Trip Report Completed - Shaky the Elevator, and other Disney World Tales

Disney World...

Big...Wide...and very, very cold!

Ok, so that last part might not be 100% true, but for the first couple days of our recent December trip, it certainly felt true. Here is visual evidence. Pay no attention to the sunshine, it was a very cold day.

Welcome to our latest Disney Trip report. We visited WDW from Saturday, December 9th through the 16th. It was COLD!! VERY COLD!!! . Yes we were wearing coats in Animal Kingdom (all except for my wife Sara, but that is a different story).

Our trip began on Thursday, December 7th. That afternoon Sara and I loaded up our car (with way too many things) while our daughter Makayla, who is three, took her nap. Once our son Luke, six years old, came home from school, we all jumped in the van and were on our way from our Pennsylvania home.

We quickly learned that Luke is the perfect age for asking "Are we there yet?" over and over and over. Not 30 minutes into our trip the questions started raining from the back seat. -"Are we at our hotel yet?" -"No, we're not even out of Pennsylvania yet." -"How much longer?" -"About six hours, enjoy your movie" (the kids were watching "Mickey and the Roadster Racers," a favorite of Luke's. 15 minutes pass... -"Are we there yet?" And on and on.

About two hours into our trip we made a stop at a Moe's Southwest Grill for dinner, the continued on our way. We stayed the night at a Hampton Inn south of Richmond, VA. The kids had actually fallen asleep for the last hour or so before we arrived at the hotel, but they had no problem falling back asleep once we were settled in the room. Sara and I also had no problem getting to sleep. It had been a long day.

The next morning the kids woke up and watched some cartoons while Sara and I got ready. Here they are looking super enthused...

After a quick breakfast, we were on the road. This was Friday, December 8th. Areas around Atlanta, GA will likely remember this day as the day they got several inches of snow. A cold front was pushing through, which would bring arctic air all the way down to Florida. Brrrr. Thankfully, no snow for us as we were traveling on I-95 this day, just a heavy dose of rain.

We made several cold, wet stops along the way. Lunch was at a Pizza Hut in South Carolina, and at the Georgia Welcome Center we got to meet Forrest Gump.

Makayla posed for a picture, Luke refused. In the year since our past trip to Disney, Makayla has gotten slightly more comfortable with characters. She still doesn't like them, but she doesn't necessary go running and screaming away from them anymore. Her character interactions this trip would be very hit or miss depending on what mood she happened to be in.

They did both enjoy the trolley car at the visitor center however.

Once we were south of Jacksonville the rain finally relented, and the temperature rose from about 40 to 70 degrees in the two hours between Jacksonville and Orlando, at least according to our car's gauge. We had made it in front of the approaching cold front, but a quick glance at the forecast let us know that the warm weather wouldn't last. When we arrived at our hotel, we felt the warmest temperature we would feel that week. But with the warm weather was a steady north wind that we knew was bringing the cold air.

We stayed at another Hampton Inn in Orlando for the night. Luke and Makayla had loved the suite we stayed at the year before so much that I decided to splurge and get another one for the night. This one didn't come with a separate room, just a very large room. Can't complain though. It was very nice.

The next morning we were headed to Epcot!!!

 

[Lyear]

We continued on into Animal Kingdom, and along with majority of the others who were walking with us, swung a left into Pandora. We didn't experience too much of a crowd as a whole today in Animal Kingdom, but Pandora was certainly full. It is probably a similar experience to most who have ventured over there since it opened. We had taken maybe 50 steps towards Pandora when we were met by a cm holding a sign and letting people know this was the end of the Flight of Passage line. Not the worst I had heard of it being. Thankfully with a 3 and 6 year old, Flight of Passage was not on our list this visit. One day I want to experience it though.

The first thing we did in Pandora was stop by a Wilderness Explorer station.

We actually had to fight through the line for flight of passage to get to the station. Once we finished, we continued on into Pandora. Many people have taken better photos than we we did, but here's a few we took on this morning.

Luke was very excited to see this new land. He kept asking, -"what is that? what is that? what is that?" And we would respond, "I'm not sure, I'm not sure..." Eventually we made it to our first fastpass, the Navi River Journey.

 

[Lyear]

As we approached the River Journey, I wasn't quite sure where the stroller parking would be. We were still beside the incredibly long line for Flight of Passage as we walked, making it difficult to see what was to our right. I saw a spot to the right where there were a few stollers parked. I knew this wasn't the official place to park a stroller, but figured it was working for these few. So I decided to park ours there as well.

