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

Lyear · Feb 6, 2018

As we woke up on Wednesday, December 13th, it was nice knowing we didn't have to make a rope drop. It was certainly a more relaxed morning as we woke up and got going. Our morning activity was a 9:50 am breakfast at Chef Mickey's. The plan was to take a bus to MK, then take the monorail over to the Contemporary, just like we had done the day before with the Poly. But when we got out to the bus stop, the line for MK was the longest I have ever seen. It was an EMH day for MK, which was likely leading to the mass of people trying to get there. By my estimation, the queue was at least 5 buses deep. Sara and I looked at each other and immediately re-thought out strategy. We decided that, on a morning such as this, it would be a better idea to drive to the Contemporary Resort.

So back through the All Star main building we went, over towards the Rock Inn to find our car. We hit just a bit of traffic on our way, but still made it to the contemporary in plenty of time.

We parked the car and headed for the entrance.

We didn't realize it at the time, but where we were walking is actually a driving area for the Contemporary Resort :jawdrop:

. We were letting Luke run all around the tree area as we approached. Later, as we were leaving, we saw cars driving around it. We must have missed a sign or something. I didn't realize at the time we were playing in the street.

I will admit, and I think Sara will agree, that we are bad when it comes to keeping track of restaurant renovations. Last year, our attempt to eat at the Grand Floridian collapsed when it turned out the quick service restaurant there was still under renovations longer than we thought it was. The situation led to an, *ahem, frank exchange of ideas between Sara and me.

Well, leading up to this meal, we had both read about how Chef Mickey's was under renovation, and that they relocated to the convention center. So being the astute Disney World patrons that we are, we headed directly to the Convention Center entrance. Once we arrived, we were met by silence. We looked up and down the main hall, and no one was to be seen. Surely Chef Mickey's was more popular than this.

After about 3 minutes of walking around looking in some different conference rooms, a cm who was likely some sort of manager came walking through, and must have seen our confused looks. He made the correct assumption that we were looking for Chef Mickey's, and let us know that today was their first day back in the restaurant. He was even nice enough to give us directions on how to get there.

Oh, and I should mention that both kids wanted to wear character hats this day. Luke chose Donald, and Makayla picked Pluto.

Soon after, we were checking in at the hostess station. One of the changes in the renovations appeared to be adding a seating area for those waiting for a table. We were directed to an area with couches after checking in, while we had our short wait for a table. Sara took a quick photo of the beautiful, peaceful morning scene out the window.

Soon enough, our pager rang, and we were led to our table. We were seated in the area that is off to your left as you enter. It gave us a good view of most of the Contemporary resort. Both Luke and Makayla enjoyed seeing the monorails coming and going.

Sara quickly took Luke to the buffet, and I stayed with Makayla. Makayla was a bit worried about approaching characters. Sure enough, while Sara was still at the buffet, Pluto came by. Even though Makayla had worn Pluto's hat earlier in the day, she was not up for meeting Pluto, and quickly came over to my side of the table. I tried my best to explain to Pluto that we had one at the buffet who wanted to meet him, and he went on to greet the next table.

Once Luke came back, the characters came rapid fire, and Luke hugged all of them. Before that, Makayla was sure to point out to Luke that she knew the names of the princesses on her autograph book.

A photo of Makayla with Pluto in the background. One of the only ways she'll take a photo.

Mickey was the first to show up at our table.

Next came Minnie

"Makayla, you're wearing a Minnie dress today, don't you want to say hi?" -"No!!"

Lyear · Feb 6, 2018

Donald was the next to arrive. He really liked seeing Luke's hat.

Trying to steal pics of Makayla for her autograph book was a puzzle Sara was trying to solve.

Goofy was met by a giant hug.

Sara and I both agreed that the food here was really good. Chef Mickey's seems to get a lot of criticism for their food quality, but we both enjoyed it. Our favorite was the tofu scramble. Maybe all the food critics miss this dish because the word tofu scares them off

. We were sure to get a giant plate of pastries for the table.

Once we had finished eating, our waitress came by and settled the bill, but we still hadn't seen Pluto. Our waitress came back and seemed a bit surprised to still see us, and when we explained that we were waiting, she went over and talked to the character assistant for us. Soon after, Pluto made his appearance.

We tried to get Makayla to get a picture while wearing her Pluto hat, but the 3 year old said no.

