After Matt joined us I had him try his 3/4 chicken 1/4 waffle combo - but since he loves spicy food he didn't bat an eye.



How he does it, I don't know. Ay Carumba, my mouth was still on fire by that point!

Anyway, we made our way to BTM, DS3 getting stopped again by the CM at the front of the queue. No worries, go ahead and measure him, I think confidently. The CM gives him the stamp of height-approval and away we go into the mountains. The kids have a fun time spinning all the levers etc. throughout the queue that wasn't open in our earlier rides. As we get down to the "how many?" CM, we say 4, again with confidence. Only to have her stop us in our tracks and measure DS3 again. On the inside I'm annoyed but I obviously just direct DS3 over to her measuring stick thing. And sure enough, not tall enough. Not even close. How can that be?!?! Matt got a little impatient ("he literally already rode it today") but the lady was unbothered ("well he shouldn't have") and so I had to carry a crying DS3 across the train and out to the exit while Matt & DD4 stayed and rode. Poor guy!

I understand safety measures and I do NOT want my kid to be riding a ride that he's not safe to do so, but come on. Height should not be so subjective. Their measuring sticks should be the same across the board- one ride to another (looking at you, Star Tours) and most definitely on the SAME RIDE, at two different points.

We stood around the exit for a while, thinking maybe we'd catch dad & DD4 riding but I think sticking around the area was torture for poor DS3 so we left and collected the stroller, moseying around until the other two joined us. I had made a LL for Haunted Mansion and so after being reunited we headed that way.



The rainclouds were coming in for the afternoon, but Matt was keeping an eye on the radar and wasn't worried. Previous times we had ridden this trip, the CM had said we needed to go 2 and 2 but for some reason this one let all 4 of us ride in one Doom Buggy which is always nice. We rocked our ride photo this time:

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

Raindrops had started once we exited Haunted Mansion, but once again these were welcome as it was super warm out. We made a LL for Buzz after scanning in to Haunted Mansion, so made our way that direction next- stopping to snap this quick photo as we cut through the lands:



I was paired with DS3 this time, and it happened to go down briefly at some point in the ride and I was able to rack up the points! I've mentioned that I take these games seriously but I don't seem to ever do that well at them



But as said by Buzz, NOT TODAY!



I was soooooooooo stinking close to getting Galactic Hero!!!!!! 20k points away!!!!!

Crushed but still proud of myself for finally scoring over 500,000 we made a pit stop at Zurg so the kids could heckle him a bit:



After scanning in to Buzz I had made a LL for a character meet & greet for 7pm, something I'd never done before. I chose the LL to meet Princess Tiana & "a visiting princess". I warned the kids that it was likely to be someone minor (Elena or whatever her name is?) and to not get too excited.

We stopped quickly at the restrooms in Tomorrowland and while DD4 and I were waiting for the boys we noticed a rainbow!! It was too perfect - DD4 is our IVF rainbow baby after 4+ years of infertility & losses so I had to capture my rainbow baby with a rainbow - at my favorite place on earth!!



After that, we rode the People Mover via Standby at 6pm which was of course relaxing and a nice way to get off our feet for a bit.



Not sure why DD4 is acting like a pirate here!





We politely asked the CM if we could stay on for a second round, which he was happy to allow. Yay!

After that it was just about time for our Princess meet & greet, so we wove through the queue until we got to a set of doors and a CM had us wait. We kept saying "who do you think it will be??" the kids guessing Cinderella, and when it was finally our turn to walk through the doors, I embarrassingly screamed "OH MY GOODNESS LOOK!!!!", it was Rapunzel!!! What luck!!! After the debacle of the parade & getting yelled at/not having Matt film this was perfect!! I felt super bad once I realized that it was such a quiet room that I had just quite literally yelped in, but oh well. I was excited!

When it was our turn to be greeted by Rapunzel, the kids were almost wiggling with excitement- DS3 especially!! This trip was SO amazing watching him interact with characters- I swear he never had a bigger smile on his face or more excitement in his eyes than when he was with a character. It made me cry!!!





I have to hop off for now, but will try to wrap up this day tomorrow - Stay tuned for a visit with Tiana as well as the Fireworks Dessert Pre-Party!! How will my kids fare with their first EVER experience with Magic Kingdom's fireworks?!?!

