The Magic 3 do DLP - Day 3

[MrsSilverStar]

Day 3 - Friday 16th February

We were up early for another mad dash to the parks for EMH - we were starting at Studios today as I wanted to get on Crush. We probably arrived around 8am so had our flapjacks in the queue while we waited for the park to open. The plan was for me to head to Crush, while the boys would go to Ratatouille.

Today was our one and only sunny day, it made such a difference to our moods! Was lovely to see a blue sky.

My notes say I was on Crush by 8.33 and I have to confess that I did run when the gates opened I wasn't planning on it, but everyone else started running and I got swept up in the excitement I did feel quite daft but it was worth it as I was practically straight on.

I was in the front of the shell on my own and I loved the ride! It seems to get a bit of a kicking online but I really enjoyed it.

I went down to meet the boys to find that Ratatouille wasn't open unfortunately. Heath took the disappointment well and we headed off to Rock n Roller coaster. Mark went first, then me - there was no way Heath was going on, bless him!

The first of many ride photos of me with my eyes closed

I thought this was ok. Maybe because I was sat next to a completely silent stranger, but I just didn't get too excited by this ride.

Tower of Terror opened at 9.30 so I joined the queue for this while the boys went over to check out if Ratatouille was up and running yet.

Love the woman's face next to me I loved ToT! The CM was fab and really playing up the creepy character, sneaking up on people and just being very odd! Fantastic theming all the way through too. I regretted not taking off my laynard as it floated up past my face when we dropped! So much fun.

Meanwhile, the boys had grabbed a fast pass for Ratatouille and were now in the queue for the Cars ride again so I joined them there, followed by another spin on the Carpets of Agrabah.

After that, we decided to grab a snack and have a sit down while we waited for the fast pass window.
We went to a little kiosk in the Restaurant en Coulisse area - I forgot that this is where people on the meal plans can use their vouchers, so it was quite busy, but as we weren't queuing for hot food, it didn't take too long and I was able to find a table for us.

Cost €17.46 for 3 drinks, 2 doughnuts and a cookie - all of which were surprisingly tasty! It was nice to have a little rest after our early morning race around.

Headed back to Ratatouille once the fast pass was live and spotted they had PhotoPass photographers outside. I knew they had a special Valentine's frame after seeing it on social media so hopped in the queue for photos.

They made us do the classic "ew, my parents are kissing" shot

Followed by some nicer family shots

Then it was time to ride. I went on as a single rider while the boys used their fast passes (I had my ticket when Mark got them earlier, so he couldn't get one for me).
There was a mum and her son ahead of me - the poor kid freaked out when it was time to get on. He dropped to the floor so she tried to drag him along he then leapt up and started running around desperately looking for an exit...poor kid, and poor mum who did admit defeat and swiftly left with him.

After all that excitement, we decided to leave Studios and head to the main park. On our way out, there were a few characters out in the front lot. There were no queues, people just huddled round them and took turns - I was surprised by how well this worked actually. I only had to to block one teenager from pushing in and I think Mark had words with a woman who had made the mistake of trying to get in front of Heath
We met Winnie the Pooh, Daisy and the mice from Cinderella, Suzy and Perla.

Suzy and Perla were great, they were dancing with Heath and he bowed to one of them when they curtsied, which led to them pretending to faint and fanning themselves

We headed on into the main park and spotted that the anniversary show on the little stage by the castle was starting shortly, so we grabbed spots for that. Again I had railings to my back, while Mark and Heath went round the back of the railings so again Mark could lift Heath without blocking other people (if only all were so thoughtful eh? )

There was a man next to me, with a big fancy camera, who kept huffing every time someone got in his way - which was a bit daft as we were right at the back It was a good enough view for us and I love getting to see the shows, such a Disney highlight for me.

We had another spin on IASW but the fast pass machines were still down at Peter Pan so we walked through the castle to head back to Main Street.
Sadly the stained glass window bit upstairs was under refurbishment the whole time we were there so I entertained myself with the beautiful Christmas shop instead

So pretty! Mark was hungry at this point so I was swiftly ushered out of the shop and we decided to give Casey's Corner a try as the boys fancied hot dogs. It was around 12.30 now so it was quite busy but Mark spotted a free table by the window which was nice. The food...well, it was a hot dog...

