Mickey Nut 50
07-28-2002, 08:13 PM
The Much-Needed Disney Trip – Day 2 – The “Quest for Goofy Manhole Cover” Pin
The Cast:
Carol, fellow Disney nut, sometimes needs a wheelchair
Michael, 13 – Carol’s nephew
Me, tour guide, addicted to Disney
Grant, 14, my son, and Disney pal
First things first – Krispy Kreme was on our way to the parks, so of course we had to stop there. MMmmmmmm….. still warm glazed donuts – nothing finer!
We decided to flip-flop our planned itinerary and do Epcot today, and the Studios tomorrow. Since yesterday was long and hard on Carol, she decided to rent an electric wheelchair for the day. We sent the boys off to get fast passes for Test Track, and said we’d meet them back in front of the gift shop under Spaceship Earth. It turned cold and windy, so Carol took the opportunity to buy herself a Mickey sweat suit outfit. Still waiting for the boys……They finally showed up, and we decided to do Spaceship Earth. Going with Carol and her ECV made it real easy to bypass long lines (in some instances). Enjoyable as ever!
Carol stopped to pin trade, we told the boys we’d meet them in Living Seas. Bummer – the ride under the tank was down for refurbishing! Where are the boys? We shopped a bit, I bought my oldest son a scuba Mickey and a couple of other things. Where are the boys? Remember I said earlier we did a lot of waiting for someone this trip? I told Carol to stay put and I quickly walked through the whole of Living Seas and still didn’t see them. Finally – they found us. They had been “questing for Goofy Manhole Cover pin”. A CM told them that they might try the Contemporary. We told them to go ahead, we would meet them for lunch.
Off they went, and Carol and I went onto the Journey Into Imagination building for shopping, pin trading, and her first chance to see HISTA. As we were walking out of there and towards the monorail overhead, the pixie on my shoulder nudged me to look up at the monorail just coming into the station. “Carol – there’s our boys in the front!!!!” I thought that if I ran fast enough, I would see them getting off the monorail. Well, this fat old lady just isn’t fast enough. I missed them. We knew they would find us for lunch, so off we went back towards World Showcase, pin trading all the way. I left Carol pin trading, and took off to guest services at the International Gateway. I think I was checking on the procedure to upgrade Grant’s parkhopper to an annual pass. I waited a good 20 min. for the people ahead of me to finally decide on purchasing a PAP. That done, just as I stepped up to the window – Grant taps me on the shoulder! He and Michael had gone from the monorail station at Epcot , through Future World, through World Showcase, and over to the Y&BC searching for the Goofy Manhole Cover pin. Contemporary didn’t have any, and it was suggested they try the Y&BC. No luck there, either. At this point, I told them to forget it. We had dinner reservations at Canada at 4:00. I wanted them to enjoy some of the attractions instead of just searching for something they may never find. They went off to ride Test Track, and were told to show up at Canada at 4:00 sharp.
Dinner time at Le Cellier! We were ushered right in and had a wonderful dinner! I was sorry to see the wild mushroom stuffed filet had been taken off the menu. I had the next best – a filet with a Portobello mushroom (I think). Anyway, we enjoyed the crème brulee but it wasn’t quite as good as the last time.
After dinner, we checked out the best spot to view Illuminations for Carol and her ECV. We found the spot between the twin shops at the Future World entrance. Let’s go over and check out Mexico and Norway before we get settled for Illuminations. Did both the rides, got a picture of the boys on the Nowegian ship. (One of these days I’ll visit the bakery in Norway when I’m hungry, and with the right timing)
We decided to head back to the “spot” for our Illuminations viewing. There was a most wonderful CM there handling the crowd. His name was Ron, and had a great rapport with everyone, and a “patter” going continuously. Everyone enjoyed him! Illuminations was great as always. I can listen to that music all day long (and sometimes do at work!)
OK – time to head back to the condo – no Goofy Manhole Cover pin today…. And the quest continues tomorrow!!
The Cast:
Carol, fellow Disney nut, sometimes needs a wheelchair
Michael, 13 – Carol’s nephew
Me, tour guide, addicted to Disney
Grant, 14, my son, and Disney pal
First things first – Krispy Kreme was on our way to the parks, so of course we had to stop there. MMmmmmmm….. still warm glazed donuts – nothing finer!
We decided to flip-flop our planned itinerary and do Epcot today, and the Studios tomorrow. Since yesterday was long and hard on Carol, she decided to rent an electric wheelchair for the day. We sent the boys off to get fast passes for Test Track, and said we’d meet them back in front of the gift shop under Spaceship Earth. It turned cold and windy, so Carol took the opportunity to buy herself a Mickey sweat suit outfit. Still waiting for the boys……They finally showed up, and we decided to do Spaceship Earth. Going with Carol and her ECV made it real easy to bypass long lines (in some instances). Enjoyable as ever!
Carol stopped to pin trade, we told the boys we’d meet them in Living Seas. Bummer – the ride under the tank was down for refurbishing! Where are the boys? We shopped a bit, I bought my oldest son a scuba Mickey and a couple of other things. Where are the boys? Remember I said earlier we did a lot of waiting for someone this trip? I told Carol to stay put and I quickly walked through the whole of Living Seas and still didn’t see them. Finally – they found us. They had been “questing for Goofy Manhole Cover pin”. A CM told them that they might try the Contemporary. We told them to go ahead, we would meet them for lunch.
Off they went, and Carol and I went onto the Journey Into Imagination building for shopping, pin trading, and her first chance to see HISTA. As we were walking out of there and towards the monorail overhead, the pixie on my shoulder nudged me to look up at the monorail just coming into the station. “Carol – there’s our boys in the front!!!!” I thought that if I ran fast enough, I would see them getting off the monorail. Well, this fat old lady just isn’t fast enough. I missed them. We knew they would find us for lunch, so off we went back towards World Showcase, pin trading all the way. I left Carol pin trading, and took off to guest services at the International Gateway. I think I was checking on the procedure to upgrade Grant’s parkhopper to an annual pass. I waited a good 20 min. for the people ahead of me to finally decide on purchasing a PAP. That done, just as I stepped up to the window – Grant taps me on the shoulder! He and Michael had gone from the monorail station at Epcot , through Future World, through World Showcase, and over to the Y&BC searching for the Goofy Manhole Cover pin. Contemporary didn’t have any, and it was suggested they try the Y&BC. No luck there, either. At this point, I told them to forget it. We had dinner reservations at Canada at 4:00. I wanted them to enjoy some of the attractions instead of just searching for something they may never find. They went off to ride Test Track, and were told to show up at Canada at 4:00 sharp.
Dinner time at Le Cellier! We were ushered right in and had a wonderful dinner! I was sorry to see the wild mushroom stuffed filet had been taken off the menu. I had the next best – a filet with a Portobello mushroom (I think). Anyway, we enjoyed the crème brulee but it wasn’t quite as good as the last time.
After dinner, we checked out the best spot to view Illuminations for Carol and her ECV. We found the spot between the twin shops at the Future World entrance. Let’s go over and check out Mexico and Norway before we get settled for Illuminations. Did both the rides, got a picture of the boys on the Nowegian ship. (One of these days I’ll visit the bakery in Norway when I’m hungry, and with the right timing)
We decided to head back to the “spot” for our Illuminations viewing. There was a most wonderful CM there handling the crowd. His name was Ron, and had a great rapport with everyone, and a “patter” going continuously. Everyone enjoyed him! Illuminations was great as always. I can listen to that music all day long (and sometimes do at work!)
OK – time to head back to the condo – no Goofy Manhole Cover pin today…. And the quest continues tomorrow!!