eating with the fishes (day 11)

When the alarm went off this morning, we decided to ignore it. We’re tired. It’s been a very active vacation, and today we sort of crashed.

Elora decided she really wanted to watch Mulan, and we stayed in our pajamas until the afternoon. It was lovely and we needed it.

Around one o’clock Elora decided she wanted to go to the miniature golf course (which we call the Elora’s grumpy course) again, this time the Summerland. In all fairness, she’s getting better about being a sore loser, so it was actually a lot of fun. It was freaking hot though. We pasty Dutch people sometimes struggle with the heat.

Once home, Elora went swimming, and we decided to stay in the cool hotel room. Around 4 pm we all headed out to Epcot, where we had some fastpasses reserved. Our first ride was Mission Space, and this time Daan joined us. I was so nervous, because I wasn’t sure if he would come out feeling sick or not, but it ended up being okay, and he really enjoyed it.

We cheesed out in Ellen’s Energy Adventure. I love this ride, and was totally upset that they took out the Ellen animatronics figure, who was fighting a dino. I don’t like some of the changes.

After a quick ride in Spaceship Earth, we went to the Coral Reef restaurant. The food was gorgeous and I loved looking at the giant aquarium. If I ever get ridiculously rich, I want an aquarium like that, so that I can swim in it. *grin*

I wanted to go home, but we still had a fastpass for Test Track, and Elora gave me the puppy eyes. Because we didn’t want to wait for 20 minutes, we took a quick ride in the finding Nemo ride. I still have the ‘big blue world’ song in my head.

Test track had changed too, but I have to admit, it’s much better. Somewhere in the ride I lost my hair band… whoopsie. Lucky for me Elora managed to catch it. That thing went faster than I remembered. I loved designing our own car, though it was mostly Elora’s choice.

Yet another lovely day here in Disney. We really are having a wonderful time. I don’t miss home, but I do miss the cats. It’s funny, because now that I’ve decided to stay away from Facebook, I get daily messages telling me what I’ve been missing. Facebook is one pushy social media page *grin*

Blizzard beach (day 10)

Today was a different kind of active day. No theme parks for us, but Water parks and Miniature Golf.

Blizzard Beach is a lovely themed water park, where you feel like you’re swimming in the snow. We found nice seats in the shade, right off the swimming pool with waves (not big ones like in Typhoon lagoon) We swam around for a little and decided to explore the water park a bit more.

I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of slides. I always get hurt for some reason. The worst was when I knocked myself into a concussion. This makes me a little wary, and I prefer the slower rides, like the lazy river. That was actually really nice. We went on one of the slides, but we skipped all the really steep ones.

Like John Pinette once said: “This is not a slide… my ass doesn’t touch the slide… it’s a drop.” I don’t do those.

Elora played around on the water playground, and I actually managed to get a bit of reading done for the first time. When it got too hot, we decided to get a snack. We had fried ice-cream for the first time. It was lovely, though it didn’t taste that ‘fried’. We got it for free too, because the ladies machine wasn’t working to charge it. So we saved a snack point… woot.  (In truth I felt almost guilty, because I’m a dork)

Around one thirty we had enough of the water park, and decided to go for another round of Miniature Golf. This time at Winter / Summerland, which was smaller than the Fantasia Gardens, but still very cute. We decided to go for Snow, instead of Sand (but we really want to do Sand next time) and went for another lesson of ‘how to be good at losing’ with Elora. I have to admit, it’s a little exhausting. I don’t know where she picked that attitude up? Also, I thought our child had more of a sense of humor. Oh well… Daan and I laughed plenty. I think onlookers thought we were insane… and they would be right.

Once we got back home we decided to go swimming in our own pool too, lol. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. Instead of taking the car, we took the boat to Downtown Disney, where we ate at the big river boat of Fulltone’s crab house.

The crab was really good, but the restaurant was just too chaotic. We didn’t get served for a long time, and then suddenly our main course came before the bread. It wasn’t very relaxed either, and I was glad to get out of there.

Our mission was to get some magnets for my whiteboard at Magnetron… only it turned out that shop was no longer there. We did have a nice walk, and the performers in Downtown were awesome. I especially loved the saxophone player. He had style.

