MK, AK and Rain
The morning began with Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. I wish I could have some, but Mommy won't let me. Daddy and I had decided to stay in the hotel today to some packing while Mommy and the boys went back to Magic Kingdom and rode all the stuff I couldn't. So they took off for the MK while Daddy and I went back to bed for awhile. So the MK portion of this TR is all hearsay.
Thomas wanted to tackle Space Mt. again, so Mommy took him back there first. He didn't cry this time, rode the ride successfully and loved it, just like Daddy had told him he would, if he just tried it! Daddy is so smart. They then rode Thunder Mountaina and Splash Mountain before heading back to Space Mt. to try their FPs, since Thomas really wanted to ride it again.
However, this time, Thomas was too short to ride. Apparently, he must have shrunk on Splash Mt., because although he was tall enough to get all the way into the car on the first try, and tall enough to ride the ride earlier that morning, the CM at the FP now said he was too short to ride. Mommy said he was really upset over this and started crying. The CM was adamant that he could not ride because he was too short, even though Mommy explained he'd already been on the ride twice. Daddy told her she should have gone to the stand-by lane and had him measured there by the person who had cleared him earlier that day, but Mommy didn't think about that at the time.
The measuring policy at WDW needs some work. Daddy said once a CM on RnRC tried to prevent Alex from riding when they got all the way up to the top, even though the CM at the bottom had measured him and they had waited in line for 30 minutes. This CM let Alex go through though when he was able to describe the ride, proving he had ridden it before. (I guess the CM felt that if he had been measured okay on past trips, it was okay now, or else he didn't really want to argue with Daddy.)
Mommy likes an idea they use at Legoland in California, where they measure you once and give you a band that lets you ride. WDW could do this at rides that have height requirements. If they measure you and you pass, they give you a wristband so you don't have to be measured again. That would help solve the disappointment factor for a kid who gets to ride something once, and then is denied later, and can't understand why he is being denied again.
Mommy let Thomas buy a pen at the gift shop to calm him down and then they rode a bunch of other rides. They said MK was a breeze this morning without me dragging them down. I wonder what she means by that? I can't be that much of a drag, I only weigh 14 pounds!
They came back to the hotel and we all headed over to the Animal Kingdom. It was time for my lunch, so Mommy took me to the Lion King show while Daddy and the boys headed to Kali River Rapids. I ate through the Lion King show, so I can't say much about it. (I saw it later in the trip, and will tell you about it then). Daddy came back with his back all wet, but the boys were dry.
Everyone else was hungry now, so they got some pizza and then we waited for the parade to start. They decided just to share two small pizzas and then have dinner somewhere. Mommy got out her cell phone and called to make dinner reservations at 1900 Park Faire.
Animal Kingdom Parade
We found a good place on the ground right near the Baby Care center, since it was threatening to rain and Mommy figured she could duck me into there if it started to storm. But it didn't and the parade came. The parade had these people working puppets that looked like animals, and they all would come up to me and do something, like wave their wings, or stick out their tongue (the puppets, not the cast members!) at me, which made me smile. Some of the characters came up to shake my hand. (Apparently babies attract a lot of attention here. Shame I won't still be one the next time we come.) The parade was really colorful with a lot of stuff to look at and I giggled the whole time. Mommy took lots of pictures, so I hope to see them when we develop them.
Animal Kingdom
After the parade, we ducked into Baby Care because the rain was starting to come down. Mommy changed me and gave me some more to eat because I was getting a little cranky. (I had fallen asleep earlier and not finished my bottle.)
The rains died down so we went over to Dinoland. Alex and Thomas wanted to ride the spinning roller coaster, but Thomas was too small. So Alex and Daddy got in line, and we all went to ride the dinosaur ride. Mommy sat in front with me and Thomas, thinking this was like Aladdin, where you control the up/down from the front. But you don't -- you control it from the back! So she had to hold me and turn around in her seat to work the back controls in order to get the dinosaur to go up and down. I liked being up in the air.
Mommy and Alex got to ride the roller coaster next. Daddy went over to one of the carnival games. He played this game where they give you four balls and you try to get them into colored holes. He was trying to get a ball into a white hole to win a big turtle for me. But he ended up getting one ball in a blue hole and one in a red hole. So he got a little frog and a medium turtle. The CM said he could trade them for a big prize, but Thomas wanted the medium turtle and said I could have the little frog, which was great because it was just my size. Boy was Mommy surprised when she came down from the roller coaster and I was hugging a frog and Thomas was carrying a turtle.
I know some people don't like these carnival games, but I thought it was pretty neat that Daddy was able to win me and Thomas a prize and it made Thomas happy to see Daddy trying to win him something when he couldn't ride the roller coaster, which he really wanted to do. Alex said the coaster was fun -- it went up and down and spun around. Mommy and Daddy couldn't figure out what was so bad about it that a smaller child couldn't ride it -- Space Mt. was much worse and it had a smaller height requirement. They figured it must be because of the overhead restraint system.
Daddy and the boys were going to ride Dinosaur, but the line was pretty long and they decided just to wait until tomorrow. We walked back to the Oasis and looked at some of the animals and then headed to our car to go to dinner. Dinner was at the Grand Floridian. Here, we weren't allowed to park our own car, so we all got out up front and went into the hotel while some guy came and took our car away. I hope he brings it back later -- Thomas' turtle is still in there.
Dinner was nice and we got to see Pooh, and Piglet and Tigger and Eeyore. The restaurant was pretty full, so the characters didn't spend a lot of time with us like they did at the breakfasts. Breakfast seems to be the best meal to go to if you want to spend a lot of time with the characters. The buffet had a lot of different foods on it, like chicken wings, and ham and turkey and stuff(ing), plus a lot of desserts. Daddy decided he didn't like this dinner, because the characters were out of place in this restaurant. The restaurant is decorated like a county fair, with carousel horses and balloons and such. Stuffed bears and tigers might fit as prizes, but not wandering around.
After dinner, we headed back to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping. Thomas wanted to buy a stamp set he had seen the other day. Alex had found his T-shirt at MGM, so he didn't have any more money, but he would browse with us anyway. Daddy found a Minnie Mouse Christmas stocking for me. (He has a Dalmatian, and Thomas and Alex have Pooh and Tigger stockings already. Mommy has a mouse stocking, because that's what Daddy calls her. )
Mommy also wanted to get my name put on an ornament, but the pickup wasn't until Sunday. It doesn't make any sense why it would take them several days to put a name on an ornament here -- especially when people may not come shopping early in their trip. The CM talked to someone else and said they could get it done tonight if it was just a name and date, so Mommy picked out a big pair of mouse ears and they said they'd have it ready by 10.
Daddy and Thomas went into WoD while me and Mommy and Alex sat outside. I was getting tired, so Mommy fed me a bottle. Thomas found his stamp set and Daddy decided to buy his shirt in one of the other colors, which Alex had found a large in, and he also bought a photo album. We walked around for awhile until 9:30 then went back to the Christmas shop to see if my ornament was done. It was. Daddy eyed the monorails some more -- he really wants one -- but didn't buy one. Then we went home. Tomorrow we have breakfast at Boma, then we go to the AK, then we go back to Chicago.