BrerGnat
04-08-2010, 11:52 AM
Cast:
Me: 31
DH: 31
DS Max: 5
DS Lucas: 4
MIL: Hilda
BIL: Victor
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Today was off to a so-so start. Due to Max's EARLY morning waking, I, again, only managed about 5 hours of (broken) sleep. :( Max drifted back off around 6:30 a.m. and everyone started stirring around 9:30. DH was in NO hurry to get dressed and out of bed, but I knew we only had one more hour left of breakfast service in the lounge, so I got up and headed over to the lounge. I thought the breakfast offerings were quite good! I had a nice, but quick, breakfast in there and made up some plates to bring back to the room. I dropped them off, and returned for coffee for DH and I. The boys all ate in their pj's. Max, again, was too excited to eat. This would become a theme this week...;) I sort of force fed him some bagel and chocolate milk, just so he would have something in his stomach! I drank my coffee out on the balcony; the view was even better during the daytime! DH called his mom to see where they were, and they were in Epcot, near Imagination. We told her we would be heading over there shortly, and would call her upon entering the park.
At the ripe hour of 11am, we were off! There would be NO a.m. EMH's for us. :D We made our way over to Epcot's International Gateway, and really got to see the resort for the first time. It was a beautiful day! Sunny, warm, but not humid, and very very clear! The resorts around the lake popped, all the colors creating a beautiful, postcard like image. The walkway was extremely peaceful. I counted only a handful of other people all the way around the lake. We felt like the only ones there. DH commented that he didn't feel like he was in Disney...and he liked it! I had to agree. I had always liked being in the MK area, and seeing all the activity, but this was totally different, and calming/relaxing, etc. It was "Disney", but not so in-your-face.
As we were walking into Epcot, I briefly considered getting a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) for Max. However, we had passed by Guest Relations already, and I didn't want to backtrack, so I figured we'd just see how the day went. We have known about the GAC for some time, but we have never used one at Disneyland. We knew the kids were capable of waiting in short-moderate lines (up to 30 min), but we also knew that this new place might cause some issues to pop up that we don't normally have to deal with at Disneyland, which is like our kid's second home. They "know" Disneyland, and are very comfortable there, and we never really go during highly crowded days. I had spoken about the GAC to DH prior to the trip, and mentioned that we should get one, just as "insurance", and he agreed. But, at that point, I just wanted to keep moving forward, so we did.
Hilda and Victor met us in England, we exchanged hugs and they told us about their day so far. Hilda was LOVING the Flower and Garden Festival displays. She is really into gardening, so this was right up her alley. Victor had ridden Test Track alone, and they had both explored the Imagination pavilion, and mostly just walked around taking pics of all the topiaries.
Our first agenda item was to visit the playground set up for the F&G Festival. I had seen a pic of this online the week before, and had shown it to Max. We have a local park with the SAME play structure set up. It's our boys' favorite park, and we go there almost every day. I figured that if Max knew there was SOMETHING familiar at WDW, he would feel a little more comfortable. So, of course, he had been telling us over and over again that he wanted to "Go to Epcot and play at the red, yellow, and black park." So, the second we walked in, he began with the "I want to go to the red, yellow, and black park" spiel. He repeated this line approximately every 10 seconds, with us answering "That's where we are going", until we got there. :) When we got there, the boys RAN full out and began playing happily. We had decided they could have 15 min here, and we would move on. I told Max this, so we would not have a meltdown. This little playground was really a gem. It was nicely shaded, there was only one (small) entrance/exit, and there were some cool topiaries in there as well. It was "Fantasia" themed, and they piped in music too! The boys had a blast in here, along with the other 20 or so kids playing.
After playtime, we headed over to MouseGear to get a hat for Lucas. His birthday had been on St. Patrick's Day, and Hilda had said she'd buy him a gift on the trip. Our boys have big heads, so all his "youth" sized hats no longer fit him. :blush: It was SO sunny that I wanted to get the hat right away. Poor kid was squinting so badly. So, we went over and Lucas chose a bright blue Mickey "Epcot" hat. He proudly wore his hat out of the store. While we were shopping, DH and Victor had gone over to Mission Space to get some Fastpasses. We met them as we were exiting the store.