As we approached the entrance to the ride, over to our left we saw the stroller parking station. I offered to go back to get our stroller, and Sara said to leave it. She thought it would be ok.

Sara snapped the above pic as we were entering the queue. The standby wait was about 20 minutes at this time, but it sure seemed longer than that. The queue area was very well done. Typical Disney, very into the details.

Our fastpass got us right into the boats with no wait. I tried to take a few photos near the start of the ride, but clearly they weren't turning out.

When I saw a blurry image on the camera screen, I knew there wasn't much hope. I put the camera down and decided to enjoy the ride. The scenery was very well done, and i enjoyed the different lighting effects. But it wasn't before we heard Luke's review..."BOR-ING." It's true, the ride doesn't have a lot of different things to look at, or any real exciting parts. It does tend to get a bit monotonous after a while, and the novelty of it was quickly worn out for Luke. We continued our "boring" journey and eventually came to the end.

As we exited, Pandora remained very crowded on this bright and sunny, yet still cold, day. We took a quick stop at a restroom, then went to grab the stroller. And that's when we realized that where we left the stroller was not the best place. In all honesty, it might have been one of the worst places. Pandora had come alive with this musical group, who just happened to be performing right in front of where our stroller had been parked.

They had developed quite the crowd around them, likely consisting of a few people who thought they were in line for Pandora. I started my work through the crowd, "Excuse me, Excuse me..." trying to get past people who undoubtedly thought my goal was to get a better spot for the show than them. I finally made it to the stroller, trying to avoid eye contact with the performers, and then tried to make my way back out of the crowd. The same people who were hesitant to let me in front of them now were likely a bit peeved that I was asking them to move so that a stroller could get through. "Excuse me, Excuse me, I'm sorry..." Finally I made it out.

We did a bit more exploring in Pandora, including a stop at another Wilderness Explorer station, then started back towards the rest of the park.

 

[Lyear]

Safely out of Pandora, and into a less crowded Discovery Island, we made a left towards Africa. Our destination was Rafiki's planet watch, but first, another wilderness explorer stop, this time at the drums. This was a big favorite, and we actually had the drums to ourselves for about 2 minutes. Unheard of, I know.

We made our way to the wildlife train. We were fortunate that it pulled into the station about 30 seconds after we had arrived. We quickly boarded, with a little drama. Turns out Sara had picked where we were going to sit without consulting with Luke, who wanted to sit in the back of the train. The nerve.... A few moments of pouting, which we try to ignore as best we can to discourage it, and he was back. The train ride was highlighted by ostriches who must have just had a check up at the health station and were running back towards (what I assume was) their habitat. Makayla enjoyed the big birdies.

Rafiki's planet watch is an area we had never explored in our trips with our kids. Sara and I had been there before, but with the other things to do at Animal Kingdom, we never made time for it in our two previous trips with Luke and Makayla. So this was a first for them. They enjoyed seeing the birdhouses and other animal hangouts on the way to the station. And of course we found another WE station.

Saying hi to an elephant

Once we arrived, we found this cast member out with a giant rabbit. "Awwww," said Luke and Makayla, likely at the same time.

 

[amjt660]

I am late to the party but I am digging your report so far.
Based on how much I enjoyed the "I Horsey Again" report I am sure this one will continue to be fun to follow

Max

 

[Lyear]

Our first stop was at the petting zoo, a first for all of us. Makayla was quick to find a brush and then set off to make friends with some goats. Luke was quick to follow.

This was right up Makayla's alley. She loves animals, and being able to pet them. It was very hard to pull her away. In fact, when we had been there for a pretty long while, I told her it was time to put the brush away, and she went over to where they are kept, deposited her brush, and then quickly pulled out another one. What she had heard was that the brush she was using had gotten worn out, and it was time to get a fresh one .

To me, the petting zoo was a little bit depressing. For as much as Makayla liked it, and Luke as well, the animals didn't seem to have a lot of energy. It's possible the cold weather had something to do with it, but this was a case where I felt bad for the animals, who seemed to be willing to lay around and put up with the endless mob of children coming after them. I hope I'm far from the truth on this one, but that was my take as we left.

