Early Entry
We got to early entry by 7:10 on Saturday morning after stopping at the concierge lounge for drinks. Having soft drinks in cans instead of bottles was a real pain. With a bottle all you have to do is put the lid on and put it in the stroller. Cans had to be held, and frankly it was a bit cold for that on this beautiful morning!
It was important to us to get Alex on Autopia early in the day so that the wait was minimal. This was the morning we decided to do that. Well, Alex and Andy did anyway. That ride kills my back and my hips so I avoid it like the plague. The boys had a walk on though and were done in about 12 minutes. Amazing for Autopia!
Passing by the Matterhorn on the way to Fantasyland we decided to hop into the short line for a quickie. We were on the left side this time. I could not for the life of me find my seat belt and was panicked they were going to send us through before Alex and I were belted in safely. They started moving us and I yelled ‘wait!’ and the Cast Member assured me she would not let us go until I was buckled. Finally I was all set and we were off to see the Yeti. Alex screamed like a mad man this time. While we have known for years that each side of the Matterhorn provides a different ride and the left side is faster, we neglected to tell that to Alex. No more left side rides on the Matterhorn for him!
As we walked into Fantasyland we saw no line for Alice so did that quickly, followed by a walk onto the Teacups. Once done there we noticed that laceName w:st="on">StorybooklaceName> laceType w:st="on">LandlaceType> was just opening, and got onto the first boat with no wait (a miracle!). We then did Dumbo, Casey Junior, Pinocchio and Mr. Toad all in quick succession. By this time the park had opened, so Alex and Andy went on Small World while I headed to the other side of the park for Haunted Mansion Fastpasses. Here I found that Andy’s passport had not been scanned. The Cast Member there was very helpful though and gave me a Fastpass for him. I stayed there waiting for Andy to call. When he did, they were halfway to me already. We rode laceName w:st="on">HauntedlaceName> laceType w:st="on">MansionlaceType> and Jungle Cruise.
It was now time to go to Goofy’s Kitchen. We had planned on video taping it, but could not find the other camera batteries. Thinking we left them at home, we made a stop at the hotel to charge the video camera while eating, and Alex wanted to take his toys. R2D2 and the rest of his Star Wars characters were packed into a nice container, and even though I didn’t want to take them we put them into the stroller.
Our lunch at Goofy’s Kitchen was for 11:30. Much to my consternation we were not able to get ‘our’ table – or even in that section! They seated us near the door (the place I hate more than any other table here). I decided to put my back to the door. I didn’t want to see the characters coming and going and skipping our table. Next to us was a family that took two tables. A total of 9 people, with 3 adults, 2 older children, and the rest all between infant and 8 years old covered these two tables with two women (the mother’s I think) facing our table. (Trust me; I mention this for a reason).
Alex got his little case out of the stroller and pulled out R2D2 (several of them), his C3PO’s and Darth Vadar to play with while eating. We saw Goofy, Alice, Chip and Dale, Jasmine and Baloo during this meal. But that doesn’t say much, so here are the details.
Baloo is a character Alex doesn’t really know since he refuses to watch Jungle Book. It didn’t matter. He was the first to come to the table and he saw Alex’s toys and started ‘eating’ them! R2D2 got stuck in his teeth and I had to play dentist and save R2! We were all cracking up. And I didn’t want to take the toys. Silly me! Baloo stayed at our table for at least 5 minutes.
Chip came to the table and played with the toys for a few minutes, but didn’t stay long. Dale though, well Dale was a total kick. He put all of the toys in his apron pocket and started to walk away. Alex surprised us by yelling to Dale: ‘bring them back when you are done with them’. Of course Dale didn’t go too far. He emptied his pocket and then proceeded to play with Alex and the toys. He was at our table for almost 10 minutes!
When Alice came to our table we almost died laughing. She and Alex played good guy/bad guy. Using Alex’s robots (R2 and C3PO) to ‘kill’ Darth Vadar they were having a great time. We were so upset that we didn’t have the camcorder with us for this meal. The two of them played with Alex’s toys for 10 to 15 minutes, and Alex was having the time of his life.
The two tables with the one family I mentioned earlier? The ‘mom’s were watching all of this take place, then the characters would go to their tables, sign the autograph books, pose for a picture and leave. I think they were very shocked at what the characters did with these toys, and I bet they have toys next time they come to a character meal.
Thanks to Alex’s brilliance this was one of the BEST times we have ever had at Goofy’s Kitchen. The character interaction was incredible. Fortunately we got a lot of great pictures from this meal. I do recommend that you take your child’s small toys to character meals with you! Alice called them ‘props’. Well she certainly had a blast playing with Alex’s props. We also had Figaro for this meal, but she just watched Alex play with the characters and the other toys.