We decided on the Seas pavilion next. My kids love aquariums and watching fish (we even have a pet fish at home), so I knew this would be a winner. What I DIDN'T know was that they would both H-A-T-E the ride! They both like Nemo well enough. Max, especially. It all started going downhill as we wound our way through the dark, windy queue (which had no people in it, but was a LONG walk in a DARK room). When we got to the ride, we split up and Hilda and I took Lucas while Victor and DH took Max. Well, since this ride is all darkness, and the kids had NO idea what was going to happen, ALL they could concentrate on were the "scary" parts, with the crazy fish with huge teeth, and Bruce. Poor Lucas cried "all done" and JUMPED into my lap and said "want HUG." He buried his head in my shoulder for the rest of the ride once that scary fish showed up. I could hear Max in the next Clamshell, saying "I want to get out!". Ahhh...what a great introduction to WDW.
We exited our Clamshells with me reassuring Lucas the whole way that we could see "fishies" next. That made him feel better. So, we headed upstairs and the boys were mesmerized by the big aquarium. We were there for what felt like a LONG time. I think it was close to an hour. But, it was nice and cool in there, so I wasn't complaining! What did annoy me was that little play area for kids. It was packed with over zealous parents taking what seemed like a day's worth of pictures of their kids with their head in that shark. One mom, in particular, was ordering around her kids like a drill instructor. I mean, it is a PLAY area, with tunnels and stuff, but I couldn't even let the boys in there (Lucas tried) without getting the evil eye from the "photogs", like I was trying to deliberately RUIN their precious pictures. They should move that Bruce head photo op outside, and leave the rest of that to be a play area, as intended. It was borderline ridiculous. Bruce might as well have been a Character Meet and Greet, the way people were lined up in there. I had to run in and grab Lucas and tell him he couldn't play in there, and that made him upset, and at that point, I decided it would be best to just leave and do something else. So, we did.
Once we walked out into the bright sun, Max piped up that he wanted to "Go to that store that's called Mouse Gear." ;) I was a bit surprised by this, but I asked him why, and he said he wanted to get a hat, like Lucas. This was news to me, as Max hasn't worn a hat in about 2 years, but I went with it. Max picked out a hat quickly, and Hilda said it would be her treat, so she paid and we were out of there quickly.
We all walked towards M:S next. I told Max that we were going to another playground, while DH and Victor headed into the FP line. We made our way to the Space Training Camp area, and let the boys loose in the tunnel play area. They LOVED this area! Lucas was a bit hesitant at first, but followed Max in, and we didn't see much of them for the next 20 min. I enjoyed being able to SIT and rest. I was SOOOOO tired by this point. It had caught up to me. :( Hilda and I talked and the boys played. About 40 min later, DH and Victor appeared (that had taken a long time, I thought, for FP...). Victor had enjoyed his first ride on M:S, and pronounced it "not as intense as I expected it to be."
At this point, it was pushing 1pm, and Hilda and Victor were getting hungry. Since Max hadn't eaten much breakfast, I figured we should get him something to eat as well. We decided on Seasons Food Court, where I knew there were a few things Max would eat. We all decided to eat at this point. DH and I had a 7:30pm ADR at Bluezoo, and I didn't want to eat lunch TOO late, and not be hungry. DH and Max split a stir fry/noodles plate and I attempted to split a rotisserie chicken meal with Lucas, who wanted NOTHING to do with it. He can be very difficult and controlling at times. *Sigh*...I was too tired to try to convince him to eat, so I figured he'd eat later, when he was more hungry.
After lunch, we decided to go back to the hotel. The boys were starting to act up-Max kept asking to go back to the hotel, like every 5 minutes. Lucas was tired and cranky, because he hadn't slept as long as he normally does at night. I thought some pool time would do us ALL some good, so we made our way back to the BC. It was pretty hot by this point, in the low 80's, but the sun was beating down and it felt much hotter than that! I was sweating by the time we got back to the resort. We made a brief stop in the lounge for some cold drinks and some gummy fish for the boys.
