We decided to make one more stop before lunch--Tarzan's Treehouse. This was fantastic! I really like the treehouse at WDW-- I enjoy all the little details throughout the attraction, and this was even better! There were some interactive elements, and a super-cute play area at the end. The boys gave it two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
This was a super-neat area, and we spent a good 20 minutes in there playing. I had to drag the boys away in order to grab lunch and make our IJ FP before Jedi Training. Bravo, Disney!
For lunch, we headed over to a quick service place I'd read about that got great reviews--Rancho Del Zocalo. This was another great example of how the DL food beats food at WDW HANDS DOWN. I knew from studying the menu on Allears that we would all find something we liked here. JH got the bean burrito from the children's menu, which was served with Mexican rice, applesauce and milk. His favorite food is beans, so he was very happy! Grady and I split the enchillada platter--Carne Asada and Red Chile Enchillada Platter. This was a TON of food for $14.99-- it came with two cheese enchiladas, rice, beans, a large serving of steak (cooked fresh when we ordered, and served a little pink,) plus two tortillas on the side.
(Picture borrowed from the Internet!). This was more than enough for two moderate eaters to share, and it was GOOD. Not theme park good-- just GOOD. We also got a bag of lime tortilla chips and salsa to share, and our entire meal was around $20. I wish we had this option in Florida!
After our lunch, we decided to split some churros from the churro cart for dessert, then use our FP for Indiana Jones. Our timing was so good-- we got in line for IJ just before 1:30, and were zipping through the FP line. We were going to be right on time for Jedi Training--perfect! Our plans for the afternoon were to grab another FP for Hyoerspace Mountain, ride Buzz, Autopia, hit up Splash again and then head over to Trader Sam's, which I was REALLY looking forward to, for libations, tiki punch and apps. It was shaping up to be a perfect day!
And.....this is when the wheels feel off. In a pretty spectacular way. I thought about just glossing over this, but it happened, and it majorly impacted our trip. So.....deep breath....
While we were in line for IJ, I noticed Grady scratching his head. A lot. And then I remembered that he had been scratching it in the car on the way up the day before. He's my "twitchy" kid, and I didn't think much of it. But, just to be sure, I decided to rifle through his hair real quick while we stood in the (dimly lit) line.
It was then, to quote Angelica Schulyer, that "I realized three fundamental truths at the exact same time..."
Number One) I'm a Mom in Disneyland and my oldest child has a case of headlice.
Number Two) given the state of his scalp, this was not a recent development.
Number Three) I'M ALONE AT DISNEYLAND WITH TWO CHILDREN AND MY CHILD HAS #%*#! HEADLICE.
OMG. I just about died right there in the Happiest Place on Earth. SERIOUSLY, Universe?! At that point, we were at the ride loading area, so we got on. Its safe to say that I didn't enjoy this ride ONE BIT today. I spent all of it trying to come up with a plan. By the end, though, I knew what I wanted to do.
As much as I knew we should abort mission on Jedi Training, I also knew I couldn't do that to JH, especially. He was beside himself about the chance to fight Kylo Ren, and if I just couldn't bring myself to break his little heart. Feel free to judge me--I was judging me! I'm the mom who keeps her kids home for an extra day just to recover from a fever. I took the kids to the bathroom and explained to G what was going on-- this was our first experience with this particular scenario, and he was VERY freaked out. And he was also SOBBING about not doing the training... I suck, I know....but I just couldn't tell him no. So we headed off to check in, with dire threats about not putting up his hood or standing near anyone. JH, thankfully, seemed clear.
We headed over to check in, and Grady really was trying to stand away from the other kids. I felt horrible-- both for him, and about the fact that I was letting him do this. Soon enough, it was time for me to join the other parents in the viewing area, and my little Jedis were marched out.
I wanted to yell ---"get that hood off your head!"
Continued next post...