Filled a hole but I wouldn't rush back. While the boys were finishing off, I raced round to Big Thunder Mountain but its fast pass machine was also still down (don't know if this was snow related?) so we decided to queue and meet Donald in his anniversary finery instead.

I dobbed Mickey in and told Donald that he wanted to scribble over his face when we met him yesterday, obviously Donald was outraged and drew a moustache on Mickey in Heath's autograph book

Heath found this hilarious and it was his favourite signature of the trip! Love the interactions with the characters, it's so well done.

We headed into Discoveryland next and grabbed fast passes for Buzz

Heath and Mark went on Autopia while I headed to Hyperspace Mountain. The single rider queue was shut at first but then I noticed a couple of guys walk down it while I was in the main queue. I was craning my head around, trying to see what was happening, when a CM walked down - I asked if single rider was now open, she confirmed it was and I hopped straight over to that queue instead. It was a fairly long walk through an empty queue, before coming out above the loading dock

There was a man and girl in front of me who fell into that awkward 'father and daughter or couple?' category when they got separated to fill spare seats, they were quite funny, saying "enjoy your new family" to each other, so I'm hoping they were related after all (anyone else love a good nose at other people when queuing? Mark has to tell Heath and me off, when we're gawping open-mouthed at people )

I enjoyed this ride but you don't really see much do you? I love dark rides because you don't know when a drop is coming, but it does make it hard to take it all in. When getting off, my hair got trapped in the harness but the next person was trying to sit on my lap already so I had to wrench my head away and probably left a giant chunk of hair behind, ouch!

The CM at the ride photo bit covered up the strangers with the pilot pictures, love that!

Heath had really enjoyed Autopia while I was snooping at strangers and shedding hair

We went for another brisk walk around the park and into Adventureland, which we hadn't seen much of yet. Jafar was meeting with a tiny queue so we got right in there.

We also bought a cowboy t shirt for Heath from the Indiana Jones shop in Frontierland, you'll see him in that later.

Then it was time for a rest (and cocktail obviously) back at the hotel. Heath was not allowed anything fizzy this time I tried the anniversary cocktail, which was lovely, and Mark had a Captain Thymo, which he enjoyed.

We all enjoyed our little breaks at the hotel bar, thoroughly recommend it.
After the cocktails were enjoyed, it was time to head back for our Buzz fast pass. It was near the parade time, so we used the covered parades of shops as a cut through - really handy for when Main Street is packed.
I was rubbish at Buzz as usual. We had less stops this time so I scored even less.

The last time we'd done Buzz, it was in early hours so the shop wasn't open - we didn't get off so lightly this time! We bought a Buzz pin, an Inside Out pin and a cuddly Alien. I had an awkward moment with the CM here. She asked where I was from, "England" I replied - "near London?" she asks..."near Windsor, where the Queen lives!" is my frankly bizarre reply I said it so proudly, like she's my next door neighbour I have no idea why I did this. The CM gave me a kindly look and asked me to say hi to the Queen for her before I scuttled off in shame.

Just this morning, Heath was stroking the alien and thanking me for buying it - what a cutie!

We wanted to head to the village now, as we had tickets for the 6.30pm Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. We used the cut through of shops again but the very last bit had been roped off as that was where the parade ended and the floats went backstage. We had plenty of time so it was quite nice to see the parade again, especially as it was from the other side this time.

By the time we got to the Village, there was a big queue for the show. We joined it but I did send Mark to go and see if there was a separate line for category 1 as I'd read there was, but he couldn't see anything so we stayed put. The queue was fine and moved fairly quickly but the family in front was so annoying! The parents were completely ignoring their youngest son (possibly around 3?) - he was just wandering off, getting bumped, and actually got knocked over at one point as he stepped right in front of people walking through the Village. The mother barely even noticed we had to help keep him with his family after that.

Once we were closer to the front, we saw the separate lines for each category so went to head into ours...wouldn't you know, annoying family were going there too. The small child is still lagging behind but the mum was determined not to let us past (guess she didn't realise seating was already assigned ) so she wasn't gathering the child or anything, but was still making sure to block us from getting through Finally they managed to all make it through and I was gutted when I saw we were both in the blue team - fortunately we were sat nowhere near them and that's the last we saw of them!
Once we were in, it was bedlam - a lot of people squeezed into a fairly small area. We didn't bother getting drinks as we knew we'd get some at dinner, so just waited to be called through. Blues were called last but we got to see Goofy peform with the band for a few songs while we waited.

