What a fun day we had today at Epcot! I have been to Epcot multiple times but did a lot of new things today.
Background - We are local passholders, me, DH, DD7(Leah), and DS11(Matthew) who is autistic. We use the guest assistance pass for all the rides, and love going to Disney, but Matthew is a thrill seeker, and has no patience for non-ride, non-show attractions! So we always skip the cool interactive games, and as a matter of fact I have been coming to Epcot since it opened and never got a chance to play all the games. Se we decided to have a girls-only day at Epcot, with me, DD, and my neice (Elizabeth, 12 today, DN?) for her birthday, and do all those fun games we never had a chance to do.
We set a basic rule - no using of the guest assistance pass (which stays in my Disney fanny pack at all times), since Matthew was not there it would not be honest. Gotta set a good example for the kids! So we got there right at 9 and headed straight to Soarin. Only a 20 min wait, I was disappointed that they had not turned on the line games, I was looking forward to seeing them.
Headed to TT and got a Fastpass, the first time I have had to get one! We decided to skip M:S and go to Innoventions. We played the Waste Management game and had a blast. You have to push your garbage truck from station to station and sort your trash, operate the equipment at the recycling center, and build your landfill. Very fun and easy for all the ages.
Picked up a snack at Mouse Gear and went to Club Cool for a free drink. I had to taste Beverly again, just because. Yuck! It was nice eating our snacks in the air conditioning with free drinks. We watched the fountain while eating.
Went back for our FP return time at TT. FP line was backed up to the door, which is not typical for TT, so we ended up waiting 20 minutes or so. Our sound was broken in our car which definately takes the fun out of it! I told the CM after we got out so they could pull the car and fix it.
DN did not remember ever doing Imagination, whick just shocked me to no end. What kind of mother does she have, never taking her to Imagination! (Just kidding, her mother is my sister.) So we did HISTA and Imagination. The interactive games had a bit too long of a wait but we watched a little. Regaled the kids with memories of the old Imagination ride, including the song!
We headed over to do SSEarth, with only a 15 minute wait, and after got to play the game where you slide the virtual balls of energy into the houses to power them (sorry, can't remember the name). Another first. Fun but that game has some issues with accuracy and use of that sliding thing.
Went to Innoventions again and did the Great Piggy Bank Adventure. You get a piggy bank that you take from station to station, playing games that simulate saving, investing, and having a diversified portfolio, if you do well you will reach the goal you set at the beginning of the game, in our case a luxury vacation. Unfortunately we did not meet our goal. That is one I would do over and over. Lots of fun, for both the adults and the kids, I would highly recommend it.
Somewhere in there we parked ourselves at an outdoor table at the Electric Umbrella (there were plenty of open tables) and I went over to the lockers and got our picnic lunch, another first and very relaxing, better food than the electric umbrella and definately more economical!
Okay, we are done with Future World, now to World Showcase. We had Kim Possible tickets for Norway but wanted to go to the Beach Club so we checked at the UK KP kiosk to see if we could play there. No-can-do today, too many people playing on that side of the world, so we got our ticket back and headed to the Beach Club, I wanted to take DN to Beaches and Cream for an ice cream and show her Stormalong Bay. We had a nice ice cream and were able to walk around SB and see the sand area, I had not seen that before, they were not issuing wristbands for entry at that time, so we walked around a little before heading over to the Friendship Boats to go back to Epcot, with a short stop at the boardwalk on the way. We are staying at the BC for the first time for a weekend in Sept, and I can't wait to be able to hit that pool, and stroll over to Epcot to have dinner at LeCellier!
We headed to the Norway KP kiosk and got a mission in Mexico, which was perfect because the sun was just beating down on us for the trip to BC and back to Norway, and the Mexico pavillion is entirely indoors. I could see that it would rain later and was looking forward to a quick little thunderstorm to cool things down. Mexico was fun, so we selected another mission for Norway and headed over there. It was starting to sprinkle so we decided to put the mission on hold and do Maelstrom. Our longest wait at about 25 minutes. I was quite tempted at that point by that little red card, dangling in its plastic cover from my fanny pack, but I did not give in. We are so spoiled by that guest assistance pass, but we would never be able to enjoy Disney with Matthew without it! I am so grateful they make accommodations for him, I know we would not be passholders without that program.
