[LSUtigerfan]

Day 5, MK or MD's office?

I woke up this morning feeling much better. My eye was still a little irritated, so I decided to wear my glasses today. We came to the conclusion that all of the dust, etc. at the AK may have been the culprit. It was the only day that my eyes felt really dry and had to use my rewetting drops several times. Next time I will wear my glasses to AK to avoid that problem. Grumpette wakes up in a great mood, and everyone else must have gone to bed shortly after I did, because everyone was bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning!

Breakfast in the room as usual...We passed on our Princess Storybook b'fast in Norway, which I am glad about. Character meals are WONDERFUL , but they just take away from our park time. We still had a lot of things to do at MK, plus we had already seen most of the princesses. I honestly didn't think anything could top our extra special CRT experience! Our goal was to make it to MK at 9 am.

We decided to all wear coordinating colors today. I wore a bright multi-colored top with white (am I crazy?!?) capri pants, dh wore a red Coca~Cola t-shirt/white shorts, Princess Face a cute red & pink gingham check peasant top & matcing capri's, and Grumpette looked precious in her red Coca~Cola dress w/white polar bear on it. This really made our pictures turn out very nicely. It was much easier to remember what everyone was wearing when it came time to look for one another. That being said, we left our room and Princess Face raced ahead to beat everyone to the bus stop. I had Grumpette in her Baby Bjorn carrier, she was really checking out my pin lanyard this morning, so I pushed the button on my Zip a Dee Do Dah musical pin and skipped all the way to the bus stop. She got the biggest kick out of that, she giggled & giggled for more. This scene was repeated throughout our MK day. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

The MK bus was the 3rd one this morning. Had we let fate decide we would have ended up at MGM. Glad we didn't get on that bus today. We made it to MK by 9:10. Ugh! I Wanted to get there at park opening. The lines for the security checkpoint were extremely LONG this morning, so we get in the shortest line and wait...and wait...and wait! Droves of people were arriving via the monorail and ferryboat and they weren't letting anyone in. The computers were down!!! Everyone is really complaining, cigarette smoke is flying, and I just want someone to let me in so I can get a FP for Winnie the Pooh! Finally, after about 10 minutes, some of the turnstiles were working (ours being one of the!). So we proceed through security, without an under the stroller basket check...they're 5 for 5 on this one. Then IT happens. I knew it, I knew it , I knew it! Dh's pass doesn't work. The CM says it doesn't have any days left on it so now we have to go to Guest Relations.

I calm down & compose myself, I knew I'd need to be cordial and not crabby. The CM was in a great mood, so I explained to him what happened on day 1 when the CM said that his pass didn't lose a day from it, and how we had purchased after 2pm tickets at CSR. He asked if I had those with me and I did not. So, I think he checked the computer to see that we infact purchased those tickets, etc. All I know is his gave us another ticket (a 1 day parkhopper, which I didn't know existed, but I guess they are only for circumstances such as these). Finally, we were in, but of course we had to go through the security line once again.

We had a family pic made in front of the castle (the 4 of us) then made a bee line to Fantasyland, I snagged FP's for Pooh (45 min standby already), and dh stood in line for Ariel's Grotto (posted 15 min wait). It was already starting to get hot and the crowds were growing too. The wait for Ariel was really ~30 mins, so I played with Grumpette as she ran around the play area (water fountain things weren't on). **Complaint: The queue area for this is awful if you have little ones...to make you stand between 2 rock walls is ridiculous not to mention sweltering! Eventually it was almost our turn and I bring Grumpette under the chain so that we can join our family. Everyone in line with us know who we belonged to so they were very understanding. Ariel was wonderful, Princess Face's favorite character, and her face lit up like the 4th of July! She was beaming, and Ariel really paid her a lot of attention. She gave her a big kiss which left a lipstick impression on her cheek! We had a great time meeting the ever so beautiful Ariel (I did notice her blue contact lens!). It would have been worth an hour wait to see how happy it made Princess Face.