 

[SEAGULL59]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

This go around I was paired with DD4, and Matt with DS3. We had warned the kids that this was going to be our last ride of the morning (it was noon by this point) as we were going to leave the park for our midday errands (AKA Walmart run) after this ride. DD4 and I were in the car in front of the boys, and unfortunately the car in front of us was clearly not working properly and could only go a measly 1.5mph (it's funny because those cars are already so slow to begin with that you can't even understand how painful it was being stuck behind this defective car- SO PAINFULLY SLOW) so we never even got a good breeze while on this attraction. After she made it around the loop and parked her car a CM immediately got in - clearly they are watching while you're on the track or something? Because it is apparent that they knew it was broken immediately.

After collecting the stroller, we made our way toward the park exit- me ONCE AGAIN not owning a watch apparently?!!?!? And forgetting that they have that little thing called the parade every single day at noon How and why I forget this every darn trip and coincidentally seem to time my departures/haircut appointments at the precise time as the parade, forcing us to battle horrendous parade crowds is beyond me. Seriously, I should tattoo it on my arm next visit "PARADE - 12 & 3PM".

And so, parade crowds were battled- until I realized that Rapunzel's float was right in front of us!! So I quickly hustled ahead with DD4 and parked at the very edge of the white tape, shouting haphazardly at a trailing Matt "get your phone ready to film this!!"

Rapunzel's float rolled closer and Rapunzel made a big adorable gesture at DD4's dress, which of course DD4 loved and I was so thankful that Matt was capturing this on his phone so I could focus on the moment.


So while I was parked at the very edge of the white tape, when Matt & the giant stroller arrived they were very clearly in an area they were NOT supposed to be- so just as the float drove away, a CM was yelling at Matt that he had to keep moving. The poor guy was so flustered, it only made matters 10,000x worse when 2 seconds later I discovered he had in fact NOT filmed any of the adorable exchange between Rapunzel & DD4.

HE FELT SO BAD. I kept reassuring him that literally every person who has ever owned a phone/camera has done the same thing and to not beat himself up but still- he felt awful.


We exited the park, me snapping this picture at 12:25

View attachment 802565

We had a long wait for a ferry (should have just taken the monorail) and as we were waiting a CM was next to us, it looked like she was about to start her shift onboard the ferry. We asked her how the ferry works in terms of timing, when it's not peak hours (AKA morning/night) how do they decide when it's time to go? Surely they don't wait for it to be full, like they do in the mornings? And she answered it like this:

In the mornings and evenings when it's busy and there are hoards of people trying to come or go, they wait until the person doing the body count clicker thing gets to 600. Once they hit 600 bodies onboard, they leave. During the day and when it's slower, they wait until the ferry leaves from the dock that they are heading to- so when the ferry leaves the TTC dock, the ferry waiting at the park leaves, and vice versa.

I thought that was a kind of cool tidbit of knowledge so I figured I'd share it with all of you

Anyway, while we were on the ferry I decided to switch my shoes. Despite wearing my beloved Brooks which have never given me any grief before, I had a small blister form on the outside of my big toe on my left foot. So bizarre! It wasn't even really hurting I just could feel it forming in my sock, so I took my shoe and sock off right there (thankfully there was no one around!), put on a Band-Aid and switched to my walking sandals. Much better!

When we got to our car, we were sad to be giving up such a nice parking spot so we asked one of the parking attendant CMs how it works when you leave and return? Surely there are available, open parking spots near the front (like the one we were about to make available ourselves), so when we return are we able to just peruse the parking lot ourselves until we find a great spot? Like you would at any old shopping mall? But he said no, you have to follow where the CMs direct you to park. It was then that we decided we'd just splurge and upgrade for an additional $20 to park in the Preferred Parking. Not ideal, but better than the alternative I guess and we NEEDED to get to Walmart & start packing up.


By the time we left Magic Kingdom's parking area the kids were already completely zonked out. We let them sit in the AC while Matt stayed with the car & I ran in to Walmart to grab those coolers. It was barely 10 minutes and we were already driving back to our resort - me snapping this picture from our resort's parking lot at 1:30pm:

View attachment 802566

We attempted to keep the kids sleeping for as long as possible, and were able to get them from car > stroller just fine but DD4 woke up when we tried to go from stroller > bed. Oh well! Being 4.5 she really doesn't even NEED to nap anyway, but she's like her mama and still does from time to time DS3 on the other hand stayed asleep for another 45 mins or so while Matt & I packed up as much as we could.

We arrived back at the TTC at 3pm (the preferred parking was nice, but not much better than our early rope drop parking spot), this time opting to take the monorail. We used the time to reapply sunscreen, and the kids really enjoyed looking out the monorail windows.

