Chim Chiminy
stale marshmallows sting when they hit you
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2003
- Messages
- 1,861
Cast--Liz, Jason(DH), Neth(DS10), Brenne(DD4), mom(aka lala), dad(aka papa), Jimmie(DB32), Geoff(DB24), Brad(DBIL29), Rick(DBIL40)
August 18 Monday
Today we are heading to Epcot. We don't head out until late, around 11. Traveling with my family is never easy. My parents suffer from chronic tardiness, which has been passed on to my oldest brother Jimmie. I always have a plan when we go to WDW, and it is always thrown aside. Yes, this makes me crazy. My youngest brother and myself somehow missed being afflicted with the tardiness curse. We all need to be together in order for Jason to get the Military passes ($99 five day pass) for Brad, Rick, Jimmie and Geoff. So we wait for everyone to get together. And yes, this stresses me. And I will hear often over the course of our trip to just let it go....
We walk to the International Gateway, which is a quick 5 minute walk from our resort. Mom and dad need to activate their annual passes, Jason needs to buy the Military passes, so I decide to take the kids on through the gate. We pop into the gift shop and look around. I had planned on getting Brenne a hat, to keep the sun off her face, so I let her pick one out. They had lots of cute ones to choose from, she chooses a pink floppy brimmed hat with the princesses on it. We step outside and I call on the radio, the others still aren't through the gate. A CM sees Neth's lanyard and asks if he is a pintrader. He looks puzzled, so I say "He has never traded before." She explains to him how to trade, then lets him look at all her pins, even pointing out which were the most collectable and valuable. Neth chose a black and white Mickey pin, then traded one of his. He seemed very happy and said "Thank you."
I was getting a little antsy, so I called on the radio and said I was going to head on to France. But when I got to the bridge, I realized United Kingdom would be better. So I called back and repeated "United Kingdom."
Neth was hungry so we went to the fish and chips shop, but they weren't open yet. We decided to look around. I enjoy just wandering around looking at all the architecture and the gardens. We spied an old red telly booth, so I hop in and pretend to make a call. Then Neth hops in and I get some pics. I look across the way and spy The Tin Soldier, I know the kids will like it in there. So I call on the radio to let them know we will be in the shop.
We go inside and the kids are in heaven.
Brenne finds a Thomas the Tank table set up and goes to work. The CM in here is a lot of fun, I wish I had gotten her name. She has on tigger ears, and plops down to play with the kids, since we are the only ones in the shop. She teases Neth a little about his hair (it is blue today).
After waiting thirty minutes! the rest of our crew show up. I have no idea what took so long, don't want to know.
There is a KIDCOT funstop set up in the back of the shop, for kids to make a mask and color it. Brenne goes back to do this. There is another little girl back there coloring. Mom buys both kids (and herself!) a passport to get stamped and signed in every country. Brenne gets hers signed by Steven, from England.
Brenne and mom work really hard on their masks. Brenne in fact, doesn't want to stop coloring. I tell the others to go on to Canada and we will catch up. She finally stops when I tell her that she needs to have some room for the paint when we get to France.
She hops up and goes right back to the Thomas the Train table. After a few minutes some Winnie the Pooh music comes on, and the little girl we had been coloring with turns to her mom and says "I have a funny feeling...." Sure enough, Pooh bear and Tigger come in through the back door. The little girl is first in line, and I tell Brenne to go ahead and get ready to go up. After the girl is done, Brenne walks up and is assaulted with hugs and kisses. She is grinning from ear to ear. Tigger swings her from side to side, Pooh Bear grabs her hands, they are loving on her and she is enjoying every minute. There aren't very many people in the shop, so I let her stay with them for a couple of minutes. Once she is done, we head out of the shop, she is still grinning.
I tell some people outside with children that Pooh and Tigger are inside and there is no line.
We head to Canada, but everyone else is heading back already. They are all hungry.
We go to the fish and chips shop and get enough to share between ourselves. Very good fish and chips. I suggest we buy food in every country and just snack our way around.......
Once done, we cross the bridge and go into France. Jimmie and Geoff head on to Japan, where the Taiko drummers are performing (I think Geoff is homesick, he just returned from a two year teaching job in Japan), so I remind them that we have a 3:00 PS at the Garden Grill for the Ice Cream Social.
The rest of us wander around France. Somewhere though we lose mom and dad......RIck has to use the restroom, and there are none in France. He has to go to Morocco. So I suggest he does like they really do in France and just go in the street. After all, they are going for an authentic feel here, are they not????
I take Brenne into a shop and let her do the KIDCOT funstop. She gets her passport stamped and signed, then she paints her mask. The CM writes in French "Greetings from the land of Beauty and the Beast." She tells us that was can meet them in another shop near the Arcade. (Not video game arcade! I saw more than one adolescent boy disappointed.) We take the kids over, and sure enough! Beauty and the Beast are both in a tiny shop. We line up and in a couple of minutes Brenne is being dwarfed by the beast. He is huge! She hugs them both and Rick and I both get pictures.
Now it is time for Impressions de France. It is a beautiful movie, almost makes me want to travel there. Almost.
We walk past Morocco, pausing to view the architechture. We enter Japan, and Brad takes Neth into Mitsukoshi Department store. Jason and I stay outside with Brenne, she gets her passport stamped and signed at the KIDCOT station, although I don't know what was written. Perhaps I should have Geoff look at it. Anyway, the Taiko drummers are performing and they are truly amazing. The others come out of the store and we watch for a few minutes before moving on.
As we are entering the USA, we notice that the American Adventure will be starting soon, so we decide to go ahead and see it. Ben Franklin and Mark Twain are our hosts for this journey through American history. The animatronics and story are so impressive, why Disney is a leader in theme park attractions. I think we all left here impressed.