On the way back to the hotel we met some nice people on the boat, and we chatted for a bit. Then it really was time to go to bed for Elora.

Hollywood Studios (day 9)

The day started off hot and humid. We decided to skip breakfast, and just have some of our snacks instead. We headed off to Hollywood Studios and thought we were waaaaay too early. Only, it turned out that we weren’t the earliest ones, and we ended up in a long line. This didn’t bode well for the day, I thought, but to be honest, it wasn’t too bad. The fastpasses really are a life saver.

Again… no opening ceremony. I wonder if they got rid of the one in Magic Kingdom too. It makes me a little sad, because it was such an awesome way to start the day. A lot of things have modernized in the parks, which is great… but I kind of like the cheesy old stuff, and I don’t like that they get changed. It also bugged me that they took down the giant Sorcerer’s Apprentice hat. I know it was just a gift shop, but it looked so nice. Now it just doesn’t look as atmospheric anymore.

Elora decided that she wanted to try the tower of terror again, so we headed straight for that one. Our fastpass wasn’t until 9:20. There was quite a line, but that’s because the ride opened a bit late. So when it opened, it was our turn quite quickly. Elora was so nervous, her heart was pounding.

We got in the elevator, and I wrapped my arm around her. She did NOT like this ride. Her head was lodged in my armpit for most of it, and I felt so sorry for her. We decided to not try this one again for another few years. She came out pale and bug-eyed. The very evil person in me had to hold in her laugh, because it was a little funny. I did feel like a terrible mother, but in my defense, we only went in because SHE insisted.

Toystory Midway Mania was next. This is such a fun ride. It’s a bit like the men in black ride in Universal, but this one is just more fun. Elora loved it. She gets very competitive, and really almost kicked my ass. Not quite… but there was a point where we had the same points. Daan was the highest scorer.

The Great Movie ride is still one of my favorite rides. I love the cheesy goodness of it. The alien part is kind of scary, especially since the alien came out right above us. Well done!

We had nice seats at the Indiana Jones Stunt show, and Elora was utterly gutted that she couldn’t volunteer as one of the extras. She wanted to see everything up close. She did love the explosions though, it was so cute.

After Indiana Jones came the Frozen Sing A Long thingy. I have to admit, I was kind of dreading that one, but the performers had enough adult humor to actually make it really funny. And it was nice and cool inside (actually it was bordering on downright cold) Elora sang along loud and proud, as did all the other kids. It was so freaking adorable!

It was after one, and we decided to go home for a bit, because it was hot and really crowded. On the way back we got side tracked by a vicious little old lady with too much make up. She wanted to ask ‘us’ some questions… and with ‘us’ I mean Daan and Elora, because apparently I should have known my place and shut up. She actually completely ignored me, the little dinosaur didn’t look at me once, nor did she speak to me. The questions were all directed at Daan… who didn’t organize the trip, so he had to ask me all the time. The worst part is that she didn’t know how to work the tablet she needed to fill the questions on, so it actually took her 20 minutes to get us through this. I was actually to shocked to be snarky, but Daan kept deliberately asking me stuff, even for the things he DID know. At least she acknowledged Elora, or I would have gotten peeved.

Back home (yeah, it kinda feels like home) Elora and Daan went for a short swim. We didn’t have a lot of time, because we had dinner reservations, so we headed back to Hollywood Studios. We ate at Mama Melrose, where we had a Fantasmic package.

I really like this restaurant, it’s just really cozy. The food portions are RIDICULOUS. We didn’t know what hit us. Because we were on the Fantasmic package we got a starter, main AND dessert. The starters alone were more food than the three of us would eat for an entire meal. Daan’s flatbread was what we would consider a medium size thin crust pizza. I got a mountain of calamaris, and the only dish that was normal sized was Elora’s ministone soup. (I loved her soup, it was so fresh, that’s why Elora didn’t like it, and mostly just at my Calamaris)

We ate about two slices of Daan’s pizza… ehm… flatbread, and half my calamaris, then we decided to have the rest wrapped up, because we still had a main course. Daan had Chicken Parmagiana, I had pasta Seafood Arribiata and Elora had spaghetti and meatballs. Elora’s meatball also disappeared into our doggy bag, she was so full after the calamaris.