Once we had finished, we headed back outside, and that is when we noticed multiple cars driving around the Christmas tree. We then made sure we had the kids sit in the stroller and got back to out car. Next stop, Disney Springs.

Lyear · Feb 6, 2018

We left the Contemporary, and I was able to successfully follow the road signs to get to Disney Springs. We parked in the Orange Garage, which remains the only garage I know how to get into and out of at DS. It took two elevator rides to exit the parking garage, but soon enough we were walking out near Planet Hollywood and the Coca Cola store. We quickly made our way to World of Disney, where we always seem to spend too much money. We let the kids each pick a souvenir. Makayla picked a Christmas Pluto stuffed animal, and Luke wanted a Mickey soccer ball. We then went to the Christmas shop to get a Christmas ornament. This has become a tradition for us on our trips to WDW.

Once we had finished here, we were taking a short break while Luke was playing with his soccer ball, when we were approached by a social media team from the local AMC theater. They were working on posts for Star Wars Episode VIII, and noticed that Luke was wearing a Darth Vader sweatshirt. They asked if he would be willing to pose, and he said yes.

We checked their site later and sure enough he was on it.

When we walked past the toy store, they both wanted to get a picture with Buzz while holding their new toys.

Then it was time for a stop a Ghirardeli, a first for us. Sara picked out some type of chocolate drink, while I went with a plain vanilla milkshake. Sara thought I was crazy for picking a vanilla shake from Ghirardeli. Luke and Makayla enjoyed it though.

Finally, we indulged Makayla's love of dinos by stopping in the T Rex gift shop. We would love to eat here sometime, but the menu is not the most vegetarian friendly, so for now we'll just visit the gift shop.

The kids found small computer monitors with games on the walls of the gift shop, so they spent a good bit of time playing those. This meant that in true 3 and 6 year old fashion, they fought about whose turn it was over and over again. Finally, when I couldn't take anymore, I herded the troops out of the store, and we made our way back to the car.

My thought on Disney Springs? Being a crowd averse person, I enjoyed visiting in the daytime. There were noticeably less people around, which made navigating easy, especially in side World of Disney. Certainly a touring plan I will suggest using again.

We drove back to the hotel, and began kicking his soccer ball around our room, in what would become his habit the next few days, much to Sara's chagrin. After a bit we were able to get the kids to lay down, and we all took a much needed nap. It would prove to be out last nap on WDW property this trip.

Lyear · Feb 7, 2018

I was the first one to wake up in the late afternoon, which I must say is pretty typical for our family. I took the time to gather and sort laundry, because Wednesday also served as our laundry day. Last year, our room had been almost directly beside the laundry room, which was soooooooo nice. This year, it took a bit of effort to get the bags of laundry down the elevator, around the AS Music piano pool, and into the laundry room. Once I got in, I was able to start the washers with very little trouble, the first time in 3 years of this. I then headed back to the room, where the rest of the family was waking up.

Dinner that night was in the AS Music food court. We took some time getting ready, and I was able to run back to change the clothes from the washer to the dryer, then we made our way to the food court.

I can't remember for sure what we ordered here. I know Luke got the mac and cheese kids meal. I believe Makayla got pizza. I'm pretty sure I ordered a pizza too, because I think I remember eating the breadstick that came with it. I believe Sara got a veggie burger.

We picked a seat near the back of the restaurant, with the goal being to get our family away from other families, since we tend to raise a ruckus. Turns out, the food court was hosting the hotel's movie night, since the weather was too cold to have it outside. I will say, the weather was slightly warmer by this point in the week, but it was still jacket weather.

So we ended up getting front row seats to the movie while we ate. And for about 30 minutes, we were the only ones there. The movie was the Muppet Christmas Carol, and when the CM announced it we clapped, and she commented how she liked our enthusiam. She then came over and offered us a bag of popcorn

.

Once we had finished our meal, not the popcorn, Sara went up to get us some dessert/snacks.

She got herself a brownie.

She also grabbed assorted macarons

My request was for some type of ice cream, and she came back with this monstrosity.

2 scoops of ice cream between 2 full size chocolate chip cookies. It was very good, but wow was it big. Thankfully, Makayla was willing to be my helper to eat it.

