theDIBB - Day 12 ~ Hollywood Studios, Mama Melrose, Fantasmic & The Day Noah Went Missing! ~ 7th November 2018

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Day 12 ~ Hollywood Studios, Mama Melrose, Fantasmic & The Day Noah Went Missing ~ 7th November 2018

This morning was a lazy morning for us. I woke at 7.30am and got up for a shower at 8.20am. Caitlin went after me. Caitlin decided she wanted to wear her princess hat, I told her not too as it would be too warm and she needed something to keep the sun out of her eyes, but being the pre teen she is she wouldn't listen. Now remember that fact for later!

We ate some of Caitlin's birthday cake and headed to the food court at Port Orleans for breakfast. We took the left over cake to reception and told the CM the staff could help themselves to it as we couldn't fit it in our fridge. This was actually really nice and so much better than the cakes we'd had so far in Disney, it was very moist and tasty. I think it was from the Publix Bakery.

Port Orleans Food Court

Chris was dithering over what to order as usual ... this boy just can't make a decision!

Me:

Mickey-shaped Waffle -with Fruit Topping, Bacon, and Sausage - $8.79

I really enjoyed this, I knew we were nearing the end of the holiday and I wanted to get my fill of Mickey Waffles :pgig: I got bacon with mine and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I was sad it would be my last breakfast :(

Chris:

Bounty Platter - served with small Mickey-shaped Waffle or Pancakes - $10.69

As usual Chris enjoyed this but he opted for pancakes instead of a mickey waffle.

Caitlin:

Mickey-shaped Waffle -with Fruit Topping, Bacon, and Sausage - $8.79

Caitlin chose this, then once we sat down complained as she was sick of waffles and wanted pancakes ... so why not order pancakes? :mad2:

Thomas and Noah:

Pancakes - served with Fruit Topping, Bacon and Sausage - $8.79

Both the boys enjoyed these, even though we waited forever for Thomas to finish his ... I swear if he ate any slower he'd not be eating!

We all got drinks with these meals and put the remainders in our bag to take to HS.

We were on the bus to HS by 10.40am. Now my notes are quite sketchy for today so I'll try to remember what we did based on photos as my notes aren't too good ... they only get worse as the last few days go on too :pgig:

As soon as we got through bag check we went to see Olaf, this was only a 5 minute :thumbs-up

By now it was 11.30am and we went to Walt Disney Presents and had a look around, we also got a sneak preview of the new Wreck It Ralph film which the kid's loved. After this we also went and done the little mermaid and grabbed some drinks.

It was another warm one.

I vaguely remember this from my 2003 visit and Chris was really looking forward to it. We enjoyed it although I think we were more grateful for the air con :pgig:

After this is was around 1.30pm. Chris had decided he wanted to get photos with Woody and Jessie so we went to join the queue. We got a photopass on our way in as it was quiet.

I was getting concious of the time as it was getting on and we had an ADR at Mama Melrose at 2.05pm, but Chris really wanted to wait. Caitlin was having herself a tantrum because the sun was in her eyes and she was too hot. It had warmed up to 31C so it was hot. She was in a right grump and almost didn't get her photo taken! In the end I took my hat off and gave it to her ... big mistake as I ended up burning along my hair line :mad:

Whilst in the queue the kid's were a little peckish and I wanted a break from the kid's carrying on so I offered to go to Woody's Lunchbox ... mainly for a break :pgig:

I came back with:

"Totchos" - Potato Barrels coated with Beef and Bean Chili, Shredded Cheese and signature Queso with Tomatoes and Corn Chips finished with Sour Cream and a sprinkle of Green Onions -$8.99

Mystic Portal Punch- POWERade® Mountain Berry Blast with flavors of Lemon-Lime and Tangerine - $4.49

Chocolate-Hazelnut Lunch Box Tart - Chocolate-Hazelnut stuffed Pastry coated in Maple Fondant and Candied Bacon - $3.29

For some reason I don't have a photo of this. I opted for the 'Totcho's' without chilli as I knew the kid's wouldn't eat them ... heck it was hard enough to get them to eat it with the sour cream and spring onions on! We really enjoyed these, the potato barrels were crispy and hot, it really helped fill a little hole.

I got the drink as just something for to refresh us, I didn't expect to like it, but we all loved it, I wished we'd got more ... not that I could carry more, I struggled with what I had in the first place :pgig:

The tart was a bit of a waste as it got put on the pushchair whilst we ate the Totchos then we seen Jessie and Woody and went for lunch. I noticed it later in the evening and had a little nibble but it didn't taste right cold so I threw it away. I'd love to try it again next time properly.