After lunch we went back to get the camcorder and put Alex’s props away. The plan was to go to California Adventure so we went in the private entrance and we headed to Mulholland Madness for fastpasses (I had neglected to mention that our walk to Goofy’s Kitchen also included a walk through California Adventure for Soarin’ fastpasses). The line was too long so we headed over to Soarin’ to use those fastpasses. Alex told everyone in line that we were flying to Disneyland. Those who had never been on the ride probably thought he was talking about how we got there. Lol Once we were back on Terra Firma we grabbed new fastpasses, and headed to the Pier to use the Mulholland Madness fastpasses.
At this point, Andy and I wanted to ride laceType w:st="on">TowerlaceType> of laceName w:st="on">TerrorlaceName>. I resorted to bribery. We told Alex we would get him some Disneyland suckers if he rode. We got over there before we could get new fastpasses but the line was pretty short. Andy took Alex to the bathroom while I waited (sore feet). It was during this time that Alex cut his hand on his Fastpass holder. I am not sure how, but he was upset and it was something that needed to be taken care of to pacify him. Andy decided to take him, leaving the passports with me to get the fastpasses when our window opened. Once I got the fastpasses I called Andy, who told me Alex now refused to ride, so I was to head over to them.
As I walked in front of the laceName w:st="on">AnimationlaceName> laceType w:st="on">BuildinglaceType> I saw something I had never seen before. Kicking myself because Andy had the camera, I used my cell phone to take a picture of Dopey. We have never seen him other than in a parade, so this was huge. I was very upset that I didn’t have the camera though. It was when I met up with Andy that he reminded me I had Alex’s digital in my fanny pack. Oh man, I could have had a GREAT picture! L We went back, but Dopey was gone by then. Alex did stay in line to see Snow White though, and the two of them enjoyed talking about Figaro for several minutes (props again – wow).
In laceName w:st="on">SunlaceName> laceType w:st="on">PlazalaceType>, Alex saw Minnie (she kissed his ouchie), Pluto and JoJo. Alex didn’t want to see Lilo who was also there.
We used our Soarin fastpasses then went back to the hotel to prepare for the evening. We definitely wanted our heavy coats for Fantasmic!
At 5:00 we went into the concierge lounge and had egg rolls (or were they taquitos – it was hard to tell), chips and salsa, fruit pizzas and some vegetables and cheese. We did not stay long before heading out. Alex hated the concierge lounge because he would rather be at Disneyland.
Once we entered Disneyland we headed to Buzz. It was down, so Andy and Alex planned on doing Star Tours while I bought fudge. We would then meet over where we had to check-in for Fantasmic! Riverside seating. I got there at 6:10 and was the second person in line! They have this set up so that everyone for both shows checks in at 7:00. Since you pick your seats when you check-in, it is best to arrive early and wait. They now have approximately 75 seats for Riverside Seating. The sections are split into two areas. The one is right in front of the water screen. The other section is between screens. We choose our seats with this knowledge, and had front row seats right in front of the water screen. The person in front of me in line took the other section. Our seats were 27, 28 and 29 if I remember correctly. We were told after checking in to be back at 8:30 so we headed out and rode laceName w:st="on">HauntedlaceName> laceType w:st="on">MansionlaceType>, Winnie the Pooh and the boys did that one again while I headed to the restroom. That is all we had time for before we were due to check in for the show. We found out when we came back that we could put our strollers in this private section. That was great to hear, so Andy got ours and brought it inside the enclosed area.
Our seats for Fantasmic! were great. You could feel the heat from the fire and the cold from the water. I have to say I was freezing during the show, but totally loved it. Alex fell asleep before it started, and slept through it completely! Our dessert boxes included chocolate covered strawberries, a few macaroons, jelly filled cookies, biscotti and rice krispie treats. We enjoyed hot chocolate during the show. The fireworks were great from this location too, and we enjoyed watching them from this seated position.
During this night I saw a lot of people with light-up Tinker Bell pins and asked where they could be purchased. I had to get me one! We headed back over to Small World to see ‘colors’ but they didn’t do them. I looked at the shop there, but they were sold out of Tink.
It was then back to the hotel for us.
They had tried to do our turndown at around 4pm that afternoon. We were in the room, so it was skipped this night. No chocolate or Mickey crispies.
Up Next: We saw Princesses!
For Part III, click this link: http://www.disneymouselinks.com/Forums/Topic77063-4-1.aspx