Tally Isham
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2000
- Messages
- 7
Day 3 -- Saturday March 10
Cast:
Me, DH K-man, DS J-boy (age 5), and DS The Beast (age 2, almost 3)
5:55 - hit snooze. 6:07 -- crawl out of bed. Shower -- good time to think.......
At least a Pee Incident isnâÂÂt an Exploding Octopus....MK EE in the morning, Epcot in afternoon....lime green ribbon on all packs....leave room by 7:00....PS at 10:30 at TonyâÂÂs....donâÂÂt forget birthday badge for J-boy....weather sunny and low eighties, so wear shorts....pop tarts, juice boxes and fruit snacks packed in backpack....put the Beast in a pull-up. Ahh....IâÂÂm awake.
After a quick breakfast in the room, we catch the bus, with a wait of less that 5 minutes. We arrive at MK at about 7:20. The turnstiles arenâÂÂt open yet. I say the unthinkable, âÂÂMaybe we got here too early.â I never thought IâÂÂd say that!
At about 7:29, the CMâÂÂs at the turnstiles begin a countdown....10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... a crowd cheers! We rent a stroller without a line and proceed to get the birthday badge. Then, like all parents of preschoolers, we make a bee-line to Fantasy Land.
We ride Dumbo with no wait. The elusive no-wait-Dumbo is ours!! Not all the DumboâÂÂs were filled even. Cool stuff.
Then Pooh, no wait. No FP required. I love EE.
Tea Cups down for rehab! Hooray!
Speedway next. Blech for parents. A PreschoolerâÂÂs dream. I glance at my watch as we enter the queue -- its 7:55. I love EE.
Next is Buzz. The boys have been acting out Toy Story 2 scenes ("I have your eye on a blaster" -- they've never heard of an "ion blaster" -- too funny), so I thought theyâÂÂd be excited. J-boy was too scared to ride in Sept-Stress, but the Beast rode. This time was reversed. J-boy got right on, but the Beast balked. But he got on with DH only after he saw big brother do it. I swear, if J-boy was poking out his eye with a sharp stick, the Beast would too. K- man got about 6-zillion points to my measly 5000 or so. Why is Buzz so hard?
We then head back to Fantasy Land to pick up Peter Pan and Small World. Again, no wait for either.
Warning: Do not leave any food on stroller trays. While parking our strollers, we saw a black, beady eyed bird chomping on a 1/2 eaten blueberry muffin. We later saw a toddler in the stroller happily chomping on the same muffin. I didnâÂÂt have the heart to stop the family and tell them.
By the time we finish Small World itâÂÂs about 8:40 or so. Since Jungle Cruise was down during Sept-Stress trip, we decided to do that next. The only wait there was waiting for enough people to arrive to fill a boat. We tried to get our guide (Jason, I think) to sing Happy Birthday, but he wouldnâÂÂt.
ItâÂÂs now only about 9:15. Have I told you how much I love EE?
We back-track to Toon Town. There are still lots of characters that havenâÂÂt yet made their way into the greeting area. We were next to see Minnie, when she led us to the greeting area. After about a 10 minute wait, we had some time with Minnie, Donald & Goofy in the greeting area.
After visiting Min & MikâÂÂs houses, onto GoofyâÂÂs Barnstormer -- about a 5 minute wait. The Beast was acting like this was pretty cool stuff -- that is until we started down the first hill. Immediately I heard, âÂÂI no like this. Take me away this place!â Luckily the Barnstormer is very short!
Since itâÂÂs about 10:00, we load the strollers to head for Brunch at TonyâÂÂs. ItâÂÂs 10:00 and weâÂÂve done all the preschooler highlights. I love EE.
Walking down Main Street at 10:00 made me feel like a salmon swimming upstream. Yikes! It looked like the entire population of Orlando is streaming up Main Street. We are the only people going toward the entrance.