Just after we'd finished these we got to the front of the queue!

By the time we finished it was 2.10pm so we hotfooted it across the park to Mama Melrose for our ADR. We found it relatively quickly considering I was just guessing where it was haha. We checked in at 2.20pm. The kids did some pin trading whilst we waited.

Whilst in reception a foreign gentleman was arguing with the CM. The CM had explained that you needed ot book in advance for a table and that they didn't have any available at all ... the man couldn't seem to grasp it and kept bringing his family of around 10 into the reception area (which isn't the biggest reception!) I'm not sure what happened as we got taken to our table.

I mainly booked this for the Fantasmic tickets but we all like Italian so we were looking forward to it. The restaurant appeared rather busy.

We had a lovely server, I think her name was Karen? She explained the dining package to us and that we got 3 courses with the DDP. She took our drinks order and left us to mull over the menu.

By this point in the holiday we were pretty fed up of food which I think ended up clouding our judgement of the meal. We decided we didn't want any appetisers and just ordered our main courses.

Whilst waiting for these we were brought some bread rolls and olive oil which were nice enough, we ended up keeping some aside for the boys as I expected them not to eat their meals :pgig:

Chris, Caitlin and I:

Charred Strip Steak - Four-Cheese Macaroni with Pancetta, Aged Balsamic-Shallot Butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction - $33

Caitlin had hers with plain pasta. I really wanted to enjoy this meal but none of us enjoyed the steaks, every single one was very fatty, now I'm not sure if it's the cut of the steak or just us being fussy as we normally have filet at home, but we really didn't like it. I found the mac n cheese very rich and a little too powerful. I felt it had a strong taste of Parmesan cheese, it overwhelmed it.

Thomas:

Margherita Flatbread - Fresh Vine-ripened Tomatoes, Mozzarella, House-made Marinara Sauce, Fresh Basil, and drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil- $15

As Thomas was using an adult credit meal he got an adult pizza. I think he managed about 1/3 of it which is good considering! Chris Caitlin and I dug into the rest of it :pgig: It was nice although I found it had too much tomato but I'm not a fan of tomato sauces. Everyone else enjoyed it so probably just me!

Noah:

Noah opted for his usual plain pasta and ate about half of it.

Next up was desserts.

Chris and I got:

Dessert Sampler - Miniature versions of Mama’s favorite Desserts Valencia Blood Orange Cake, Lemon Cheesecake topped with Passion Fruit Pearls, and Tiramisù - $6.50

Thomas and Noah just got a bowl of apples each which they both really enjoyed, never seen them enjoy an apple so much before :pgig:

No one ate the tiramisus as neither of us like coffee :pgig: Chris ate both the cheesecakes and I ate one of the blood orange cakes. These weren't anything special but there was nothing wrong with them. Chris didn't like the passionfruit balls on top of the cheesecake so Caitlin and I ate them :pgig:

I don't think we would return here. I really wanted to enjoy it as I loved the menu but I think the heat and too much food have clouded our judgement. We may try it again in future but it's not a definite for us.

We were all finished by 3.20pm. We had our first FP which was for Slinky Dog Dash between 3.05pm and 4.05pm so we headed back to the TSL. We got a return time with the DAS pass for TSM on the way.

The FP queue was quite long but it went down rather quickly. We all really enjoyed this. Noah asked to go on again bless him :pgig: For some reason our photos didn't work on this like they didn't on Frozen Ever After :cry: sadly we didn't realise until we got home. Chris put in the missing photo form but they couldn't find them :(

We had a little wait for our TSM time so we used the restrooms in TSL. We all loved the theme of these.

As we came out the Army Men had gathered near the Alien Swirling Saucers to perform a little musical show. We all really enjoyed this and they got the audience involved too which was fun.

Next up we headed to TSM and we all really enjoyed this. I didn't do as well as last time and my score was 153,500, it was over 164,000 my first time I think. Chris took some photos in the queue to pass some time.

Chris took some photos around TSL

Time was getting on and our FP for RnR had opened up now so we headed over that way. Now here was a planning fail ... as time had got away with us, it was now almost 5pm. Our RnR FP ran out at 5.05pm ... our last chance to see Beauty and the Beast was 5pm ... it was 4.55pm. We made the decision for Chris and Thomas to ride RnR and me, Caitlin and Noah went to watch BaTB.

