So, since we survived the tween sleepover, and have done some chores, I guess I can come back to the trip report! We haven't even gotten to a theme park yet! On with the show...
I just realized, the TR doesn't have our planned itinerary! Of course, you could always look at my PTR for some of that, but here's the quick rundown:
Thurs, March 26 - leave Illinois, arrive Atlanta late
Friday, March 27 - arrive Blue Heron Resort mid or late afternoon (driving)
Sat, March 28 - Epcot
Sun, March 29 - MK
Mon, March 30 - AK
Tues, March 31 - rest day
Weds, Apr 1 - Universal
Thurs, Apr 2 - Universal
Fri, Apr 3 - head north...
So, if you are following along, today is our Epcot day! This was the latest park opening day of our entire trip - 9 am. As it turns out, it was also the *only* day we made Rope Drop!
We had a quick breakfast in the room of leftover pizza, and I quickly packed up my bag for the park (I had a large nylon purse with some exterior pockets that may show up later in a photo - I think I may have been the only one to take a bag that day. Dd also brought a small cross-body bag, and dh sometimes brought a small backpack.) I had to switch over from road trip packing to parks packing, lol. In the rush, I forgot to grab my and dd's hats. Dh and ds had planned to buy sunglasses, since neither had a good pair or a hat they wanted to wear. But, we would have to wait and buy them in the park.
We were able to use a combination of google maps and signage to get to the Epcot parking lot relatively easily. We were amused to discuss the Heroes vs Villains parking lots. We were in Simba. Our tram driver was awesome. She made us repeat the lot and row several times, to make sure we all remembered it! I remembered the number that day, at least, but it is totally gone from my memory now! :rofl:
We were doing great on time. I think we got off the tram around 8:30 or so? The first order of business was to buy Magic Bands, and tie them to our cards. We didn't *need* to buy them, but dh had been dying to find an excuse ever since he read the big article about them. Once I started realizing how we'd need to use the cards for our FP+ each time, and would need to keep them safe but quick to access, that was enough excuse to justify buying the bands! Yes, we could've figured out a work-around, but we didn't try too hard. So, we found the ticket counter for buying our magic bands, and picked our colors.
Magic Bands, unite!
We were technically there for RD, but since we were busy with getting our MB, we were at the back of the group walking into the park. But, that was ok.
Our FP+ for the day:
10:05 Spaceship Earth
11:45 Mission Space
1:30 Soarin'
We started out by walking over to Test Track. It had been down when dh and ds tried to ride on our earlier trip, so this was a first for all of us. The SB line was already pretty long, so we hopped into the single rider line. We barely had enough time to customize our cars, the line was moving so quickly! It was a fun ride, although I think we would've had more fun if we had been all together and gotten into the competitive spirit. We spent a little time in the game stuff at the end, but then we went out and had to figure out what to do before our Spaceship Earth FP+. I think we browsed a couple stores - dh and ds were realizing it was pretty sunny and they were wanting their sunglasses. Also, we started the search for a replacement stuffed animal for dd. We didn't see any sunglasses the guys liked. There was one stuffed animal dd was considering - Stitch's girlfriend (I forget her name). But, she liked her, not loved her, so we decided to come back later if she decided she really wanted her.
I can tell I'd better keep writing all of this, because details are already getting pretty fuzzy in my brain!
I do remember that when we walked over to Spaceship Earth, the kids were pretty excited that they got to go inside the big white ball. Also, we were very grateful we had a FP+, because the line was already pretty long! One thing we noticed the whole time was that people in the FP+ line almost always had Magic Bands, and a lot of the people in SB looking wistfully at us walking by, didn't have Magic Bands. It seems like the marketing for on-site guests worked pretty well, but not so much for people staying off-site. I have no idea how many people staying off-site bought Magic Bands like us.
Next up: Spaceship Earth!