Disney Final Thoughts - Hiccups and Great Things List

Like last year, I am doing another ups and downs lists (from my perspective obviously). Disney was wonderful! But, there are always going to be hiccups when it comes to any vacation. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on Earth, yet there are always going to be those moments that make it not so stinkin' happy.

Let me start with the "Hiccups" again this year and then I'll move on to the great things...

* See the above picture? It's proof that Briana does cry. We saw those tears a few times in the happiest place on Earth. And when you see your child with tears, you begin to wonder why your child is crying in the happiest place on Earth. Then you want to cry because you don't know why you spent all this time and money just for her to cry in the happiest place on Earth. Briana had an overtired moment when we first arrived at Disney. I can't blame her after a long 8 hour drive to FL - which she was an angel the whole time. And then she copped attitude a couple of times when she didn't get her way on something. She pouted through the entire "Playhouse Disney" performance because Daddy didn't let her go through a turnstile by herself. We had a LONG talk about that one right in the middle of the Hollywood Studios. That is where the above tears came from. So, happiest place on Earth? For the most part - yes, but not all the time.
* We finally got fast passes for "Toy Story Mania" this year. I didn't like the fact that at 8:45AM, I was told I needed to come back at 2:30PM for this ride. Doug and I were actually considering breaking our day in half on Saturday and heading back to the hotel after lunch for a while so Bri could have a rest before the lights went on that night at Hollywood Studios. But, I had heard such great things about the ride and didn't want to miss it. So, we didn't take the break. At 2:30, we arrived with our tickets and the ride was shut down due to a "technical problem" with no time as to when it would open. We had already waited until 2:30, and we weren't about to leave for the hotel to turn around and come back at 5:30PM to see the Osborne Lights. So we waited around for a while to see if the ride would open. The guardians of the gate kept the plastered smiles on their faces while telling all the unsuspecting riders walking up to them that the ride was broken. I think the Pixar area of Hollywood Studios is poorly designed - it is narrow and cramped on a good day. It gets even more so when piles of people are waiting for a ride to open. There was one staff member that smiled and kept saying over and over that "Andy's Mom has come home and interrupted the ride." I seriously wanted to kick him in the teeth. About 3:30, after wandering around for a while, the ride opened up again. And I was disappointed with it. It was ok, but it was over in about two minutes and not something I would have waited for all day if I had ridden it before. Lesson learned.
* After the "Toy Story Mania" incident, we finally got settled in to see the "The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights" come on. At 6PM sharp, the music started to play and then "TA DA" the lights came on. But not all of them. An entire block of the "Streets of America," (which happened to be to our backs and included the main sign) did not come on. A fuse blew. Seriously. You could see people that worked in the park running with walkie talkies to try to fix the issue. But they never came on and we had to leave, so we didn't see if it got fixed or not. 
* I still believe Disney is the child meltdown capital of the world. I also now believe it is the parent bickering capital of the world. I know Doug and I bickered a little. And we were in good company. Parents all over the place were saying "No, I told you to bring that!" or "Why didn't you open that door for me?" or "(Kid's name) stop doing that to your brother!"
* Epcot is still freakin' huge. I was exhausted afterwards.
* I don't like waiting in line for the Dumbo ride. It was about a 35 to 40 minute wait for about 6 spins in the air. Briana wanted to do it so badly, so I sucked it up.
* Character greetings suck up so much valuable time. We did very few of those this year. The wait for Tiana was about 45 minutes, but I wanted my girl to see her, so we waited.
* I missed the monorail access this year. The boat ride is nice, but definitely not as convenient as the monorail.
* The access to the monorail at the Contemporary is a bit inconvenient as well if you have a stroller. There is only one elevator that takes you up to the monorail and back down. If there are a lot of people with strollers or wheelchairs, you have to wait.
* I got run off the road on I-10 by a tractor trailer that didn't see or hear me beep as he was coming over into my lane. Yep, I was forced to drive in the shoulder. I managed to slow down and get back on the interstate, but my heart was pounding. Might decide to fly to Disney next time.

Now for the "Great Things":

* The character lunch at "Akershus" and the dinner at "Chef Mickey's" were awesome. Akershus's food is delicious and Chef Mickey's is pretty good. But the look on Briana's face seeing the characters was priceless.
* "Soarin" is one of the best rides ever made. And Briana got to go on it this time!
* Loved our room location. Very private and loved that we could see the MK fireworks.
* We got to ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" twice. I love that ride.
* Love the "Haunted Mansion" too.
* Fast Pass is extremely helpful for the most part.
* Loved the "Sci Fi" Diner. It was really something.
* Had a much better dining experience for lunch at Magic Kingdom this time. We ended up at the Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Square. It is very tasty and has an upstairs area as well as downstairs area for dining. Much more room than at Pecos Bill's in Frontierland.
 * I love how much Briana's loves rides. She really isn't scared of rides at all.
* The Rapunzel character greeting was really cute. We just stumbled across it and I'm glad we did.
* The face painting Briana got at Epcot was amazing! She was so excited. I was sad that I had to wash her face that night.
* The Beauty and the Beast" show at Hollywood Studios was really cute.
* The weather was picture-perfect. Temps were in the upper 60's and low 70's with a breeze. Perfect time of year.
* Loved that the hotel was magically decorated for Christmas overnight.
* Every employee at Disney is so nice. It does make for a very pleasant experience.
* I love seeing Briana's smile at Disney. She loved (almost) every minute of it. ;)
* Disney makes you believe it magic again.

So, that is my list this year. The trip was awesome, despite a few hiccups. But truthfully, I am Disney'd out. I had a wonderful time both years. Two years in a row and now Doug and I have had our fill. We will wait a few years now before going again. I think we will plan a little lower key vacation next year.

Next post, the short beach visit we had with Doug's extended family.