When we started planning this vacation, I told Wes that I was making the Grandma Faulk Pledge. Back when Wes went on his childhood trips to Walt Disney World, he went with Grandma Faulk, who told him that she’d ride any ride that the rest of them rode. This is how his aging grandmother ended up on Space Mountain with him, enjoying it just as much as he did. (Or not. Since I never met Grandma Faulk, I couldn’t confirm that she enjoyed any part of that nonsense.)

I don’t particularly enjoy thrill rides, and to paraphrase a quote from my sister from last year, I certainly don’t feel the need at my age to prove anything to anyone by going on a ride that will make me feel like barfing. We have enough of barfing at WDW without thrill rides, thankyouverymuch. (See our experience just two days earlier with Emmy.) I said I had ridden my last thrill ride as a teenager… but that crafty husband of mine insisted that Disney’s thrill rides were TAME versions of what I remember from Six Flags. That free fall ride that made you feel like you were going to slam right into the ground? Oh, no, Disney’s version is more like a slow bungee jump. And that roller coaster whose shoulder harnesses left you literally bruised and sore? Oh, no, Disney’s version doesn’t hurt a bit!

He was so convincing that I told him that I, like Grandma Faulk, would be no one’s wet blanket this year. I would ride ALL the thrill rides!

This boast didn’t seem like such a great idea when we headed to Hollywood Studios that morning. Our first stop was Toy Story Midway Mania, which tends to get ridiculously crowded very quickly. We got through the line in record time, rode the ride, and made our way to the Rock N Roller Coaster, which only had a ten minute wait. I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down in anticipation as I heard people screeching and screaming on the ride, but there weren’t any opportunities for me to jump out of line and run back outside. (Trust me, I looked for them.) So, on the ride I went… and I actually enjoyed it! So much so that we got Fast Passes so we could ride it again later. I think it may be one of my new favorites.

From there, we went to the Tower of Terror, which would NOT become one of my new favorites. Wes waited until we were in the elevator and buckled in to tell me that, “Okay, I don’t really like this one much either.” He then proceeded to tell me that he always screams like a little girl during the drops, then tried to reassure me by saying, “Don’t worry, the doors will open to the outside before the first drop, so you’ll know it’s coming.” Yeah, about two minutes later, he said, “Oh, no, I was wrong, here it comes – AAAAAHHHHH!” No time to prepare myself, y’all, so I spent the whole ride with my face in Wes’s shoulder as he did indeed scream like a little girl. That ride is the stuff my nightmares are made of – falling without any way to stop yourself. Once it was finally over, I told him, “Well, that’s the last time I’m doing that!” And it will be. End of story.

To appease me, we went back and did the Rock N Roller Coaster one more time. At this point, Ana and Emma, who were both too short for these rides, were getting restless. As well they should have been! We made our way across the park to Star Tours and convinced Ana to ride with us this time. She spent the whole ride laughing then told us afterwards, “That was SO scary!” Methinks Chicken Little was putting on.

We stopped for lunch at Pizza Planet then went on for another showing of Muppet Vision 3D. This time, we sat on the front row so the girls could really see the Muppets in the orchestra pit, the one that comes out and walks the front of the stage, Bean the Bunny, etc. Am I spoiling the show for those of you who’ve never seen it? I better not say too much more, then.

After a quick round of shopping, we made our way over to the Animation Courtyard to watch the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. From there, we rode the Great Movie Ride, and as we were exiting, the girls decided it was snack time. Nana and Coach still had their Fast Passes for Rock N Roller Coaster, so they headed back to ride it one more time while Wes and I took the girls to the candy shop to pick up some treats. A bag of cotton candy and a Rice Krispy Mickey bar later, we met back up with Coach and Nana and went to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Nana and Coach took the girls back to the Animation Courtyard for the Disney Junior show while Wes and I shopped along the main entrance. (Lots of shopping going on. And lots of sitting. My feet were killing me!) We all met up after the show and travelled back to Pop Century for dinner and a movie on the lawn. Ana and Emma concluded the evening by searching the Pop Century property for more characters with Coach and Nana, while Wes and I rested our feet. 26.2 miles on them was tougher than we thought it would be. Imagine that!

Rain was in the forecast for the next morning, but was that going to stop us? Stay tuned to find out…