Tigerinvestigator
05-23-2008, 02:35 PM
We awoke Monday morning with animals everywhere beneath our balcony. We watched a small zebra chase other zebras, giraffe, and a big ostrich away from his food. He was the smallest of them all and yet they all seemed to be afraid of him (probably a life lesson in this somewhere). As I watched I was reminded of the old Walt Disney nature shows I watched as a kid. Speaking of which my kids watched Daniel Boone on the classic Disney station as well as many old cartoons and programs and they loved them. Everyone was ready quickly and we made the long trek to the bus stop. The lobby was busy and I noticed there were families leaving and I had that brief "that will be us in a week" feeling. I also get a little sad everytime I see the Magical Express notices hanging on people's door. More about this in my final thoughts.
We arrived at Epcot (which is our favorite park) and had a little problem. Jaxon had worn a lanyard with a plastic card carrier attached and had put his room key w/credit card privelages into it. Somewhere between entering the park and Innoventions he lost the card (we later found out there was a cut in the plastic which allowed the cards to fall out. Uncle Eric and Jaxon went back to look for the card while the girls and I visited Innoventions. The credit card belonged to UE so he was anxious to find the room key. They never found it, but went to Guest relations and in less than 5 minutes they were issued new room keys and the old ones were cancelled. No worrys and everything was back on track. We assured Jaxon it was no big deal but he was a little upset about it. He quickly got over it though as we began to show him Future world. We went to the Land and got fastpasses for Soarin and then made our 11:30 reservations at Garden Grill. As many of you know from my past trip reports and posts, I am very fond of GG and it is without a doubt my favorite restaurant on the planet. We were quickly seated and had a good waiter. The food was excellent and the girls got soooo much attention from Mickey and the Gang. Jaxon got to meet Mickey for the first time and had his picture taken. Pluto shook Jaxon's hand for almost 10 minutes without stopping. It was a battle of wills and of course Pluto won. After a great meal (love that steak and the potato casserole) we had a very memorable moment. They brought our daughters cupcakes to decorate and eat for dessert. After a few moments we noticed DD3 was really taking her time and working hard on her cupcake. The others had already eaten theirs but she did not. We asked her if she was going to eat her beautiful cupcake and she said "No I made it just for Pluto!". It was soooo cute. I just knew Pluto would not take it but when he came around he was so excited and took the cupcake. It absolutely made Kadie's day. He returned a few minutes later rubbing his stomach and showing her how much he loved the cupcake. We also watched Pluto and Chip and Dale play tag and chase each other in and out of the doors. Great food and great fun! After our meal we rode Living with the Land Boatride which is one of my favorite attractions. Then we rode Nemo and Friends and the girls went to Turtle Talk with Crush with Jaxon while Uncle Eric and I looked around the Seas pavilion. We then rode Figment and let the girls and Jaxon play in the leaping fountains and get all wet. That never fails to make me smile. Just go over to that area and look at people's faces. They are almost always smiling at the kids playing in the water. It was time for our fastpasses at Soarin and we all rode while DW and DD3 got chocolate milk and a snack. Soarin was great as usual and when we got off DW decided she was ready to go back to the hotel rather than ride Soarin with her fastpass. She suggested I find someone who would appreciate the two passes we had left. After a few minutes of looking I spotted a couple who looked like they were in their early 70's and alone. They looked lost in the land pavilion so I approached them and asked if they had been on Soarin. It was their first time to WDW and they weren't even sure what Soarin was. I gave them the fastpasses and you could tell they were so appreciative and excited as they walked on the ride. DW and I want to be that couple in 40 years! We took a relaxing voyage on Spaceship Earth and they had added our photos to the characters on the end (not there when we rode in December) and that definitely improved the ending. We then left Epcot and had an uneventful bus ride back to the AKL. Uncle Eric opted for a nap while everyone else headed for the shade of the palm trees at the Oasis pool. Got a Pina Calada for DW and I had a mudslide. We kicked back and watched the kids while they had a blast in the pool. We returned to the room to prepare for our EMH at Hollywood Studios. Nothing better than that cool air conditioned room at WDW in the afternoon after spending the day in the parks. Resort TV played in the background as we prepared for our late night at the Studios which will be described in Part B!:thumbsup:
We arrived at Epcot (which is our favorite park) and had a little problem. Jaxon had worn a lanyard with a plastic card carrier attached and had put his room key w/credit card privelages into it. Somewhere between entering the park and Innoventions he lost the card (we later found out there was a cut in the plastic which allowed the cards to fall out. Uncle Eric and Jaxon went back to look for the card while the girls and I visited Innoventions. The credit card belonged to UE so he was anxious to find the room key. They never found it, but went to Guest relations and in less than 5 minutes they were issued new room keys and the old ones were cancelled. No worrys and everything was back on track. We assured Jaxon it was no big deal but he was a little upset about it. He quickly got over it though as we began to show him Future world. We went to the Land and got fastpasses for Soarin and then made our 11:30 reservations at Garden Grill. As many of you know from my past trip reports and posts, I am very fond of GG and it is without a doubt my favorite restaurant on the planet. We were quickly seated and had a good waiter. The food was excellent and the girls got soooo much attention from Mickey and the Gang. Jaxon got to meet Mickey for the first time and had his picture taken. Pluto shook Jaxon's hand for almost 10 minutes without stopping. It was a battle of wills and of course Pluto won. After a great meal (love that steak and the potato casserole) we had a very memorable moment. They brought our daughters cupcakes to decorate and eat for dessert. After a few moments we noticed DD3 was really taking her time and working hard on her cupcake. The others had already eaten theirs but she did not. We asked her if she was going to eat her beautiful cupcake and she said "No I made it just for Pluto!". It was soooo cute. I just knew Pluto would not take it but when he came around he was so excited and took the cupcake. It absolutely made Kadie's day. He returned a few minutes later rubbing his stomach and showing her how much he loved the cupcake. We also watched Pluto and Chip and Dale play tag and chase each other in and out of the doors. Great food and great fun! After our meal we rode Living with the Land Boatride which is one of my favorite attractions. Then we rode Nemo and Friends and the girls went to Turtle Talk with Crush with Jaxon while Uncle Eric and I looked around the Seas pavilion. We then rode Figment and let the girls and Jaxon play in the leaping fountains and get all wet. That never fails to make me smile. Just go over to that area and look at people's faces. They are almost always smiling at the kids playing in the water. It was time for our fastpasses at Soarin and we all rode while DW and DD3 got chocolate milk and a snack. Soarin was great as usual and when we got off DW decided she was ready to go back to the hotel rather than ride Soarin with her fastpass. She suggested I find someone who would appreciate the two passes we had left. After a few minutes of looking I spotted a couple who looked like they were in their early 70's and alone. They looked lost in the land pavilion so I approached them and asked if they had been on Soarin. It was their first time to WDW and they weren't even sure what Soarin was. I gave them the fastpasses and you could tell they were so appreciative and excited as they walked on the ride. DW and I want to be that couple in 40 years! We took a relaxing voyage on Spaceship Earth and they had added our photos to the characters on the end (not there when we rode in December) and that definitely improved the ending. We then left Epcot and had an uneventful bus ride back to the AKL. Uncle Eric opted for a nap while everyone else headed for the shade of the palm trees at the Oasis pool. Got a Pina Calada for DW and I had a mudslide. We kicked back and watched the kids while they had a blast in the pool. We returned to the room to prepare for our EMH at Hollywood Studios. Nothing better than that cool air conditioned room at WDW in the afternoon after spending the day in the parks. Resort TV played in the background as we prepared for our late night at the Studios which will be described in Part B!:thumbsup: