Another early morning, but at least this time we didn’t have to worry about getting breakfast before we hit that early bus to make pre-rope drop. I made sure my son and I were both wearing our Darth Vader t-shirts. When we got to HS, we got another nice bag check man (who was also from Texas.) Then we got directed to a line designated by a little sign that said DISNEY JR. PLAY N’ DINE. While waiting, Jacqueline fell in love with a baby in a stroller belonging to the people in front of us. Not comfortable with her proximity to the baby, we called her down and apologized to the nice family for our kids’ failure to learn about personal space. “Personal space?” the dad laughed. “Have you ridden on any of the buses yet?” Point taken. At peak times, personal space goes right out the window on Disney buses. When it was close to time to go in, we had to quench Jacqueline’s sudden desire to dance across the whole waiting area and bump into people. When grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into line, she quickly played what I call the “police brutality card” – “Ow! My wrist hurts!”
It didn’t take us long to find Hollywood & Vine. A lot of other people were waiting, but it was far from a maddening crowd. We were seated a little before our 8:25 reservation. The kids and I got our plates of food. They had the makings for breakfast burritos, but I didn’t like the pre-mixed egg filling they had next to the tortillas (too many onions!) so I just used regular scrambled eggs. While mom was loading her plate, Doc McStuffins was the first character to come our way. In costume character sign language, she gave her approval of the healthy banana Jordan was eating. I was a little surprised that non-face characters gave autographs, but fortunately I had brought Jacqueline’s book. I quickly pulled it out so Doc could sign it. Then I got a picture and she got hugs.
A bit later, Handy Manny came over. This guy goes way back with our family. Jordan watched him when he was 3, back when it was still Playhouse Disney. We got pics and an autograph. Then came sweet Sofia. She admired Jordan’s hat and Jacqueline’s Frozen-themed mouse ears, indicating that the icy patch on top made her feel chilly. Last of all was Jake, who drew a sword with his autograph. Then they started playing music in the restaurant, and Sofia invited Jacqueline to get up and dance with her and the other characters. “Make Some Noise” was playing from a Sofia the First episode. They played other music from Disney Jr. shows, and even 11-year-old Jordan was singing along to some of them.
When everyone was done eating, Jordan had to use the facilities. This was how I discovered that H&V and 50’s Prime Time Café shared restrooms. Through the other end of the restroom hallway, I could see the empty 50’s restaurant. I got a good look at the retro tables with the black & white TVs and the lobby area, which looked like the living room that would go with the retro kitchen represented by the dining area. I got videos. No one stopped me, probably because I didn’t try to go in there.
Since we weren’t doing the Jedi show, we just headed to Toy Story Midway Mania. It had not filled up yet, so the wait was not bad. My favorite thing about this ride was the giant toys everywhere in the inside line-up area. I loved the animated Mr. Potato Head also. The ride itself was just as much a game as a ride. I had ridden similar rides at other parks (like at Grapevine, TX’s pitiful excuse for a Legoland, and the Scooby Doo ride at Six Flags Fiesta in San Antonio,) but this one was much more fun. The kids loved it. I just wanted to add that Six Flags has a pretty impressive ride belonging to this genre: Justice League Battle for Metropolis. It has the highest thrill level of any of these rides. It so advanced that it almost seems out of place at a mere Six Flags park.
On the way out, Jacqueline spied a face painter set up on Pixar Avenue. She wanted her face painted, and since they don’t have a credit card reader, I had to go to the nearest gift shop to pay. Not surprisingly, Jacqueline picked a Frozen design that perfectly matched the Elsa shirt she was wearing.
Next stop was Star Tours. Just as we approached the giant AT-AT, we saw the Jedi Academy show in progress. Just then Darth Vader came out, ordering the CM onstage to dispense with the pleasantries. Jordan probably would have had no problem getting on the list to do a show, but he didn’t want to. Oh well. The standby for Star Tours was pretty short. I geeked out when I saw the full-sized animatronic R2-D2 and C-3P0 inside. And the geek-out was just beginning. When the actual ride began, it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. I was really IN Star Wars! I loved it. Unfortunately, Julie did not have a similarly pleasing experience. And not just because she isn’t into Star Wars. It seems that this motion simulator simulates motion a little TOO WELL for sufferers of Meniere’s disease. Anyway, we passed through the obligatory gift shop as we exited: Tatooine Traders. I saw the Build Your Own Lightsaber station and just then remembered that Jordan might want to do this. This time, he did not disappoint me. His sister wanted one, too. They both built a purple one. We had them shipped to our room. Just outside the ride was a Photopass guy and a speeder bike prop. Both the kids had their pic taken on the bike, then it was my turn. I was a kid again, but I tried my best not to embarrass my wife.
Next, I wanted to watch the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, but it would be about an hour till it started again. So we went to look for the Muppets 3D show on the other end of the park. Good thing HS is a relatively small park. I am a Muppets fan from way back, so I loved the design of the theater. The show itself was funny, and the 3D effects were quite effective. And judging from Jordan’s reaction, it’s safe to say that there is another Fozzie fan in the family. Wocka wocka! And the animatronic Statler and Waldorf – sheer genius.
There was still time before IJSS starts, so we took a water break (not something that is needed often in January, where we’re from,) and I looked at hats at a nearby shop. A Boba Fett cap caught my eye, and I just had to have it. We saw people filing into the Indy show arena, so we went. The size of the crowd did nothing to convince me of the rumors I’d heard that this show was losing popularity. The show itself was lots of fun to watch, except the guy playing Indy didn’t look or sound anything like Harrison Ford. But it is just a stunt show. I also took note of the fact that the working prop of the Flying Wing had its swastikas replaced with plain black crosses. Not too hard to figure out why they did this.