When we came back out Chris and Thomas had been and gotten some drinks and were waiting on the wall for us. We were all getting tired now, this was one of the first full park days we'd done, we'd been here since 11am and everyone was getting tired.

Next we headed to ToT. We didn't have a FP until 6.05pm so we got a return time with the DAS pass which was for 5.48pm, so we went and had a look around the shop.

After this Caitlin decided she wanted the toilet so headed down there herself. Once she'd gone Chris and the boys decided they wanted to go so I thought I might as well too. We left the pushchair outside with all the others at ToT as we were going back for our return time after the toilets.

After the toilets I headed back to the pushchair and Caitlin was there. We stood and watched for Chris and the boys. Thomas came first and we stood and chatted then Chris came round the corner. As he was walking towards us I noticed Noah wasn't there. The conversation went a little like this:

Me: Where's Noah?

Chris: He came out with you didn't he?

Me: No he went in with you, you held his hand.

Chris: He followed Thomas out.

Me: (Getting panicked and irate with him at this point) Where the hell is Noah?! He was with you!

I ran down to the toilets and looked around, it was really packed and busy as the light show on the ToT had just started as it was dark. I felt sick, I had palpitations, my breathing was heavy and I honestly thought I was going to pass out and throw up at the same time. I looked around the pillars outside the toilets and there stood Noah. I burst out crying grabbed him and held him tight.

By this point Chris and the others had caught up and were next to us. I asked Noah what happened and he said he came out of the toilets with dad and he was taking photos :mad: so Noah hid behind the wall and jumped out to scare him but he wasn't there, so he just stood where he was and waited for him, bless him.

I told him he was such a good boy for staying in the same place so we could find him. Chris and I didn't speak about it in front of the kid's but that night we did argue over it because most of the holiday was shadowed with him taking photos instead of helping with the kid's or neglecting the kids for it. I understand it's nice to have photos for memories etc but not at the expense of the kid's, especially their safety. It's also so much harder with Noah having additional needs so he does need that bit extra supervision.

Chris is much more relaxed when it comes to the kid's than me but even this scared him. After this, whenever Noah was with him he held his hand and didn't let go. It scared us all and happened so quickly and easily.

I've never had a panic attack before but I honestly think I was on the verge of one at that moment. It just doesn't bare thinking about it he wasn't there :cry: I'm feeling sick just reliving it.

Anyway ... back to the report ... need to lighten it up again!

We all went on ToT which we enjoyed although we did feel a little sick after this, the boys were raring to go back on again and the FP was now open so I took one for the team and went on with them whilst Chris and Caitlin waited it out. When we came off I grabbed 3 bags of Goofy's candy for the Fantasmic show.

We headed round to look at the projections on the ToT which were so pretty.

The kid's loved it and the snow, it was so magical. It reminded me of the MVMCP we went to in 2003 with the snow on Main Street :D

Chris popped to a shop somewhere and got some popcorn and drinks for Fantasmic and we headed in about 7pm. We were tired and just ready for a sit down by now, it didn't start till 8pm :pgig:

The kid's played on their tablets and I wrote up my notes for the day whilst we waited. I didn't realise until Collybirds report that theres actually a place inside to get snacks AND they do nachos :cry: devastated. One of the popcorn Chris chose none of us liked so it ended up being wasted.

I had told Chris about the mexican wave when we did Fantasmic in 2003 and I was thrilled when they started doing it tonight! :D The kid's loved joining in, especially Noah.

Fantasmic is my favourite show. Ever. I absolutely love it, I'm not sure if it's because of all the different characters involved or if it's because it's the only one I fully remember, but it definitely didn't disappoint, I even shed a tear :cry:

As we left the theater Thomas's balloon had severely deflated so we popped it and put it in the bin ... this then meant that Noah wanted to pop his too :pgig: We told him we only popped Thomas' as it was broken, Noah's wasn't. We managed to distract him thankfully. We caught a little of the Star Wars show on the way out. We were on the bus by 8.50pm.

I spoke to Noah about his balloon and asked what he thought about giving it to another child who didn't have a balloon. He said he would think about it :pgig:

All the kid's were asleep by 9.45pm that night. Chris and I watched some TV and had our conversation about the incident earlier with Noah. We were both asleep by 10.30pm :zzz: Another fab and busy day although we were all getting ready for a break, we still weren't ready to go home though!

Steps: 14,840
Snacks: 10 USED – 68 LEFT
QS Credits:6 USED- 20 LEFT
TS Credits: 5 USED - 10 LEFT