Completely stuffed, we left the restaurant, and Elora and I decided a roller coaster would be a good idea to digest our food *grin*. She wanted to go in the Rock and Roller coaster, from Aerosmith. I was really curious about this one, because I hadn’t ever ridden that before. Half way through the line, she was scared again. I was wondering if we should leave this time, but I know my kid… she would always wonder what it would be like. I though this one couldn’t be that different from the Mount Everest (which she absolutely loved) so I decided to stay in line.

Elora pointed out that the straps were different on this one, so it probably would go upside down. I had a sneaky suspicion it would too, and again I wondered if we should step out of line. Her heart was pounding again. We decided she would just give it a go.

It DID go upside down… and the damn thing was a lot faster than the Mount Everest… but Elora LOVED it. They took a picture all the way in the beginning, where she still looked terrified… but she came out with a big smile (and she wants to go again this trip)

When we came out we were just in time for Fantasmic. The dinner plan seats are SO MUCH BETTER this year. We were right in the center, and it was AWESOME!! I love this show, it’s one of the best ones.

We missed the last five minutes, because we decided to run ahead of the exodus. I felt like I was running (well… speed walking) away from the zombie horde. *lol*

When we got home we were completely tired, and Elora went right to bed. I think this was one of my favourite days of the trip so far.

 

Mini golf, sore losers, and silly dances. (day 8)

Our plan was to sleep in today, and we didn’t wake until after 9 AM, which is pretty decent for us. Even after we woke, we took our sweet time to get up and get going. We deserved a lazy day, the first week has been rather intense.

Breakfast was a few granola bars and some vegetable crisps… because we’re responsible parents that only feed our child healthy things #sarcasm

Today’s journey took us off property, and we went to the Barnes and Nobles to look for books for Daan. Unfortunately they didn’t have the ones he wanted, so we ended up buying a lot of books for Elora. No… none for me. My TBR pile is so daunting at the moment, I actually feel guilty about getting more books.

Elora is still being a Scrooge McDuck with her money, so she didn’t buy anything herself. Not even when we took her to the enormous Toys R Us. I kinda caved (not because she asked, btw) and bought her some Lalaloopsies as airplane presents for the way back. It’s a tradition that I like. I got her some for the way here too. And I’m a sucker.

Lunch was at a rather shabby Wendy’s and we weren’t impressed with the quality of the food there. Such a shame. I think that was our last visit at Wendy’s for the next few years (until we come back). Again, not too healthy.

Oh well.

The best part was going to Fantasia Gardens to play miniature golf. We Noodles are TERRIBLE at miniature golf, which caused for much hilarity. Daan was very impressed with both my ‘GAH I CAN’T HIT THE FREAKING BALL’ poses and my ‘HOLE IN ONE’ victory dance. We laughed so hard, I almost cried. Well… Daan and I did. Apparently our offspring doesn’t have a self-mocking cell in her body, and not much of a sense of humor either. I honestly don’t understand why, Daan and I always have great fun when we suck. So Elora got grumpy around the last holes. To make up for this, we decided to laugh at her instead. Because we’re great parents *coughs*.

The best hole was Mickey’s par from hell. We landed our ball in the water at least three times, and Daan got so proficient in fishing them out, it was almost a whole new sport. Daan and Elora went swimming for 45 minutes. I can’t join them for another couple of days, so I decided to go inside and update my blog for today. In a bit I’m going to go out for a walk around the property. Animal Kingdom is still my favorite, but this one has stolen my heart too.

Dinner was a hoot. We ate at the 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian hotel. It’s one of my favorite character dinner experiences. The food is pretty good (not as nice as the Garden Grill, neither is the atmosphere) but the wicked step sisters steal the show. They’re always fantastic.

We were joking around with Drizella, and our child forbade us to speak to the other characters, because we were embarrassing her. Of course we just laughed at her. The poor thing really has a hard life with two immature parents.

Stuffed from all the food and desserts we ate, we decided that we needed to do a bit of shopping to have some supplies in the room. I need to stay hydrated and the carbonated crap we get here, gets to me after a while. Plus I need salty snacks. My low blood pressure is really playing tricks on me in this warm weather.