We were to the side of the arena, second row from the front and on the end of the row - we were happy with that.

The food and drink came out pretty fast. Chilli and cornbread to start with, and tortilla chips - all delicious. Then all the meat! Ribs, chicken, sausages and some very buttery potatoes. I've heard people complain about the lack of drink refills before (choice of beer, coke or water and everyone gets a glass of juice to start with) - we got three refills but I'm not sure if you can ask for more as we didn't bother. All in all, we were happy with the food and drink.

We enjoyed the show and it got really fun once the competition between the different colours started. Heath is so competitive and we had some tired tears when I asked him to cheer rather than an ear-piercing scream! He calmed down quickly though and all was fine.

As it got near the end, our team and another colour had both won two events so we knew we were in with a fighting chance of victory - the last game involved them chucking a ball into a moving hoop and it was very tense! Lots of cheating going on but the blue team did it - winners! Heath nearly exploded with excitement
Now they asked for 3 adult volunteers from the winning team, well our hands were straight up and Big Chief Sitting Bull chose me.

Let me tell you, running across that sandy floor, while a chief shouts "faster!" at you, is not easy!
Once backstage, I got into a carriage with a French woman and an Irish man (start of a bad joke?!) and one of the hosts. Obviously I didn't get to see the rest of the show but the carriage was attacked several times while the baddies tried to steal the gold from the roof - eventually some bandits ordered us out of the carriage and tied us up! Luckily the good guys came back to save the day and the show and my starring role was over

We had a great time and headed back to the hotel for some well-deserved sleep.
Here's Heath's cowboy t-shirt we bought earlier.

Another packed day!

[kadypants]

Ahhh love Buffalo Bills! What an amazing experience to be one of the chosen ones! Awesome!

[clochette]

Originally Posted by kadypants

Ahhh love Buffalo Bills! What an amazing experience to be one of the chosen ones! Awesome!

See more...

Another great day. We loved Buffalo Bills too but we weren't on the winning team unfortunately. How lucky to have a starring role!

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by kadypants

Ahhh love Buffalo Bills! What an amazing experience to be one of the chosen ones! Awesome!

See more...

Originally Posted by clochette

Another great day. We loved Buffalo Bills too but we weren't on the winning team unfortunately. How lucky to have a starring role!

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I saw it with my family too, 25 years ago! And we won then as well I loved it both times, great evening out. It was really lovely to be picked but quite surreal, especially when Minnie was stroking my back

[Goldia]

Oh that's awesome that you got picked by big chief sitting bull! What a marvellous day.

It really makes a difference to have some sunshine, even if it was freezing cold. You got o lots of rides which is fab. And Heath seems to be really loving the character meet and greets.

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Oh that's awesome that you got picked by big chief sitting bull! What a marvellous day.

It really makes a difference to have some sunshine, even if it was freezing cold. You got o lots of rides which is fab. And Heath seems to be really loving the character meet and greets.

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It really was a lovely day! Amazing how much sunshine can change the mood, I noticed Mark in particular really perked up when it was sunny!

[Guest]

Lol, Heath is a little bit older than Poot was the first time we took him to WDW. And I made him go on every ride he was tall enough for. You're clearly much nicer than I am.

And to continue with the "I'm actually quite horrible" theme...I have been known - when tiny children are being ignored by their parents and because of that are raising Cain - to pretend I don't know who they're with...and to say (loudly) to DH something like, "Oh, dear - I think that wee lad is lost. I'm going to go and find a security guard. You keep an eye on him."

Seriously - you're at DISNEYLAND! You don't want to treasure that time with your little ones? Believe me...all too soon they're grown.


"near Windsor, where the Queen lives!"

I am blushing FOR you, sister. What on EARTH made you say that?! SO FUNNY!


Re: loot

If I had known they made that Galactic Hero pin, I'd have bought one! Is it a DLP exclusive, do you know? 'Cause not to toot my own horn here (HONK!)...but I did get 999,999 on Buzz. Once. When the ride stopped for two minutes in the room with the 100,000 point "Z".


