GeorgiaAristocat
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A Whole New World Trip Report, Long Version, Day 2, Part 1, Soarin into our trip!
Im shortening the Title out front, its too long.
Whos involved (you notice I do not say who went!)
Me (GeorgiaAristocat), 35, obsessive planner who hasnt been to WDW since 1976 its a whole new world!
DH (today hes Slowpoke again), 33, hasnt been to WDW since @ 1988 and then for only a few hours
DD (FearlessOne), 3, rocks between being a fairy princess, drama queen, and tomboy, not afraid of anything (unless she feels like screaming).
DS (SnuggleBuddy), 15 mos old, umbilical cord is about 1 mm long total mamas boy, also likes to scream and doesnt require fright to do so.
Nana keeper of FearlessOne and SnuggleBuddy while Mom and Dad play at the world!
Monday, September 26
I had trouble sleeping the night before. Could have been the strange bed. Could have been that we were in a full bed instead of a king, and husband was, therefore, touching me. Hes not supposed to touch me unless were **relaxing** or snuggling. Was probably that I was so excited that I just couldnt sleep. I slept well until 2 am, then fitfully til I gave it up at 6 am and took a shower. Now, I should mention that 6 am is sleeping in to us. SnuggleBuddy likes to get up at 5:30 a.m. for some milk. Without fail. Every morning. My internal clock usually wakes me at 5:30 whether he cries or not.
Slowpoke got up 20 minutes after I did. I made coffee (in our own coffee maker, I love that we live close enough to drive). At around 7 a.m. the Slowpoke, who had already showered and dressed, asked what time we needed to leave. Epcot had a.m. EMH, so I said we needed to leave by 7:30. He was already showered and dressed, how hard could that be? All he had to do was brush his non-existent hair and put his shoes on. It was still 8 before we left the room. How is it possible for it to take him (a man) twice as long as me (a woman) to get ready? Its a mystery. I dont think I will ever understand why he feels compelled to spend 15 minutes brushing his teeth (with an electric toothbrush no less). Personally, I think he does his gums more harm than good brushing that long. But that is nothing to the amount of time he spends brushing his hair. Now, being the good ex-marine that he is, he still keeps his hair cut in a high and tight. There isnt any hair to brush. The longest piece of hair on his head (on the top) cant be more than ¼ to ½ inch long. He complains about it getting frizzy. Seriously. Me, with hair below my shoulders, can dry, style, fix, rewash, redry, restyle and refix my hair faster than he can get ready. And he wonders why his hair is receding.
Now, before we left, I had pored over the Unofficial Guide and my Passporter, and had cut out the touring plans just in case we needed them. That morning I grabbed the sheets for the day and the map from the Passporter. I was prepared.
Anyway, we finally left for Epcot. Bus service was very good (with one exception) the entire trip. When we got to Epcot, EMH had started @ ½ hour before. We went in with little difficulty with the ticket machines. I had us head straight to Soarin. When we got there the stand-by said 10 minutes. Nevertheless, suspecting that we would want to ride this more than once, I grabbed fastpasses and then we went and stood in the standby line. The wait wasnt quite 10 minutes, but was probably a little longer than 5 minutes. We lucked into the very middle of the middle section, top row, for our first flight.
What to say about Soarin? EXTRAORDINARY. Hands down the best ride in all four parks (in our opinion.) It was a wonderful first ride of our trip. Slowpoke got a little frightened on the first bank (by the Golden Gate Bridge) and tried to hold hands with the man next to him. I thought it was wonderful (the ride, not the holding hands bit!) Hey, get your hands off my husband! Ive planned long and extensively to have him all to myself!
