tinksmom02
09-30-2009, 11:53 AM
Cast:
Me, Christi
DH, Mark
DD7, Jenna
my mom (aka MiMa)
my dad (aka BeBop or Dan)
our friends Jenn and Ant
their kids, little Ant 7 and the Moose, 2
for today only: our (great) aunts, Marlene and Gig
Day 6: Epcot
We had morning ADRs for Kona Café, so we were up and out pretty early. It was our turn to wait for the rest of the crew; apparently there were bus issues at WL (this was the day of the “suspicious package” that caused the 3 hour bus delays, but we weren’t aware of it until the end of the day, and I don’t know what time it happened, so I don’t know if that’s why they had problems getting a bus). As soon as I heard Jenn and the crew had gotten on the monorail from MK, I checked us in and assured the CM that we would all be there in a few minutes. We had to wait a few minutes once the crew arrived, and the Moose really didn’t like that. By the time we sat down it was just us, my parents, and little Ant. Jenn and Ant were trying to decide what to do about the Moose. Eventually they brought him in (I think there was a gift shop purchase along the way), and we ordered. I had the macadamia nut and pineapple pancakes, which were fabulous, as always. The kids had the pancakes, Mark had the Big Kahuna (a little of everything), Big Ant had the French Toast (which he declares is the best he’s ever had), MiMa and Jenn both had the ham and cheese omelets (Jenn had hers minus ham), and I can’t remember what BeBop had, although I was disappointed he didn’t try the Tonga Toast. There’s strawberry something in it; perhaps that’s why he didn’t order it. Anyway, we all enjoyed our meal, as usual. We had to pay out of pocket for this one, and for the three of us and my parents, the bill, with tip, was $100. Pretty expensive breakfast, but definitely worth it!
Moose was not doing too well by this point; the tantrum that was pacified before breakfast returned with a vengeance as soon as we finished. They decided to head back to the resort to get him in for a nap, and we started the walk to the TTC for the Epcot monorail. It wasn’t that bad of a walk at all, and pretty soon we were on our way. To me, the Epcot monorail is special, because not everyone does it, and it’s such a nice view of the park as you arrive. Once we got through the lines, I decided to surprise Jenna. I had one day left on a length-of-stay stroller rental from 2007, and we made the decision to use it for our Epcot day. She had really been a trooper up until now, but I knew that we’d be doing a lot of walking and thought she deserved a break. So Mark rented the single stroller…and then went back and paid to upgrade to a double. So it cost us, what? $10 to rent her a stroller. The woman at the rental was pretty impressed that I’d managed to hold onto my receipt for all that time!
We settled in to wait for Aunts Marlene and Gig. Lo and behold, who do we spy coming out of the ECV rental place on a scooter? Marlene and Gig. Now, Marlene and Gig are Mark’s great-aunts, so they’re up there in years, but are generally very active people (they actually outlasted us the last time we did Epcot together!). However, Marlene had had a partial (or maybe full) hip replacement last winter, so her walking is not as great as it used to be. I was very, very happy to see that they had made the decision to rent a scooter. I was planning on renting one for her if she refused.
Anyway, hugs and introductions aside (believe it or not, my parents had never met Marlene & Gig), and the decision was made to head over to the Land. Gig and I went ahead and got FastPasses for the group to ride Soarin’ (well, not my mom) and then we headed over to the Seas with Nemo & Friends. No line at all, which was a really good thing because Marlene was where my mom was at the beginning of the trip—I can’t tell you how many times she crashed while working our way through the queue! They were able to slow the people-mover thing down, which was good for both Marlene and my mom. We all enjoyed the ride, although after seeing the show at AK yesterday, the ride is kind of a letdown!
We explored the aquarium a bit after the ride. I had to find and watch the dolphins for a while (I could have sat there all day, really), and Jenna did a scavenger hunt in one of the rooms. Finally we were all ready to leave, and it was time to use our Fast Passes already! We headed back to the Land and surrendered our Fast Passes. I’d say this was the longest wait of the trip; even with the FPs we waited about 20 minutes. But pretty soon we were getting our flight instructions from the pilot (“It’s Puddy!!”), and not long after that we were Soarin’ over California! We were row 3 which wasn’t the greatest spot, but the scents were all going full blast!
I tried to suggest heading over to grab FPs for Test Track and then heading into World Showcase after the ride, but Jenna really wanted to ride “the ball.” I knew my mom did, too; that ball holds a special spot in our hearts. And yes, I’ll tell you why. We took one family trip to Disney in 1987 (with my real dad; Dan’s my step), and before leaving Epcot decided to ride the ball. I have such a recollection of this—my mom, dad, and baby bro Nick were in the front seat, and my brother Scott (around 9, I think) and I (about 11) were in the back. We started the ascent, and Scott started to freak out. He was deathly afraid of roller coaster (I suspect he still is), and thought that we had tricked him into getting on one. He figured that what comes up, must come down. I spent the better part of that ride trying to corral him and not let him escape the car. My mom and dad really couldn’t do anything from the front seat. (I wonder if my mom remembers that differently?)
Anyway, the decision was made to ride Spaceship Earth (Marlene and Gig were interested to see the changes made since the rehab), so I grabbed everyone’s tickets and speed-walked my way over to Test Track for Fast Passes. I also stopped at Mouse Gear looking for a Dopey sticker for Marlene (but couldn’t find one), found the Kim POssilble station in Innoventions to sign Jenna up for another world-saving mission, hit the rest room, and was making my way over to see if I could get into Project Tomorrow to look for them when they came out.
