This post was written by Greg, with photos and comments by Maria.
Today was our first full day at a Disney World park. The forecast for today (and pretty much every day this week) was rain. Looking at the hour-by-hour breakdown it said that the morning would be light and the afternoon heavy with rain. It was the exact opposite. It rained all morning, and was fairly dry all afternoon.
Our plan was to start at Epcot today. We've done all sorts of studying and consulting with friends to figure out which parks are best to go to on which days due to attendance volume, hours, attractions, and all sorts of factors. Somebody magically calculated that Epcot was the place to go today, and who are we to argue with magic? We also had a choice to either drive (and pay $12 parking every single day) or use the resort's shuttle (and rely on their drop-off & pick-up times.) We chose the latter, and are still not sure that was the best choice--though it was the cheaper one.
We got up early enough--especially since we are an hour ahead here in Florida. Maria found herself awake in the middle of the night for a while so she slept in (all the way to 7) and woke to find everyone else up, dressed and ready to go. The kids had even gotten an episode or two of cartoons on TV in (since they had their own TV in their room). We chose green shirts to wear as a family, which once again came in handy to pick each other out in the crowd over the day.
We stuffed one of our giant backpacks full of snacks, first aid items, ponchos, maps, water bottles, and probably an extra lead weight or two for good measure which we carried all through the park. The nice thing is that it converts to a rolling pack with a handle so we didn't have to keep it on our backs the whole time.
We went out to the front of the resort in the morning to catch the 8:30 bus to Epcot. Maria found some pastries and chocolate milk at a shop in the main resort center to hopefully tide us over for a few hours. The bus driver on the way informed us that Epcot stands for "Every Person Comes Out Tired." We didn't know how right she was!
Colin and Spencer thought it was pretty cool to be able to stand on a moving vehicle.
We arrived just as the park opened and went straight in. Disney tickets are now credit-card like objects and for adults you have to actually scan your finger when you insert your ticket so they know it's really you.
A rainy view of the Epcot sphere and entry.
For most of the morning it was raining enough that we kept debating pulling out our ponchos. It wasn't enough to soak us, but it was enough we had to sort of wipe ourselves down as we got into each building.
We walked straight back to the Test Track ride. This was new since last we visited and we had heard that it was popular enough that it backs up fast and runs out of fast-passes early. We went right in--through the entire set up of the winding line and even past the opening movie that introduces the ride (so we could only assume we understood what the "premise" of the ride was). We got right into the Test Track vehicle and went on a crazy ride as they tested our car's brakes, environmental controls, and all the other things that supposedly happen to test real vehicles. Then we broke out of the building and went on a wild ride outside as the car continued to increase in speed. This was fun and a bit crazy with raindrops hitting us the entire time. At the end of the ride there were still few enough people that they asked if we wanted to ride again. We definitely did and repeated it. The kids loved it and it was probably their favorite ride of the day.
A little wet, but ready to have fun!
Greg and Spencer all set for Test Track
Colin loves this ride!
After that we exited into a floor where there were a bunch of new cars on display and somehow ended up taking part in a kids car seat safety test with an attendant there. For taking part, both the boys got a small Etch-A-Sketch for free.
We exited that building and ran across through the rain to the next building which was a big shop, Mouse Gears. We took a moment to look around and suddenly found a ton of stuff everyone was interested in. Maria and I both found several souvenir items. The nice thing about the parks these days is you can buy things at the various souvenir shops and have them sent to the front of the park for pick up at the end of the day.
From the shop we started to head to the other side of the park to catch the other new attraction that supposedly fills up quickly, "Soaring." On our way we crossed a Character Spot where Mickey and several other characters were available for pictures. The boys and Maria waited there while I went over to Soaring to get Fast Passes. We really overestimated the potential crowds for the day. Even though I got Fast Passes, there was never any real need. The lines never got that long.