Once we washed our hands, we headed inside. Luke became very interested in looking at the scientific displays through the glass. He was working on finding bugs in small containers behind the glass, and he was actually quite good at it. He was spotting ones I never would have seen. The doctor/vet was in the middle of giving a turtle an exam, and he also liked watching this. It was pretty hard to pull him away.

While he was watching, I heard Makayla from behind me, "I want to say hi to the monkey." I quickly looked around, expecting to see a picture of a monkey nearby. "I want to say hi to the monkey," her voice becoming slightly agitated. I again couldn't see what she was looking at. She stomped her foot imposingly and pointed. I followed her finger and saw Rafiki, who had come into the main area of the center.

-"Are you sure?" I asked. Meeting characters was something Makayla never wanted to do.
-"I want to see the monkey," she repeated in earnest.

Ok, apparently she had turned a corner. Sara agreed to watch Luke while I took Makayla, character autograph book in hand, so say hi to Rafiki. The line was short, only about 5 families were in it. Once it was our turn, i realized that Makayla truly only wanted to say hi to the monkey. As I started to walk towards Rafiki, she began to pull away. This was the typical Makayla we had come to know . Rafiki was great, getting down on a knee to say hi. Makayla was eventually willing to sit down nearby, as long as I stayed between them.

She wasn't willing to sit for long. Unfortunately I got two pics from the photopass photographer, and they are the same pose, with Rafiki burying his face in the autograph book.

With that we made our way back to the train station. This time we allowed Luke to sit where he wanted, which made for a much more pleasant ride back.

 

[Lyear]

It was time for our second fastpass of the day, Kiliminjaro Safari's. It was actually our last fastpass as well. Our plan was to take a nap that afternoon, and catch rivers of light that evening, so I had only made the two fastpasses for our day. It felt odd going into the day like that, but honestly the only other attractions available to us were shows, which I figured we could catch on standby if we had time.

Most readers have undoubtedly seen numerous safari photos on these boards, so I'll try not to bore you with too many here. The stars of our safari were the giraffes. We saw at least 6-7 of them, and the two in this picture, plus another sibling of theirs, actually made it their purpose to get in front of our jeep and block the way. We ended up with a bit of a traffic jam behind us.

Out of the road! Our northeast driving habits seemingly had no effect on them

An elephant's butt, a favorite of Luke's

We all had a good time seeing the animals. Once we arrived back at the loading area, a quick glance at the time made us realize it was lunch time. Our reservation at Tusker House was only about 5 minutes away.

 

[Lyear]

I am late to the party but I am digging your report so far.
Based on how much I enjoyed the "I Horsey Again" report I am sure this one will continue to be fun to follow

Max

Thanks for following along. Glad to hear you enjoyed our last report. We certainly had a lot of fun this trip as well.

 

[Lyear]

After a quick potty stop for the kids, we checked in at Tusker House. We were about 5 minutes late to our 12:00 reservation. No big deal. They took our info, gave us a pager, and told us it would be just a few minutes. Someone was getting tired.

Luke meanwhile was enjoying playing Angry Birds on my phone. This is almost an exclusively Disney thing for him.

Sara took a few photos of the details around the waiting area.

I like this one a lot. So much attention to detail

After about 10 minutes, and one potty emergency for Makayla, we were led inside.

Our server came along and was very helpful, giving us the lowdown on where the characters were, and about how many minutes we had until they arrived. We had about 15 minutes by her estimation, so Sara took Luke and visited the buffet. Makayla enjoyed looking around behind her and seeing the Goofy in the distance saying hi to some families.

In a short while Sara returned, with food for her and Makayla. Luke was carrying his own plate with a giant helping of macaroni and cheese with a side of applesauce. As I prepared to make my way to the buffet, Sara got worried. -"But what if they come while you're gone? I'm not sure I can handle everything myself." Sara will readily admit she can get overwhelmed in situations that others might not find stressful at all. This past summer, I remember having a yard sale at our house, and I had gone inside to make a pot of coffee. Sara comes into the house at full speed, half-winded, telling me I need to get outside now because there's too many people for her to handle. I rushed outside...and saw a single middle-aged woman sorting through baby clothes . Certainly not the stressful situation I had imagined given her exasperated description.

I begrudgingly said I would wait until the characters came through to go get some food. In about 10 minutes, Daisy was the first to arrive.

