One of the ways we maximized our time at Disney was by getting the "max" pass. It was just $10 extra/ ticket and allowed us to get fast passes directly onto our phones. We were eligible to get one fast pass/ hour. I will say, I was disappointed that the max pass only worked on a handful of rides. If I remember correctly they included Buzz Lightgear, Star Tours, Star Wars, Matterhorn, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Its a Small World, Autopia, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain...so all the big rides but NOTHING in Fantasy Land...many of those rides got to 40 minute waits or longer and those were the only ones Patrick could ride. There was one roller coaster in Toon Town that Patrick was able to ride.
While the rides are great, the character meet and greets were the highlight for us. Patrick got to meet Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, Ray, some storm troopers, and we saw Tiana walk by a couple of times. He had the sweetest encounter with Mickey Mouse. We walked through Mickey's house and I didn't realize that we had gotten ourselves into the line to meet him. The sign posted outside said that the line was 30 minutes long and I wasn't sure I wanted to wait all that time but, we found our way into the line anyway. It worked out nicely because when we got to the true line and waiting portion, we were watching old Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts on a big screen in his "barn/ studio". It was adorable and Patrick was delighted. When we walked inside, Mickey looked black and white and sort of "vintage" Patrick was charmed. His grin was so sweet and so big. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Such a sweet moment. He was a bit star struck but simultaneously super eager to go give Mickey a hug. We have the sweetest picture of him hugging Mickey and it was just so fun.
I was proud of myself at one point later in the day. I had ordered two too many fast passes for the Matterhorn ride. My dad and I were skipping out on that one so, I went to the very back of the line. By about 4:00, the line wrapped all the way around the mountain to the backside and the line was about an hour long. I figured...if I went to someone at the back of the line and offered them my passes, I could get $5-10 for them...success. I found some high schoolers and got $5/ ticket. Thus, I paid for 1.5 max passes because Patrick and I didn't even use them on many of the rides...he was too small for more than half of the rides that the max passes were working for. Did I feel guilty...maybe a tiny tiny bit however, they skipped the line and I got some money. Seemed fair.
We let Patrick lead the day in a lot of ways. I chased him around Tom Sawyer island- now called Pirate island or Treasure Island or something like that. I showed him the Tarzan tree. We rode lots of kiddie rides together. I took him to the potty more times than I could count. Funny thing about the potty...I must have been cursed at Disney because EVERY SINGLE sink I chose had an adjacent paper towel dispenser that was EMPTY!!! Every one! After the second one I thought...this is a fluke. Disney is so on top of this! There's no way I'm going to run into another paper towel thing that is out and IT. KEPT. HAPPENING. And, surprisingly, I wasn't annoyed. I just laughed. It's like Disneyland and I had a little inside joke going. Then, get this, when I was with my girlfriends on the Queen Mary on Sunday morning having brunch...the towel dispenser I chose when I washed my hands on the boat was dirty!!! Too funny.
Back to Disney-
We found ourselves exploring lots of parts of the park that I've never really seen (or at least remember seeing) because Patch is still so little and can't do lots of the big rides. One thing we all enjoyed was the Tiki Room. I was enthralled and the music was so great! I hear that the Tiki Room is getting replaced with something else eventually so, I was imagining the birds all being auctioned off at some charity event and becoming collectibles. If that were to be the case, what bird would I want? Probably Colette. I just like that name :)
We had such a delightful day. Pixar Fest was happening so, there was a really fun Pixar parade through Disneyland that I fully enjoyed since most of the Pixar stuff is generally in California Adventures and I was going to miss Sunday at that park. So, while Patrick and Scott rode Autopia, my mom and I watched the Pixar parade. So fun! They had characters from Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Bugs Life, and a few others. I loved seeing the inventive ways they created for the Pixar characters to move through the parade. De. Lightful.
One of our last rides was "It's a Small World". We all got to ride that one together and Patrick sat with my parents. That is a ride that I typically don't rush to get onto so, it's been years since I've seen it and now they have all this Pixar stuff in there too. If you ask me, the Pixar parts felt a bit "reachy" and out of place but I understand why they would do that. I did love looking at all the details on the costumes and talking to Patrick about what the song meant was meaningful. In the days following our trip, he would sing the song in the car or ask us to sing it for him.
We left the park around dinner time to grab some food in Downtown Disney. We ate at a New Orleans style restaurant and ordered way to much food- as usual. Patrick hadn't napped by this point and was kind of losing patience as Scott and my dad waited in line to order food. I didn't realize that he was heading into breakdown mode because my mom and I popped over into The Disney Dress Shop where they sell vintage inspired dresses made with licensed fabrics. (I didn't find anything that I loved-DARN IT) When we got back to the boys Scott asked if I would take Patch and occupy him over by the fountain. In hindsight, he probably just wanted out of the stroller but, I got after him for fussing and rushed him away from the crowds to calm him down and talk. We were across the way at this fountain and I was crouched down in front of him offering to take him out to eat when this kid walks up behind us just a few feet and projectile vomits! I don't think any got on us but the splashes of his vomit were close to us. Nasty. Well, anyway, Patrick was still occupied with his own tantrum but did calm down when I spoke to him down on his level and offered for him to sit with us at the table and eat dinner like a big boy. He did a great job after that and was quite pleasant the rest of the evening. Toward the end of dinner, he had to run to the bathroom which was just past the Lego store. Naturally Patch wanted to pay the Lego store a visit so, I told him that if he ate his dinner well, he could go there. We literally ran back to the table to finish eating (darting in and out of crowds of people...my trying to keep up with him) and yes, he did get to go to the Lego store.
After that, my parents brought him back home for bed and Scott and I headed back into Disneyland to do a few more rides just the two of us. Around the time we got out of riding the Buzz Lightgear ride, the evening Pixar show was starting. There were sections of the path just in front of the castle blocked off and already filled up by viewers. It appeared there was no more room for additional people to try to watch the show. Scott and I were ushered through a path and Disney employees were trying to keep the crowds moving (they do, after all, have to worry a great deal about crowd control and making sure there are clear safe walking paths) so, we got clever and just kept walking in circles around the iconic statue of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney. Literally walking in circles while watching the show. It was awesome. I do love working the system. We rode the rockets in Tomorrow Land and had one last fast pass for Indiana Jones. One our way there, I heard live music playing and there was A SWING DANCE happening...yes....a swing dance at one of the performance areas near Mainstreet. So, naturally, Scott and I took a moment to dance and enjoy. It was definitely a highlight of the day for me.
Patrick said a few times throughout the day, "I'm so glad that I learned to poop and pee on the potty so that I could come to Disneyland". *heart eyes* That was the sweetest. I'm glad to buddy, I'm glad too.
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