Once we finished dessert, I made a run to the laundry room and got our clothes back to the room. This little chore took much longer than I expected, and by the time I returned the movie had nearly ended.

It was at this point that we hit the highlight of Luke's week...the Arcade! The entire week, every time we walked through this building, we would hear, "Can we play games?" "Can we play games?" "Can we play games?"

We continued to tell him that we had a night lined up to play them, and this was that night. Luke really enjoyed playing skeeball, a basketball game, and some of the other ones. Makayla had fun climbing on the motorcycle game, but also played a few herself.

After a while, we had spent all the money we were willing to spend in the arcade. Luke had the expected mini temper tantrum when we told him we were finished, but other than that he did enjoy his night. He actually talked about some of the different games throughout the rest of the week. We got ourselves back to the room around 10pm, which resulted in what was an early bedtime for us this week. It was a good thing too, because the next day was going to be attempt #2 at the MK opening show.

Lyear · Feb 8, 2018

Thursday, December 14th began early as our quest was to make the morning show. My alarm went off at 5:30. "Well, maybe not that early," I decided as I hit snooze once or twice. Once I got moving, things fell into place. The kids woke up and ate their breakfast quickly, and before long we were on our way. Because of the Christmas party happening that evening, MK was opening at 8am, and we were able to get out of our hotel before 7.

There was a mist in the air as we headed towards the bus stop. The air had a feel that we might feel some warmth today. The weather app on my phone was saying it could even hit 70, a first for this week.

Once we hit the bus stop, we were relieved to see that there wasn't much of a line. We were able to make it on the first bus that came. Once we got to MK, they had not even let people into the park. Our goal of making the welcome show was a success.

Sara took a photo or two as we waited near the railroad tunnel to enter. Soon enough, a familiar refrain. -"I want to ride rides," an exasperated Luke whined, clearly not happy with having to wait. -"Soon," Sara and I replied, not knowing exactly how long this would take. It was only about 3 minutes later when we noticed the crowd starting to move. Once inside, we started making our way to the castle.

This early in the morning, there weren't a ton of people on Main Street, and the Photopass photographers had very short lines. I suggested stopping for a photo.

- Death Stare from Sara.

Sara was under the impression that the opening show was going to start within a couple seconds. I tried to assure her that we had time, but we continued walking. As we got closer to the castle, my persistence paid off. We found a photographer with no line, and I guaranteed we would make it to the castle for the opening show. It was a guarantee I wasn't completely positive would work out

.

and a magic shot. I could feel Sara tense up as the photographer suggested this

Once we finished Sara was ready to get moving. We found a spot near the hub, and settled in.

Even some time to take photos with silly faces (at least for Makayla).

Lyear · Feb 8, 2018

After a short wait, the opening show started, and Sara was ready with her camera.

The opening show was fun. It was different not having the mayor or fire chief welcome us, but I thought it was nice how they incorporated the fairy godmother. By the time it ended, the kids were ready to ride.

Lyear · Feb 8, 2018

Once we had finished waving goodbye to Mickey, we started on our way towards fantasyland. Our first ride of the day was going to be Winnie the Pooh. Luke initially didn't want to go on it because he thought the storm scene was scary. Once we convinced him that it wouldn't be scary, he only wanted to play with the queue toys they have for those waiting in line. A good amount of people went past us while we were moving bees along metal rods between honeycombs. Finally, it was time to ride, and both kids liked it.

When we had finished, Makayla announced to everyone in the general area that she had to go potty, so I took her to a nearby bathroom while Luke rode Pooh again. Once we were back together, we decided that since Makayla was wearing her Belle dress, we would go see Enchanted Tales with Belle. For those who read along last year, you may remember that Makayla had fallen asleep by the time we had made it to Belle, so we thought this would be a great chance for Makayla to meet her.

The standby line has you walk through Belle's cottage home. Luke was bummed to find out that the checkerboard pieces were glued down.

If you give Luke your camera, chances are he's going to take some crazy close up selfies.

And Makayla was excited to show Belle that not only was she wearing her dress, but she also had a Belle necklace on.

The door at the end of the room opened, and we were led into the staging area. Both Luke and Makayla were adamant they didn't want to volunteer for a part.

