Ninnie Visits Home: Day 2 - Ninnie meets Minnie

[dancingelkhound]

Day 1

The air con had no effect whatsoever, and the temperature stayed around 22 degrees all night, as it did every night. So neither DH nor I slept very well, though miraculously DD slept straight through, which she never does at home. At weekends it usually takes us two hours to get out of the house in a morning, but I know the importance of making it for EMH, and I had a feeling the parks would be busy, as I had found out that the hotels were fully booked for our dates, and that it was Spanish half term, as well as still zone A French holidays. The alarm went off at 6.15, but I didn’t get out of bed til 6.30. The shower pressure was fine but the temperature varied significantly while I was in there and it didn’t drain very quickly.

We’d taken a power cube to charge multiple appliances, but it wouldn’t fit in the plug socket underneath the TV, so we’d unplugged the freestanding light to make room, but when we flicked the main light switch, the plug socket also switched off. We were too exhausted to deal with the issue the night before but after showering I noticed another plug socket by the door, which meant that we could charge our phones, but couldn’t leave things plugged in while we weren’t in the room as the door wouldn’t open while it was plugged in.

DD started stirring while DH was in the shower so I got her up and we made our way to the Golden Forest lounge. Part of the appeal of the Golden Forest upgrade was the separate breakfast lounge and not needing to have a specific breakfast slot. We showed our Easypass to the lady on the desk outside, and she took us to a table, bringing us a Mickey highchair, which I absolutely loved. DD was the perfect height for it to look as if she had Mickey ears.

The breakfast was pretty much as expected, though I don’t remember breakfast at the Santa Fe or Cheyenne having pain au chocolat, though it has been a couple of years. Simple pleasures

DH went for the hot breakfast, I had cereal and a pain au chocolat. DD had toast. She takes a long time to eat so once DH had finished he went back to the room to pick up the coats and pushchair. It took him a while as the lifts were very busy. Whilst he was gone I realised that I couldn’t find my camera, but as he’d left his phone on the table, I had to wait for him to come back before I could tell him, so off he went back to the room, while I got DD in her pushchair and walked to the exit by Hunters Grill, which had a very large queue outside it.

Unfortunately DH couldn’t find the camera, but I was already panicking about running late, so I declined to go back to the room and look for it myself. There was a queue for security at the entrance to the village, but it moved steadily. I appreciate the need for security, but DD’s pushchair was barely given a second glance, and on one occasion, it was taken around the body scanner rather than through it, so I’m not sure how effective the security procedures actually are.

We power walked through the village and joined the queue outside Disneyland Park. CMs were checking that everyone had an Easypass before they were allowed to join the queue for turnstiles. We found a turnstile without a large queue, and we were finally in, around 8.20. We had planned to do the rides during this EMH, but we saw that Minnie was doing a meet and greet to the left of Town Square, so we made a beeline for that, as DD loves Minnie and we were really excited about seeing her reaction to meeting her.

We queued for about an hour, which was longer than I had anticipated for a meet and greet during EMH, but as Mickey was with Minnie, we rationalised that at least we wouldn’t need to queue again for Mickey. DD stayed in her pushchair for most of the queue, but she did get a glimpse of Minnie from the queue and got very excited. When we were a couple of families away from the front of the queue we got her out of the pram, and when it was our turn, she ran straight up to Minnie. Minnie and Mickey crouched down as soon as they saw DD was a toddler, and let her come to them in her own time. There was a photo pass photographer there, and DH made sure to show him our photo pass card straight away in the hope that he would start snapping away and get lots of action shots, but he only took posed photos. Thankfully DH took a few of DD’s interactions on his phone and they’re some of my favourite photos from the whole trip. The posed photos didn’t turn out so well as DD wasn’t keen on having to leave Minnie!