We left there and headed across the plaza to Test Track and Mission: Space. We went to Test Track first because Slowpoke had expressed reservations about M: S. The stand-by for Test Track was unacceptable (less than 20 minutes was my limit for the trip), so we grabbed a Fast Pass (since I could already get another one) and headed for Mission: Space. As I said, Slowpoke had expressed reservations, and was carefully reading all the warnings as we went in. The big one for him was that this is a spinning ride. Slowpoke doesnt like to spin. We dont go on teacups or anything with centrifugal force. Headed into the ride, he decided he didnt want to ride. I was fine with that, and we backed out of the entrance so that I could head for the single rider line. On the way, a CM was there, so Slowpoke started quizzing her on how bad the ride really was. He explained about his no spinning policy and she convinced him that you really cant feel it spinning. Anyway, SHE talked him into riding. IT WASNT ME THAT CONVINCED HIM. He still blames me because I was the one that wanted to ride in the first place. I would rue his decision to ride. We BOTH could feel the spinning in the ride, even keeping our heads back and staring straight ahead. I dont like spinning, but it doesnt impact me quite as much as it does Slowpoke. He came off the ride disoriented and with an instant headache. I had brought some kind of pain reliever with me (Tylenol or Ibuprofin, Im not sure which one.) Slowpoke decided that he needed it NOW, plus a gentler ride.
We headed back to the Land because, despite my assurances to the contrary, Slowpoke was afraid they wouldnt let us ride Soarin if it was outside our FP return window. We first rode the Land ride (the boats through the greenhouses), which I really enjoyed, although I wish I had taken some pictures in the greenhouses, especially of the mickey shaped pumpkin! After the Land we went back to Soarin with our Fastpass. The wait was not actually much shorter than the first ride. The Second ride we were in the bottom row on the left hand side. With the different perspective we saw some things we hadnt noticed before. I think we probably grabbed another fastpass at this point, but I cant remember.
After Soarin, we went to Test Track, which was down. So we headed to Mouse Gear because the Slowpoke, in his rush to leave the room that morning, had forgotten to bring his sunglasses. I should also mention that the Slowpoke, who never goes anywhere without a hat, had left home the day before without a hat. Again, hes only responsible for his own stuff, and he forgets something that second nature to his being? Was this all a ruse, I wondered, to boost his souvenir quota? He spent 25 precious morning minutes trying on every pair of male looking sunglasses before deciding on the first pair that he picked up. Typical. Decided to pass on the hats once he saw the prices. (My thought is, youre not getting very much, the vacation has already been paid for except souvenirs and alcohol, get over the price and get yourself a hat before you sunburn your scalp.) I was already getting antsy because this was our first morning in a park, and I had no idea how bad crowds were going to be (or not be), and I was in Commando mode (although a mild version of it). Checking out of Mousegear was an experience as the way-over-the-top-trying-to-be-friendly CM was unbelievably annoying and slower to an exponential degree than Slowpoke was. Amazing. My antsy-ness was ballooning. With one person ahead of us in line, who had three items, it still took us TWENTY MINUTES to pay for a single pair of sunglasses. I should point out that no packages were sent to resorts, no prices needed to be found, nothing spectacular about either transaction. Just slower than molasses in January on the tundra.
Anyway, as we left Mousegear and were thinking about lunch, we heard Test Track running and decided to ride before heading to World Showcase. (It was @ 11 a.m. by this time). Test Track was fun, but we felt no compulsion to ride repeatedly.
I know that at this point we had crossed back and forth across future world several times and we were already getting weary of the walking. As it turned out, this day we would do more walking than any of the others. Having accomplished so much in such a short amount of time had a price. I could already see the Slowpoke unhappy (mostly about his headache) and was feeling pressure about trying to do too much on this trip. I needed to snap out of Commando mode and start relaxing. We decided to go eat.
Next up: World Showcase and Illuminations
Here are the links to the other portions of this report:
A Whole New World Dining Report
A Whole New World Trip Report (Short Version)
A Whole New World Trip Report, Long Version, Day 1 Part 1, Getting There . . .
A Whole New World Trip Report, Day 1 Part 2, Checking in and California Grill
Day 2, Part 1, Soarin' into our Trip!
