This was a planned afternoon and evening free of theme parks, ostensibly to relax a bit and cut down on the foot usage, but of course it doesn’t always turn out that way. After the girls played at the pool for a few hours, we boarded the Red Grand Caravan and set our course for Downtown Disney. About halfway through the drive, Aly says “I think I need to stop in the woods again” which references an incident which occurred during our August trip to Maine and does not bode well. When I turned to look at her, she was literally bouncing off her seat, so I pulled into the closest Hess to avoid disaster.
We parked on the Marketplace side of DTD and avoided Stitch’s expectorate while making our way past the LEGO store, which has some cool new sculpture after their makeover. We wandered over Pleasure Island to West Side, where we ended up at the Phineas and Ferb and You experience, which is great for our Phineas-obsessed household.
At this attraction, which is free, kids get a chance to interact on a big screen with characters from the TV show, and then get a free digital picture of the scene. There are several interactions, and you can even request which one you want. Aly did a couple, and Leah joined in for one of them as well, spending the rest of the time having fun running around. There was no line for this one, despite it being a Saturday night and DTD was packed!
Dinner!
We walked back across Pleasure Island to our dinner reservations at Raglan Road Irish Pub, where we requested, and were granted, a table with a view of the stage in the main dining room. Our table was half-table/half-booth and the three girls sat on the booth side, leaving me to sit next to an unoccupied chair and feeling a bit chauffeur-like. We’ve been here a few times over the years, and have had great service and meals every time. We got the girls some American Chips (read: fries) to start with, and I ordered the Bangers and Booze, while Rachel ordered the curry chicken. Both were great.
As we were finishing up our entrees, the dancers took the stage. About 30 seconds into their performance, Leah went crazy with excitement and started pogoing on the booth seat:
After a few numbers, one of the female dancers gathered up some kids, and Aly got to dance up on the stage with her for a few minutes, which was clearly the highlight of her day to this point. Leah, however, was red with jealous rage that “Ah” was up there but she couldn’t go. Aly even came back with a certificate that seemed to irritate Leah further. Once Aly returned to our table, we settled the check and I took Lele outside while the other two used the loo.
While we waited outside, I spotted one of the dancers with her tap board preparing to dance on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, and positioned us so Leah would have a front-row seat. During her performance, the girls rejoined us just in time for the dancers to again pull girls from the crowd, and Aly jumped at the chance. This time, with no falling off the stage fears, Leah was free to get down and dance herself. Both girls received certificates again, and Leah treasured hers, carrying it while she walked for the next ten minutes or so, and holding it up for everyone to see.
We then did some shopping at the massive and absolutely packed World of Disney store – yes, we got you something. After we bought a few things, we were outside when a little Italian boy, probably three, came up to Aly and Leah, and the three of them played around for a few minutes under one of the store’s Phineas-decorated windows. The little boy kept trying to get to Aly while Leah was trying to get to him, which we all though was adorably hilarious. The boy’s parents told him it was time to say “Ciao” and to give Leah a goodbye kiss, which he promptly gave to Aly, though Leah kissed him once or twice as revenge.