While I was getting the passes in "The Land" pavilion, the boys went through the character meet-and-greet. They both visited with Mickey and Pluto, but then Colin decided he was done while Spencer went through the rest of the line. He tried to avoid Minnie, but she grabbed him and hugged him and made him embarrassed enough to turn red. The other characters were Donald and Goofy. Goofy looked at Spencer's pins and was upset that there were no Goofy pins, but was appeased when Maria showed him her lanyard with a Goofy pin on it.
Colin has decided Mickey is his favorite character.
Awww. Love that tongue hanging out.
Poor embarrassed Spencer. He said he could hear her making kissing noises.
High fives with Donald.
Donald was one of Spencer's favorite characters.
Goofy checking out Spencer's lanyard.
They soon finished there and caught up with me in The Land. Our passes weren't quite ready for "Soaring" so we went and watched "The Circle of Life" with the Lion King characters. It was a pretty awful environmental propaganda film. I'm certainly not against the idea of taking care of our world, but the way it was portrayed in the film about how terrible we treat our Earth made me a bit upset. It made it seem like before "modern age" people always lived in perfect harmony with the land and that the mere act of cutting down a tree or building a house was ruining the world.
Luckily "Soaring" quickly washed the bad taste out of my mouth. "Soaring" is a hang-gliding simulator where you sit in chairs that go up in the air in front of a giant screen and "soar" over various landscapes. There's some breeze and even some scents like pine and orange as you pass through forests and orange groves. It was a lot of fun.
After "The Land" we headed over to "Imagination" where we went in to "Honey I Shrunk The Audience." I believe that was there last time Maria and I were there, but it was where "Captain EO" was in the early 90's and before. It's a 4D movie experience where there's a 3D film with interactive elements. There was a great part where a bunch of mice supposedly run into the audience and, I believe, some ankles were tickled. One lady a row or two behind us screamed and jumped out of her seat and turned around several times in terror!
Outside "Imagination" they still have the hopping fountains and an upside down waterfall. The boys had a blast playing with the fountains that shoot water bursts over the heads of the crowd. The upside-down waterfall is actually fountains shooting upwards to a pool overhead.
Waiting for the water . . .
Right in the face! That's one way to catch it!
Spencer all wet. What a cutie.
Colin shaking his fist at the water that passed him by yet again.
Next we went to the "Journey Into Imagination With Figment" ride. This one was completely redone from the last time we were here (and supposedly redone again in between.) It used to be a ride with a wizard/professor guy, now it starts as a science experiment with the senses with Eric Idle before Figment the dragon (one of my favorite park-only characters) takes over and turns it into a crazy imagination ride all while singing a particularly catchy tune. It was cute, but I liked the old version of the ride better.
Spencer still wet and happy while waiting for Figment.
It was getting near lunch at this time so we decided to head to the World Showcase to look for lunch.
Of course you have to have a picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background!
We went quickly through Canada, but looked around the UK a bit.
What cute boys!
Then we got to France, which was one place we were really looking forward to. We found the pastry shop in the back where we got 4 ham sandwiches (3 on croissants, 1 on baguette for me) and then chocolate croissants, chocolate mousse, a chocolate eclair and a chocolate twist. We sat and enjoyed our lunch and rested for a bit.
Ooh la la! This is why we had a hard time deciding on dessert.
Colin is really looking forward to lunch!
Boys in berets. Colin's interpretation of what a snooty French person should look like cracked me up.
We moved on to Morocco where we ran into Aladdin and Jasmine and had the boys pose with them. One of the shop attendants offered to write the boys' names in Arabic which was a nice cheap (i.e. free) souvenir.
Even the bathroom looked cool.
Probably the only Disney princess we'll get the boys to pose with willingly, since Aladdin is there.
The boys look so sharp in a Fez!
Japan was just like I remembered it from the outside, but inside the main store it was all Anime and toy-based souvenirs like Pokemon and Transformers. We skipped past America and rested a bit in Italy. In Germany we visited a small toy store but high-tailed it out of there since the food smell there was too sour for my taste. We stopped at an African outpost after that where Colin bought a rock as a souvenir, of all things. Next was China and we wandered through the shops there and then to Norway.
