suse66
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true!
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2008
Your room looks lovely!!The CM escorted us up the elevator and gave us a tour of the lounge area, though the food was closed for another 5/10 minutes or so while they set it up. We then headed to our room--room 7058. We loved it! I don't know what the view would be categorized as, but we could definitely see Space Mountain and if you strained, Astro Orbiter. And of course, it had the normal two queen beds. I loved all the rustic touches and just the personality of the room. We both loved the Ghiradellhi chocolates left on the bed though!
I love that foot rub too! I had it in my room at the Poly this summer and it came in very handy!That foot rub came in super handy--Mom really liked it, and used it every morning.
The picture of happiness!She came back a few minutes after the housekeeper stopped by, eating a shrimp cocktail. I swear guys, the shrimp cocktails in the lounge were one of the highlights of the trip: she said they were really good, and compared all the shrimp the rest of the trip to these, and I think these still came out ahead. I think this one she's eating in the picture is her 4th or 5th? A very enjoyable late lunch/snack for her. I was just happy to see her so happy.
It certainly is.Also look at this view--ridiculously gorgeous!
I love this story so much! What a great moment.Our server was great--very friendly. She was also from Shanghai, which Mom thought was neat. Mom lived for a year and a half in Taiwan when she was younger, so she used to speak Mandarin, and has recently (in the last year or so) been using Duolingo to refresh/remember her Mandarin. So I encouraged Mom to speak to our server in Mandarin--it took a bit of encouragement, but eventually Mom got up her courage (she's a bit insecure about her speaking skills), and our sweet server just got so excited and practically fawned over Mom, even calling over her manager to say that Mom spoke to her "in my language!" It really made Mom feel good, and the CM seemed excited to speak a little bit of her own language. It was really fun! And again, I was grateful for the CM to be so enthusiastic and kind about Mom speaking Mandarin and to speak with her a bit, rather than brushing her off or something. Can you tell I was worried about Mom having a good time? I needn't have worried, all these fun little things.
Oh my goodness, that is just an awesome interaction! I would enjoy every minute of that.Grumpy was our last meet at the table, and by that point Mom was feeling a bit more comfortable, which set the stage for a great interaction with the Evil Queen. Mom basically went head to head with the Evil Queen about who was older and therefore wiser. The Queen wasn't breaking and Mom just kept giving it to her about how she [Mom] was older and how the Queen should respect her and the Queen just wasn't having it. I was cracking up. It was a fantastic interaction.
Yay!Anyways, once we arrived, we checked in and got our wristbands (no more lanyards, apparently; bummer), and headed back to Toy Story Land! I had been refreshing the Disney app sporadically throughout the afternoon/evening, and managed to score an evening fastpass for Slinky Dog Dash! I almost let it go, but figured that having a fastpass would mean that we could spend our Disney After Hours time elsewhere, rather than waiting in line for Slinky. So I grabbed it. Bwahahahaha
How fun to have your own elevator!Shopping done, it was time for Tower of Terror! They were still running the pre-show at this point, which actually worked out really well since Mom had never ridden it before. And then we ended up on our own elevator! Score!
I love it!Mom loved this ride--she loved the feeling of "flying" from the freefall. Her thing was flapping her arms like she was flying. My thing was laughing with/at her. When our first ride ended we asked the CMs if we could ride again and they graciously took us up the chicken exit so we could ride again. The second time we were riding while the fireworks were going, which was an amazing experience! I highly recommend that view of the fireworks, if possible. You can see Mom pointing at them in the photo.
Well done!We then kept going towards Star Tours, which was happily no wait. I don't remember how the conversation started, but Mom and I ended up chatting with the CM there and talking about how it was Mom's first time to WDW, first time on Star Wars, and we were celebrating her 60th birthday. The CM was really friendly--again, happy relaxed CMs really make Disney After Hours have a different vibe than the regular park days. But I'll admit I had a bit of an ulterior motive for engaging with the CM--I was hoping to get Mom picked as the Rebel Spy! Was I successful?
You see that gentleman in the front of our the elevator? He told Mom that you catch more air if you keep your seatbelt loose. This blew Mom's mind--she loved the flying feeling--and she wanted to try it immediately. We headed back around (the normal way this time) and while putting our seatbelts on, Mom forgot to hold the seatbelt loose so it wouldn't automatically tighten. So she asks the CM if he can please reset the seatbelts 'cause she wants to keep her's loose. He looks at her like she's crazy and is basically like "um no, can't do that, cause you know, safety" Mom's response: "But then I can't fly!" The CM: "Coooo--rrect!" and he immediately shuts the elevator door and starts the ride. Mom and I were both *dying* laughing the entire ride--the CM's delivery was just deadpan perfect. "Coooo-rrect!" *slam* Mom still didn't have a loose seatbelt, but worth it. And yes, we totally quoted "Coooooo--rrect" to each other the entire trip.
The two of you had such an amazing night....what a magical first day!So yea, that was day 1! All the pixie dust, and just a fantastic day all around. Mom and I absolutely loved Disney After Hours: riding whatever we wanted with no lines, and the despite the occasional sprinkles throughout the night, the rain held off 'til the night was over. Side note: having done Disney After Hours at both the Magic Kingdom (with Trevor, last September) and Hollywood Studios, I think I like the MK event just a little bit better, but then I like MK as a park a bit better. There aren't a lot of rides at Hollywood and that becomes super apparent when there are no lines for anything, and the atmosphere at MK is better. But MK only wins by a hair: you can't put a price on having your own elevator multiple times at Tower of Terror, and we had some great CMs all night. One of the CMs at Tower of Terror was totally in character and pretended the elevator was full, even thought it was only Mom and I. He loaded each row (even though they were all empty) and did the whole safety check, asking (non-existent) Jeffrey to put his seatbelt on from left to right "no, your other left" and to raise his hands "raise your hands Jeffrey. All the way. I can wait. I'll wait.......... Thank you Jeffrey". I realize it's not super funny written out, but in person, his delivery was spot on--it was great. If you're thinking about doing Disney After Hours, I recommend it wholeheartedly! Honestly, I think it spoiled Mom a bit for the rest of the trip. #worthit