Me: 31
DH: 31
DS Max: 5
DS Lucas: 4
MIL: Hilda
BIL: Victor
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Today was off to a so-so start. Due to Max's EARLY morning waking, I, again, only managed about 5 hours of (broken) sleep. :( Max drifted back off around 6:30 a.m. and everyone started stirring around 9:30. DH was in NO hurry to get dressed and out of bed, but I knew we only had one more hour left of breakfast service in the lounge, so I got up and headed over to the lounge. I thought the breakfast offerings were quite good! I had a nice, but quick, breakfast in there and made up some plates to bring back to the room. I dropped them off, and returned for coffee for DH and I. The boys all ate in their pj's. Max, again, was too excited to eat. This would become a theme this week...;) I sort of force fed him some bagel and chocolate milk, just so he would have something in his stomach! I drank my coffee out on the balcony; the view was even better during the daytime! DH called his mom to see where they were, and they were in Epcot, near Imagination. We told her we would be heading over there shortly, and would call her upon entering the park.
At the ripe hour of 11am, we were off! There would be NO a.m. EMH's for us. :D We made our way over to Epcot's International Gateway, and really got to see the resort for the first time. It was a beautiful day! Sunny, warm, but not humid, and very very clear! The resorts around the lake popped, all the colors creating a beautiful, postcard like image. The walkway was extremely peaceful. I counted only a handful of other people all the way around the lake. We felt like the only ones there. DH commented that he didn't feel like he was in Disney...and he liked it! I had to agree. I had always liked being in the MK area, and seeing all the activity, but this was totally different, and calming/relaxing, etc. It was "Disney", but not so in-your-face.
As we were walking into Epcot, I briefly considered getting a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) for Max. However, we had passed by Guest Relations already, and I didn't want to backtrack, so I figured we'd just see how the day went. We have known about the GAC for some time, but we have never used one at Disneyland. We knew the kids were capable of waiting in short-moderate lines (up to 30 min), but we also knew that this new place might cause some issues to pop up that we don't normally have to deal with at Disneyland, which is like our kid's second home. They "know" Disneyland, and are very comfortable there, and we never really go during highly crowded days. I had spoken about the GAC to DH prior to the trip, and mentioned that we should get one, just as "insurance", and he agreed. But, at that point, I just wanted to keep moving forward, so we did.
Hilda and Victor met us in England, we exchanged hugs and they told us about their day so far. Hilda was LOVING the Flower and Garden Festival displays. She is really into gardening, so this was right up her alley. Victor had ridden Test Track alone, and they had both explored the Imagination pavilion, and mostly just walked around taking pics of all the topiaries.
Our first agenda item was to visit the playground set up for the F&G Festival. I had seen a pic of this online the week before, and had shown it to Max. We have a local park with the SAME play structure set up. It's our boys' favorite park, and we go there almost every day. I figured that if Max knew there was SOMETHING familiar at WDW, he would feel a little more comfortable. So, of course, he had been telling us over and over again that he wanted to "Go to Epcot and play at the red, yellow, and black park." So, the second we walked in, he began with the "I want to go to the red, yellow, and black park" spiel. He repeated this line approximately every 10 seconds, with us answering "That's where we are going", until we got there. :) When we got there, the boys RAN full out and began playing happily. We had decided they could have 15 min here, and we would move on. I told Max this, so we would not have a meltdown. This little playground was really a gem. It was nicely shaded, there was only one (small) entrance/exit, and there were some cool topiaries in there as well. It was "Fantasia" themed, and they piped in music too! The boys had a blast in here, along with the other 20 or so kids playing.
After playtime, we headed over to MouseGear to get a hat for Lucas. His birthday had been on St. Patrick's Day, and Hilda had said she'd buy him a gift on the trip. Our boys have big heads, so all his "youth" sized hats no longer fit him. :blush: It was SO sunny that I wanted to get the hat right away. Poor kid was squinting so badly. So, we went over and Lucas chose a bright blue Mickey "Epcot" hat. He proudly wore his hat out of the store. While we were shopping, DH and Victor had gone over to Mission Space to get some Fastpasses. We met them as we were exiting the store.