There are ducks and other birds all over the parks.
Spencer wondered why these cups had lids. Greg told him it was so their beer wouldn't spill while they sang and swung their cups around.
We couldn't pass by these drums without giving them a try.
Maria and the boys in China.
Colin trying out a marionette.
Greg and Buddha hanging out.
There's a ride in Norway and just as we got on it and began to ascend the ride, it stopped. We sat on an incline with a repeating announcement to stay where we were for about 10 minutes until the ride went back into service. When we got out we discovered we had 15 minutes until the mid-afternoon bus was going to go back to our hotel. It was 2 hours until the next ride and we were all pretty tired. We did all we could to rush out of the park (with me stopping to pick up our purchases while the rest went to catch the bus.) We got to the spot where the bus should have picked us up right exactly at the time we were told to be there. After waiting 10 minutes we called the hotel and were told that we had missed the bus! It had come and left early! We were aching at that point and had to decide what to do next.
Some really tired boys.
Greg taking a break from his shoes.
We looked at the bus times for the other parks and decided we would catch an internal Disney bus over to Disney Hollywood Studios where the resort bus would arrive in 45 minutes to take us back home. So that's what we did. As we waited for the bus, Maria went looking for some drinks for us and tried three different machines outside of the park which wouldn't take her money, so she had to walk all the way into the park where she bought a couple sodas and brought them back out in time for the bus to take us home. At this point we were all tired and exhausted with aching feet.
When we got home we went out to the lazy river again to try and soak out some of our sore muscles. It helped a bit and when we were done and cleaned up, we decided to stop putting off grocery shopping and actually get some food. So we headed out to Wal-Mart. It was interesting in Wal-Mart to see how much of it was dedicated to Disney souvenirs. It seems like everywhere you go around here there are Disney shops and stores with Disney sections. After shopping we picked up some KFC on the way home. We ate, put away groceries, and recuperated for the rest of the evening.
Today was our first full day at a Disney World park. The forecast for today (and pretty much every day this week) was rain. Looking at the hour-by-hour breakdown it said that the morning would be light and the afternoon heavy with rain. It was the exact opposite. It rained all morning, and was fairly dry all afternoon.
Our plan was to start at Epcot today. We've done all sorts of studying and consulting with friends to figure out which parks are best to go to on which days due to attendance volume, hours, attractions, and all sorts of factors. Somebody magically calculated that Epcot was the place to go today, and who are we to argue with magic? We also had a choice to either drive (and pay $12 parking every single day) or use the resort's shuttle (and rely on their drop-off & pick-up times.) We chose the latter, and are still not sure that was the best choice--though it was the cheaper one.
We got up early enough--especially since we are an hour ahead here in Florida. Maria found herself awake in the middle of the night for a while so she slept in (all the way to 7) and woke to find everyone else up, dressed and ready to go. The kids had even gotten an episode or two of cartoons on TV in (since they had their own TV in their room). We chose green shirts to wear as a family, which once again came in handy to pick each other out in the crowd over the day.
We stuffed one of our giant backpacks full of snacks, first aid items, ponchos, maps, water bottles, and probably an extra lead weight or two for good measure which we carried all through the park. The nice thing is that it converts to a rolling pack with a handle so we didn't have to keep it on our backs the whole time.
We went out to the front of the resort in the morning to catch the 8:30 bus to Epcot. Maria found some pastries and chocolate milk at a shop in the main resort center to hopefully tide us over for a few hours. The bus driver on the way informed us that Epcot stands for "Every Person Comes Out Tired." We didn't know how right she was!
Colin and Spencer thought it was pretty cool to be able to stand on a moving vehicle.
We arrived just as the park opened and went straight in. Disney tickets are now credit-card like objects and for adults you have to actually scan your finger when you insert your ticket so they know it's really you.
A rainy view of the Epcot sphere and entry.