Day 2, Part 2, Bathrooms Around the World
Im shortening the Title out front, its too long.
Whos involved (you notice I do not say who went!)
Me (GeorgiaAristocat), 35, obsessive planner who hasnt been to WDW since 1976 its a whole new world!
DH (today hes Slowpoke again), 33, hasnt been to WDW since @ 1988 and then for only a few hours
DD (FearlessOne), 3, rocks between being a fairy princess, drama queen, and tomboy, not afraid of anything (unless she feels like screaming).
DS (SnuggleBuddy), 15 mos old, umbilical cord is about 1 mm long total mamas boy, also likes to scream and doesnt require fright to do so.
Nana keeper of FearlessOne and SnuggleBuddy while Mom and Dad play at the world!
Monday, September 26
I had trouble sleeping the night before. Could have been the strange bed. Could have been that we were in a full bed instead of a king, and husband was, therefore, touching me. Hes not supposed to touch me unless were **relaxing** or snuggling. Was probably that I was so excited that I just couldnt sleep. I slept well until 2 am, then fitfully til I gave it up at 6 am and took a shower. Now, I should mention that 6 am is sleeping in to us. SnuggleBuddy likes to get up at 5:30 a.m. for some milk. Without fail. Every morning. My internal clock usually wakes me at 5:30 whether he cries or not.
Slowpoke got up 20 minutes after I did. I made coffee (in our own coffee maker, I love that we live close enough to drive). At around 7 a.m. the Slowpoke, who had already showered and dressed, asked what time we needed to leave. Epcot had a.m. EMH, so I said we needed to leave by 7:30. He was already showered and dressed, how hard could that be? All he had to do was brush his non-existent hair and put his shoes on. It was still 8 before we left the room. How is it possible for it to take him (a man) twice as long as me (a woman) to get ready? Its a mystery. I dont think I will ever understand why he feels compelled to spend 15 minutes brushing his teeth (with an electric toothbrush no less). Personally, I think he does his gums more harm than good brushing that long. But that is nothing to the amount of time he spends brushing his hair. Now, being the good ex-marine that he is, he still keeps his hair cut in a high and tight. There isnt any hair to brush. The longest piece of hair on his head (on the top) cant be more than ¼ to ½ inch long. He complains about it getting frizzy. Seriously. Me, with hair below my shoulders, can dry, style, fix, rewash, redry, restyle and refix my hair faster than he can get ready. And he wonders why his hair is receding.
Now, before we left, I had pored over the Unofficial Guide and my Passporter, and had cut out the touring plans just in case we needed them. That morning I grabbed the sheets for the day and the map from the Passporter. I was prepared.
Anyway, we finally left for Epcot. Bus service was very good (with one exception) the entire trip. When we got to Epcot, EMH had started @ ½ hour before. We went in with little difficulty with the ticket machines. I had us head straight to Soarin. When we got there the stand-by said 10 minutes. Nevertheless, suspecting that we would want to ride this more than once, I grabbed fastpasses and then we went and stood in the standby line. The wait wasnt quite 10 minutes, but was probably a little longer than 5 minutes. We lucked into the very middle of the middle section, top row, for our first flight.
What to say about Soarin? EXTRAORDINARY. Hands down the best ride in all four parks (in our opinion.) It was a wonderful first ride of our trip. Slowpoke got a little frightened on the first bank (by the Golden Gate Bridge) and tried to hold hands with the man next to him. I thought it was wonderful (the ride, not the holding hands bit!) Hey, get your hands off my husband! Ive planned long and extensively to have him all to myself!