For those who remember our last trip report, Makayla was not the biggest character fan, and it continued on this trip. Daisy was not going to be Makayla's friend today. Overall, she did do better. After Daisy, she was willing to sit and look at the characters as long as we didn't make them say hi to her.

 

[Lyear]

Goofy was the next one to visit our table and he was met by a big hug from Luke.

Mickey followed after Goofy.

And what do you know? Makayla willing to smile for a picture. Just don't get her to close.

Finally there was Donald.

Donald tried to go say hi to Makayla, which prompted a quick scream and tears from Makayla. Donald stepped back suddenly. Sara and I explained that it wasn't a Donald thing, but that she didn't want to come close to any of the characters. Donald nodded and gave a big forehead wipe with his arm. Whew! Good character acting.

With the characters all met, I finally made my way up to get some food. I can't remember exactly what I had, but I remember trying to pick the more African foods. I do remember that I thought the food was delicious. We went back a couple times, and of course had to get a giant plate of different desserts at the end. It was a great meal at Tusker House, and as part of the meal, we got our passes to see Rivers of Light later in the night.

With full bellies, we gathered our things and made our way outside.

A quick pic of Luke by a small Christmas tree.

And one final pic on the way out.

With such a full day yesterday followed by a busy morning at Animal Kingdom, our plan was to head back to the hotel and catch a nap before our night-time festivities at Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately, our lunch at Tusker House had taken a bit longer than expected, so it ended up being around 2pm when we were leaving the park, and about 2:45 until we arrived at our room. We laid down and fell asleep quickly, but the late start to our nap meant we'd have a bit of a rush when we woke up.

 

[Lyear]

I had set my alarm for 5pm, to allow for all of us to have at least a two hour nap. Makayla especially can get very cranky when she's working on little sleep. She can also get cranky with plenty of sleep, but that's another story.

When the alarm went off, I slowly got up and started moving. No one else was having it though. Both Luke and Makayla burrowed deep into their blankets as I repeated, -"it's time to wake up, we're going back to Animal Kingdom." My promises of a fun evening were falling on sleeping ears. Finally, Sara got up and moving, and together we were able to get the kids up and ready to go. Luke was crabby as we exited the room, wanting only to sleep at that moment, but by the time we made it to the bus stop he was running around like the excited six year old he is.

Our initial plan was to spend some time at the Boneyard playground that evening before watching Rivers of Light, but when the bus dropped us off at 6pm, I knew we'd have to abandon that plan. With Rivers of Light starting at 6:30, we'd have to head straight there. But first, one essential stop. Last year, we had gotten Makayla a Little Mermaid bubble wand, but failed to get a bubble wand for Luke. They didn't make a bubble wand for boys, but still, rookie parenting mistake. I can own that. Having one bubble wand had led to so many fights over the past year. -"He's not sharing with me." -"She won't give me a turn." The typical way bubble wand play time ended was me taking the wand and putting it up high since they wouldn't share it. Since they had Mickey bubble wands this year, we had placed that on our must buy list. All of the light up toys were out in force tonight, including a certain Mickey bubble wand. Luke was happy, and the bubble wand got quite the workout on our way to Rivers of Light.

We made a right when we got to Discovery Island, then the next quick right towards Dinoland. This was where it got tricky. We knew where the general seating area was, but didn't know exactly where to enter as part of the dining package. They had said it was by the Nemo theater while we were at Tusker House, so we were on our way there. it was about 6:20. Still enough time, but getting closer.

We found an entrance as we entered Dinoland, but were told it was a standby entrance and to keep going. We made the sweeping turn past the carnival type attractions, and towards Nemo. We found the entrance, but it had a pretty long line in front of it, with cast members explaining to guests how to get to the standby entrance. Hey! We were just there! .

Sure enough, we had found the dining package entrance. I quickly turned and parked the stroller over by the Nemo theater entrance, we we all went inside and found a seat. As soon as we sat down, I realized I had forgotten Luke's earmuffs. He does not do well with loud noises, so we had gotten a pair of earmuffs for Luke, and also Makayla. I decided I would run back out to the stroller to get them, and as I was leaving, Luke asks -"Can I have popcorn?"

