After our visit to Disney Springs we walked back to the hotel and collapsed. I can’t say enough how nice it was to be within walking distance of DS. We don’t have a car or even know how to drive, and being from NYC we walk everywhere! It’s always weird to go to a place where you have to drive everywhere. So it was just nice to be able to take a walk somewhere.
There are shuttle buses for all the hotels around DS that begin an hour before park opening, so in our case 8:00. We had planned on catching the 8:00 bus to HS but getting everyone up and dressed proved harder than I imagined and we ended up on the 8:30 bus. Now you wouldn’t think those 30 minutes would make a huge difference but they really did! I feel like our plan was thrown off enough that it kind of messed up the rest of the day.
After we got into the park, probably around 9:20, the first place we headed was to sign DS up for Jedi training. I was hoping for a morning show but the earliest available was at 3:10. I got him signed up and he was happy as a clam. And also spent the next 5 hours asking if it was time to go to training yet every ten or so minutes. That was fun. Once he saw the line to sign up, my DH was super impressed that I knew where to go first thing and, I think, started to understand the importance of having a plan of attack.
The first thing on my optimized TP was Muppetvision 3D before our first FP. By this point we were behind schedule but when we found our way over there we saw no line so headed in. We didn’t realize that we were in the pre-show and were extremely confused by what we were seeing and what we were supposed to be doing! My DD starting getting upset and bored with the whole thing and started screaming to leave. My husband took her out and I stayed with DS. More confusion followed as the pre-show went on and on. I started getting nervous because our first FP for Frozen sing-a-long was coming up. Found DH and switched kids. Rushed DD over to the theater and found good seats. DH and DS got through Muppets 3D and ended up getting into the sing-a-long at the last moment. My husband then proceeded to sing as loud as possible much to my son’s embarrassment! Overall, I thought the show was cute and the narrators were funny but I didn’t realize it was literally just going to be clips from the film. I thought Anna and Elsa were going to be singing live. Silly me. My little one still enjoyed it though. I did get a hint of what was to come when it “snowed” in the show. My girl was terrified! She’s generally pretty fearless and isn’t normally frightened of much so this surprised me.
Next up, our son was desperate to go to Star Wars launch bay. So even though it was originally on our plan for later in the day we decided to go for it. As we were heading over there my DD caught sight of Doc McStuffins in the Disney Jr area and decided she had no interest in Star Wars. I took my DS into the launch bay while Daddy took DD to meet some of her fave characters. She met Doc, Sophia, and Pluto. Super cute! Launch Bay was awesome. We met Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren was super creepy and told my son he was going to come find him and teach him the ways of the Dark Side. I was as excited to see Chewbacca as my son (maybe more?) and gave him a big hug. It’s so funny how your rational brain sort of goes away at Disney. Rationally I know Chewy is a person in a costume but it’s still an emotional experience to see this character I’ve grown up with in person. Anyway, DS wanted to wait for BB8 but our next FP was almost expired so I told him we’d try to come back later for him (Spoiler: we didn’t make it back. Sigh.)
Just then my husband called and said he was going to take DD to Disney Jr Live which was about to start. I told him not to because our Toy Story FP time was going to run out and we’d go back to see it later (Spoiler: we didn’t make it back to that either. Double sigh.). TSMM was fun but my DD was a bit scared by it. Too loud for her I think.
By now it was getting to be lunch time. My kids’ diet mainly consists of Goldfish crackers, grapes, and pizza. Seriously. So our lunch options were sort of limited. We decided on PizzaRizzo for obvious reasons. I didn’t think to order ahead of time on the MDE app which was a mistake. While we were waiting on the super long, slow moving line everyone was getting cranky and annoyed with each other. Finally got our food and found seats after circling around for a while. The food was mediocre at best but we were hungry and it was edible so it all worked out. A lovely lady offered us her unopened tiramisu, which my husband gleefully accepted.
After lunch we spotted the Imperial March. We were all anxious to see it but my daughter was absolutely scared out of her mind. Literally shaking. So we waited on a bench while my DH and DS headed over to the street to watch the march. A few minutes later my son comes running over by himself. I asked him what happened and he said he was running away from the Stormtroopers Kylo Ren sent to find him. i asked him if Daddy knew he left and he said yes. Okay. So we wait a bit and as the march ends and my DH is still nowhere to be found I realize that he in fact did not know that DS had run back to me. I called DH and he was in an absolute panic, had gotten security and everything. Oh boy was he furious when he got back to us. And then we became THAT family. The one where every member is having a meltdown or yelling or crying. It was awful. My husband was fuming, I was upset that this is how our trip was going and angry at DS for leaving my husband, my DS was upset because he realized what a dumb thing he had done, and my DD was scared of the whole thing.
My plan had been to do rider swap with our Star Tours FP but my DH grabbed my son to take him to the ride and I just didn’t have it in me at that point to try and stop him and explain the process to him. So off they went and I took DD to meet Olaf. OMG meeting Olaf was sooo cute. The posted wait time was something like 25 minutes but it really only took about 5 minutes to get into the room with him. My little girl went right up to him and gave him a big hug. Then he motioned for her to touch his nose, which she thought was so funny. The whole interaction was so sweet and she immediately wanted to go back to see him again. By then the line was much longer so we decided to keep moving.
While waiting for DS and DH to finish Star Tours I grabbed an FP for ToT hoping we’d get to it after Jedi Training. Unfortunately, by now with no nap and being out in the heat all day, DD was seriously losing it. Oy. While I’d planned a midday break for our other days, I’d foolishly planned to stay the whole day at HS, leaving before dinner. It turns out that was just too much for the kids. They really do need a break in the middle of the day.
Time for Jedi Training. My DS loved it and did an awesome job fighting Darth Vader. The CMs in the show were really great. All I could think of was how can they do this all day in the heat and keep up that level of energy. It was really impressive.
By now we were all fried and the kids were both asking to leave. So we let go of our ToT FP and headed back to the hotel for some swimming and another walk over to DS.
Overall, I think there were some small things we could have done to make the day better and more productive. Making it in time for RD. Really prioritizing what’s important to do/see and making sure to get those things done as soon as possible. I’m sad we didn’t get to see Disney Jr Live and that I didn’t get to do Star Tours or ToT or meet BB8. Never assume you’ll make it back to something later, you probably won’t, especially if you’ve got little kids with you. If you get off track with your plan it’s okay to skip a few steps. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the plan exactly. Make sure to take a break in the middle of the day, don’t assume stroller naps will happen or that the kids will be happy to stay in the park all day. Really try to see things from the perspective of your kids. I didn’t think my DD would be scared of things like fake snow or certain rides because she’s so fearless at home. But she is only just turned 3 and I can’t imagine how overwhelming the whole Disney experience was for her.
With all this swirling through my head I tried to get some rest in order to be ready for Day 3: Animal Kingdom…