Daan decided he didn’t need no stinking navigation… so we ended up driving past Tokyo to get to the Publix. It’s a good thing that we know how to laugh at our fuck ups, this means we laugh a lot.

Right now it’s 8:30 pm, and I promised to read Elora from the Black Beauty book she picked, so I better get cracking. Tomorrow it’s going to be a theme park day again, and we’re heading for Hollywood Studios.

Little girl lost (day 7)

We woke up to rain this morning, which seems to be a Noodles tradition when we go to Animal Kingdom. Daan packed the ponchos and I was looking forward to walking around like a human garbage bag all day… *here endeth the sarcasm*

Due to some unfortunate timing, I was feeling a bit out of sorts today, but that didn’t take away from the fun that we had.

The rain let up quite quick, and we were at Animal Kingdom a little earlier than planned. We sort of skipped breakfast, and had crackers instead.

The lines were growing behind us, and I was disappointed to see they stopped the opening ceremony for the Animal Kingdom too. Am wondering if there still an opening ceremony for Magic Kingdom. I’m dreading the worst. It’s such a shame, because it was an awesome way to start your day. But… oh well.

We were the first in line to ‘It’s tough to be a bug’. Elora was actually more scared of the spiders and the grasshoppers than she was when she was younger. It’s funny how her fear changes. She’s okay with roller coasters now, but it’s the actual scary things that get to her now. It sounds logical, but for us it’s new. Elora used to like the scary things, and that suddenly changed. That means we have to react differently as parents.

Our fastpass for the Mount Everest wasn’t active yet, so we decided to have some healthy *ahem* breakfast of a muffin, a Danish and part of a brownie. It was yummy, but tbh… all the sweets didn’t sit too well with me. So when we rode the Mount Everest, I came out a little on the green side. Elora absolutely loved it. She was a little apprehensive going in, but the whole time she had a huge smile on her face. It was kind of cool riding such a big roller coaster with her.

Animal Kingdom doesn’t have a lot of rides, so after getting turned into a human martini (shaken not stirred) in Dinosaur, and being amazed by the Nemo Muscial, we ended our day at the Kilimanjaro safari. It’s an awesome ride, and I really hope that in a few years we’ll get to do the ‘real thing’.

Despite not having been on a lot of rides, we actually left the park around 1:30 pm. I was really not feeling well, so I went to lay down for a bit, and I may have actually fallen asleep. Daan and Elora went to the pool during this time, and had a blast.

When I woke up we watched a little bit of TV and then we went off to dinner at Boma’s. We love going to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it’s our favorite hotel. I was a little freaked that somehow they didn’t have my reservation. Lucky for us they still had a spot. Dinner was lovely, one of our favorite buffet style dinners. They even had my absolute favorites ‘butternut squash soup’ and ‘watermelon rind salad’. I need to find the recipes for those.

Anyway, I’m being boring. We left dinner to go to Downtown Disney. I have to admit I struggle to get used to the crowds everywhere. Elora decided to take on the role of ‘little girl lost’ and nearly gave me a heart attack. Luckily, with the help of some very kind cast members, we found her again. I think I have aged 5 years tonight, though.

My mission was to get more Christmas decorations, Nightmare Before Christmas stuff (like a hoodie or stuff for my office) and a purse. I don’t actually own a purse and I want one. The problem is, none of the purses here are what I want. I kind of want a NBC one, or something with Maleficent or Tink. Because I’m five. They don’t even have that here. And all the purses here so far either sucked, were kinda cool, but clashed with anything I wear or were ridiculously expensive. Call me nuts, but I think $150,- for a purse that barely fits my phone is ridiculous. Think of the board games I could buy for that *grin*

The lego store was a true torment, and though I drooled, I didn’t buy. It’s not that much cheaper here than it is at home. I did succeed in finding some awesome Christmas decorations again, so I was pretty stoked about that.