For most of the morning it was raining enough that we kept debating pulling out our ponchos. It wasn't enough to soak us, but it was enough we had to sort of wipe ourselves down as we got into each building.
We walked straight back to the Test Track ride. This was new since last we visited and we had heard that it was popular enough that it backs up fast and runs out of fast-passes early. We went right in--through the entire set up of the winding line and even past the opening movie that introduces the ride (so we could only assume we understood what the "premise" of the ride was). We got right into the Test Track vehicle and went on a crazy ride as they tested our car's brakes, environmental controls, and all the other things that supposedly happen to test real vehicles. Then we broke out of the building and went on a wild ride outside as the car continued to increase in speed. This was fun and a bit crazy with raindrops hitting us the entire time. At the end of the ride there were still few enough people that they asked if we wanted to ride again. We definitely did and repeated it. The kids loved it and it was probably their favorite ride of the day.
A little wet, but ready to have fun!
Greg and Spencer all set for Test Track
Colin loves this ride!
After that we exited into a floor where there were a bunch of new cars on display and somehow ended up taking part in a kids car seat safety test with an attendant there. For taking part, both the boys got a small Etch-A-Sketch for free.
We exited that building and ran across through the rain to the next building which was a big shop, Mouse Gears. We took a moment to look around and suddenly found a ton of stuff everyone was interested in. Maria and I both found several souvenir items. The nice thing about the parks these days is you can buy things at the various souvenir shops and have them sent to the front of the park for pick up at the end of the day.
From the shop we started to head to the other side of the park to catch the other new attraction that supposedly fills up quickly, "Soaring." On our way we crossed a Character Spot where Mickey and several other characters were available for pictures. The boys and Maria waited there while I went over to Soaring to get Fast Passes. We really overestimated the potential crowds for the day. Even though I got Fast Passes, there was never any real need. The lines never got that long.
While I was getting the passes in "The Land" pavilion, the boys went through the character meet-and-greet. They both visited with Mickey and Pluto, but then Colin decided he was done while Spencer went through the rest of the line. He tried to avoid Minnie, but she grabbed him and hugged him and made him embarrassed enough to turn red. The other characters were Donald and Goofy. Goofy looked at Spencer's pins and was upset that there were no Goofy pins, but was appeased when Maria showed him her lanyard with a Goofy pin on it.
Colin has decided Mickey is his favorite character.
Awww. Love that tongue hanging out.
Poor embarrassed Spencer. He said he could hear her making kissing noises.
High fives with Donald.
Donald was one of Spencer's favorite characters.
Goofy checking out Spencer's lanyard.
They soon finished there and caught up with me in The Land. Our passes weren't quite ready for "Soaring" so we went and watched "The Circle of Life" with the Lion King characters. It was a pretty awful environmental propaganda film. I'm certainly not against the idea of taking care of our world, but the way it was portrayed in the film about how terrible we treat our Earth made me a bit upset. It made it seem like before "modern age" people always lived in perfect harmony with the land and that the mere act of cutting down a tree or building a house was ruining the world.
Luckily "Soaring" quickly washed the bad taste out of my mouth. "Soaring" is a hang-gliding simulator where you sit in chairs that go up in the air in front of a giant screen and "soar" over various landscapes. There's some breeze and even some scents like pine and orange as you pass through forests and orange groves. It was a lot of fun.
After "The Land" we headed over to "Imagination" where we went in to "Honey I Shrunk The Audience." I believe that was there last time Maria and I were there, but it was where "Captain EO" was in the early 90's and before. It's a 4D movie experience where there's a 3D film with interactive elements. There was a great part where a bunch of mice supposedly run into the audience and, I believe, some ankles were tickled. One lady a row or two behind us screamed and jumped out of her seat and turned around several times in terror!
Outside "Imagination" they still have the hopping fountains and an upside down waterfall. The boys had a blast playing with the fountains that shoot water bursts over the heads of the crowd. The upside-down waterfall is actually fountains shooting upwards to a pool overhead.
