"Daisy is a Duck!" -- Day Two
Today should be a fun day. We have Hollywood Studios planned in the morning with dinner, noshing around World Showcase. How do you beat that?
The last time I was here, you needed to get a Boarding Pass to ride Rise of the Resistance. I had three chances and I was 0-for-3!!! This time, I’m buying it. I wake early, shower, and prepare for 7 AM. I already had my Genie+ purchased when I received a text from one of my workers. Something needed addressed immediately. I was texting back and forth when I realized it was already 7:02!!! OMG!!! Was I going to miss yet again??? I switched over, refreshed the app, searched Rise and they were already at noon. I picked a 1:15 PM time slot. I then went to Rock n’ Rollercoaster and got a 9:45 FastPass. Phewww!!! Thought I blew it again.
As my daughter readies, I repeat my morning ritual of getting coffee first, then taking our Thermoflasks to the ice vending machine and filling them. All dressed and backpacked up, we walk to the Riverside Mill Courtyard for breakfast. It’s already hot! We both have vanilla pancakes with berry compote and Simply Orange! I just love that juice here. It feels like I’m on vacation. When I need a Disney fix at home, I get a Simply Orange!
We catch the bus and for the third time in a row, my daughter takes the first two seats behind the bus driver. We begin to call them “our seats.” Right across from us are grandparents with a boy about 4YO and an absolutely precocious 6YO. We just love listening to them talk. Mostly, the girl is lecturing the boy, but it’s adorable. She reminds me so much of my own, Sophia, that I put our heads together for affection and kiss her on the hair. As the bus is nearing Hollywood Studios, she teases him about liking Donald Duck. He tells her, she’s Daisy. Then, with perfect diction, she punches the Trip’s catch phrase:
“NO! Daisy is a Duck!”
We both start laughing, as do the grandparents. We repeat it all day. All trip actually. (Still repeating it.) Anytime the answer is NO, it becomes, “No! Daisy is a Duck!” "Want to ride 'It's a Small World' Again?" "No! Daisy is a Duck!" Hence the Trip Reports Titles.
I was singled out each time, passing security and told to get certain things out of my backpack and hold them in my hand so they could be seen and it wouldn’t happen again! OK. We’re trying that. My daughter takes her Thermoflask. I hold IN PLAIN SIGHT, my Thermoflask, my charging brick, my phone. Nope! Still sent over. This time, I don’t get a friendly security guard. I get a lady with much attitude. She goes thoroughly through my backpack (which only has two ponchos and a sweater in it now,) then wands me down. But that’s not enough. “Remove what’s in your pockets!” I take out my wallet and my money. Wands me again. “Remove your belt.” Wands me again. I tell her I have a hip replacement. She pushes my stuff aside and says, “Next.”
My daughter laughs and says it’s because I look sinister. (I’m Albanian/Italian.) I can’t get my index finger to work properly at the gate. I recently had major surgery on my right hand, severing the tendons and having them reattached, so they don’t straighten fully yet. Plus, there’s a scar so they reset my band to work with my left hand. (I just have to remember that. Lol.)
As soon as we’re in, Daisy and Donald are waving “Hello” from the balcony. Remember, Daisy is a Duck! It turns out, she’s my daughter’s favorite character. Not Merida like I thought! We begin a quest to meet Daisy and buy some Daisy merchandise.
We make our way to RnRC in perfect time to use our FastPasses. Once through the touchpoint, I snag a Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway FastPass. RnRC is great. The ride stops just one car length from exiting and we are there an extra five minutes. Then we do standby for Tower of Terror. This is the only major attraction on the whole trip we use standby. It was about 20 minutes. Tower is one of the BEST THEMED RIDES ANYWHERE and they are training new “Bell hops” today. They are doing their best to stay in character.
Both of us exit, exhorting praises for the ride as we go straight to Beauty and the Beast On Stage as it’s is minutes from starting. My daughter’s voice is so amazing so I compare all singers to hers, but this Belle was really off her game a bit. The others were great. Belle appeared nervous in the beginning.
We stopped for pickles, then hit my favorite shopping destination, “Mouse About Town” where I bought a pair of really nice, light shorts. Then MMRR. Daisy is featured in one scene and Sophia gushed. Once I was through the touchpoint, I grabbed a FastPass for Star Tours, which was valid almost immediately. We did Star Tours and now it’s time for Sophia to finally see Galaxy’s Edge. She’s such a huge fan and we have another day planned where we will spend most of our time here. For now, we’re just getting the feel of it and about to ride Rise of the Resistance.
When we got off the ride, I walked over and thanked a Cast Member for putting so much effort into one attraction. If you separate the ride mechanism from all the surrounding elements, it’s just an OK ride. But you factor in all the detail, how perfectly the Cast Members play their role, weaving it into the story line, the detail through the windows outside as you watch the battle take place, and you almost feel like a movie extra. (Don’t stare into the camera!) Simply amazing attraction. On its own level.
We had some time before our ADRs at Sci-Fi and I could see the heat was wearing my daughter out. I work outside and generally do very well with heat. She made me a bit nervous, so I bought her a cooling rag. That helped.
We arrived and waited to be called. As we were sitting in the shade, the Cast Member outside was constantly being berated by guests. “You mean I can’t just walk in there and get something to eat for my kids. They’re starving,” one yelled! She kept her calm. “There are fast food locations at the Commissary next door, as well as the Backlot Express in that direction. You have plenty of options to feed you children.”
Food was good, but way too much to finish! I had the special – a burger with a crab patty and remoulade sauce. Tasty, but sloppy and far too much food on a hot belly.
The plan was to take the Skyliner over to Epcot and spend the evening there. That’s partly why we upgraded to the Park Hoppers. As we exited, hitting nearly every shop on the way, looking for a Daisy Plush, we noticed the SkyLiner was not operating. Neither were the boats. Massive storms were on the way. I could see she was wearing thin, so we made an Executive Decision to just go back to the room and rest. Maybe go to Disney Springs later.
I run to Target, grab some beer (even though I really don’t drink much,) snacks, paper plates, plasticware, and decide we will make the best of it. While in Target, a woman with three kids approaches me and says, “Excuse me. I’m in this country five years and I have three kids and no money…” I stop her and say, “What are you asking me?” She repeats the same line to me. Her cart is half full. I tell her I’m on vacation. Later, as I am driving back, as I approach the red light on the corner, that woman is there with her three kids. All have lawn chairs. I catch the light, she walks right up to the car a places a large carboard sign on my window, stating the exact same phrase. Bold!
My daughter starts streaming shows and we have an early evening, snacking and repeating, “No! Daisy is a Duck!” all night. We both needed a short night anyway. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom and it will be s scorcher!