Well, we got out of Maelstrom and it was pouring. I am a Floridian and can tell if a rain will be short or long. You can see the end of the short little thunderstorms in the distance. I am used to a quick little 30 to 45 minute downpour. This was not one of them. It was grey rain as far as the eye can see, nonstop, with very little thunder and lightening. Out came the ponchos, left over from our May vacation. We decided to do the KP mission in the rain, and we had a blast. Playing in the rain and puddles when there is no fear of lightening can be quite fun. We used covered spots and our ponchos to keep the Kimmunicator dry, but unfortunately we still had some sort of problem, because the OK button stopped working. Mission over. All the KP kiosks were now tented over, and we had no clue where to return the thing in Norway, and by this time it had been raining for close to an hour with no sign of stopping. So, we headed out to Future World, found the KP signup in Innoventions and returned the Kimmunicator there, and went to Mouse Gear for a present for DN. Grandma had sent some money and I made up the difference for her to buy a big purse/bag that she fell in love with. We then returned the locker key, got our $5 back, and headed out of the park around 6, at that point it had been raining over 1.5 hours, and I was done with ponchos and puddles! It was still pouring when we left the parking lot, and had slowed to a steady rain by the time we got to DN's house, 20 minutes away.
So, here are my firsts today:
1. Standby line at Soarin (but still no line games, boo hoo)
2. Fastpass of any kind (don't hate me)
3. Innoventions games (Waste Management and Piggy Bank)
4. SSEarth games
5. Beaches and Cream
6. Seeing the sand at Stormalong Bay (7 weeks, I can't wait!)
7. Friendship boats to Epcot
8. Up close look at the Boardwalk (still haven't actually set foot on the place, I imagine we will in Sept.)
9. Bring-your-own picnic lunch
Just goes to show you that even someone that has been multiple times can find new things to do. We didn't even come close to doing all the interactive games I wanted to do. Another day...
DN was wonderful, we let her choose where in the park she wanted to go, and she was totally on board with the games idea. My nephew's birthdays are on October 12, and I am looking forward for another birthday with the relations, this time we will be at MK, and I am hoping to get them to try Big Thunder! Wish us luck, they are a little wimpy with rides!
Background - We are local passholders, me, DH, DD7(Leah), and DS11(Matthew) who is autistic. We use the guest assistance pass for all the rides, and love going to Disney, but Matthew is a thrill seeker, and has no patience for non-ride, non-show attractions! So we always skip the cool interactive games, and as a matter of fact I have been coming to Epcot since it opened and never got a chance to play all the games. Se we decided to have a girls-only day at Epcot, with me, DD, and my neice (Elizabeth, 12 today, DN?) for her birthday, and do all those fun games we never had a chance to do.
We set a basic rule - no using of the guest assistance pass (which stays in my Disney fanny pack at all times), since Matthew was not there it would not be honest. Gotta set a good example for the kids! So we got there right at 9 and headed straight to Soarin. Only a 20 min wait, I was disappointed that they had not turned on the line games, I was looking forward to seeing them.
Headed to TT and got a Fastpass, the first time I have had to get one! We decided to skip M:S and go to Innoventions. We played the Waste Management game and had a blast. You have to push your garbage truck from station to station and sort your trash, operate the equipment at the recycling center, and build your landfill. Very fun and easy for all the ages.
Picked up a snack at Mouse Gear and went to Club Cool for a free drink. I had to taste Beverly again, just because. Yuck! It was nice eating our snacks in the air conditioning with free drinks. We watched the fountain while eating.
Went back for our FP return time at TT. FP line was backed up to the door, which is not typical for TT, so we ended up waiting 20 minutes or so. Our sound was broken in our car which definately takes the fun out of it! I told the CM after we got out so they could pull the car and fix it.
DN did not remember ever doing Imagination, whick just shocked me to no end. What kind of mother does she have, never taking her to Imagination! (Just kidding, her mother is my sister.) So we did HISTA and Imagination. The interactive games had a bit too long of a wait but we watched a little. Regaled the kids with memories of the old Imagination ride, including the song!
We headed over to do SSEarth, with only a 15 minute wait, and after got to play the game where you slide the virtual balls of energy into the houses to power them (sorry, can't remember the name). Another first. Fun but that game has some issues with accuracy and use of that sliding thing.