Continued below
Me, Christi
DH, Mark
DD7, Jenna
my mom (aka MiMa)
my dad (aka BeBop or Dan)
our friends Jenn and Ant
their kids, little Ant 7 and the Moose, 2
for today only: our (great) aunts, Marlene and Gig
Day 6: Epcot
We had morning ADRs for Kona Café, so we were up and out pretty early. It was our turn to wait for the rest of the crew; apparently there were bus issues at WL (this was the day of the “suspicious package” that caused the 3 hour bus delays, but we weren’t aware of it until the end of the day, and I don’t know what time it happened, so I don’t know if that’s why they had problems getting a bus). As soon as I heard Jenn and the crew had gotten on the monorail from MK, I checked us in and assured the CM that we would all be there in a few minutes. We had to wait a few minutes once the crew arrived, and the Moose really didn’t like that. By the time we sat down it was just us, my parents, and little Ant. Jenn and Ant were trying to decide what to do about the Moose. Eventually they brought him in (I think there was a gift shop purchase along the way), and we ordered. I had the macadamia nut and pineapple pancakes, which were fabulous, as always. The kids had the pancakes, Mark had the Big Kahuna (a little of everything), Big Ant had the French Toast (which he declares is the best he’s ever had), MiMa and Jenn both had the ham and cheese omelets (Jenn had hers minus ham), and I can’t remember what BeBop had, although I was disappointed he didn’t try the Tonga Toast. There’s strawberry something in it; perhaps that’s why he didn’t order it. Anyway, we all enjoyed our meal, as usual. We had to pay out of pocket for this one, and for the three of us and my parents, the bill, with tip, was $100. Pretty expensive breakfast, but definitely worth it!
Moose was not doing too well by this point; the tantrum that was pacified before breakfast returned with a vengeance as soon as we finished. They decided to head back to the resort to get him in for a nap, and we started the walk to the TTC for the Epcot monorail. It wasn’t that bad of a walk at all, and pretty soon we were on our way. To me, the Epcot monorail is special, because not everyone does it, and it’s such a nice view of the park as you arrive. Once we got through the lines, I decided to surprise Jenna. I had one day left on a length-of-stay stroller rental from 2007, and we made the decision to use it for our Epcot day. She had really been a trooper up until now, but I knew that we’d be doing a lot of walking and thought she deserved a break. So Mark rented the single stroller…and then went back and paid to upgrade to a double. So it cost us, what? $10 to rent her a stroller. The woman at the rental was pretty impressed that I’d managed to hold onto my receipt for all that time!
We settled in to wait for Aunts Marlene and Gig. Lo and behold, who do we spy coming out of the ECV rental place on a scooter? Marlene and Gig. Now, Marlene and Gig are Mark’s great-aunts, so they’re up there in years, but are generally very active people (they actually outlasted us the last time we did Epcot together!). However, Marlene had had a partial (or maybe full) hip replacement last winter, so her walking is not as great as it used to be. I was very, very happy to see that they had made the decision to rent a scooter. I was planning on renting one for her if she refused.
Anyway, hugs and introductions aside (believe it or not, my parents had never met Marlene & Gig), and the decision was made to head over to the Land. Gig and I went ahead and got FastPasses for the group to ride Soarin’ (well, not my mom) and then we headed over to the Seas with Nemo & Friends. No line at all, which was a really good thing because Marlene was where my mom was at the beginning of the trip—I can’t tell you how many times she crashed while working our way through the queue! They were able to slow the people-mover thing down, which was good for both Marlene and my mom. We all enjoyed the ride, although after seeing the show at AK yesterday, the ride is kind of a letdown!
We explored the aquarium a bit after the ride. I had to find and watch the dolphins for a while (I could have sat there all day, really), and Jenna did a scavenger hunt in one of the rooms. Finally we were all ready to leave, and it was time to use our Fast Passes already! We headed back to the Land and surrendered our Fast Passes. I’d say this was the longest wait of the trip; even with the FPs we waited about 20 minutes. But pretty soon we were getting our flight instructions from the pilot (“It’s Puddy!!”), and not long after that we were Soarin’ over California! We were row 3 which wasn’t the greatest spot, but the scents were all going full blast!
I tried to suggest heading over to grab FPs for Test Track and then heading into World Showcase after the ride, but Jenna really wanted to ride “the ball.” I knew my mom did, too; that ball holds a special spot in our hearts. And yes, I’ll tell you why. We took one family trip to Disney in 1987 (with my real dad; Dan’s my step), and before leaving Epcot decided to ride the ball. I have such a recollection of this—my mom, dad, and baby bro Nick were in the front seat, and my brother Scott (around 9, I think) and I (about 11) were in the back. We started the ascent, and Scott started to freak out. He was deathly afraid of roller coaster (I suspect he still is), and thought that we had tricked him into getting on one. He figured that what comes up, must come down. I spent the better part of that ride trying to corral him and not let him escape the car. My mom and dad really couldn’t do anything from the front seat. (I wonder if my mom remembers that differently?)
Anyway, the decision was made to ride Spaceship Earth (Marlene and Gig were interested to see the changes made since the rehab), so I grabbed everyone’s tickets and speed-walked my way over to Test Track for Fast Passes. I also stopped at Mouse Gear looking for a Dopey sticker for Marlene (but couldn’t find one), found the Kim POssilble station in Innoventions to sign Jenna up for another world-saving mission, hit the rest room, and was making my way over to see if I could get into Project Tomorrow to look for them when they came out.
Continued below