Lyear · Feb 8, 2018

We sat together and watched the story of how Belle met the Beast retold, then it was time for pictures. Luke wanted nothing to do with it. Apparently meeting princesses was too girly. (Well just wait until our breakfast at Akershus in a few days

). Makayla meanwhile had gotten cold feet. She had been so excited to meet Belle up until this time, but now the moment seemed too big for her. Sara offered to go up with her to try to calm her fears.

And a few I took with my phone

Once we had finished meeting Belle, we made our way over towards Ariel's castle, and stopped by a photopass photographer on the way. Unfortunately we were looking into the sun, which Makayla wasn't having...

It was a little bit bright

Lyear · Feb 8, 2018

When our eyes had adjusted after staring at the sun, we entered into Ariel's ride. This is a ride we hadn't done the year before. I was excited to see Makayla's take on it, since she had really grown to like "Mermaid" over the past year.

Both of them were fans. Luke really liked the part where we went underwater, and Makayla really liked any part with "mermaid" in it. They both asked if we could do it again. It was still early and whatever crowds were at MK hadn't made it to this part of the park yet, so Sara and I agreed. But we both wished there would have been a quicker way to get back on the ride than walking through the looooooooooooooong queue again.

Around the time we finished, it was time for our first fastpass, 7 dwarves mine train. Luke had been talking about riding this ride for the entire morning, so he was very excited that our time had arrived. This time, the cm's had Makayla walk through the queue with us.

The cm's at the front of the line allowed me to wait with Makayla near the loading area, while Sara and Luke rode, and then Luke could just join me and I could take Makayla. This seemed to work well. As Makayla and I were waiting, I was watching the exit for Luke and Sara to show up, when I hear crying coming from near my knees. I looked down, and Makayla had pulled too hard on her necklace, and it had opened up and the beads had gone everywhere. I quickly turned on the flashlight on my phone looking to gather as many beads as I could. We definitely lost a few, but we were able to make the necklace salvageable. While we were completing this quest, Luke and Sara were having a great time on the ride.

They came back as I was just giving up on finding more beads, then it was Luke and my turn. Oh - and we got a front row seat

. Sara took Makayla over towards the carousel.

When we exited the seven dwarves mine train, Luke announced that he wanted to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again. This was certainly not in our plans. We met up with Sara and Makayla outside the horsey ride and the idea of riding BTMRR had not been lost in Luke's head. We decided that since crowds on this day were less than we had seen so far this week, we would make some changes to our plans. First, we decided that instead of heading back for a nap in the middle of the day, we would power through and spend the entire day out. Second, we decided that since Luke and Makayla had different ideas of what they wanted to do, we would divide and conquer.

Coming up...Luke and Sara tackle some thrill rides, while Makayla and I spend some time in fantasyland.

sheriffwoody · Feb 10, 2018

Enjoying your report very much! Just got all caught up

Lyear · Feb 11, 2018

sheriffwoody said:
Enjoying your report very much! Just got all caught up

Thank you Sheriff!

Lyear · Feb 11, 2018

Our mid-December week in WDW had been, for the most part, very crowded. But on this day we were enjoying having space to walk around. Scenes like the one below would have been unthinkable on Monday or Tuesday earlier this week. This space had been totally congested.

So obviously I wasn't around for Luke and Sara's visit to Frontierland. So this part of the report relies on their stories they told me, as well as photos Sara took. On the way, some of the country bears were milling about on the bridge by Splash Mountain. Luke wasn't interested in saying hello.

The initial plan was to ride BTMRR, which had a listed wait of about 20 minutes. Sara said it was a much longer wait than that. She said it probably took about 45 minutes. But Luke really enjoyed it. Once they were done with that ride, Luke announced he wanted to ride Splash Mountain. It was now into our fastpass window of Peter Pan, but Sara figured it would be a short enough wait that they could do it.

Meanwhile, as Makayla and I said goodbye to Luke and Sara, we made our way over to Philharmagic. Makayla had such a fun experience on this ride on Monday, that I wanted to do it again. Unfortunately, as we were sitting down she became a little freaked out about water spraying on her. I told her I would cover her face when the water started spraying, but she still was very uneasy and didn't want to wear the glasses. So she got to see it a little out of focus. I did keep my promise and cover her face as best I could during the water scenes.

Once we had finished that she wanted to do the carousel again. This time I got to sit beside her. The carousel was once again Makayla's run away winner for best ride in WDW.