Around 9:30 we were back at the room. Elora was so exhausted, she started to trip over her own feet. Tomorrow we’re not going to a theme park, but having a ‘rest day’. Which means we sleep in, and then get active anyway ;)  

EPCOT = every person comes out tired (day 6)

This morning we were Tired (with a capital T) These are long and active days we’re pulling, and though fun… we need to watch out that we don’t over exert ourselves (especially the kid)

We not so much got up, as oozed out of bed. We took enough time, so there wasn’t a rush like yesterday. After a nice breakfast of ‘create your own breakfast bowl’ (which is basically a big bowl of scrambled eggs with chosen ingredients, such as diced bacon, chopped tomatoes and onions, etc, on top.) we headed out to Epcot.

Arriving a little earlier than planned, we ended up in the middle of the long line of people who were in time for the opening ceremony. We had forgotten our suntan lotion, so I got some from the little cart that sells… everything.

Elora was fascinated by the people in front of us who had a lot of very cool Disney tattoos. She was especially impressed with the Figment on the lady’s leg. We got to talking to them, and they were lovely. I got a compliment about my Nightmare Before Christmas / Beatles crossover t-shirt. I’ve been getting a lot of compliments for my ‘nerd shirts’ here. I’m definitely amongst ‘my people’. *grin*

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that they changed it. No more characters, just a voice over the intercom and some confetti. Big whoop.

Normally we would join the masses and run to Soaring, but we had fastpasses, so we gave the ‘running with the bulls’ a miss. Definitely more relaxed. Our first ride was our favorite, Spaceship Earth. It’s the huge silver ball that is the symbol of Epcot. It’s old and cheesy and absolutely wonderful.

Figment was next, and I actually scored a shirt with Figment on it. Yay me! Elora and I went on the mission space and got some dried astronaut ice cream and strawberries. Up next was Daan’s favorite ride, Soaring. It really is very cool. A quick lunch was needed, because we truly are turning into hobbits here. We shared chicken and Mongolian beef, which were both pretty nice. Last, but not least, we found Nemo *snort*

Then it was time to go, because the Noodles were a bit cooked. Elora was so tired, she was actually getting annoying. She was really upset that we told her that she needed to rest. The way she was complaining, you would think we told her to do Hercules’ chores, instead of rest.

After moaning that she couldn’t sleep, she fell asleep for 4 hours… so I guess she was more tired than she thought.

We dragged her out of bed in time for Chip and Dale at the Garden Grill. Still one of our favorite restaurants. It was lovely, though the dessert wasn’t as good as it used to be. The characters were amazing. They really played around with Elora, and she loved it. She felt so special. I had underestimated how much she still enjoys the character experiences. The way she acted before we went, I thought she was getting too big for them, but while we’re here, the little girl in her comes out again. I love seeing that, she’s so adorable.

There was a heart-breaking moment after the meal. We got a birthday card (it was probably for me, since my birthday is coming up, and we sort of mentioned that we were half celebrating that) and Elora said: “Can I have it? I only had 2 birthday cards this year.” I didn’t realize that was so important to her, so next year I’m going to ask a big bunch of people to send her cards. Of course I let her have this one.

After dinner we wanted to go see some of the less popular rides, but they were all closed, so we decided to go home instead. We were still tired, and it was already after 7 pm.

I promised Elora she could get some ‘swag’ for her wristband (I can’t gush enough about those things) and we ended up in the hotel shop. I got some more Christmas decorations (geek squee) and some funky pens for my office. I’m really struggling with this ‘no buying stuff for Elora’. She has her own money to spend, which means I can’t spoil her rotten, and she needs to really decide what she wants and doesn’t want. Her plan is to safe up as much money as she can, and buy a horse ranch when she comes home, for her toy horses. I hope she makes it.

The night ended quiet. Elora got to watch a bit of TV. I think we’ll have some calmer evenings in the next two nights, because we need to recharge. Tomorrow we have Animal Kingdom on our schedule, which should be wonderful.

So far this holiday is a lot of laughs.

Magic Kingdom (day 5)

I woke up several times dreaming of being in the North Pole. The airconditioning was a bit frosty. Normally I would get out of bed and turn it down, but apparently I wasn’t altogether lucid last night, so I tried to cover myself with the tiny little decorative bedspread, and after that I grabbed a cardigan.

Don’t ask… I really have no answer for this.

Anyway, the alarm clock hit me hard this morning, and my ‘not quite lucid’ state might have lingered just a tad… yikes.