I hadn't seen a popcorn stand around, but figured there had to be one nearby. If I missed the opening, it wouldn't be a huge deal, I figured. Like a man on a mission, I exited the stadium, making sure to check with a cast member that I could get back in. The CM also thought I'd be able to find a popcorn stand in Dinoland. I quickly stopped by the stroller for the earmuffs, then went to Dinoland. Flashing lights were going all around me as tinny microphoned voices were begging me to "Step Right Up." I ignored the voices, and as I came near to Triceratop Spin, I saw what I was looking for. It was a standard popcorn stand, and as luck would have it, there was only one person there in line.

I ordered my popcorn and rushed back towards the dining package entrance. I likely left a trail of popcorn in my wake. I was able to make it back, popcorn in hand, just as the flower floats were getting into position for the show.

The stadium had become pretty full.

Our seats were great, and shortly after I sat down, the music began. I had made a point leading up to this trip to not read any review of this show, and not watch it on YouTube, or another video site. I wanted tonight to be my true, first experience of this show.

The kids really liked the animal floats as they entered the water. I thought the music used in the show was perfect with the theme of the park as a whole, and the water projections were very well done. Overall I thought the show was a perfect ending to an Animal Kingdom day. As an added bonus, the projections and multiple floats kept Luke and Makayla enthralled, leaving me to really focus on what I was seeing. The show was definitely a highlight of our trip for me.

 

[Lyear]

Once the lights had been turned back on, we waited for the seating area to thin out before exiting. After a quick restroom stop for Luke, we turned out attention to Dinoland. We took a few spins on Triceratop Spin, then headed over to Restaurantosaurus for dinner. Luke had loved this restaurant from our very first trip with him because of the dinosaur bones. And since Makayla had become a huge fan of dinos this past year, we wanted to make sure to take her here as well. And it doesn't hurt that they serve a very yummy black bean burger that Sara and I both love.

The place was empty.

Ok, in fairness, we took this later in the night after they had closed. But since it was about 30 minutes before park closing, there was no line, and only a few people in the dining room. I placed our order while Sara took Luke and Makayla to find a place to sit.

Look at all the Dinos!!!

The kids both got uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with french fries, and Sara and I got the black bean burgers. Makayla nibbled at her sandwich, but for the most part both of them only at french fries as their meal that night. Once they were done, things got a bit...silly!

And the picture below became Luke's favorite picture of the week. I was trying to take a picture of Makayla and me as we were eating, and Luke stretched his head across the take and managed to get it into the shot. For the rest of the week, he was asking, -"Can I see that picture where my head is coming in from the side."

Once we had finished, the park had already closed, and Dinoland was just about empty. After experience the mass of people yesterday in Epcot and this morning in Pandora, the empty walkway was oh so luxurious. We strolled towards the front of the park, and caught just a bit of the Tree of Life Awakenings show. Then it was back to the bus stop, and over to the hotel. We had Luke do a bit of reading which we had agreed with his teacher we would do on our trip, and then it was off to bed. The next day we were going to Magic Kingdom, and Luke was very excited to ride his favorite ride, the Seven Dwarves Mine Train!

 

[fractal]

As much as I like Luke's Capt America shirt, the Brian Westbrook one is the winner!

Looks like Rafiki's was a big hit! Silly dinners at WDW are the best - great pic of Makayla with the bucket on her head!

 

[macefamily]

We (also Pennsylvanians) were there the same time. Our trip was 12/7 through 12/11. When we were down in September and October it was hot and muggy; even the nights. Luckily we watched the forecast before our trip so we packed our jeans and jackets. Florida in December can be tricky. Been there in the past when it rained three straight days. I remember walking up Main Street with water up to our ankles.

 

[Lyear]

As much as I like Luke's Capt America shirt, the Brian Westbrook one is the winner!

Looks like Rafiki's was a big hit! Silly dinners at WDW are the best - great pic of Makayla with the bucket on her head!

Yes, Luke will wear eagles gear any chance he gets, a habit I strongly support. Our Animal Kingdom day was actually the day Carson Wentz tore his ACL in LA. I had been checking my phone from the time we had left our hotel to see the score, and after Rivers of Light I saw it was a final and the eagles had won. I was actually feeling in a pretty good mood until we got home to the hotel and I read a recap only to hear of Carson's injury. Certainly put a dark cloud over the night. But got to say the team has kept right on chugging along. One more win. Praying, praying, praying for a Super Bowl in my lifetime .

We (also Pennsylvanians) were there the same time. Our trip was 12/7 through 12/11. When we were down in September and October it was hot and muggy; even the nights. Luckily we watched the forecast before our trip so we packed our jeans and jackets. Florida in December can be tricky. Been there in the past when it rained three straight days. I remember walking up Main Street with water up to our ankles.