Once we had finished, I noticed there was one family taking pictures at the sword in the stone with no one else waiting, so we walked over and took our turn once they had finished.

At this point we were both feeling a bit hungry, so we decided to stop over to Cheshire Cat Cafe for a snack. We had walked past it a few times and their cat tails looked pretty good.

Makayla thought it was good. She really liked the icing on top. The chocolate in the middle was good too. Definitely plan to stop by this cafe again in the future.

Then, since we were so close, we decided to to take a spin on the Teacups.

At this point I was texting Sara trying to get an idea of where they were. It was at this point that they were in line for Splash Mountain. So Makayla and I actually went on the Teacups twice. She really liked the mouse that came up from the middle pot. I'm sure Alice enthusiasts could tell me exactly who the mouse is. I really wasn't sure.

The plan was to meet at Peter Pan close to 12pm. We had fastpasses that ran from 11:15-12:15. Makayla and I were the first to arrive right around 12. We tried to stay as out of the way as we could over near the exit for It's a Small World. The little hub around us had gotten busier in the past hour. Sara and Luke were no where to be seen. I texted her and didn't get a response. It became 12:05, then 12:10, and after a few more texts I finally heard from Sara that they were exiting Splash Mountain. Turns out the boats on the ride were pretty backed up, and they had spent a good part of their ride just sitting nose to tail with the boats near them.

Once they left, they hurried to get to our location. They arrived just as the clock was hitting 12:15. A pretty speedy trip I would say. We got into line and Sara exhaustedly told me about their adventure. We waited a bit in the fastpass line, then took our trip into Neverland. I've given up trying to get pictures on this ride, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

Lyear · Feb 11, 2018

For lunch, we decided on a quick service restaurant we hadn't done before, Pinocchio Village Haus. I believe their menu recently changed. I don't remember them having flatbread pizza before.

Once we decided what we wanted, Sara took the kids outside to find a table. Luke was adamant that he wanted to eat outside. We were ok with this as the temperatures had warmed up to a comfortable level. There was a level of goofiness that took place while waiting for our meal.

Sara and I both ordered the Caprese flatbread. Luke wanted cheese pizza, and Makayla got mac and cheese.

For dessert, I picked up one chocolate cake, and one winter pop thing. It's hard to say exactly what it was, it was a seasonal item. It reminded me of one of those old flintstone sherbet push ups, only it was cake and not ice cream.

Luke was so excited to try this thing as soon as he saw it. He finished his lunch first and was upset that we made him wait. Once we had all finished, he was antsy to finally dig in. The verdict: not so good

. The icing had that red icing flavor. I'm sure there's people out there that enjoy it, but its something no one in our family likes. We ended up scraping the red icing off, but even then Luke didn't want to eat it. He did enjoy splitting some of the chocolate cake though.

I'll also remember this meal as the time we couldn't keep enough napkins at our table. Seriously, I think I must have had to run up to the front at least 3 times to get more. Makayla especially was very messy. I don't remember making a giant spill on the table or anything, but it just seemed like there were never enough napkins to go around. There are many reasons to remember a meal, that is probably one of the stranger ones out there.

Overall, we had a good time at the Village Haus. It was very nice to spend some time outside without feeling like you were sooo cold. The food was pretty good too, outside of that red icing...blech!

Lyear · Feb 11, 2018

Once we had finished our lunch, we took a brief stop at the bathrooms by the Village Haus to make sure we had no accidents later on. While Makayla and Sara were in the girl potty, Luke decided that the bench where we were sitting looked like a fun place to jump, and wanted me to take some photos.

We're on vacation where there's all these rides and attractions all around, and what do our kids what to do??? Jump off a bench.

Thankfully, we were in a fairly open spot where we weren't bothering anyone (that we know of). Once Makayla came back, of course she wanted to join in.

Oh what fun times we have. Haunted Mansion was next on our list.

krisri18 · Feb 11, 2018

Lyear said:
Our mid-December week in WDW had been, for the most part, very crowded. But on this day we were enjoying having space to walk around. Scenes like the one below would have been unthinkable on Monday or Tuesday earlier this week. This space had been totally congested.

View attachment 263320

So obviously I wasn't around for Luke and Sara's visit to Frontierland. So this part of the report relies on their stories they told me, as well as photos Sara took. On the way, some of the country bears were milling about on the bridge by Splash Mountain. Luke wasn't interested in saying hello.

