Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Rea - The Thrill-Seeking Toddler

... Continued from '4th at Disney'


About 2 months ago, Rea rode Thunder Mountain for the first time. Shane and I were in Jacksonville on a business trip, so we sent the kids to Disney with my sisters and mom. Apparently Rea wanted to ride Big Thunder pretty badly. So my sisters took her over to it to show her that she wasn't tall enough. But their plan backfired. The ride attendant said, "She can ride this." Mom argued with him for a minute, made him check two or three times, prompted him to say, "You know, people usually don't argue with me about this." 
Anyway, once Rea knew she was tall enough, there was no stopping her. They went. Jack videoed the ride for us. It is one of the greatest videos ever! 


In line in May
Checking it out... 
The entire boat ride over to MK, all Rea talked about was riding Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. Rea's ultimate goal is to ride the Tower of Terror. But I told her she has to work up to that one. It is very difficult to completely explain the Tower of Terror. A lot gets lost in translation. If you ask Rea about it, she will tell you that I have told her it is 'real scary' but that it is still Disney and Disney is 'fake scary'. 
So it seemed that this trip we would have to attempt Splash Mountain. Shane and I both love thrill rides, and Big Thunder is Shane's fave ride at Disney. We were super excited to take her on it! Unfortunately, the line sucked. It was over an hour... and for a group of peeps who frequent the parks as often as we do, waiting in line for anything is terrible!
But I think even Shane will admit, it was worth it to experience it with Rea! 

Thanks Steph for snapping this excellent photo! 
As soon as the train pulled into the station and we were being forced to disembark, Rea exclaimed, "NOW WE GET TO GO ON SPLASH!!!" 
Oh boy. 
There were a few things working against her plan. One: there was nasty weather rolling in. They announced several times over the loud speaker that outdoor rides may be suspended without notice. Two: Shane was hungry and still annoyed from the Big Thunder wait. There was no possible way he was going to stand in line for anything that didn't eventually put french fries in his mouth. Three: The clock was itching closer to the time for the fireworks show. And we didn't want to miss it. 
But try explaining any of that to a three year who is literally looking at her goal. 
We were able to stall her for a while. In fact, we were able to feed both Shane and Rea. Then we all found a great spot to watch the fireworks. We decided to watch them from a bridge in front of Splash Mountain. I figured as soon as the fireworks ended we could book it over to Splash and hopefully beat a huge line. 
The fireworks started. They were good. Just before the finale started, Rea said, "OK. I have seen enough fireworks. Let's go do Splash now." Shane and I agreed (we live next to a baseball stadium and fireworks are a pretty regular thing here). 
We literally walked right on to the ride. Woo hoo! Go us and our awesome planning! 
Rea kept saying she was just going to hold onto the 'spacebar' (that's what she calls the safety bar) and not lift her hands. We told her that was perfectly acceptable. She also asked me a few times if I was sure she would be ok. I told her she didn't have to ride it, we were not going to make her do it. She is after all only three. She promised me that she wanted to do it. I promised her that Disney makes their rides very safe. 
So there we were. In the front, of course. We knew we had to have the picture if it turned out. 
Rea sat in total fear for 90% of the ride. The entire time I kept thinking that I was a terrible parent for allowing my baby to go on this. But Shane and I kept laughing and pointing out all the cute things to look at. We promised to tell her when the big drop was coming.
Then it came. 

We got DRENCHED! Shane and I were cracking up... what's that that I hear? Rea is laughing too! In between giggles, she said, "That was totally AWESOME!!! My buns are soaked! Let's do it again!"


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