Waiting for the water . . .
Right in the face! That's one way to catch it!
Spencer all wet. What a cutie.
Colin shaking his fist at the water that passed him by yet again.
Next we went to the "Journey Into Imagination With Figment" ride. This one was completely redone from the last time we were here (and supposedly redone again in between.) It used to be a ride with a wizard/professor guy, now it starts as a science experiment with the senses with Eric Idle before Figment the dragon (one of my favorite park-only characters) takes over and turns it into a crazy imagination ride all while singing a particularly catchy tune. It was cute, but I liked the old version of the ride better.
Spencer still wet and happy while waiting for Figment.
It was getting near lunch at this time so we decided to head to the World Showcase to look for lunch.
Of course you have to have a picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background!
We went quickly through Canada, but looked around the UK a bit.
What cute boys!
Then we got to France, which was one place we were really looking forward to. We found the pastry shop in the back where we got 4 ham sandwiches (3 on croissants, 1 on baguette for me) and then chocolate croissants, chocolate mousse, a chocolate eclair and a chocolate twist. We sat and enjoyed our lunch and rested for a bit.
Ooh la la! This is why we had a hard time deciding on dessert.
Colin is really looking forward to lunch!
Boys in berets. Colin's interpretation of what a snooty French person should look like cracked me up.
We moved on to Morocco where we ran into Aladdin and Jasmine and had the boys pose with them. One of the shop attendants offered to write the boys' names in Arabic which was a nice cheap (i.e. free) souvenir.
Even the bathroom looked cool.
Probably the only Disney princess we'll get the boys to pose with willingly, since Aladdin is there.
The boys look so sharp in a Fez!
Japan was just like I remembered it from the outside, but inside the main store it was all Anime and toy-based souvenirs like Pokemon and Transformers. We skipped past America and rested a bit in Italy. In Germany we visited a small toy store but high-tailed it out of there since the food smell there was too sour for my taste. We stopped at an African outpost after that where Colin bought a rock as a souvenir, of all things. Next was China and we wandered through the shops there and then to Norway.
There are ducks and other birds all over the parks.
Spencer wondered why these cups had lids. Greg told him it was so their beer wouldn't spill while they sang and swung their cups around.
We couldn't pass by these drums without giving them a try.
Maria and the boys in China.
Colin trying out a marionette.
Greg and Buddha hanging out.
There's a ride in Norway and just as we got on it and began to ascend the ride, it stopped. We sat on an incline with a repeating announcement to stay where we were for about 10 minutes until the ride went back into service. When we got out we discovered we had 15 minutes until the mid-afternoon bus was going to go back to our hotel. It was 2 hours until the next ride and we were all pretty tired. We did all we could to rush out of the park (with me stopping to pick up our purchases while the rest went to catch the bus.) We got to the spot where the bus should have picked us up right exactly at the time we were told to be there. After waiting 10 minutes we called the hotel and were told that we had missed the bus! It had come and left early! We were aching at that point and had to decide what to do next.
Some really tired boys.
Greg taking a break from his shoes.
We looked at the bus times for the other parks and decided we would catch an internal Disney bus over to Disney Hollywood Studios where the resort bus would arrive in 45 minutes to take us back home. So that's what we did. As we waited for the bus, Maria went looking for some drinks for us and tried three different machines outside of the park which wouldn't take her money, so she had to walk all the way into the park where she bought a couple sodas and brought them back out in time for the bus to take us home. At this point we were all tired and exhausted with aching feet.
When we got home we went out to the lazy river again to try and soak out some of our sore muscles. It helped a bit and when we were done and cleaned up, we decided to stop putting off grocery shopping and actually get some food. So we headed out to Wal-Mart. It was interesting in Wal-Mart to see how much of it was dedicated to Disney souvenirs. It seems like everywhere you go around here there are Disney shops and stores with Disney sections. After shopping we picked up some KFC on the way home. We ate, put away groceries, and recuperated for the rest of the evening.
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