Our First Family Disney Holiday: Day Two

[Em4owen]

Day One

Day Two: Disneyland Park and Rainforest Cafe
Tuesday 30th May 2017

I think at some point Ashley woke up in the night and ended up in bed with us but I think we all fell back asleep. The alarm was set for 6.20am as we planned on making Extra Magic Hours. We got dressed and were up and ready for breakfast about 7. It was great having the restaurant opposite our block. There was a bit of a queue and I found it to be a lot busier than expected. The thing that struck me the most about La Cantina was how massive it was, literally a humungous canteen. We were shown to two tables of four and Owen and I took it in turns to get food for us and the boys, which I actually find more of a pain than if it was just table service.

There was several areas set up with food with a central place for cutlery and napkins. Then along the walls were drink machine with apple juice, orange juice, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, milk and water. The food to choose from was meats, cheeses, croissants, rolls, jams, butter, yogurt, fruit, nutella, a tomatoey thing and cereals. There was lots of bread beside toasters you loaded yourself. Mum asked for a gluten free selection and every day, she was offered as much as she could carry of breads, cookies and cakes. She said the offerings were pretty bland and dry. It reminded her of when she first started her gluten free diet, almost like France are years behind us when it comes to gluten free food.

With my vegan diet for breakfast I was basically limited to fruit and bread. Luckily, I had foreseen this and bought a jar of peanut butter with me so I was able to live off peanut butter on toast throughout the week. I also bought some mini soya milks with me, thanks to tips on the Dibb which I used in my tea. Unfortunately on the first day, I ended up spending about 15 minutes queuing at the toaster, not realising there were more located elsewhere. As a result, the rest of out party had finished eating before Owen had even had the chance to get his food! I also saw people making sandwiches and rolls for lunch and they weren’t being secretive about it. I saw one woman filling one plate with ham and another with rolls.

We left the canteen about 8ish and caught a bus to the parks at 8.15. We entered the park at 8.45. I was gutted we’d missed a whole 45 minutes of extra magic hours but in the end, this was the only extra magic hours we ever made it too!

I was loving the atmosphere though and tried to relish it all as we walked down Main Street USA. I could see all the character meets along the way and tried to get my bearings, vaguely remembering bits from my childhood visit back in the 90s.

I asked Hayden what ride he wanted to go on first and he said Dumbo. Prior to us going to DLP, he had watched the film everyday for about a week in April so knew he’d love it. The wait was about 15 minutes and Ashley didn’t do well with it, wanting to escape. It was then I realised we’d forgotten his reins, something I would regret again and again throughout the holiday. When we got to the front, I took Ashley and Hayden went with Owen. Both boys absolutely loved the ride and it was such a shame that this was our only time on it.

Hayden loving Dumbo!

After Dumbo, we asked Hayden if he wanted to go on the tea cups or carousel but he didn’t want to. I asked him if he wanted to meet Mickey or Donald but no. Peter Pan had a standby time of 45 minutes so I said we’d have to get a fastpass for it. We had already decided not to queue more than 20 minutes for a ride with Ashley as he didn’t cope well with the Dumbo queue. In the end, we decided to walk round to Buzz Lightyear.

I had never been on Buzz in WDW because I assumed it spun, but I didn’t realise it only span if you made it. I enjoyed the ride, but Hayden who was my companion this time, gave a few half hearted shots and gave up so I ended up doing both. My scores reflected my usual eye-hand coordination awareness or lack of!

Ashley is there next to Owen somewhere!

After Buzz, it was around 10am so I sent Owen to get the fast passes for Peter Pan. Mum, Alex, Rachel and Peter went on Star Tours as it had a 5 minute wait time posted and we sat, enjoying the atmosphere, having some snacks. The others took longer than I expected and Owen even came back and went on Hyperspace mountain before they returned.

By the time everyone was done, it was time for our Peter Pan fastpass so we headed back to Fantasyland for this. Well I had Ashley again and he was fine, until it went dark and screamed blue murder all the way around, despite my whee noises. Hayden enjoyed it though.

After Peter Pan, Hayden asked to go on the Dumbo train so we went on Casey Junior, then the Story book ride and finally It’s a Small World, all of which were walk-ons. Ashley didn’t enjoy Casey Junior either, because I miscalculated where he was when I went to sit down with him and accidently banged his head on the train (bad mummy). He had calmed down by the time we did the Storybook ride and seemed to enjoy this but also seemed a bit sleepy. Hayden absolutely loved It’s a Small World because it had different animals from around the world, which he named and pointed at. Ashley seemed to be glazing over too. By the time we had finished, it was time for our reservation at the Rainforest Café at 12. Once Ashley was loaded into the buggy, he was out which was good. I wasn’t sure if he’d have his naps in the buggy. He usually naps around 10.30-11 at home so this was a similar time for him.