Yikes, that must have been a scene with all the water. Yes, thankfully we had checked the forecast before we left so we were somewhat prepared. Something inside me kept saying, "it can't get that cold in Disney World." But that part of me was mistaken. I hope you enjoyed your trip as well.

 

[Lyear]

Monday, December 11th our plan was to spend the entire day at Magic Kingdom. Open to Close. Crazy plan...yes it probably was. With the Christmas party happening in MK several times a week, and MK closing on those days, today was the one non-weekend, non extra magic hours, non Christmas party day when we were in Disney.

We woke up and and got the kids moving pretty well. We had packed a few items for breakfast (one of the benefits of driving to WDW), so this morning Makayla was enjoying the dry Trix cereal, while Luke had oatmeal. Everyone got dressed relatively quickly, and we were out the door around 7:50am, right on pace to make the welcome show at 8:45. We went through the main All Star Music building and out to the bus stop, and wow, what a line. Apparently everyone else had the same idea about MK as we had. The lines for Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios buses were all relatively short, while MK had filled the queue and was wrapping back and forth several times outside of the queue. It ended up that we were 3 buses back in line, and unfortunately it was a 10-15 minute wait between buses. We finally boarded our bus around 8:40, and I knew we were going to miss the welcome show .

Sara was the most upset about this. She loves seeing the welcome show on our first MK day, and was especially excited to see it in front of the Castle this year. We began working on how we would see it later in our trip.

The bus to MK from the All Star resorts is pretty long, and this morning, and every morning on our trip, hit a good bit of traffic at the new MK resort/parking area bypass lane. It's under construction so there's probably something better coming, but it added about 10 minutes to our trips while we were there this week.

The good news is that while the line for the bus at the resort was long, overall the entrance to MK wasn't too busy. We were able to make it through bag check and the entrance with minimal wait.

We had brought 3 princess costumes along for Makayla on this trip. Today, she chose Elsa, who has become her favorite princess. What a beautiful Elsa. She would become very thankful she was wearing this dress later in the day.

Once inside MK, we made our way down Main Street. I was very focused on where I was going this morning, and had made it to the end of Main Street before I realized to myself, -"Whoa! There's the castle." I paused for a bit to take it in, and then we were on our way to Tomorrow Land. The plan was to get to Buzz Lightyear's ride before the crowds built up.

Luke was very excited to go on this ride. He remembered that he enjoyed it the last year. As we walked past a picture of Zurg, he stared up at him and said -"Zurg, I'm going to punch you in the eyeball." Proud parenting moment there . Kid, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but could do without the threat of bodily harm. Anyway, Luke wanted to ride with me, so Makayla became excited to ride with Sara.

Waiting to board

Afterwards the kids wanted a picture in front of Zurg. I love these kids.

Afterwards, Luke really wanted to go again. We agreed, but, in a sign of things to come on this day, what was a walk on a few minutes ago had become a 15 minute wait in just a few minutes. It was likely closer to 10 minutes, then once again we were able to save the galaxy. Sara felt proud that she scored a 999,999 both times. Well done.

Once we were sure the galaxy was safe, also read as didn't feel like waiting for the now 30 minute line, we headed over the the people mover.

Makayla became very scared, almost to the point of tears, during the dark, Space Mountain, part of this ride. She was very thankful when we came back into the light. Buzz Lightyear was out greeting guests as we rode above him, and we shouted good morning to him. Once we had finished, Luke wanted to go again. We talked to Makayla, and she agreed she would go on it since Luke really wanted to. This time she was a little better, but the dark part was still scary. But I was very proud of our brave little girl.

 

[LeighM]

Enjoying your trip report

 

[Lyear]

Enjoying your trip report

Thank you!

 

[Lyear]

We continued our tomorrowland morning by heading towards the Speedway. Luke was once again matched up with me. He tried his hand at steering on this ride, resulting in just a few bumps along the way.

When we had finished with the Speedway, it was already time for our next fastpass at Goofy's Barnstormer. Sara and Luke had gone on Goofy's ride last year, but it was a first time for Makayla and me. One of my last "firsts" at Disney World.