View attachment 263321

View attachment 263322

The initial plan was to ride BTMRR, which had a listed wait of about 20 minutes. Sara said it was a much longer wait than that. She said it probably took about 45 minutes. But Luke really enjoyed it. Once they were done with that ride, Luke announced he wanted to ride Splash Mountain. It was now into our fastpass window of Peter Pan, but Sara figured it would be a short enough wait that they could do it.

View attachment 263326

Meanwhile, as Makayla and I said goodbye to Luke and Sara, we made our way over to Philharmagic. Makayla had such a fun experience on this ride on Monday, that I wanted to do it again. Unfortunately, as we were sitting down she became a little freaked out about water spraying on her. I told her I would cover her face when the water started spraying, but she still was very uneasy and didn't want to wear the glasses. So she got to see it a little out of focus. I did keep my promise and cover her face as best I could during the water scenes.

Once we had finished that she wanted to do the carousel again. This time I got to sit beside her. The carousel was once again Makayla's run away winner for best ride in WDW.
View attachment 263333

Once we had finished, I noticed there was one family taking pictures at the sword in the stone with no one else waiting, so we walked over and took our turn once they had finished.
View attachment 263334

At this point we were both feeling a bit hungry, so we decided to stop over to Cheshire Cat Cafe for a snack. We had walked past it a few times and their cat tails looked pretty good.
View attachment 263336

Makayla thought it was good. She really liked the icing on top. The chocolate in the middle was good too. Definitely plan to stop by this cafe again in the future.

Then, since we were so close, we decided to to take a spin on the Teacups.

View attachment 263337

At this point I was texting Sara trying to get an idea of where they were. It was at this point that they were in line for Splash Mountain. So Makayla and I actually went on the Teacups twice. She really liked the mouse that came up from the middle pot. I'm sure Alice enthusiasts could tell me exactly who the mouse is. I really wasn't sure.

The plan was to meet at Peter Pan close to 12pm. We had fastpasses that ran from 11:15-12:15. Makayla and I were the first to arrive right around 12. We tried to stay as out of the way as we could over near the exit for It's a Small World. The little hub around us had gotten busier in the past hour. Sara and Luke were no where to be seen. I texted her and didn't get a response. It became 12:05, then 12:10, and after a few more texts I finally heard from Sara that they were exiting Splash Mountain. Turns out the boats on the ride were pretty backed up, and they had spent a good part of their ride just sitting nose to tail with the boats near them.

Once they left, they hurried to get to our location. They arrived just as the clock was hitting 12:15. A pretty speedy trip I would say. We got into line and Sara exhaustedly told me about their adventure. We waited a bit in the fastpass line, then took our trip into Neverland. I've given up trying to get pictures on this ride, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

Dormouse!

Lyear · Feb 11, 2018

Haunted Mansion is one ride we had never taken Luke and Makayla on, for fairly obvious reasons. But this year we thought they might be able to handle it. We have a WDW soundtrack that plays in our car, and they both like the Haunted Mansion song. We had also shown them youtube videos of the ride, and they both seemed ok with it.

They were both ready to go as we went inside. Luke was a bit concerned thinking it was scary, but he powered through.

One final stop as we were in line letting them know nothing in the ride was actually real.

So....let's just say we probably won't be going on HM again for a while

. They both were pretty scared the whole way through. Proud of them for trying it, but it was scary for them.

While we had been in line at HM, I had made us a 4th fastpass for the Barnstormer. First, while we were in the area, we decided to go see the Country Bears. Something about this show makes it a hit for both Luke and Makayla. They enjoy dancing around, and it really holds their interest. Certainly a nice change of pace following Haunted Mansion.

Once we got outside, there was another country bear, who I guess was getting ready to watch the parade

And what do you know, Makayla wanted to say hi. I guess once you have been on HM, you have no fear anymore.

We then made our way along the parade route towards new fantasyland and the Barnstormer.

Megbutnotmegan · Feb 12, 2018

Lyear said:
Haunted Mansion is one ride we had never taken Luke and Makayla on, for fairly obvious reasons. But this year we thought they might be able to handle it. We have a WDW soundtrack that plays in our car, and they both like the Haunted Mansion song. We had also shown them youtube videos of the ride, and they both seemed ok with it.

