As with any vacation, we had a few crazy things happen. Emily was "randomly selected" to be searched every time we went through security that first day (three out of three times).
We had the park hopper pass, meaning we had five days where we could go to any of the four main parks--even switching parks midday if we like. However, for whatever reason, there was a glitch in my pass, so that on the last day, it wouldn't let me in. Zuri and Emily got in just fine, but my pass wouldn't work. I had to go to guest services to get it straightened out, and even then, it took 20 minutes. For whatever reason, my pass was glitching each day, and double punching me in three out of the five days, which shouldn't have mattered anyway, because we had the park hopper pass. The guy who was helping me even had his supervisor look at it because it was so strange.
Zuri was really adventurous with all the rides. We started off with teacups (the only ride I didn't go on because the spinning makes me sick, and I didn't want to start off sick), and then went to Tomorrowland. I did ride the Rocket, and did well as long as I focused on the inside. After Tomorrowland, we went to Space Mountain. It was the first roller coaster ride we had done, and we sit single file. The bar wasn't tight across Zuri's lap and she felt like she was going to fall out, so she didn't like that ride and refused to go back on it--until we returned to Magic Kingdom later that week. We finally coaxed her into going back on it (she had been on Tower of Terror and Test Track by that point and loved them), telling her we would make sure that the bar was nice and tight, and I would reach forward to hold onto her. So she reluctantly agreed to try it again, and loved it! The lines were short (less than 15 minutes), so we went on it another two or three times. Her favorite ride was Splash Mountain. Her top favorite rides were Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Mission Space, Test Track, Pirates of the Caribbean, and any of the boat rides (except It's a Small World).
The only rides/shows she didn't like were It's a Small World and Country Bears Jamboree. It's a Small World is just iconic Disney, and I felt she would be missing out if she didn't go on it. Emily had to be coaxed to come along, and was making faces. After all the fast rides we had done, It's a Small World was slow and I think a let down for her (plus I think she caught on to Emily's attitude about it). As for the other, it was a hot day and all our feet were hurting, so I saw the Country Bears Jamboree and thought it would be a nice break. I didn't know what it was, and when the show started, Zuri leaned over to me and said, "I'm too old for this, Mom." Ha ha, oops. She ended up falling asleep during the show. Zuri really isn't into scary, so getting her to go to the Haunted Mansion took a little bit of coaxing as well. Afterward she wanted to go again, and in total we went four times, but each time she was a little apprehensive. She was proud of herself for facing her fears and going on all the scary rides. She helped herself face her fears by saying that since it's almost Halloween, so she needs to get into the Halloween spirit.
Zuri really didn't care about meeting the characters. The first characters she met were Chip N Dale, and she didn't really know how to react. She just wanted to get their autographs and be done, but they kept playing with her hair and messing with her. The sun was just at the wrong angle, so she wouldn't look up at the camera for a smile. Stinker. She even opted to skip out of meeting several characters, like Anna and Elsa, Mickey and Minnie, Merida, and others that are escaping me at the moment. She did meet, Ariel, Pocahontas, Joy, Sadness, the guy from Big Hero 5, Rafiki and more. Her preference was to ride the rides over meeting the characters, and given the choice, she would choose rides every single time. She absolutely loved meeting Ariel, and was so excited to ask Ariel how to become a mermaid. Ariel told her she had to find King Tritan and ask him to give her fins. It was all Zuri would talk about. She wanted to go right to the ocean to find him and ask him.
Zuri also loved meeting with Pocahontas and Meeko. Afterwards she kept mentioning that she and Pocahontas both love nature. Zuri was wearing a rainbow hair clip, and Pocahontas said that Zuri has the colors of the wind in her hair. Zuri loved that. Zuri loved that everyone called her Princess at the parks. It was a big deal to her, and she kept track (it was over 30 times).
We really didn't have to wait super long in lines. The longest we waited in line was an hour, and that was only a handful of times. Once because a ride had broken. Our average wait time was about twenty-five minutes. I had downloaded the Disneyworld App and we took advantage of the Fast Pass, so between the two, we were able to catch rides at lower wait times. It was fabulous.
We played a lot of Spot-It, heads-or-tails, and Who-Am-I? games. I am really impressed with how well Zuri handled everything during our trip. There were only a few times she whined (when it got really hot, and we were all feeling it), and only once when she really threw attitude.
Astro Orbiter:
Tomorrowland Speedway:
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| The one and only time I have been to Disneyland, I was eight, and there is a picture of my dad and I in the car--him freaking out because I was driving--so I wanted to recreate the experience with Zuri. It was pretty fun! |
Rapunzel's Tower:
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| Rapunzel's tower |
Haunted Mansion:
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| The Haunted Mansion |
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| I love that many of the rides have things to help entertain the kids along the way. If you press on the instruments, they make sounds |
Meeting Chip N Dale:
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| Her expression in this photo is classic |
Splash Mountain:
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| I tried getting a video of her reaction going down the big drop, but since I'm behind her, it didn't work as I thought it would. I tried to get her to turn around after, but she was too busy laughing. She loved it! |
After Pirates:
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| Trying to get the sword out of the stone |
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