Day 3
Again, we were up early to hit the opening of the park. The girls are early birds, so for us this wasn't that big of a deal. I felt bad for everyone else, but it paid off when we breezed right onto most of the rides!
Caitlyn (and the rest of us) were thrilled that Grammie was with us, having arrived late the night before. She couldn't wait to get her hands on the girls, and Caitlyn promptly snuggled in to spend most of her time with Grammie. This was our Hollywood Studios day, and off we went to the bus stop.
Just like the day before, we had to wait in a crowd for the park to officially open. As soon as it did, Danny and Jason were off and running to grab fast passes for Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster, while the girlies made our way over to Toy Story Mania. This is a really cute, interactive ride where you get to participate in 3D midway style games and compete against your partner. Caitlyn loved it when we were at Disneyland, but she and Rylee both got a bit wound up in the line. It seemed like this was how they liked to welcome in the first ride of the day! Luckily, they both liked the ride, and we were done before most people had even gotten their fast passes- this line was insane and later in the day people were waiting 100 minutes to ride!
After this, we headed to Voyage of the Little Mermaid (a show), and then we split up. The Grammies and the little girls went to see Beauty and the Beast (Grammie's absolute favorite thing), while the parents went to do the Backlot Tour. As we were waiting in line, they asked for volunteers, and Jason began jumping up and down. Since Jason is *vertically challenged* and Amanda is tall, she helped him out, thinking we would get to go on the ride sooner. Not exactly.
Jason volunteered the 4 of us to be the actors in the special effects demonstration- water effects, that is. We were given nylon suits and rubber boots and had to act out an attack on our boat, complete with bombs, torpedos and bullets! Amanda and I ran around like idiots, Danny piloted the boat, and Jason was hit with 2000 gallons of water. Afterwards, they edited our parts into a short movie. Of all the things that Disney sells, this, sadly, is not one of them. We didn't even get pictures of our adventure!
Oh, and the suits they gave us to protect our clothes?? They were water resistant, not waterproof, so our consolation was that Jason was by far the most wet!
Since the girls were still in their show, we decided to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster. I am not a big coaster fan- most of them terrify me- but Disney coasters are a bit different since they are so well-themed and not as crazy as some others. This one is a bit wild though, with a 0-60mph takeoff at the beginning. Amanda and I rode together, and the picture they took shows us clutching our harnesses, with eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched.
By this time, we were ready for lunch and off to our reservation at Mama Melrose. The food was amazing, and we were all ready for naps and swimming. Caitlyn stayed at the park to ride one more thing with Grammie, and then we all met back at the hotel pool.
A word about Caitlyn in the water- she is fearless, and she thinks she can do everything by herself. She likes to jump in, be thrown, fall backwards, whatever. She loved our pool time as much as the parks. Even Lorelei is a water baby and loves to splash about.
After the pool, the girls had a picnic dinner at the resort.
Day 4
This was our off day from the parks, although the Broussards/Underwoods and Grammie planned to see the Magic Kingdom. We all had 5 day tickets, but since our arrivals and departures varied, we needed to skip a day.
I honestly think I might be a little bit OCD, as evidenced by my cleaning, organizational and planning habits. Clothing is another example- on days when I know we will take lots of pictures, I try to coordinate the girls outfits, at least to some extent. Today we went for full out matching, and Caitlyn thought it was very fun!
We started our day at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort- the hotel that the monorail goes through! The food was good- typically Disney with some whimsical items thrown into the standard buffet fare. How could you not love Mickey-shaped waffles??
This was another character breakfast. For some reason, Caitlyn liked the big, furry characters and wanted nothing to do with the princesses on this trip. Rylee wanted nothing to do with ANY characters, no matter how they were dressed.
And Lorelei shocked us all. Not only did she want nothing to do with the characters, she wanted them to stay FAR AWAY! If they got too close, she threw a screaming, shaking fit. The funny (or sad) part is that this included cast members who were in a uniform. Lorelei was fine with other tourists milling about, talking to her, even touching her. But, let a waitress in a uniform get near her, and she was screaming and clawing to get away. Poor baby. If you look closely, you can see her sweet, sad expression:
Caitlyn loved all of the characters:
After breakfast, Caitlyn went with everyone else to the Magic Kingdom, and Jason and I browsed around the resort, did some laundry, and eventually met up with everyone at the pool.
For dinner, we were back on the monorail to travel to the Polynesian Resort for our luau dinner at 'Ohana. The resort was beautiful, with a lush, tropical waterfall showcased in the lobby.
I'd been looking forward to this for months, and it did not disappoint. Everything was served family style- honey-lime salad, wings, potstickers, noodles, and perfectly grilled shrimp, steak, turkey and pork. It was fabulous!
Rylee, Caitlyn and the daddies got to participate in some dancing and the limbo, while we all watched in amusement. Lorelei was still afraid of servers, so the dancing was not an option for her.
At the end of our meal, I stepped out to check on a cab, and it was then that Caitlyn decided to spice up our evening a bit. She threw up, what seemed like a gallon of fluid, all over Grammie- the front of Grammie, the back of Grammie, even inside Grammie's purse. Yuck.
The only bright side was that she perked up after that. We got the two of them cleaned up as much as possible, just in time to head for the beach to watch the Wishes fireworks. Caitlyn played in the sand, and we had a perfect view of the fireworks and the castle.
And it was here that I got a surprise. I have always given Jason a hard time because he did not propose under the fireworks on our first trip to Disneyland. So, while we were watching the fireworks, he slipped a Mickey pearl necklace on me, and asked if I would renew our vows on our 5th anniversary. In typical Jason fashion, he now insists that he proposed under the fireworks at Disney!
Fireworks are just magical!
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