By this time, it is nearing time for our PS so we hurry to the other side of Epcot, so we can get to the land pavilion. We try contacting people on radios, but are not very successful.
August 18 Monday
Today we are heading to Epcot. We don't head out until late, around 11. Traveling with my family is never easy. My parents suffer from chronic tardiness, which has been passed on to my oldest brother Jimmie. I always have a plan when we go to WDW, and it is always thrown aside. Yes, this makes me crazy. My youngest brother and myself somehow missed being afflicted with the tardiness curse. We all need to be together in order for Jason to get the Military passes ($99 five day pass) for Brad, Rick, Jimmie and Geoff. So we wait for everyone to get together. And yes, this stresses me. And I will hear often over the course of our trip to just let it go....
We walk to the International Gateway, which is a quick 5 minute walk from our resort. Mom and dad need to activate their annual passes, Jason needs to buy the Military passes, so I decide to take the kids on through the gate. We pop into the gift shop and look around. I had planned on getting Brenne a hat, to keep the sun off her face, so I let her pick one out. They had lots of cute ones to choose from, she chooses a pink floppy brimmed hat with the princesses on it. We step outside and I call on the radio, the others still aren't through the gate. A CM sees Neth's lanyard and asks if he is a pintrader. He looks puzzled, so I say "He has never traded before." She explains to him how to trade, then lets him look at all her pins, even pointing out which were the most collectable and valuable. Neth chose a black and white Mickey pin, then traded one of his. He seemed very happy and said "Thank you."
I was getting a little antsy, so I called on the radio and said I was going to head on to France. But when I got to the bridge, I realized United Kingdom would be better. So I called back and repeated "United Kingdom."
Neth was hungry so we went to the fish and chips shop, but they weren't open yet. We decided to look around. I enjoy just wandering around looking at all the architecture and the gardens. We spied an old red telly booth, so I hop in and pretend to make a call. Then Neth hops in and I get some pics. I look across the way and spy The Tin Soldier, I know the kids will like it in there. So I call on the radio to let them know we will be in the shop.
We go inside and the kids are in heaven.
Brenne finds a Thomas the Tank table set up and goes to work. The CM in here is a lot of fun, I wish I had gotten her name. She has on tigger ears, and plops down to play with the kids, since we are the only ones in the shop. She teases Neth a little about his hair (it is blue today).
After waiting thirty minutes! the rest of our crew show up. I have no idea what took so long, don't want to know.
There is a KIDCOT funstop set up in the back of the shop, for kids to make a mask and color it. Brenne goes back to do this. There is another little girl back there coloring. Mom buys both kids (and herself!) a passport to get stamped and signed in every country. Brenne gets hers signed by Steven, from England.
Brenne and mom work really hard on their masks. Brenne in fact, doesn't want to stop coloring. I tell the others to go on to Canada and we will catch up. She finally stops when I tell her that she needs to have some room for the paint when we get to France.
She hops up and goes right back to the Thomas the Train table. After a few minutes some Winnie the Pooh music comes on, and the little girl we had been coloring with turns to her mom and says "I have a funny feeling...." Sure enough, Pooh bear and Tigger come in through the back door. The little girl is first in line, and I tell Brenne to go ahead and get ready to go up. After the girl is done, Brenne walks up and is assaulted with hugs and kisses. She is grinning from ear to ear. Tigger swings her from side to side, Pooh Bear grabs her hands, they are loving on her and she is enjoying every minute. There aren't very many people in the shop, so I let her stay with them for a couple of minutes. Once she is done, we head out of the shop, she is still grinning.
I tell some people outside with children that Pooh and Tigger are inside and there is no line.
We head to Canada, but everyone else is heading back already. They are all hungry.
We go to the fish and chips shop and get enough to share between ourselves. Very good fish and chips. I suggest we buy food in every country and just snack our way around.......
Once done, we cross the bridge and go into France. Jimmie and Geoff head on to Japan, where the Taiko drummers are performing (I think Geoff is homesick, he just returned from a two year teaching job in Japan), so I remind them that we have a 3:00 PS at the Garden Grill for the Ice Cream Social.
The rest of us wander around France. Somewhere though we lose mom and dad......RIck has to use the restroom, and there are none in France. He has to go to Morocco. So I suggest he does like they really do in France and just go in the street. After all, they are going for an authentic feel here, are they not????
I take Brenne into a shop and let her do the KIDCOT funstop. She gets her passport stamped and signed, then she paints her mask. The CM writes in French "Greetings from the land of Beauty and the Beast." She tells us that was can meet them in another shop near the Arcade. (Not video game arcade! I saw more than one adolescent boy disappointed.) We take the kids over, and sure enough! Beauty and the Beast are both in a tiny shop. We line up and in a couple of minutes Brenne is being dwarfed by the beast. He is huge! She hugs them both and Rick and I both get pictures.
Now it is time for Impressions de France. It is a beautiful movie, almost makes me want to travel there. Almost.
We walk past Morocco, pausing to view the architechture. We enter Japan, and Brad takes Neth into Mitsukoshi Department store. Jason and I stay outside with Brenne, she gets her passport stamped and signed at the KIDCOT station, although I don't know what was written. Perhaps I should have Geoff look at it. Anyway, the Taiko drummers are performing and they are truly amazing. The others come out of the store and we watch for a few minutes before moving on.
As we are entering the USA, we notice that the American Adventure will be starting soon, so we decide to go ahead and see it. Ben Franklin and Mark Twain are our hosts for this journey through American history. The animatronics and story are so impressive, why Disney is a leader in theme park attractions. I think we all left here impressed.
By this time, it is nearing time for our PS so we hurry to the other side of Epcot, so we can get to the land pavilion. We try contacting people on radios, but are not very successful.