It's 10 mins to FP time with Pooh, so we take a pics around the Grotto area...I do miss 20,000 Leagues though. The King Triton statue was neat. We get a Dasani for the dd's to drink then head for Pooh. We park amongst the sea of strollers (still loving that bow!) and go into the FP line. As we were walking through the queue...**Complaint here: There was a couple who was changing their dd (~9 months old) in the line, holding her in mid-air. They had thrown the completely saturated diaper down on the ground near their feet. You know how diapers swell when they are wet (they have little silicone gel type things that expand from the "fluid") well, her's was so wet that it busted on the ground and those little gel things were all over the ground! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] I couldn't believe it. There are places to change a baby everywhere at the parks, that probably only saved them a whole 10 minutes!?! So, being the germaphobe nurse that I am, I promptly told the lady CM who didn't seem to give a rat's you-know-what. At least I tried. But, the Pooh ride was great! We all loved it and gave it many praises. We also had a great shopping excursion in Pooh's Thotful Shop. What precious things. Grumpette got the cutest white hat with Pooh's pic. and WDW embroidered on it. We still had lots of things to see so we left Fantasyland.

Princess Face really wanted to ride Haunted Mansion so we tried to explain about the friendly ghosts to her & decided to give it a shot. Well she didn't care for this one. She closed her eyes through the entire ride, except for the giant spider and the big dining room area. I think the voice in the Doombuggy is what scared her the most. Grumpette wasn't really phased by it, she just laid her head on dh's shoulder & sucked her makeshift pacifier (her 2 middle fingers). We exited the ride and I realized I didn't get a chance to look for the wedding ring or check out Madame Leota's tombstone (we walked right in). Oh, well, maybe next time. I did see the Hidden Mickey on the table though.

Next we saw the Country Bear Jamboree (10 min wait). During the wait, we saw Jessie walking outside through the window...her's was the only autograph we didn't get that we really wanted. She's Princess Face's 2nd fave character. Next, I learned a BIG lesson. Never, ever kill a mosquito in a public place with your hand! I did. I mashed it with my hand, and yes, it was filled with blood. Needless to say I was not very happy and had to go sanitize my hand. Lesson Learned. Our dd's loved the show. Grumpette was especially fascinated with the buffalo mount on the wall. She danced as the crowd clapped to the music. More thumbs up & I'm really glad we did this one.

It was now our early 11:20 lunchtime. The crowds were now unbelievable. I wanted to get FP's for either Splash Mtn. or Big Thunder Mtn. RR but we were ready to eat and the area was almost as congested as the summertime! So we decided we may come back later tonight (we didn't). We went into Pecos Bill Cafe and apparently everyone else decided to eat early too. The lines were long and moving at a snail's pace. We all had burgers. The dd's had hot dogs and snacks from the backpack. Those little cookies they get with the kid's meal were yucky, neither of my dd's would eat them, nor would I. Glad I had those back pack snacks! To Frontierland we go. "We're following the leader, the leader, the leader...wherever she may go!"

Outside PoC, we see Peter Pan & Wendy, Capt. Hook & Mr. Smee, so they all stand in line as Grumpette & I get FP's for Jungle Cruise (30min wait). Along the way I noticed the following wait times: PoC = 5 min, Aladdin = 10 min, Tiki Birds = 5 min.
We all had fun with these characters, Capt. Hook was "picking fleas" out of Princess Face's hair. Now that she was clean & well groomed we went on PoC. It was a nice and cool ride. I searched for the Hidden Mickey I thought I remembered reading about (in a window), but I never saw one. Grumpette loved the puppies on this ride and barked at every one of them. She also neighed at the donkey (she can't tell they're not horses yet!). Princess Face wanted to wear her ear plugs for this ride so we let her & it worked out fine.

