Mousefever
02-23-2010, 01:57 AM
Tom – husband and dad, and up way too early!
Me (Amy) – 38, mom and planner
Jacob – 11, very surprised kid
Tom woke at the crack of dawn again, but he was nice enough to let Jacob and I sleep until about 8 am. Jacob really wanted to go on Rockin’ Rollercoaster again (Oh my head.) so we left for Hollywood Studios. Although we had fun on our previous Toy Story Mania ride, we decided not to try it again today. To be honest, I’m looking forward to buying the Wii version of the game. We headed straight to Rockin’ Rollercoaster and walked straight into the Aerosmith room. Crowds seemed larger today, but we were able to walk on both Rockin’ Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. I guess everyone was still in line for TSM. I am sure I’m not the first person to sacrifice for their child by going on a ride they didn’t want to and I made it through RR with just a touch of a headache. Tom gets a pass on any ride he doesn’t think he should go on, because of a previous closed head injury. I had a lot more fun on Tower of Terror. We met Tom in the gift shop and walked back down Sunset Blvd.
I’ve always wanted to see Beauty and the Beast and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, but that’s one sacrifice my boy is not willing to make, and I didn’t want to go by myself. It was starting to sprinkle and we thought about stopping at Starring Rolls for a bite, but the line was long! No problem, I thought, we’ll go over to ABC Commissary, get out of the rain, and find something to eat. Nope! There was a sign suggesting that we go to Starring Rolls if we wanted something for breakfast. No wonder everyone and their brother were in line over there!
We didn’t really have anything else we wanted to do at HS, but there was an American Idol Experience about to start and we decided to try it. The man who was in charge of warming up the audience was pretty good. The three girls that were picked to perform, not so much. The second girl seemed like she had the most potential, but her vocals were supported so much by background vocals that I couldn’t hear her very well! Neither of the other two gals had vocal support. They had to sink or swim on their own. I was baffled and irritated by the seeming inequality. Of course, the second girl won. Anyway, we were glad that we saw it once. It may be more interesting to go the finale show at the end of the day, when the best singers of the day perform.
I was feeling droopy, and a little homesick (for CO, not CBR), so we left the park and went back to CBR for lunch. There was a cast member at the “outdoor” part of the gift shop who was singing along with the “6 foot, 7 foot, 8 foot bunch!” song. Even though the CBR pin board was only supposed to be out at certain times of day, she pulled it out when she saw Jacob’s lanyard. I don’t know what it was about her, but she made me feel less homesick. It’s these little experiences that make Disney trips so special to me.
Our ADR for the evening was at Le Cellier. We made it to World Showcase in plenty of time. As we walked down the path to the restaurant, there was a group of Brazilian teens sitting on the small bridge. They cheered for us as we approached, just being silly I think. I magnanimously thanked them as if I were an actual celebrity and left them giggling. We were seated before our 6 pm ADR and the restaurant was not that busy. Tom ordered the NY strip and I the filet, while Jacob ordered the pan-seared scallops. I tried his scallops and lamented that I hadn’t ordered them instead. The filet was fine, but not as good as I had remembered. The maple crčme brulee was wonderful, as always.
We walked counter clockwise through World Showcase, mostly stopping at shops. Jacob found some unique Goofy pins on cast member lanyards. We wanted to make it to the Gateway gift shop by 9 pm. Jacob was apprehensive about the noise from the fireworks, so we that Jacob would wait inside the gift ship during Illuminations, and Tom and I would watch from right outside. We made it with a good 10 minutes to spare. This is the first time Tom and I have been able to see Illuminations together since 2005. Every trip since, Jacob has wanted to be on the way back to the resort before Illuminations started. Maybe someday he will enjoy fireworks someday.
Viewing Illuminations from the Gateway had the added advantage of a quick exit from the park. We were in line for CBR for about a minute before the first bus pulled up. We were among the first on the bus, so Jacob and Tom gave up their seats for a family with tired kids. We were back in our room by 9:45 pm and we watched some Winter X Games before we turned out the lights.
