The carpets of Aladdin will always have a special place in my heart. When we went in 2016, my daughters were 6. It was the second ride we got on. My daughter who is on the autism scale sat up front with me. I told her she could raise us up or down as she wanted, but she refused, so I told her I would do it. I raised us all the way up to the top and looked over at her. She had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen her have. That was what I call my “price of admission” moment. They could have come to me and said “Sir, we understand you have spent several thousands of dollars to come here, but you must go now.” And it would have all been worth it.
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This might have lead to some pixie dust in my eye. 
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Well, something got in my eye. I thought they might have messed up someone’s Dole Whip by adding onions and some how the fumes got all the way over there, but maybe it was just a little pixie dust.
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Aww, what a sweet story! Thank you for sharing. I am hoping for some big smiles next month as well.
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I have to give a vote for the AstroOrbiter. Yes, long line for a short ride but RD it if you are in Tomorrowland with a kiddo who is not tall enough for Space Mtn. It is higher and faster than Dumbo or Carpets, and actually (to me) was impressive and somewhat thrilling. It was my son’s price-of-admission moment b/c we selfie-videoed our ride in which I became much more scared than I expected and my son (3 at the time) laughed his head off. Today when I asked him what he is most looking forward to when we return in October, 2 years hence, and he said, “riding the rockets high in the sky with you!” So, there’s that. It’s all personal preference in the end.
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I like AO but riding it with small kids would give a me a heart attack. You definitely feel the rotation more than another of the other rides and the rocket sides are low with one belt holding in the riders.
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I’m also an AO fan. It IS a boring, slow line, but I LOVE the views from the top. I think it goes a little bit faster than the other spin style rides. Each rocket is designed for 2 to three people. With your ages, one adult and two kids would be OK. I will need to plan to ride it at night sometime. I imagine it would be amazing during the fireworks if you can time it right.
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I’m not sure what it is, but there definitely is something special about AO. It loads slow and it’s not that exciting, but the views, especially at night, really are the essence of Disney. I can still picture my son just staring off into the distance in amazement as we went around and around on his first ride.
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Agree totally! You can find the Dumbo style ride almost anywhere, but I’ve never been in anything quite like AO.
Slightly off topic, but kind of related…
Yesterday, my wife and I went to see Christopher Robin. One of the previews was for a live-action remake of Dumbo! So, it seems the Dumbo ride will probably be given new life by an infusion of refreshed intellectual property. Movie doesn’t open until March 2019, though.
This is so sweet!! 
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I will just say its very cool at night, and you have a great view of the park being higher up. But don’t wait for more than 15 min for it.
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How was the movie? I really like the live action remakes of everything. Nothing will replace the originals by any means, but it is fun seeing the live actions. A brilliant marketing move on Disney’s part; free money!
Christopher Robin?
It wasn’t a remake. Hard to classify it, exactly. Not really a sequel, but kind of. It follows the life of Christopher Robin as and after he grows up, having basically forgotten about the hundred acre wood.
It is a “quiet” movie. And I’m not sure I would say its main audience is kids. In fact, I’d argue that kids under the age of 8 would be bored. Most of the nuance of the movie is targeted more towards adults.
In some ways it was similar to the stereotypical “man has lost his innocence of childhood and find it again” movie. But actually, I think this movie took a slightly different angle with it…more balanced and nuanced. My wife and I actually came away discussing it for about 2 hours after seeing it.
I’d say it is well worth seeing, but if you plan to take kids, they would probably be better a little older.
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I just had to comment on your name “Sponsored by Chico’s Bail Bonds” Hilarious!
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You are correct, it pulls more G’s definately, due to the slightly different lift design and speed!!!
This.
I loved it. But I think how I described it to someone as “Kind of Mary Poppins from Mr. Banks’ point of view minus the singing nanny.”
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Yeah. I can see that.
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We RD Astro orbiter (well, a few minutes after RD…we tried to RD it). My 2 year old was terrified but my 6 year old loved it. I enjoyed it but wouldn’t want to wait in line for it. We did AO and then Tomorrowland speedway. Seemed to be a good order location-wise and still got us to Winnie the Pooh before lines were terrible.
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We did it exactly twice. If you haven’t done it, do it only if you can get a wait time below 20 mins and after the sun sets when TL is lit up. Also note, the cars are SMALL. I felt so squnched up.