My next goal was Tower of Terror. Again, poor Jordan was tired of standing in long lines. His mom saw the theater for Beauty and the Beast Live. Both kids wanted to see this, but it was over an hour until the next one started. Mom saw on her little iphone app that The Voyage of the Little Mermaid was nearby and started soon. Jordan went with her to see that while Jacqueline and I got in the long standby line for Tower of Terror. Another long wait that turned out to be worth it. The first time I had heard anything about this ride, it was called the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. That was also the last time I had heard the Twilight Zone being used in connection with this ride in any way. I wondered if they had removed this license for some reason, like when Nintendo removed Mike Tyson from its Punch Out video game. But when the intro monitor fired up, there it was! The all-too-familiar music, the narrator doing a competent impersonation of Rod Serling…eerie atmosphere adequately created. The ride itself clearly is in a class (or zone) by itself. The only thing I’ve ridden that comes remotely close was the Texas Cliffhanger at Six Flags Over Texas (which has been gone for years and which I dearly miss.) But there is even more to Tower of Terror. Genuine thrills. Advice: if you bring a bag onto the ride, keep a hand on it.
When we got off the ride (or staggered off) we headed straight for Beauty and the Beast. Just as I started texting Julie to let her know where we were, here they came. Perfect timing. The show was good, but I was expecting the full Broadway version. This was much shorter than the movie even. Different scenes were mashed together. They didn’t even sing “Human Again.” And no Lefou? Well, I was probably the only one who missed him.
When we were all ready to go, we talked about going back to Downtown Disney for lunch. The kids didn’t want to go there unless we could eat at Rainforest Café again. When we made it clear that was not an option, Jacqueline started asking why we didn’t just order something brought to the room. We tried to explain that room service options were limited to pizza, and that was what they were having for supper with the KNO sitter while mom and dad had their date night. She didn’t care. We ultimately decided to eat at the food court again. After lunch, we just bummed around our room until after 5, when Julie took the kids to POR’s playground. I got cleaned up for date night. A few minutes later, they returned, and Julie started getting ready. I called and ordered a large pepperoni, making sure that they wouldn’t need my magic band, as I would likely not be there when the pizza was delivered. At 6:12, the front desk called and said Cary from KNO was here for her 6:30 appointment. I authorized her entry. A short while later, Cary arrived. She was probably college-age and very friendly. We told her a pizza was on its way and she was welcome to share with them. She politely refused, having just eaten. She then asked if we minded her taking the kids out of the room; the outdoor movie (tonight’s was The Princess and the Frog) was playing not far from us. We gave our okay. We also gave her an arcade game card that we had gotten for free with our initial DME luggage tags. It had 100 points, which Cary informed us would not go far. So I ran down and loaded about $25 more in points on it. By the time I got back, Julie was ready to go and leave Jordan and Jacqueline in Cary’s capable hands. Just as I went out the door, the pizza showed up. I signed for it, and then we headed to the River Roost Lounge. Julie got a white wine, and I got a virgin margarita (I do not partake.) My smoking hot date was turning heads in the red dress she was wearing. She brought it along just for this date night. I tried to make myself look presentable, but I knew everyone was looking at her. We had to hurry through our drinks because it was nearly time for our carriage ride.
Our driver was Star, and her horse was Bob. We got aboard, and after Star won a brief argument with Bob about him getting another balloon (or something,) we were on our way. The weather was perfect, and the lights around the property were lovely. We passed a pool, and we were surprised to see people swimming that late when it was so cool and breezy out. I repeated something I had read on the disboards: You can tell which guests are from up north, like Michigan and Minnesota – They’re the ones in the pool in January! Star said that during those rare Florida winters when it actually gets below 30 degrees, you can STILL see people in the pool! We got to see all the French Quarter area before we circled back towards Riverside. Then, just as I was really enjoying the ride, Bob had to relieve himself. I guess there was some kind of catch bag down there. I know horses have to do it sometimes, but we were sitting downwind, right behind him. It kind of ruined the mood. As the ride ended, we thanked Star but went off without getting our picture with the carriage. We spent a few minutes looking around the general store. We bought a POR mug, a Mickey pencil, a t-shirt, and a toy train that I plan to use with our Christmas decorations next year. The cashier agreed to hold our purchases until after dinner. Then we headed to Boatwright’s. We got our table and looked over the limited menu. There were about the same number of choices as at Coral Reef. We got a BBQ shrimp appetizer, which was excellent. She ordered some kind of Cajun catfish dish, and I ordered the short ribs. The ribs were very tender and flavorful, and she gave me a bite of her fish, which was very good. The menu described it as spicy, but I didn’t notice much bite at all. Of course, I’m the guy that puts jalapenos on his tuna sandwiches. For dessert, she ordered the Bananas Foster, and I got a red velvet cheesecake, which was wonderful. At first the waiter tried to charge our meal to someone else’s dining plan, but I corrected him. Then we picked up our purchases from the gift shop, went back to the room, and found the kids healthy, happy, and in one piece. Cary said they hadn’t had time to go see the movie. Jordan spent half his time working on his Legos and the other half watching Ninjago on Cary’s phone. Jacqueline was on the bed playing with Cary’s borrowed toys and looking very sleepy. Cary gave each kid a hug, gathered her stuff, and left. If we do this again, we will definitely use KNO again. They are as great as I had heard. We got the kids ready for bed, looking forward to another day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