Me (Amy) – 38, mom and planner
Jacob – 11, very surprised kid
Tom woke at the crack of dawn again, but he was nice enough to let Jacob and I sleep until about 8 am. Jacob really wanted to go on Rockin’ Rollercoaster again (Oh my head.) so we left for Hollywood Studios. Although we had fun on our previous Toy Story Mania ride, we decided not to try it again today. To be honest, I’m looking forward to buying the Wii version of the game. We headed straight to Rockin’ Rollercoaster and walked straight into the Aerosmith room. Crowds seemed larger today, but we were able to walk on both Rockin’ Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. I guess everyone was still in line for TSM. I am sure I’m not the first person to sacrifice for their child by going on a ride they didn’t want to and I made it through RR with just a touch of a headache. Tom gets a pass on any ride he doesn’t think he should go on, because of a previous closed head injury. I had a lot more fun on Tower of Terror. We met Tom in the gift shop and walked back down Sunset Blvd.
I’ve always wanted to see Beauty and the Beast and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, but that’s one sacrifice my boy is not willing to make, and I didn’t want to go by myself. It was starting to sprinkle and we thought about stopping at Starring Rolls for a bite, but the line was long! No problem, I thought, we’ll go over to ABC Commissary, get out of the rain, and find something to eat. Nope! There was a sign suggesting that we go to Starring Rolls if we wanted something for breakfast. No wonder everyone and their brother were in line over there!
We didn’t really have anything else we wanted to do at HS, but there was an American Idol Experience about to start and we decided to try it. The man who was in charge of warming up the audience was pretty good. The three girls that were picked to perform, not so much. The second girl seemed like she had the most potential, but her vocals were supported so much by background vocals that I couldn’t hear her very well! Neither of the other two gals had vocal support. They had to sink or swim on their own. I was baffled and irritated by the seeming inequality. Of course, the second girl won. Anyway, we were glad that we saw it once. It may be more interesting to go the finale show at the end of the day, when the best singers of the day perform.
I was feeling droopy, and a little homesick (for CO, not CBR), so we left the park and went back to CBR for lunch. There was a cast member at the “outdoor” part of the gift shop who was singing along with the “6 foot, 7 foot, 8 foot bunch!” song. Even though the CBR pin board was only supposed to be out at certain times of day, she pulled it out when she saw Jacob’s lanyard. I don’t know what it was about her, but she made me feel less homesick. It’s these little experiences that make Disney trips so special to me.
Our ADR for the evening was at Le Cellier. We made it to World Showcase in plenty of time. As we walked down the path to the restaurant, there was a group of Brazilian teens sitting on the small bridge. They cheered for us as we approached, just being silly I think. I magnanimously thanked them as if I were an actual celebrity and left them giggling. We were seated before our 6 pm ADR and the restaurant was not that busy. Tom ordered the NY strip and I the filet, while Jacob ordered the pan-seared scallops. I tried his scallops and lamented that I hadn’t ordered them instead. The filet was fine, but not as good as I had remembered. The maple crčme brulee was wonderful, as always.
We walked counter clockwise through World Showcase, mostly stopping at shops. Jacob found some unique Goofy pins on cast member lanyards. We wanted to make it to the Gateway gift shop by 9 pm. Jacob was apprehensive about the noise from the fireworks, so we that Jacob would wait inside the gift ship during Illuminations, and Tom and I would watch from right outside. We made it with a good 10 minutes to spare. This is the first time Tom and I have been able to see Illuminations together since 2005. Every trip since, Jacob has wanted to be on the way back to the resort before Illuminations started. Maybe someday he will enjoy fireworks someday.
Viewing Illuminations from the Gateway had the added advantage of a quick exit from the park. We were in line for CBR for about a minute before the first bus pulled up. We were among the first on the bus, so Jacob and Tom gave up their seats for a family with tired kids. We were back in our room by 9:45 pm and we watched some Winter X Games before we turned out the lights.