It was now 9.30, and having just spent an hour in a queue we decided against joining another long queue for another meet and greet (and didn’t think that anything could top Minnie!), so headed for the rides. Pinocchio had a posted time of 45 minutes, Peter Pan 40. The fast pass machines for Peter Pan weren’t open, but there was already a queue for them. DD started to walk towards Alice’s Labyrinth, so we headed in. There were lots of older children running around and pushing past DD, and us. DD seemed to be getting bored so we exited before the Queen of Hearts’ castle.

We noticed that there was no queue for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, so we parked the pushchair and entered the queue line. We were on the next round, and I was surprised by how quickly the teacups turned even without either of us turning the wheel. DD was completely not bothered by the teacups, which would be her standard response to most rides.

It’s a small world wasn’t open, but there was already a queue outside the queue entrance, which amazed me, given that it usually only has a short wait. We noticed that the wait for Dumbo was posted at thirty minutes, and as I know this can get very busy, we thought this might be the shortest we would see it, so we joined the queue. DD kept herself busy eating a Kit Kat and the queue moved quickly. We were on in around 20 minutes, and managed to squeeze ourselves into one elephant, with DD sat on my knee. Again, little to no reaction from DD.

After Dumbo I picked up some fast passes for Peter Pan with a return time of 11.55, as the queue time was still 45 minutes.

The time was now 10.20, and with It’s a Small World now open and only posting a ten minute wait we entered the queue line. In fact, we walked straight on. There was a short queue in the left hand queue line, but no one in the right hand queue line. I had thought DD would love this, and although at first she seemed rather bemused, by the time we reached the USA section she was pointing to various figures and enjoying it. She also took a real shine to the fountain outside the ride.

Having been up since 6.30, and wanting to beat the lunch rush, we started to think about lunch. We popped into Pizzeria Bella Notte but they weren’t yet serving. So we used the toilets next door. This was my first experience of changing DD in the public toilets and I was somewhat disappointed. Although clean, it was just a shelf next to a sink, with a barrier to stop a child rolling off, no cushioned mat. I had read in the Unofficial Guide that all toilets throughout the parks, both male and female, had changing facilities. Every time DD needed changing however DH told me that the male toilets didn’t have baby changing. Though that might have just been him trying to get out of changing DD!

We walked over to Discoveryland, I haven’t noted down why, but we went into Videopolis. They weren’t serving there yet either but by the time we’d decided what we wanted, they’d opened the hatches. We ordered a chicken burger meal, a kids cheese burger meal and some chicken nuggets. I picked a table and got a highchair, which seemed to be in short supply, while DH spent a long time waiting for our food, though at least that means it was freshly cooked. It took me a while to choose which meal to have as I really wanted a Yoda cupcake, but in the end went for the kids meal so DD could get a yoghurt. Whilst we were eating I saw another family with Yoda cupcakes and they didn’t look particularly appetising so I was happy with my choice in the end. Total cost was €30,97.

DD usually loves chicken nuggets but she decided she wasn’t interested in them today, so DH ended up eating them, in addition to the chicken burger meal, while I ate the kids cheese burger. DD ate the yoghurt, which came in a tube, so it got a little bit messy as we transferred it to a spoon for her.

It was getting busy by the time we’d finished eating, and the rows down the front were filling up. The walkway from one side of Videopolis to the other was being cordoned off, so I think a Jedi Training show was about to start, but we wanted to get moving so didn’t get chance to watch it.

As we exited Videopolis I spotted Goofy and Pluto doing a meet and greet with a short queue, so I got in line while DD explored and DH followed her around. After around twenty minutes we reached the front. DD had been very excited to see Goofy and Pluto when she spotted them while I was queuing, but when it was our turn she wasn’t as interested. She wanted to grab Goofy’s ears, so again our posed photos weren’t great.

As we were finishing with Goofy and Pluto our fast pass window for Peter Pan opened, so I picked up some fast passes for Buzz with a return time of 2.30 before we made our way to Peter Pan.

We didn’t wait any longer than five minutes after entering the fast pass queue. We put DD in the middle and I was glad we hadn’t put her on the outside of the ship as I would have been worried about her falling out. The bar was at the same height as DD’s face though, which meant that she was in danger of head butting it every time the ship lurched, which was not infrequently. Honestly, I feel that Peter Pan is overrated. It moved far too quickly for us to really appreciate the scenes, and was very jerky. It was also quite dark, especially at the beginning, so might well scare younger children. DD was completely uninterested once again.