We left there and headed across the plaza to Test Track and Mission: Space. We went to Test Track first because Slowpoke had expressed reservations about M: S. The stand-by for Test Track was unacceptable (less than 20 minutes was my limit for the trip), so we grabbed a Fast Pass (since I could already get another one) and headed for Mission: Space. As I said, Slowpoke had expressed reservations, and was carefully reading all the warnings as we went in. The big one for him was that this is a spinning ride. Slowpoke doesnt like to spin. We dont go on teacups or anything with centrifugal force. Headed into the ride, he decided he didnt want to ride. I was fine with that, and we backed out of the entrance so that I could head for the single rider line. On the way, a CM was there, so Slowpoke started quizzing her on how bad the ride really was. He explained about his no spinning policy and she convinced him that you really cant feel it spinning. Anyway, SHE talked him into riding. IT WASNT ME THAT CONVINCED HIM. He still blames me because I was the one that wanted to ride in the first place. I would rue his decision to ride. We BOTH could feel the spinning in the ride, even keeping our heads back and staring straight ahead. I dont like spinning, but it doesnt impact me quite as much as it does Slowpoke. He came off the ride disoriented and with an instant headache. I had brought some kind of pain reliever with me (Tylenol or Ibuprofin, Im not sure which one.) Slowpoke decided that he needed it NOW, plus a gentler ride.
We headed back to the Land because, despite my assurances to the contrary, Slowpoke was afraid they wouldnt let us ride Soarin if it was outside our FP return window. We first rode the Land ride (the boats through the greenhouses), which I really enjoyed, although I wish I had taken some pictures in the greenhouses, especially of the mickey shaped pumpkin! After the Land we went back to Soarin with our Fastpass. The wait was not actually much shorter than the first ride. The Second ride we were in the bottom row on the left hand side. With the different perspective we saw some things we hadnt noticed before. I think we probably grabbed another fastpass at this point, but I cant remember.
After Soarin, we went to Test Track, which was down. So we headed to Mouse Gear because the Slowpoke, in his rush to leave the room that morning, had forgotten to bring his sunglasses. I should also mention that the Slowpoke, who never goes anywhere without a hat, had left home the day before without a hat. Again, hes only responsible for his own stuff, and he forgets something that second nature to his being? Was this all a ruse, I wondered, to boost his souvenir quota? He spent 25 precious morning minutes trying on every pair of male looking sunglasses before deciding on the first pair that he picked up. Typical. Decided to pass on the hats once he saw the prices. (My thought is, youre not getting very much, the vacation has already been paid for except souvenirs and alcohol, get over the price and get yourself a hat before you sunburn your scalp.) I was already getting antsy because this was our first morning in a park, and I had no idea how bad crowds were going to be (or not be), and I was in Commando mode (although a mild version of it). Checking out of Mousegear was an experience as the way-over-the-top-trying-to-be-friendly CM was unbelievably annoying and slower to an exponential degree than Slowpoke was. Amazing. My antsy-ness was ballooning. With one person ahead of us in line, who had three items, it still took us TWENTY MINUTES to pay for a single pair of sunglasses. I should point out that no packages were sent to resorts, no prices needed to be found, nothing spectacular about either transaction. Just slower than molasses in January on the tundra.
Anyway, as we left Mousegear and were thinking about lunch, we heard Test Track running and decided to ride before heading to World Showcase. (It was @ 11 a.m. by this time). Test Track was fun, but we felt no compulsion to ride repeatedly.
I know that at this point we had crossed back and forth across future world several times and we were already getting weary of the walking. As it turned out, this day we would do more walking than any of the others. Having accomplished so much in such a short amount of time had a price. I could already see the Slowpoke unhappy (mostly about his headache) and was feeling pressure about trying to do too much on this trip. I needed to snap out of Commando mode and start relaxing. We decided to go eat.
Next up: World Showcase and Illuminations
Here are the links to the other portions of this report:
A Whole New World Dining Report
A Whole New World Trip Report (Short Version)
A Whole New World Trip Report, Long Version, Day 1 Part 1, Getting There . . .
A Whole New World Trip Report, Day 1 Part 2, Checking in and California Grill
Day 2, Part 1, Soarin' into our Trip!
Day 2, Part 2, Bathrooms Around the World