Went to Innoventions again and did the Great Piggy Bank Adventure. You get a piggy bank that you take from station to station, playing games that simulate saving, investing, and having a diversified portfolio, if you do well you will reach the goal you set at the beginning of the game, in our case a luxury vacation. Unfortunately we did not meet our goal. That is one I would do over and over. Lots of fun, for both the adults and the kids, I would highly recommend it.
Somewhere in there we parked ourselves at an outdoor table at the Electric Umbrella (there were plenty of open tables) and I went over to the lockers and got our picnic lunch, another first and very relaxing, better food than the electric umbrella and definately more economical!
Okay, we are done with Future World, now to World Showcase. We had Kim Possible tickets for Norway but wanted to go to the Beach Club so we checked at the UK KP kiosk to see if we could play there. No-can-do today, too many people playing on that side of the world, so we got our ticket back and headed to the Beach Club, I wanted to take DN to Beaches and Cream for an ice cream and show her Stormalong Bay. We had a nice ice cream and were able to walk around SB and see the sand area, I had not seen that before, they were not issuing wristbands for entry at that time, so we walked around a little before heading over to the Friendship Boats to go back to Epcot, with a short stop at the boardwalk on the way. We are staying at the BC for the first time for a weekend in Sept, and I can't wait to be able to hit that pool, and stroll over to Epcot to have dinner at LeCellier!
We headed to the Norway KP kiosk and got a mission in Mexico, which was perfect because the sun was just beating down on us for the trip to BC and back to Norway, and the Mexico pavillion is entirely indoors. I could see that it would rain later and was looking forward to a quick little thunderstorm to cool things down. Mexico was fun, so we selected another mission for Norway and headed over there. It was starting to sprinkle so we decided to put the mission on hold and do Maelstrom. Our longest wait at about 25 minutes. I was quite tempted at that point by that little red card, dangling in its plastic cover from my fanny pack, but I did not give in. We are so spoiled by that guest assistance pass, but we would never be able to enjoy Disney with Matthew without it! I am so grateful they make accommodations for him, I know we would not be passholders without that program.
Well, we got out of Maelstrom and it was pouring. I am a Floridian and can tell if a rain will be short or long. You can see the end of the short little thunderstorms in the distance. I am used to a quick little 30 to 45 minute downpour. This was not one of them. It was grey rain as far as the eye can see, nonstop, with very little thunder and lightening. Out came the ponchos, left over from our May vacation. We decided to do the KP mission in the rain, and we had a blast. Playing in the rain and puddles when there is no fear of lightening can be quite fun. We used covered spots and our ponchos to keep the Kimmunicator dry, but unfortunately we still had some sort of problem, because the OK button stopped working. Mission over. All the KP kiosks were now tented over, and we had no clue where to return the thing in Norway, and by this time it had been raining for close to an hour with no sign of stopping. So, we headed out to Future World, found the KP signup in Innoventions and returned the Kimmunicator there, and went to Mouse Gear for a present for DN. Grandma had sent some money and I made up the difference for her to buy a big purse/bag that she fell in love with. We then returned the locker key, got our $5 back, and headed out of the park around 6, at that point it had been raining over 1.5 hours, and I was done with ponchos and puddles! It was still pouring when we left the parking lot, and had slowed to a steady rain by the time we got to DN's house, 20 minutes away.
So, here are my firsts today:
1. Standby line at Soarin (but still no line games, boo hoo)
2. Fastpass of any kind (don't hate me)
3. Innoventions games (Waste Management and Piggy Bank)
4. SSEarth games
5. Beaches and Cream
6. Seeing the sand at Stormalong Bay (7 weeks, I can't wait!)
7. Friendship boats to Epcot
8. Up close look at the Boardwalk (still haven't actually set foot on the place, I imagine we will in Sept.)
9. Bring-your-own picnic lunch
Just goes to show you that even someone that has been multiple times can find new things to do. We didn't even come close to doing all the interactive games I wanted to do. Another day...
DN was wonderful, we let her choose where in the park she wanted to go, and she was totally on board with the games idea. My nephew's birthdays are on October 12, and I am looking forward for another birthday with the relations, this time we will be at MK, and I am hoping to get them to try Big Thunder! Wish us luck, they are a little wimpy with rides!