DD was getting tired so we put her back in the pram in the hope she would have a nap, and made our way to Frontierland for Big Thunder Mountain, via Adventureland. We passed Jack Sparrow as well as Peter Pan and Wendy on our way. DH took one of our hotel fast passes and joined the fast pass queue, while I took DD for a little walk. We spotted Woody doing a meet and greet, but he was clearly coming to the end of his timeslot as the CM wasn’t letting anyone else join the queue. It started to rain at this point, lightly at first but then a real downpour, so we took shelter behind the shooting gallery. We had a good view of Big Thunder Mountain (and even managed to spot DH on his way round), and there was a wooden parapet to keep most of the rain away.

We made our way to the exit of BTM to wait for DH, standing next to the wooden railings after the screens showing ride photos. It turned out that we should have gone past the ride photo screens, as that was where DH was waiting. The CM at the exit booth gave me a rider switch card and directed me to the loading platform, where I joined a rather long queue. It seemed that there were a lot of people with disability cards waiting to ride, and it was raining hard. Thankfully a CM came along and asked if anyone had a rider switch card, then led me to the other platform and got me a seat on the next train.

I loved the ride, I noticed so many more effects than on my previous couple of trips, especially the end climb, when the train rocks from side to side. After the ride we added my photo to our photo pass card. Apparently this is my classic roller coaster face, as pretty much every other photo looks exactly the same. Because DH had been looking for me, he hadn’t noted down his photo number, but the CM on the kiosk managed to find it. Unfortunately the man in front of him had decided to hold his hands over his head, and had obscured DH’s face.

While I’d been on BTM DD had fallen asleep, so we decided to do Indiana Jones using baby switch too. This time DH went first. Although the standby queue was posted at 20 minutes, it was more like 10. I walked through some of adventure isle, but didn't want to go into any of the caves in case I came across steps I couldn't deal with with a pushchair. I thought that the Pirates playground looked like DD would enjoy it, but it was roped off, as it has been each time I've visited.

DH exited the ride and handed me a rider switch card. I entered using the fast pass queue (which didn't actually seem to be in use at that time) and was on the next train. I thought it was a great ride, but far too short. DD was still asleep, and our Buzz fast pass window was now open. We walked over to Discoveryland just in case DD woke up, but she didn’t. I spoke to the CM manning the queue and she said that we could come back at any time after DD woke up and the fast pass would still be valid which was helpful. But just in case, we picked up another fast pass for 4pm.

DH got a coffee and we popped into Videopolis to use the toilets. They’re always clean and warm and there’s never a queue. A Jedi Training show was just finishing, and it seemed like all the participants were having a great time defeating Darth Vader. I thought that there was a minimum age limit of 7, but there was one boy on stage who couldn’t have been more than 5 at most.

I’d read on Twitter about Mickey shaped nutella cookies on sale for a limited time, but couldn’t remember exactly where they were being sold, other than Main Street, and the data signal wasn’t good enough to load twitter. But as DD was still asleep we decided to wander down Main Street and see if we could find them. We had no luck, so decided to walk over to Phantom Manor. It was still raining heavily so we used the covered walkway to the left of Casey’s Corner, which had become a passageway thanks to the all the refurbishment, so it was nice and dry. Just as we arrived at Phantom Manor however, DD woke up, so we went back to Discoveryland to use our fast pass for Buzz. Although we walked straight through the fast pass queue, after we passed the turnstile and merged with the standby queue, we still waited around ten minutes. At every doorway I kept telling DH that the loading platform was just through the door, my memory was clearly playing tricks on me! DD sat on my knee, and showed zero interest once again. She loves Toy Story so I thought she’d enjoy it, but perhaps the ride doesn’t feature enough recognisable characters for her to realise it was linked. She didn’t even show any interest in the laser blaster. DH beat me stupendously. Despite my best efforts to remember to smile, our photo was once again hilarious rather than flattering.