View attachment 802567

It was about 3:25 when we scanned back into the park, snapping these pics on our way- taking advantage of the lack of crowds!

View attachment 802568

View attachment 802571

After entering the tunnel we realized we once again were catching the very tail end of the parade (I'm cursed lol) so the kids got a few waves in to Mickey & Minnie but we were on our way shortly after that. While we were running errands, our VQ had been called for Tron, so we made our way to Tomorrowland.

I rode first, with Matt taking the kids to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I really do like that coaster, it's so smooth! I just wish it were a bit longer- and I wish that someday I can ride it with a partner instead of a stranger

After I got off and Matt & I did the rider swap, I took the kids over to Sleepy Hollow since I was getting hungry and wanted to try that spicy chicken waffle sandwich.

View attachment 802573

HOLY MOLY WAS IT SPICY. The slaw & waffle only brought down the heat minimally and I swear I was dying hahaha I am a weenie but in all my Disney research I have NEVER heard anyone complain about the spiciness of this chicken. I don't even know what would have made it more tolerable for me, mayo sounds weird (but almost like a McChicken from McDonalds??? I don't know). The kids were too chicken to try (can't say that I blame them) and I ended up eating more waffle than chicken- under the guise of "wanting to save some for dad to try" but really it's because my mouth was on fire and I was worried I would never get my taste buds back. The kids had been munching on the chips so I didn't really have those to soothe my tongue either. Waaah!

As promised to DS3, I had booked a LL for Big Thunder Mountain so after my spicy chicken waffle we made our way toward Frontierland- stopping at a cart to get a giant pretzel for the kids to share. We parked the stroller over near BTMM/Splash Mountains stroller parking and the kids ate the pretzel there- DD4 making this sad face upon seeing all the scaffolding etc covering her favorite Splash Mountain.

View attachment 802579

After Matt joined us I had him try his 3/4 chicken 1/4 waffle combo - but since he loves spicy food he didn't bat an eye.

View attachment 802583

How he does it, I don't know. Sigh.

Anyway, we made our way to BTM, DS3 getting stopped again by the CM at the front of the queue. No worries, go ahead and measure him, I think confidently. The CM gives him the stamp of height-approval and away we go into the mountains. The kids have a fun time spinning all the levers etc. throughout the queue that wasn't open in our earlier rides. As we get down to the "how many?" CM, we say 4, again with confidence. Only to have her stop us in our tracks and measure DS3 again. On the inside I'm annoyed but I obviously just direct DS3 over to her measuring stick thing. And sure enough, not tall enough. Not even close. How can that be?!?! Matt got a little impatient ("he literally already rode it today") but the lady was unbothered ("well he shouldn't have") and so I had to carry a crying DS3 across the train and out to the exit while Matt & DD4 stayed and rode. Poor guy!

I understand safety measures and I do NOT want my kid to be riding a ride that he's not safe to do so, but come on. Height should not be so subjective. Their measuring sticks should be the same across the board- one ride to another (looking at you, Star Tours) and most definitely on the SAME RIDE, at two different points.

We stood around the exit for a while, thinking maybe we'd catch dad & DD4 riding but I think sticking around the area was torture for poor DS3 so we left and collected the stroller, moseying around until the other two joined us. I had made a LL for Haunted Mansion and so after being reunited we headed that way.

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The rainclouds were coming in for the afternoon, but Matt was keeping an eye on the radar and wasn't worried. Previous times we had ridden this trip, the CM had said we needed to go 2 and 2 but for some reason this one let all 4 of us ride in one Doom Buggy which is always nice. We rocked our ride photo this time:

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Loving all of your pictures! So sorry for your DS not being able to get on Big Thunder again. Poor kiddo!

 

[Jack Kerouac]

I’m baffled by your experiences with DS3. Even if our 3 year old was older (born March 2020), the inconsistency would be a bit bothersome. During our trip, our 3 year old son was never turned away from a 40” ride. He and I rode BTMRR three times in a half hour one day and each time we got questioned about his height. But over our trip, he rode BTMRR, ToT, DINOSAUR, Soarin’, and Rise of the Resistance. He’s surely braver than I was at three.

If there is a height requirement involved, I would think WDW would be universal. Sorry to hear about the inconsistencies.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I just enjoyed your entire trip report. It’s fun to read about your family fun
Thank you!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Your family is seriously adorable! Love the pics with Rapunzel and the rainbow one brought a smile to my face

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I’m not sure when they switched the Fantasmic meals to be an appetizer or dessert instead of an appetizer and dessert… but I don’t love it, either. I think my husband and I will plan to get one appetizer and one dessert and share - you can’t have a meal without dessert!