Next we went in the Tiki Room without any wait, I really wanted Grumpette to see this one, but she fell asleep just as we were seated. I told y'all she could sleep through anything! It was a cute show, and was enjoyed by all. Not sure if I like the new show better than the old one. Now that Grumpette was asleep in her stroller, Princess Face was tired of walking and requested a rental. So dh went to get one as Princess Face & I get in line to meet Jasmine & Aladdin! Neither one of these characters were of middle Eastern descent, which I wondered about. Surely they could've found some CM's who would have looked the part. They were great, but their American faces just didn't match the costumes (which were awesome). We got to them just as they were about to go on break so they were very short, but sweet to my dd [img]graemlins/pout.gif[/img] . Next she & I rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets which we both LOVED! We liked it better than Dumbo due to the shorter lines and squirting camel! We even kept our carpet lower than everyone elses so we could get squirted. We really had a lot of fun on this ride, and I loved having that mother-daughter time with her all by myself. She was also oohing and ahhing at the real jewels that were embedded in the concrete walkway of the queue and the exit. She had to touch each one and ask if the diamonds were real. Of course, I told her I thought so. **Tip: If you are riding in your carpet by yourself, be sure to sit in the front so that you can control the front and back joysticks to manuever your carpet (the sam holds true for Triceratop Spin at AK).

As soon as we got off of the ride, dh walked up with the stroller and our pictures from this morning. Boy, were they great! The one in front of the castle was really good and the one with Ariel at the Grotto is priceless. We really want to find a 5x7 Ariel frame for it.

Now I smelled Aloha Isle in the distance (saw it on my map!)and dh didn't want to ride Jungle Cruise, and Grumpette was still asleep anyway ( she's the one who we were riding it for ), so we stopped for ice cream & cokes. I got a Dole Whip (pineapple & vanilla swirl), dd got chocolate ice cream, the rest had water & diet Coke. Yummy! This was my first Dole Whip, and the dessert afficionado gave it 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up! If I didn't have my tennis shoes on, I would've given it toes up too! Hee Hee! I was giddy as a 5 yr. old child! I really wanted to try the Pineapple float too, but I contained myself. We saw a duck wandering around behind the benches where we sat while eating our tasties. This area was also great for pictures. The flowers in the planters were so vibrant. Made a great backdrop for Princess Face's photo. She now wanted to ride Buzz, and I wanted to try to get a last minute PSR for Crystal Palace, so I surprised a couple who was unloading their little ones from their strollers in front of the Jungle Cruise with our FP's. They were very happy! Then, we trekked over to CP.

Yes! They had a time open for 5:20...glad we ate an early lunch, and we'll out in time for the fireworks! We stopped outside Casey's Corner to listen to the gentleman playing the piano. Princess Face started to dance around and MIL told her to go dance by the piano, and she looked up at her & said, "but I don't want to make him nervous!" She wasn't nervous...she's a ballerina at heart. So we assured her she wouldn't make him nervous, and his inviting smile told her the same. So she bounced over there beside him and danced and spun around. She is the biggest ham. The man was grinning from ear to ear, and she had an entire audience watching her from their umbrella covered tables. Of all days, this was the only day we didn't bring the camcorder [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] ! I think these people saw the best show of the day at MK! And Grumpette slept through it all.

We walked over to Tomorrowland for Buzz FP's, but first I had to check out Moley's secret viewing spot for the fireworks. I marked an invisible X on the spot and commit it to memory... Thanks, Moley!!!!! FP's are in 50 mins (standby line was 25 mins) and while I am retrieving them, the rest of my party is in line to meet Buzz Lightyear! It was a long wait, but well worth it. He gave dd a thumbs up because she showed him her Buzz light-up spin toy ( she still plays with that thing!) Princess Face wanted to ride the Tea Cups again so we strolled over to get in line. But we end up in line for more characters...this time it was Alice & the Mad Hatter. He played his character to a T. And his nose was HUGE! Princess Face changed her mind & now wanted to go to Toontown to see who else was signing autographs. Grumpette then woke up just in time for her biggest source of frustration: A Huge Gift Shop! She wants to get down and ransack the entire store. But this store is awesome . I could stay in there for hours. MIL & I did some pocketbook damage in there! I wanted to get the $60 Cinderella's castle toy soooo bad, but I didn't. Maybe I can order it through the catalog for Christmas. We already had everyone's autograph in this area & it was time for our FP. We only had 20 mins to get to Buzz, ride it and make it to CP for our PSR...so it was obviously 5:00.

