We’ve had a crack down here on people not doing what they’re supposed to be doing (that would be me, primarily). This may seem like a no-brainer, but half-days for schoolwork for, um, three months, will put you behind schedule. Really.
So, it’s my lunch hour and I’m hoping I can post pictures of another Disney day before I have to put my nose back to the grindstone. Or rather, pick up the whip. {It is now bedtime and I’m hoping to wrap up the first part of our vacation day…}
As I mentioned at
the end of my last post, Monday was so exhausting that we took Tuesday off. Bill and I went for a run, and then we all went to
Downtown Disney, which is a shopping and restaurant district designed to part people and their cash. There is a
LEGO store there, and that is where most of my little fools bid farewell to their souvenir money. I checked out the ticket prices for
Cirque du Soleil and decided that my children will never see this show if I have to pay for it.
Wednesday dawned sunny but cold. The 10 day forecast had predicted temps in the mid-60s, but every day, the reality became lower and lower. We ended up having highs in the mid-50’s with morning temperatures in the 30’s or even lower.
And I left winter coats and gloves at home. Brr. We tried to avoid the shade.
The older kids wanted to go to Hollywood Studios, and friends had said the Toy Story Mania ride was a lot of fun, so that’s where we headed. I went to get Fast Pass tickets fairly early (~10 am), and our ride time was something like 2:30 pm (and when we went for our turn, there were no more Fast Pass tickets available, so keep that in mind if you go).
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| No short sleeves. Yes, Jenny is shivering. |
One of the participatory shows allows kids to become Padawans. It’s for kids ages 4-12, and of my 5 eligible children, only one was interested: Billy, of course. Another note if you go, you have to sign your child up for a time slot, then they have to come back 30 minutes before the show. But if you have a Star Wars fan, it is a lot of fun.
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| In line for Jedi training. |
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| Listening to instructions. |
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| Ready? |
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| Set… |
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| GO! |
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| And again. |
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| And again. |
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| And again… |
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| And again. |
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| Darth Vader cometh. |
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| Billy bravely ready to fight evil. |
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| Take that! |
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| Duck! |
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Not sure if this is a defensive or offensive move.
I think it’s supposed to be offensive.. |
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The class stands firmly opposed to the Dark Side.
Check out the cutie on the far left. Bad to the bone. |
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| This happy face made standing in the cold worth it. |
After this, Bill took the older 3 to an Indiana Jones stunt show, and I took the younger half over to see Beauty and the Beast, abridged. Both shows were outdoor venues. In the shade. On metal benches.
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| “Indiana Jones” |
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| Throwing punches. |
We met up and ate our packed lunches. I’m not partial to smushed sandwiches. If I were to pack lunch for the office, I would guard it carefully or pack it in a hard plastic (reusable) container. Throwing a sandwich wrapped in foil in a backpack along with 7 other sandwiches and snacks and water bottles guarantees smushed sandwiches. Solution: Bill and I and Fritz opted for wrap sandwiches. Same fixings, but in a large tortilla. Doesn’t smush up like bread does.
After our lunch we split up again. Bill took 4 off to some of the indoor shows while I took Billy and Katie, the Daring Duo, to ride the Tower of Terror and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Although I like for us to do things together, it’s not much fun for little kids to sit and wait for big kids to get off rides…nor is it fun for big kids to sit through things geared for a younger audience. And going separate ways gets you through a park faster.
The lines were blessedly short and we joined the rest of the family for a Playhouse Disney show that Mary thoroughly enjoyed. The rest of us were happy to be sitting and warm. By this time, our Fast Pass ride time was almost up. We headed to Toy Story Mania, which is a larger than life 3-D video game, similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride in Magic Kingdom. Mary really couldn’t figure out her gun, so I ignored her and focused on maximizing my score.
I dogged our group, by a landslide.
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| Very excited. |
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| Very tired. |
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The whole place was made to look like you were the scale of
a toy soldier. We liked the C9 lights…more like C9000 lights. |
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| Having fun. |
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| The “toy” scale carried through outside. It was cute. |
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I asked Bill what in the world he was taking a picture of.
The army guys, of course. They were well done. |
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| As I said, cute. |
We had been working hard to quell meltdowns in the younger crowd before Toy Story Mania, and I would have left but for those Fast Pass tickets. Also, unfortunately, we had promised someone we would stop by “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” As a final stop, that was actually rather nice. The little ones just want to play, and this is a playground.
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She wanted me to hold her up so she could
reach the PlayDoh to get it out.
Her heaven: a lifetime supply of PlayDoh. |
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The little kids were too scared to get near the ant.
Thank goodness the big kids aren’t too big to pose. |
It was mid-afternoon, and we decided that the younger crowd had had it. Or maybe we had had it with the younger crowd. We saw what we needed to see, so we left. I wanted to get a last picture in front of the centrally located hat, and a nice worker offered to take one of all of us. You might notice that 2 people are highly uncooperative.
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| Shiny, happy people (not holding hands). |
That day wasn’t over, but this day is, and I am signing off.
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I am eating up your Disney stories! We loved Disney and can't wait to go back. My DH became and expert at fastpass, and found that you can come back to the ride anytime after your fastpass time starts and they will let you on. I hope you get to see “Fantasmic” the next time you go! SO awesome! More pictures!
I don't use sandwich bags for sandwiches anymore. Little Brother takes his lunch sandwich in a reusable container. Less smushing. Especially since his lunchbox is often used as “first base” during before-school (and after-lunch) playground games. Container for the sandwich, container for the grapes, another one for the cookies or chips.