Oh, and please remember us little people now that you're a Disney star... Buffalo Bill's looks like SO MUCH FUN!

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

Lol, Heath is a little bit older than Poot was the first time we took him to WDW. And I made him go on every ride he was tall enough for. You're clearly much nicer than I am.

And to continue with the "I'm actually quite horrible" theme...I have been known - when tiny children are being ignored by their parents and because of that are raising Cain - to pretend I don't know who they're with...and to say (loudly) to DH something like, "Oh, dear - I think that wee lad is lost. I'm going to go and find a security guard. You keep an eye on him."

Seriously - you're at DISNEYLAND! You don't want to treasure that time with your little ones? Believe me...all too soon they're grown.


"near Windsor, where the Queen lives!"

I am blushing FOR you, sister. What on EARTH made you say that?! SO FUNNY!


Re: loot

If I had known they made that Galactic Hero pin, I'd have bought one! Is it a DLP exclusive, do you know? 'Cause not to toot my own horn here (HONK!)...but I did get 999,999 on Buzz. Once. When the ride stopped for two minutes in the room with the 100,000 point "Z".


Oh, and please remember us little people now that you're a Disney star... Buffalo Bill's looks like SO MUCH FUN!

See more...

Ha, I was proud of how tough I was for making him ride BTM Remembering my brother's screams of "we're all DOOMED! It's going to be a CATASTROPHE!" as my parents forced him on Space Mountain, has made me very cautious about pushing Heath too far! Did Poot just crack on with it, or did you have to deal with tears? I'm a soft touch once the tears start flowing.

I'll remember that 'abandoned child' trick for the future!

The truly shameful thing about my Queen comment, is that I think I've said it before possibly to Americans who were more into that sort of thing

Ooh, you're really showing me up now April - I hadn't even noticed the Buzz pin is a Galactic Hero one, we just thought it looked cool None of us got anywhere near that! Not sure if it's a DLP exclusive I'm afraid.

Living near the Queen, Disney star - honestly, it's amazing I have time for all this Dibbing these days

[Guest]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Ha, I was proud of how tough I was for making him ride BTM Remembering my brother's screams of "we're all DOOMED! It's going to be a CATASTROPHE!" as my parents forced him on Space Mountain, has made me very cautious about pushing Heath too far! Did Poot just crack on with it, or did you have to deal with tears? I'm a soft touch once the tears start flowing.

I'll remember that 'abandoned child' trick for the future!

The truly shameful thing about my Queen comment, is that I think I've said it before possibly to Americans who were more into that sort of thing

Ooh, you're really showing me up now April - I hadn't even noticed the Buzz pin is a Galactic Hero one, we just thought it looked cool None of us got anywhere near that! Not sure if it's a DLP exclusive I'm afraid.

Living near the Queen, Disney star - honestly, it's amazing I have time for all this Dibbing these days

See more...

Oh, tears - definitely. I had to cover his mouth on Star Tours. But only once - we got off and he wanted to go straight back on.

I just don't ever want him to be out with his mates and be the one who's afraid. Far better to conquer his fears when he's with his father and me. I'm SO glad I was mean when he was little...because it would break my heart if he were teased like that crying lad we saw in the queue for Cheetah Hunt in 2016.

I actually looked on ebay for that pin...and couldn't find it. So it's either a DLP exclusive...or new. More research needed!

[MrsSilverStar]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

Oh, tears - definitely. I had to cover his mouth on Star Tours. But only once - we got off and he wanted to go straight back on.

I just don't ever want him to be out with his mates and be the one who's afraid. Far better to conquer his fears when he's with his father and me. I'm SO glad I was mean when he was little...because it would break my heart if he were teased like that crying lad we saw in the queue for Cheetah Hunt in 2016.

I actually looked on ebay for that pin...and couldn't find it. So it's either a DLP exclusive...or new. More research needed!

See more...

Cover his mouth! That made me laugh and also wince! I understand your reasoning and I do always insist on some fear-facing, but I've not reached your hardcore levels.

I've done some hunting myself and it's a DLP attraction pin (phew, we're not falsely claiming galactic hero status after all!).

We really wanted the IASW and BTM attraction pins too but couldn't find any there. It's a lovely range, I could've bought them all!