Makayla has a history with roller coasters, and most of it is tragic. Luke began really getting into roller coasters about 2 years ago on a trip to a central Pennsylvania theme park staple - Hersheypark. We were there with his cousin who is two years older than him, and convinced him to go on a small coaster there called the Trailblazer. Ever since then, he has really liked the smaller roller coasters. He is still too scared to try one that goes upside down .

This year, we decided that we would see what Makayla thought of roller coasters. Her first experience came at another small Central PA theme park, Dutch Wonderland. We took her on this small, purple kiddie coaster. I still remember how enthusiastic she was as she got on the ride, but by the end she was in tears. It was too fast for her. A few months later, we were at Hersheypark again, and tried the Trailblazer with her, but it had the same result.

But the Barnstormer, it's such a small coaster. Surely, I thought, Makayla can handle this. She was excited as we walked into line, and sat down on the ride. But as soon as we started going up the hill, she knew what was coming, and the tears started flowing. Before we had made it up the hill she was a mess. I held her as tight as I could. The good thing is that the ride really only takes 15 seconds. Soon enough we were back in the station, with Makayla repeating -"I don't LIKE that ride."

By this time our lunch reservation at Tony's was coming up in about 45 minutes. We decided to take a ride on the train, since the Fantasyland station was so close. If Luke would have had his way he would have done the Casey Jr splash area, but thankfully the water feature was turned off. I'm assuming this was because of the cold weather.

We boarded in Fantasyland. Our plan was to take the train the whole way around and then one more leg to Main Street. It was a good plan. Unfortunately, the kids didn't think the train was that much fun. Once we made our first stop at Main Street, the novelty had worn off, and Luke went on one of his gripes about it being "boring." Makayla followed his lead, and suddenly we had two crabby children with us. But not much we could do as we trekked towards Frontierland. Luke did enjoy seeing Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain while we were there, but then once again complained about how boring the train ride was. After much grumbling, we finally exited the train in Main Street, and were on our way to Tony's.

 

[Lyear]

We parked our stroller on the side of the restaurant, and instantly Luke's memory kicked into gear, -"Hey, do you remember that time we played tag here?" The little area between Tony's and the Chapeau is usually not crowded, and a favorite place of ours to play tag. -"Yes," I replied. -"Can we play tag?" -"Not right now, we have to go eat." -"Not Fair!!!" (this has become Luke's go to line when he's not getting his way ).

I was a bit nervous as we went inside because that morning our reservation had not been showing in the My Disney Experience app. I could just imagine my trying to explain our predicament to the host or hostess as they roll their eyes with that, "We've heard this before" look. I became a bit more nervous as the person in front of me asked what the wait time was, only to be told they could only seat you if you had a reservation. Thankfully, our reservation was not lost. We found a seat in front of the TV playing "Lady and the Tramp." I was preparing to take Makayla to the restroom to take her dress off (because tomato sauce on an Elsa dress probably wouldn't look so great), but they called us after only a 1 minute wait.

We were in what I would call the sunroom area of the restaurant. I'm sure it has an actual name, but I'll just go with sunroom. Once we were settled and our waiter had introduced himself, I took Makayla out to change into some less nice clothes. When I came back Luke and Sara were working on what they wanted to order. We were doing the Parade dining package, which came with appetizers. Sara got a white cheese dip with bread, and I ordered a butternut squash soup.

While we waited for our food Luke was really into this penny game on his kids menu.

The idea was to push your penny, and the further it went while staying on the board, the more points you got. He would take turns playing for him, and then for me. For some reason, he always seemed to get a higher score than I did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Our appetizers came shortly. Mine

and Sara's

We both thought they were good. For our meals both kids wanted the cheese pizza. Sara got a ravioli dish, and I ordered their veggie pizza.

Someone was very excited about their pizza.

The veggie pizza was superb, and Sara said her ravioli was really good. Luke devoured his pizza. for dessert, Luke ordered ice cream, and Makayla wanted a cupcake.

Sara ordered a chocolate cake. Big surprise there.

continued below...

 

[Lyear]

For my dessert, I ordered the seasonal peppermint cheesecake. You know those times where you cut a piece before you remember to take a photo???

So Makayla, what did you think? I think she liked it.

Sara and I have eaten at Tony's on every Disney World trip we have taken. There's a reason we keep coming back. It may not be the most glamorous place, but it's a reliable place to get a decent Italian meal. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that you get these...

Coming up...Mouse ears, our best cm interaction of our trip, and many, many, many parade pics.