We get to Buzz, wait in the FP line for maybe 3 mins & we're on. The dd's rode with me, so this was a chore to hold Grumpette, steer the ride, shoot the targets and help Princess Face all at the same time. But, it was fun and we laughed and yelled at Zurg the whole way through. We then hauled it over to CP and made it right on time, 5:20...not 5 mins early like the CM asked, but it was better than my usual time: LATE! The family went in to our table while I went to freshen up Grumpette in the Baby Center between CP and Casey's Corner. My goodness, why didn't I try these earlier? It was very nice in here. Very calm & soothingly quiet atmosphere. And Mom's and Dads are welcome inside. It's set up almost like a house. It has a foyer type entry, the 1st door to the right was a nursing mom's only room, then there was a full kitchen, dining/tv room with highchairs, then a room with really large changing tables & a sink area in it. They even had really thick sanitary liner papers to put on top of the cushioned table...I only needed to use 1 vs. the 20 I use in the bathrooms. It was very nice and I give it a thumbs up. Disney & Carnation really make it easy to bring little ones to the parks. I think they even had rocking chairs.

Crystal Palace was grrrreat! This was by far, Grumpette's favorite meal of the trip. Fresh fruit, PB&J, with Pooh & Piglet...what more could she ask for? She was so excited, and yelled "Pooh!" everytime she saw him. She hugged and kissed Piglet who paid her lots of special attention. Of all days to leave the camcorder behind. Princess Face really enjoyed this too. Pooh was really wonderful...there was a table of about 10-12 adults across from us that would snag the characters as they would come to our table (our waitress even warned us about them, and to let us know if we were skipped as a result; her previous guests were) Well, when Pooh saw how Grumpette was to see him he was coming to our table with open arms when one of the women at that table grabbed his arm & proceede to pull him to their table saying "Take a picture with us Pooh!" Well Pooh pulled his willy nilly silly old arm away from her and gave her a "STOP" hand motion. I was so proud of him and happy for my dd. She was elated to see him and the pictures from this dinner were superb (as was the pasta & key lime pie!). MIL deemed the boiled shrimp, very delicious and seasoned just right for the New Orleans Lady. Dh liked them too. I liked everything, and happened to eat a lot of the yummy garlic mashed potatoes. Dd's the usual kiddie fare (cool colors on the swirled bread...looks tie-dyed). Everything was good and we enjoyed our dinner here. However, Tigger did miss our table so the manager came over & brought us over to him for a special private time with just us for special photo ops with our camera. The manager was a great photographer! You caould tell the restaurant was recently refurbished by going into the restrooms. Overall rating: 8 out of 10. Fun, fun, fun!

Next we found our place to view the fireworks. I was so excited about Tink's flight. We took lots of pics of the castle's glow changing colors...the purple was my favorite, and the red was wicked! Moley was right, this spot was never very crowded at all! Unfortunatly, Tink never flew! I asked a CM what happened to her, and she replied, "All out of Pixie Dust!" We were heartbroken, so was everyone else around us [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img] . And this was our last night. If I had known that she wasn't going to fly, then we would've gone to Frontierland to SM and BTMRR! We might have been able to spend time in Fantasyland again! Instead, we exit the park.

On the way out, a little boy ~4 or 5 yrs. old whacked me on the back of my leg, just above my Achilles tendon, with one of those wooden guns from PoC. Ouch! Boy, did that hurt. I still have a bruise from it.

We went back to CSR because I couldn't convince dh to hop on a monorail to Epcot to ride Test Track. We were going to go to the pool, which Princess Face was really looking forward to. Well guess what? The entire pool area was closed tonight for reasons unknown to the front desk! They said it would reopen in the morning. So, all in all, we never got to enjoy the pool. It was awesome too. The slide looked like lots of fun, and the pyramid waterfall was beautiful, especially when it was lit up at night. So we packed a little and went to bed. The girls did get a chance to have an extended bath and play with their Little Mermaid figurines in the tub.

Magical Moments for today: Oh, so many! Meeting Ariel. Mother-daughter time with Princess Face. My first Dole Whip! Grumpte's reaction to the characters at Crystal Palace [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] .

Next: Day 6: Downtown Disney and Homeward Bound (sorry, not the movie).