When I was planning our days out and trying to make them fit I found the “best” day to visit each of the parks during our time there. I still had one more park day and figured we would like multiple visits to MK and HS to do everything. When it came to my FPP day in September, I was not able to get Slinky Dog Dash on our first HS day, so that left me looking for it for Saturday.
I also had noted that if we skipped the parade on our MK day on 11/12, that would free up touring time while other guests were busy watching the parade.
In the end I planned to visit MK during the day until the end of the 2PM parade, and then hop to DHS.
I was able to get FPP for Slinky Dog Dash at 7PM. I also had FPP for Indiana Jones and Voyage of the Little Mermaid show.
I was up by 5AM and woke my family around 6:15AM.
It was our smoothest transit to the MK as everyone was now well acquainted with the process.
7:45AM
We had our security system down pat with all the people and bags.
7:58AM
This time we meandered down Main Street having lots of Photo Pass pictures done. We also paused to watch some of the morning entertainment.
We positioned our crew at the Adventureland spoke on the Hub and then Kelly and I backtracked to Main Street Bakery.
For someone who never visits a Starbucks at home, I was developing quite a habit.
The rope dropped happened at 8:50PM and our plan was to head to Big Thunder Mountain. Pirates of the Caribbean was down, however, and everyone who was headed there also headed to Big Thunder Mountain.
Marie made a split second decision (at the head of the pack) to head to Splash Mountain. I had no desire to be wet and cold again, so Katriel, Tabitha and Marie went to Splash, while Stacy, Johanna and Johanna went to Big Thunder. After the Splash crowd got off they rode on Big Thunder.
Fun Fact – squirrels and ducks don’t eat mini M & M’s.
While Nan and I waited for them to get off Big Thunder, we watched squirrels investigate the contents of stroller after stroller.
From there we headed over to meet Aladdin and Jasmine.
The queue moved quickly, and dare I say Aladdin was dangerously close to falling out of character. He might not be ready for Prime Time.
Everyone but I went into Philharmagic. I just stood around Fantasyland!
We’d really done everything once that we cared to do in MK, but it was hours until the parade.
We decided to go see how the line was for Merida.
She was outstanding. Totally engaging and had us laughing.
We consulted my Kenny the Pirate app and saw the Jack Sparrow should be meeting back by the exit from Splash. There was no one there, though a queue was forming. We were just about to ask another guest when Chip and Dale started walking out. These two were a hoot! They were so playful and Chip went and posed the girls in the places he wanted them, then he stood just in front of them!
We decided to do a little shopping and look for desserts. We went back to the Big Top where we’d seen beautiful treats days earlier.
We wanted to watch the parade from Main Street to be closer to the exit and we found a spot we liked at 1:13PM. The four girls sat side by side on the curb while Nan and Kelly did some shopping and I stood behind them. We kind of all talked and zoned out and I deleted some photos, etc.
At 1:50PM a man loudly asked me to move my stroller. I looked back. My stroller was next to me and I was a long way from stroller parking of any kind. I noticed he had a stroller with him. I wasn’t sure what he wanted so I said, “Pardon me?” He brusquely said, “Can you move the stroller; you’re taking up a lot of room.”
I clumsily turned my stroller 90 degrees, from a parallel position to a perpendicular position. I didn’t move my body, nor did Nan or Kelly who had long since returned.
From this point on I hear the guy and the woman he was with occasionally say things loudly about how we weren’t making room for his kid, etc. Thousands of people on Main Street and he’s commenting on my family? Nan is known for defending her parade spots like a boss and I was hoping this guy wasn’t going to push her too far.
At 2:00PM the crowd starts standing up in places and by 2:05PM my girls were also standing. This is when the guy starts really talking trash about me and my girls and how rude we are to make it so his kid can’t see. He went on and on for almost 10 minutes. The parade was just coming into sight. I calmly turned to him and asked him what he was talking about. He suddenly became very deferential and mumbled that it was fine, everything was fine. I didn’t stop. I was now Mama Bear. I politely pointed out that for the last ten minutes he was speaking harshly about my girls and saying how rude they were. I explained that we’d been here for an hour to secure our positions and we weren’t going to move. He guffawed, “Oh what? You think I should wait here for an hour with my five year old?! That’s not gonna happen.” I pointed out I was traveling with a six year old and that my kids have often waited an hour to enjoy the parade.
“Well, good for you. You’re still rude.”
With every calm fiber I could muster I sweetly replied, “We are not rude, sir; we are wise.”
Meanwhile my sister was giving his female travel companion her perspective.
And then we enjoyed the same exact parade – MINUS a fire-breathing Maleficent – that we watched 3½ years ago.
Let me tell you – it was getting cold. Not necessarily Rochester cold, but cold to spend the entire day outside not dressed for the weather.
Somewhere over the last few weeks, I’d come to realize I had not scheduled a time to watch the regular night time fireworks, “Happily Ever After.” Given that we’d accomplished so much at HS the other day, I reasoned that we could head to HS until after we rode Slinky Dog Dash and then come back to MK for the fireworks.
Because it is such a hassle to get from the TTC parking lot and over to MK our best option seemed to be to catch the bus from MK to HS and then back again later. Friends from the message board I visit helped me figure out the logistics.
Waiting for the bus was cold. Then folding and loading the stroller was a headache. But we got over to HS and through security in about an hour. The only FPP we intended to use was the Slinky Dog one.
It was getting colder and colder so I suggested we head over to the Star Wars Launch Bay which was indoors. As I went to park the stroller I realized something was happening. Sure enough, I look over and Storm Troopers are marching over toward the entrance where I’d just left my family. I started to grab my phone as I got closer and –boy- was I glad I did! Johanna was protecting the Launch Bay!
As Rey arrived she thanked Johanna for helping!
3:45PM
Johanna was then presented with a certificate.
She was carrying it and we were congratulating her on what she’d done on our way in. A CM saw her carrying it and informed us that we could show it to the CMs at the queue for Chewbacca and they’d let us right in. They also said the CMs at Darth Vadar might also let us in there at the head of the line, too.
They did.
We met both in minutes.
It was great for time… but we did end up back out in the cold!
We headed for a place to meet some surprise characters.
We hung around to see if anyone else came, but it was Jasmine again, so we decided to see about shopping. I was thinking about buying something warmer for Katriel to wear. Nothing jumped out at me, so we moved on to dinner.
We chose Backlot again, because it has refills on pop and it is indoor seating.
We ate until almost 6PM.
We unanimously decided to take another run on the Millennium Falcon.
From there we went to our ride on Slinky Dog Dash.
So fun. Over so fast.
Then – our night fell apart.
We should have had time.
We would have had time.
But we had some who wanted to hunt for desserts.
And we waited too long for them.
Then our group got terribly separated.
And we had to wait in such a long line for the bus that we didn’t make it onto the first one and had to wait for another one.
And everyone was very cold and shivering!!
And we arrived at MK and cleared security JUST as the fireworks started and I knew that some members of my group would revolt if I pushed us into the park into a crowd and then had to fight a crowd to get back out to the monorail.
Instead we just proceeded to the monorail and back to our van and back to our rental.
Dayspring Disciples 