They were both ready to go as we went inside. Luke was a bit concerned thinking it was scary, but he powered through.

One final stop as we were in line letting them know nothing in the ride was actually real.
View attachment 263363

So....let's just say we probably won't be going on HM again for a while . They both were pretty scared the whole way through. Proud of them for trying it, but it was scary for them.

While we had been in line at HM, I had made us a 4th fastpass for the Barnstormer. First, while we were in the area, we decided to go see the Country Bears. Something about this show makes it a hit for both Luke and Makayla. They enjoy dancing around, and it really holds their interest. Certainly a nice change of pace following Haunted Mansion.

Once we got outside, there was another country bear, who I guess was getting ready to watch the parade

And what do you know, Makayla wanted to say hi. I guess once you have been on HM, you have no fear anymore.

View attachment 263365

View attachment 263366

View attachment 263367

We then made our way along the parade route towards new fantasyland and the Barnstormer.

This reminds me so much of my son’s first experience with Haunted Mansion!! He loved the music and was so excited to ride (I think he was just 4 at the time). When we got through the stretching room, I asked him if he was excited and his response was “I’m actually terrified.”

Lyear · Feb 13, 2018

krisri18 said:
Dormouse!

Well done!

Megbutnotmegan said:
This reminds me so much of my son’s first experience with Haunted Mansion!! He loved the music and was so excited to ride (I think he was just 4 at the time). When we got through the stretching room, I asked him if he was excited and his response was “I’m actually terrified.”

They really have a way to make you feel awful, don't they?

Thankfully both Luke and Makayla moved on without any lasting psychological damage.

Lyear · Feb 13, 2018

We knew better than to take Makayla on the Barnstormer again. Thankfully the CM's there were willing to give us a riderswap pass at the entrance rather than make us go through the Seven Dwarves Mine Train drama. Luke and I went first on Barnstormer, while Sara took Makayla over for Dumbo.

This was the first time either of us had gone through the standby line with the playground. Sara's comment to me was that it was very, very confusing. It apparently wasn't clear when it was your turn, and then when it was your turn it was hard to get the kids off the playground.

Eventually she was able to get on the ride.

While they were flying through the air on Dumbo, Luke and I had finished the Barnstormer pretty quickly. We made our way over to the Casey Jr area. Luke remembered this area well from last year when he got soaked. Because of the weather, the water effects were off. It made the area not much of an attraction, which Luke found very disappointing.

We did manage to find one area where water was dripping down from under one of the cars. We took turns cupping the water in our hand then trying to throw it at each other. Luke tried to make this evolve into a glorified game of hide and seek, where the person cupping the water was the seeker, and the other person would hid while you did that.

Hmmmmm...hide and seek in the magic kingdom with thousands of random strangers around...bad idea!

I quickly put an end to that game. And I wasn't the most popular for a few minutes afterwards.

Soon Sara and Makayla came back. Makayla was very excited to join in the fun. Sara, the photographer of the group, took a few photos.

They probably played in the small water drip for a good 15 minutes. Eventually, Sara and I were able to pull them away from the water and we proceeded with our day. Luke and Sara took their turn on Barnstormer, and I took Makayla on another trip Under the Sea. While we were in line, I managed to get another fastpass for Pirates of the Caribbean, our 5th of the day.

Lyear · Feb 13, 2018

Once we met up again, Luke asked if we could do the peoplemover, one of this favorites. We had some time before our Pirates fastpass, so off to tomorrowland we went.

As were were moving around tomorrowland, we looked down and saw Buzz Lightyear was just coming out to his meeting area. I put together the fact that was wearing my Pizza Planet shirt, and decided that it would be awesome to get a picture of Buzz. Thankfully, when we exited peoplemover, the line to meet him was still pretty short.

As we stood in line, Luke became infatuated with the idea of me meeting Buzz in my shirt. He "dared" me to show Buzz my shirt at least 5 times, thinking it would be the coolest thing in the world. Turns out, I didn't have to show him my shirt, he noticed it right away. For not being able to talk, I have to give this Buzz credit for being very expressive. He wasn't just standing and taking pictures. He was laughing, posing people, and at one point he seemed to want to take the rocket off my shirt to use it to fly to his home planet. I was a little confused at this point

. Great character meet.