We were starting to get hungry, so thought about getting a snack, but then remembered the Golden Forest lounge provides snacks so decided to head back to the hotel. Walking through the village we called into the Rainforest Cafe to make a reservation for that evening. We opted for 5.30, thinking that we would get in before the crowds exited the park after the parade.

We went straight to the Golden Forest lounge, but I had gotten the times confused. I thought it was 3-5 but actually it was 4-6. Just before 4pm the lounge got really busy and a queue formed. The cake was brought out promptly. DD didn’t want any of it but I tried a piece of everything! The trays that emptied were replenished quickly. I was slightly disappointed by the hot chocolate, which was just a machine hot chocolate and was made with water rather than milk. But it was free

After a quick visit to the hotel room for a nappy change, we left the hotel and went to the Rainforest Cafe. With the torrential rain, the reservation card we’d been given (and I’d put in my backpack) was very soggy, but just about legible. There was no queue and we were seated straight away, with a good view of two elephants, which moved occasionally, and trumpeted during the rainstorms.

I ordered cheese and tomato ravioli, DH had the chicken fajitas. We ordered pizza from the children's menu for DD.

Our waiter offered to let us just have the main meal, without the drink and dessert from the children's menu, but DD has a sweet tooth so we went for the whole thing. While we were waiting for our food DH took DD for a walk around the restaurant. She loved the fish tank by the entrance, but found the orangutan terrifying. She wasn’t too keen on the thunderstorms but as the lights started to flash for a minute or so before the noise started we were able to prepare her. I was expecting more large animals, like the elephants, that would be easily visible, but lots of them were entwined with the foliage. Nevertheless, DD really enjoyed walking around and looking at everything. Our food arrived very quickly, after about ten minutes. DH enjoyed his fajitas, but I’d eaten too much cake in the Golden Forest lounge to really appreciate my ravioli, which was actually delicious. I forced myself to eat half of it but then admitted defeat. DD nibbled at her pizza. For dessert we ordered ice cream for DD, and as my dish had come from a set menu, we ordered the apple crumble, but DH ate that as I was far too full. Total cost was around €65. As we were leaving Rainforest Cafe the queue for a table was backing up almost to the door.

We still had a hotel fast pass left, so headed over to the Studios to use it on the Rock n Roller Coaster. Unfortunately when we approached the ride, there was a barrier across the fast pass queue, and no CM in sight. The standby queue was showing 30 minutes, and although I went a little way into the queue line I couldn’t see a CM there either. We thought we’d try Crush’s Coaster, but the single rider line was 60 minutes (at 7pm, crazy!). We visited guest relations on our way out; they were pretty adamant that there should have been a cast member there, and gave us a pass to enter Rock n Roller Coaster through the exit, but as it was dated for that date only, we headed back to the ride, and found the exit.

I went first, and found it quite difficult to attract the attention of the CMs at the ride exit. There were a lot of people in the exit area, presumably waiting for friends and family to come off the ride, and taking advantage of the bench provided. A CM led me down a corridor and pointed me towards a door, which took me straight onto the loading platform, bypassing the queue (and preshow) completely, and I was on the next train. I’d forgotten just how good this ride is, and with Space Mountain closed for our visit it was the most “rollercoaster’ of all the rides. Cue another classic roller coaster face from me. The CM actually laughed when he brought up my photo, which I added to our photo pass while DH rode.

Ride accomplished, we called it a night and went back to the hotel. While DH bathed DD, I got everything ready for the morning, and DD finally fell asleep at 10.30, an improvement on the night before, though she still spent an hour dive bombing on the bed before falling asleep!

[kadypants]

Aww sounds like a fab day!

We had the same issue with DS on Peter Pan; the joltiness and height of the car. DS really didn't like it because of that.

[jocesk]

I think your daughter may be a little young to appreciate everything yet and you are very protective of her it seems. I'd go back with her in a few years time