We decided on the Seas pavilion next. My kids love aquariums and watching fish (we even have a pet fish at home), so I knew this would be a winner. What I DIDN'T know was that they would both H-A-T-E the ride! They both like Nemo well enough. Max, especially. It all started going downhill as we wound our way through the dark, windy queue (which had no people in it, but was a LONG walk in a DARK room). When we got to the ride, we split up and Hilda and I took Lucas while Victor and DH took Max. Well, since this ride is all darkness, and the kids had NO idea what was going to happen, ALL they could concentrate on were the "scary" parts, with the crazy fish with huge teeth, and Bruce. Poor Lucas cried "all done" and JUMPED into my lap and said "want HUG." He buried his head in my shoulder for the rest of the ride once that scary fish showed up. I could hear Max in the next Clamshell, saying "I want to get out!". Ahhh...what a great introduction to WDW.
We exited our Clamshells with me reassuring Lucas the whole way that we could see "fishies" next. That made him feel better. So, we headed upstairs and the boys were mesmerized by the big aquarium. We were there for what felt like a LONG time. I think it was close to an hour. But, it was nice and cool in there, so I wasn't complaining! What did annoy me was that little play area for kids. It was packed with over zealous parents taking what seemed like a day's worth of pictures of their kids with their head in that shark. One mom, in particular, was ordering around her kids like a drill instructor. I mean, it is a PLAY area, with tunnels and stuff, but I couldn't even let the boys in there (Lucas tried) without getting the evil eye from the "photogs", like I was trying to deliberately RUIN their precious pictures. They should move that Bruce head photo op outside, and leave the rest of that to be a play area, as intended. It was borderline ridiculous. Bruce might as well have been a Character Meet and Greet, the way people were lined up in there. I had to run in and grab Lucas and tell him he couldn't play in there, and that made him upset, and at that point, I decided it would be best to just leave and do something else. So, we did.
Once we walked out into the bright sun, Max piped up that he wanted to "Go to that store that's called Mouse Gear." ;) I was a bit surprised by this, but I asked him why, and he said he wanted to get a hat, like Lucas. This was news to me, as Max hasn't worn a hat in about 2 years, but I went with it. Max picked out a hat quickly, and Hilda said it would be her treat, so she paid and we were out of there quickly.
We all walked towards M:S next. I told Max that we were going to another playground, while DH and Victor headed into the FP line. We made our way to the Space Training Camp area, and let the boys loose in the tunnel play area. They LOVED this area! Lucas was a bit hesitant at first, but followed Max in, and we didn't see much of them for the next 20 min. I enjoyed being able to SIT and rest. I was SOOOOO tired by this point. It had caught up to me. :( Hilda and I talked and the boys played. About 40 min later, DH and Victor appeared (that had taken a long time, I thought, for FP...). Victor had enjoyed his first ride on M:S, and pronounced it "not as intense as I expected it to be."
At this point, it was pushing 1pm, and Hilda and Victor were getting hungry. Since Max hadn't eaten much breakfast, I figured we should get him something to eat as well. We decided on Seasons Food Court, where I knew there were a few things Max would eat. We all decided to eat at this point. DH and I had a 7:30pm ADR at Bluezoo, and I didn't want to eat lunch TOO late, and not be hungry. DH and Max split a stir fry/noodles plate and I attempted to split a rotisserie chicken meal with Lucas, who wanted NOTHING to do with it. He can be very difficult and controlling at times. *Sigh*...I was too tired to try to convince him to eat, so I figured he'd eat later, when he was more hungry.
After lunch, we decided to go back to the hotel. The boys were starting to act up-Max kept asking to go back to the hotel, like every 5 minutes. Lucas was tired and cranky, because he hadn't slept as long as he normally does at night. I thought some pool time would do us ALL some good, so we made our way back to the BC. It was pretty hot by this point, in the low 80's, but the sun was beating down and it felt much hotter than that! I was sweating by the time we got back to the resort. We made a brief stop in the lounge for some cold drinks and some gummy fish for the boys.