The Noodles were all excited about going to the Magic Kingdom. It’s our favorite park, and usually the start of our Disney experience. Elora, like me, was being a bit sluggish this morning, so when we finally went to Sassagoula Floatworks for breakfast, we were running late.

We’re on the dining plan, so that means we spend points for meals, it’s quite brilliant! We got one big breakfast platter between the three of us and a portion of three beignets. The portions here are so big, we couldn’t even finish one platter with the three of us. The beignets were okay, not as spectacular as we hoped. I expected them to be like oliebollen (Dutch seasonal pastry), but they weren’t as good.

The drive to the Magic Kingdom brought back some good memories. We always think back of our first holiday here, when Elora was only 2 ½.

The Disney cast member who welcomed us to the parking lot tram is my new hero, he was hilarious. The whole tram was in stitches when he started to sing ‘let it go, let it go,’ when he was describing what you should do if you accidentally dropped something out of the tram. The man had showbiz talent.

I have to admit, I was a little gutted that we missed the opening ceremony to the park. It’s a first day tradition, and it felt sad that we didn’t do it. We’ll get it next time, so I won’t dwell on it. I’m already happy I can take pictures again.

Normally I have a geeky and precise plan for the parks, but I’ve been so busy and distracted lately, I never made one. I honestly felt a little lost for a second. The fastpass plus things kinda threw me off too, though I have to say it’s great.

Who ever invented the magic wristbands is a genius, btw. They are SPECTACULAR. I love ease and comfort. I love not having to dig through my bag for cards to get in the parks. And these do everything! I can even pay in the shops with them. No hassle, it’s bloody brilliant.

We had fastpass tickets to the new Dwarf mine train attraction, from Snowwhite, but not until 10:30, so we had some time for other attractions. Winnie the Pooh had a reasonable wait-time, so we decided to go for that. I love the interactive play area in the line, it really makes the wait a lot less long. Peter Pan had a longer line, 45 minutes, and for a moment we hesitated, but Elora talked us into it. Turns out they changed the line for Peter Pan too… it was AMAZING! You go through the Darling house, where there is so much to see and do. My favorite part was the interactive shadow area, where we could hold up our hands to watch butterflies land on them, or ring shadow bells. Peter Pan’s shadow also flew around. And of course there was an appearance of Tinkerbell, who got stuck in a key hole. It was so great, the 45 minutes flew by.

We still had some time to kill, so we took a trip through Small World. I am ashamed how much we struggled naming certain cultures. I think Daan credited the Turkish nationality to about three different doll areas. *snort*

The line to the mine attraction was ridiculous, so I was very grateful we had a fastpass. It was a cute ride, but not one I’ll repeat this holiday. It wasn’t spectacular.

We decided to go to the Little Mermaid ride after that, and there was almost no line. I wasn’t sure why, because the park was pretty crowded already. Hey, we weren’t complaining. We had more time to kill before our next fastpass, so we ended up going to Elora’s former favorite ride: the Haunted Mansion.

It’s not her favorite anymore… in fact, I don’t think she enjoyed it a lot. Too scary, she decided. Remember, this is the same girl who wanted to ride Harry Potter twice, and wasn’t frightened of giant spiders or dementors… so… yeah… the Disney Haunted Mansion was ‘too scary’. Sure.

Our fastpass for Belle’s enchanted story time was a bust. Something broke, and after waiting for 40 minutes, we were told it would take another hour at least. Yeah… no thanks. We got a ticket for it, and we might go tonight. Plus we got a new fastpass for a random other attraction. Yay Disney, you rock.

We decided to have lunch in the park, and shared a pork shank, some mixed vegetables and crackers and hummus between the three of us. It was lovely. We found a nice place in the shade and enjoyed our meal. We had just missed Gaston, but I hope Elora will have her picture taken with him this holiday. He’s so funny.

After lunch, we went home. The park was getting ridiculously crowded, and the weather was too hot for us. We’re not used to being in the sun for hours at the time.

Daan went to the mall, while Elora and I took a 20 minute break from the sun and watched the Derby. Then the girls were off to the pool, where we cooled off for an hour and a half. Daan joined us when he came back, and then we went back to the room to get dressed for our dinner in the Beast’s castle.