Owen and Alex went ahead as mum desperately needed the toilet before we left Magic Kingdom. When we arrived, the restaurant was really quiet and empty. Ashley stayed asleep throughout the meal too despite all the thunder and animal noises which meant I felt I could enjoy my meal a bit more. Hayden absolutely loved it. He is obsessed with animals and we’d booked the restaurant for him so it was a relief. We were seated under the starry sky so got all the thunderstorms!

For food, I had the veggie burger and chips, minus the coleslaw and sauce. Hayden had the children’s fish and chips. Owen had his usual of a bacon cheeseburger. Alex had steak and chips. Mum had salad and salmon. Peter had adult’s fish and chips and I think Rachel had a burger and chips. Us girls also ordered non-alocholic cocktails which were lovely and Hayden got the light up children’s cup. He also had a icecream lolly with his meal. I thought the food was delicious and after yesterday’s disappointment was nice and full at the end! After dinner, Hayden chose a plastic swordfish to buy. By the time we’d left, Ashley was awake and I fed him some chips and onion rings I’d saved from our meal.

Sorry, there's only photos of mine and Hayden's food

We’d decided in the restaurant to do some character meets and Hayden said he really wanted to meet Baloo and Woody so off we went. As we entered Adventureland, we saw Jafar wandering around so took a few pics.

When we got to the queue for Baloo and King Louie, the CM said the queue was closed. It was 2.15 and I had stupidly not looked at the times when we’d been consulting what to do at the restaurant! Hayden was so upset, but he didn’t have a meltdown, he just went absolutely silent and I had to carry him round to Woody in Frontierland. I think this was worse as he seemed so melancholy and I felt awful for getting him all excited. The Woody queuing took ages. I guess we queued for about 45 minutes. Ashley didn’t like it at all and I ended up taking him off for a walk about. Ashley is a very active child and loves to be on the move all the time, something he found had at DLP especially as he wanted to walk everywhere and I had forgotten his reins. Also, I felt it was too busy for him. Back to Woody, well all of Hayden’s sadness was forgotten when he ran over to Woody. It was such a moving moment, he was so happy and it was his first character meet at DLP too. Ashley wasn’t remotely interested and after that, I learnt not to bother with him and characters.

Now on a high, I asked Hayden if he wanted to meet Mickey and he said yes. It was a 50 minute wait so I said I’d go with him whilst everyone else did some rides. Although it was a long wait, the cartoons playing were great at keeping Hayden and the other children amused. Hayden was brilliant with queues the whole time, never once moaning and just waiting patiently. When we finally got into meet Mickey, I wasn’t expected our own private room type thing. It was magical and Mickey was great with Hayden. The CM and photographer were also great at taking photos for us and I was pleased we’d got the Photopass Plus. We'd share the cost between the 6 of us and so it worked out about £10 each, not bad!

I called Owen once we had finished. They were all buying ice cream over by It’s a Small World. I discovered they had gone on the tea cups and Pinocchio ride whilst we were inside and Ashley had loved both of them. It seems Ashley enjoys spinning rides, unlike his mother! It was at the ice cream place, whilst the others were eating their ice creams, I saw queue jumping. A French family, ignored the long queue and jumped in. I was appalled that the CM let them. Another French man shouted at them but they were still able to buy their ice creams. Everyone enjoyed their ice creams. I know Hayden got a bubblegum type one which he ended up not liking, typical!

After ice creams, we went to the toilets and then found a spot for the parade. Thanks to the Dibb I had read that It’s a Small World area was a great place to stand because it was at the start and less busy and this tip was spot on! The parade was great and the boys both enjoyed it but had to held up to see. Owen filmed it all and I was holding Ashley so no pictures I’m afraid. Afterwards, we decided to head back to the hotel as it had been a long day and the others decided to stay. Once again, a Dibb tip helped us out. I had read about going behind the shops on Main Street through the arcade area and this helped us beat some of the masses of crowds exiting and especially as the parade was still going on.

We decided to get out dinner from Earl of Sandwich. It was really quiet when we arrived too so decided to eat in. I had the Caprese minus the cheese, Owen the Ham and Cheese and Hayden the children’s pizza. Then we also had some crisps and fruit to share between us. It was plenty of food and was good value and tasty. I am pleased I finally got to experience it and get why it’s recommended by so many.

We walked back to the hotel and gave the boys a bath. Ashley really didn’t like it which is unusual as he loves baths normally and Hayden did when normally he doesn’t, children! Once again Ashley took ages to settle and I ended up falling asleep with him before putting him in his cot. Owen went back out to join the others. They had been on Thunder Mountain whilst we were having dinner and Owen said when he joined them they went on the Phantom Manor, Star Tours, Snow White and Hyperspace Mountain before watching the fireworks.

Owen also took some photos of the Santa Fe Hotel lit up at night.

[Disneycraft]

Rainforest sounds good , I love the photo of your son with woody

[Em4owen]

Thanks for reading 😊 I enjoyed the rainforest cafe. Oh yes, I think because it was his first character meet, there was something extra magical about it.