Ooof, what a racket with the height inconsistency! My timid daughter shouldn’t have too much of a problem (she’s 42+ inches and has zero interest in riding most of the 40” rides), but it’s ridiculous that DISNEY WORLD doesn’t have consistent measuring implements.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Loving all of your pictures! So sorry for your DS not being able to get on Big Thunder again. Poor kiddo!

Thank you!! He at least got to ride it once, so we're grateful for that!

I’m baffled by your experiences with DS3. Even if our 3 year old was older (born March 2020), the inconsistency would be a bit bothersome. During our trip, our 3 year old son was never turned away from a 40” ride. He and I rode BTMRR three times in a half hour one day and each time we got questioned about his height. But over our trip, he rode BTMRR, ToT, DINOSAUR, Soarin’, and Rise of the Resistance. He’s surely braver than I was at three.

If there is a height requirement involved, I would think WDW would be universal. Sorry to hear about the inconsistencies.

Yeah it's really bizarre to me!! Glad your little guy got to ride the 40" rides without getting turned away Hopefully DS3 grows at least an inch before our next visit!

I just enjoyed your entire trip report. It’s fun to read about your family fun
Thank you!

Thank you so much!!

Your family is seriously adorable! Love the pics with Rapunzel and the rainbow one brought a smile to my face

Aww you're sweet!! Thank you!!

I’m not sure when they switched the Fantasmic meals to be an appetizer or dessert instead of an appetizer and dessert… but I don’t love it, either. I think my husband and I will plan to get one appetizer and one dessert and share - you can’t have a meal without dessert!

Ooof, what a racket with the height inconsistency! My timid daughter shouldn’t have too much of a problem (she’s 42+ inches and has zero interest in riding most of the 40” rides), but it’s ridiculous that DISNEY WORLD doesn’t have consistent measuring implements.

Good plan with sharing the app/dessert! Dessert wasn't even mentioned at all as an option which is so weird to me

And yes the varying height thing was SO bizarre!! Since when is height so subjective?!?!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 9/13/23 - Park Day 4: Magic Kingdom, Day 2! (continued)

After our super sweet encounter with Rapunzel, we scooted to the other half of the room to chat with Tiana. The kids were again star struck, and were very quiet. Tiana did a great job of filling in the blanks, keeping the conversation going about frogs and the bayou, etc. She asked them if they knew how to hop like a frog, which helped get them out of their shells a bit! Unfortunately for both of these princesses there wasn't a CM taking pictures, it was one of those photo box things, and our Tiana pics didn't show up in the MDE app So all we have are these poorer quality iPhone pictures:






Still precious though! After drying my tears and locking in that Core Memory we left the area and started heading toward Main Street to check in for the Fireworks Dessert Pre-Party!! I was so darn excited for this - not so much the desserts (I had read countless reviews that said the food itself is mediocre at best) but I was excited to have the kids (& Matt!) experience Disney fireworks for the first time. And Happily Ever After, at that!!

We checked in for the party where the Host gave us the rundown on how it all works, and gave us our wristbands as well. Then a second person directed us to our table (after parking the stroller for us, how nice!) which was just along the balcony/edge of the restaurant. We then left our table and right away got in the semi-long line (it got much longer in the following 15 minutes so I was glad we got in line when we did). The Host had explained that there are two buffets but they have the same exact foods so don't feel like you have to get in one vs the other. As I mentioned there was a bit of a line and overall I think we waited for about 15 minutes until it got to be our turn - turns out the holdup was from the crepe bar which only had one "chef" (or whatever you would call them) making both buffets custom crepes. We ended up ditching the crepes and heading back to our table with our 4 plates of food while I went to grab mine & Matt's first beers.






The kids LOVED every single bite- especially their "spicy" juice AKA sparkling apple cider. I have a great video of DS3 taking a sip and making a super sour face from the carbonation LOL. Obviously when it comes to dessert, 3 & 4 year olds don't have nearly as high of standards as the rest of us! So they were absolutely happy as clams, sitting there and mowing down on as much dessert as mom & dad would allow We don't have a ton of dessert at home (with the exception being these past 4 months since we've been living with grandma & grandpa.... but that's a story for a different day! I'm sure all you grandmas & grandpas out there reading this can agree/understand what I'm talking about!) so I mean it when I say these two kids were in HEAVEN. Just look at these faces!