We had to wait quite a while, and Disney doesn’t seem to like it when tired people sit, so we hung out on the bridge for a little while.

The inside of the Be Our Guest restaurant was truly breath taking. It really was as if we walked into a fairytale. From the enchanted rose, to the torn up painting… we were in the beauty and the beast story. My favorite part was the snow outside the windows of our part of the restaurant. It really looked like it was snowing outside.

The food was decent. We tried the grey stuff, and it truly was delicious. Our waiter was wonderful and a little clumsy… I adored him right away. These are my people… the klutzes and the misfits.

After dinner we wanted to explore the park again. We still had a free fastpass because of the Belle’s storytime thing, and we actually still had a ticket for Belle too, plus one more to meet Anna and Elsa.

The first stop was Belle’s storytime. It’s an interactive show, where the kids get to play the different parts. Personally, I’m not to fussed about this one, but I booked it because I know Elora loves this kind of stuff. She was very skeptical about it when I told her what we were going to do, and she basically told me she wouldn’t mind missing it. This always makes me doubt if I’m doing the right thing or not, but we decided to try this one anyway. Thank God that I stuck to my guns, because I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be the highlight of Elora’s holiday.
 

Elora loves to get picked for things, and so far she’s been really unlucky. Other kids get picked, and in Ollivanders –in Harry Potter land—the stupid shopkeeper even choose an adult over all the stary-eyed children’s faces.

Anyway, I was a little worried she would get a crappy part again (last time she was a painting) or not get any part. Luckily it turned out that everyone got a part (though some people were plates who did nothing in the performance)

When the lady was handing out the roles, she started with the beast. Elora roared her little heart out, but another girl got the part. But the next part was Philippe… A HORSE…

Ohhhh I was holding my breath and crossing my fingers. Please, please, please let her be the horse. My child neighed her little heart out for the audition… and…. GOT THE PART!! Oh, you should have seen her face. She was beaming so much, she lit up the room. She did such a great job that the whole room laughed when she played her part and she even skipped in a horsey trod when they got to do a circle around the audience. The whole night she was elated about having played the horse. It was freaking magical.

After Belle, Elora wanted to go and check out Dumbo in the new circus area. The new area looked nice, but I’m just not a fan of the ride. We went in, which was nostalgic, because it was our first ride with her, but Dumbo just doesn’t float my boat…

Daan made me laugh, because he was messing around in the elephant behind us, being a big goofball. He’s been cracking me up all vacation with his jokes and mad photobombing skills. I wonder how many people will notice they have a tall Dutch dude pulling faces on their picture.

After Dumbo I wanted to go to the Electrical light parade on mainstreet. So many freaking people were gathered there, and not all of them were that considerate. We sent Elora to the front (she’s a kid, people can look over her) with the instruction not to block anyone’s view, and we stayed in the back. Some people are real shitheads. I’ve seen grown men block the view of little kids. Gah!

We only caught a part of the parade, because our fastpass window was coming up and we wanted to be out of the park before the mass exodus to the monorail. It was lovely though, and Elora was completely enchanted.

The line to Elsa and Anna was long, but we only had to wait five minutes. I’m still so impressed with how nice and professional all the characters are. This is probably the last year that Elora wants to get everyone’s autograph, so we’re still going along in the madness of getting her on the picture with them. She was wearing a blue dress, and both Elsa and Anna commented on how lovely they thought her dress was. Elora –who is so vain, she makes Narcissus look laconic—was over the moon, and made sure I heard that she got compliments.

We wanted to go home, but the free fastpass was burning a hole in our pocket, so we decided to do a quick stop at Pirates of the Caribbean. Turns out our free fastpass wasn’t exactly working *whoopsie* but the guy was nice enough to let us through anyway.

After the ride we speed walked all the way across the park, hoping that we wouldn’t get stuck in the mass of people. It was tight, and we were pretty nervous. In past years we’ve had times where we would have to wait almost two hours to get the monorail to the parking lot, and we were too tired for that crap.

We made it to the first monorail, though some people decided that ‘if I run, I don’t have to stand in line’…. Ehm okay. We all got there in the end.

 

Elora was so tired, she almost fell asleep in the monorail. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. By 11pm we were all back in the hotel and in our beds, but it had been a long… looooong day.