Loose in Liberty Square

Okay, so we’ve been on the one attraction we definitely wanted to ride today, and it’s only 10:30. That leaves us with an awful lot of freedom! We have an hour until our Liberty Tree Tavern lunch reservation, so… time to hit some area favorites.

We stroll along the walkways lining the Rivers of America. It really is a gorgeous day – have I mentioned that? The Liberty Belle riverboat is paddling its way past us, the sun is streaming through the trees, and we’re not shoulder to shoulder with mobs of people. We can handle the chill any day if the rest of the experience is like this!

We’re headed for the Haunted Mansion, but we spot the stockades along the way, just waiting for Brandon and Benjamin to stick their heads and hands in for a photograph.

The Haunted Mansion is showing a wait time of 10 minutes, but... the line is stretching out further into the Square than last night, when the wait time was 20 minutes. So, I’m skeptical.

We get in line, and as we go under the awning, I can see for the first time that there are no switchbacks in use, so we’re pretty much going straight in! Love the low crowds.

The Mansion is much less ominous at night.

The boys and I enjoy our repeat ride on the Haunted Mansion and Becky and her parents enjoy their first. Still great effects. I think I could see more detail in the ride last night, though – maybe that’s a function of my eyes already being adjusted to the dark before I came in (or my adjustable-tint eyeglass lenses doing the same).

Okay, it’s not yet 11:00. What next? We walk towards Fantasyland, thinking of perhaps experiencing Mickey’s Philharmagic, but we see that it’s a small world is showing a wait time of 20 minutes. That should work out fine with our lunch reservation, and everyone is gung-ho for riding it. Everyone, that is, but me. Not that I would mind the song or the singing dolls again, but I do not want to subject my knees to another painful ride in those cramped boats.

So the family heads into the entrance without me. Unlike last night, the queue ramps are filled with people, so the twenty minutes showing on the Standby wait time is probably accurate. I walk towards the small world exit to get some pictures of them in line.

Immediately after I’m on my own, a mom with a couple of kids in tow comes up to me and asks for directions to Snow White’s Scary Adventures. I’m in a Mickey sweatshirt today, but I’m apparently still exuding that mystical aura that makes some people think I know things. I two-finger point her past Cinderella’s Golden Carousel.

As soon as she’s gone, I go exploring around the corner of Peter Pan’s Flight to confirm my memory that there is a restroom there. Yep, there is. I figure that if I’m going to be standing around on my own, sooner or later someone will ask me where the nearest bathroom is, and I need to be ready.

Moments after returning to small world, a lady with a toddler comes up to me and asks where the nearest bathroom is.