On the terrace to the south of TonyâÂÂs, K-man spots Pluto. Good eye, since Pluto is the BeastâÂÂs fave. After about a 5 minute wait. We have some quality time with Pluto. He steals the BeastâÂÂs Mouse Ears and makes him retrieve them. On the way home, the Beast cited this as his best part of vacation.
At TonyâÂÂs we check in for our 10:30 PS at about 10:20-ish. There is a short wait, but Scamp is on the TV in the lobby. Everyone rests.
When weâÂÂre seated, our table is decorated for a Birthday Party. It has Mickey-shaped mylar confetti and colored streamers. Neat.
After a good breakfast (Italian toast w/ berries for grown ups and Mickey waffles for kids), the main event started to unfold. A server (Paul, if I remember correctly) got J-boy to stand on a chair. J-boy balked a bit since he knows heâÂÂs not supposed to stand on chairs! Then Paul got the âÂÂattentioneâ of the restaurant got them to twirl their napkins, shout Happy Birthday, and then deliver a big âÂÂItalian KissâÂÂ. It was cute.
Then Paul told J-boy, very confidentially, that out of the 6000 employees at WDW, he was one of the very few who knew GoofyâÂÂs personal, private phone number and that he would call Goofy and get him to sing HBD to J-boy. He acted like this was like a big conspiracy.
We went to the lobby, and sure enough, Paul got Goofy on the phone. IâÂÂm not sure what was going on on the other end of that phone line, but J-boy was grinning and glowing.
On our way out of TonyâÂÂs, K-man spotted Cruella DeVille sitting on the porch (smoking in a non-smoking area... at least pretending to smoke).
K-Man: Boys, do you want to say hi to Creulla DeVille?
Me: No, sheâÂÂs mean.
Cruella: (removing cigarette holder, and drawling) Just like Mommy, daaarling.
Too funny. This is so much more fun than the September-Stress trip.
ItâÂÂs about 11:30 or so. The stroller line is about 20 people deep. So I just take our rental stroller to the end of the line, and say loudly, âÂÂWeâÂÂre getting ready to leave. HereâÂÂs a single stroller for anyone who wants it.â Two ladies very nicely discussed it, and one took it.
We monorailed to Epcot. Our priorities for the day are to pick up things we missed in September, see ToN (my and boyâÂÂs favorite), and take it easy. We are even considering skipping naps.
In September we missed the Wonders of Life pavilion all together. So we head there first. We played a bit, and then watched Cranium Command. The Beast got scared near the end, âÂÂtake me away this place.â So I carried him out. A terrific CM (I didnâÂÂt see her name badge), help console the Beast and even managed to produce a Pluto sticker for him.
Then we walked through Ice Station Cool. I didnâÂÂt expect the snow. Of course it scared the Beast. HeâÂÂs lived through snow for the past 4 months, and what scares him at WDW? Snow. The boys enjoyed getting their own drinks, thinking they were so grown up. And believe it or not, I like Beverly. ItâÂÂs good (but I also drink my coffee black.)
Imagination Pavilion is next. We ride Journey to Your Imagination. The puff of air scares the Beast. We all agree itâÂÂs a pretty feeble ride. But the displays at the end were really fun. We stayed there a while, and I started noticing the boys were getting a bit tired and cranky.
On our way toward International Gateway, I spot Mary Popping in England. The kids are not interested at all. This assures me that the boys are indeed tired.
Right at International Gateway, thereâÂÂs a character bonanza:
The Tweedles, Smee, a bad guy in purple who looks a bit like Captain Hook (who is this guy?), a mean looking rat in Medieval garb (whoâÂÂs this guy too?), and (believe it or not!) Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy Cricket. Too cool. IâÂÂm from the generation that watched all those safety movies, âÂÂIâÂÂm no fool, no sir-ee, IâÂÂm going to live to be 103, IâÂÂll play it safe for you and me....â Love Jiminy. Since boys are tired, we just walk past.....
The room is made up and a floppy eared towel animal appeared thanks to Virginia, our mousekeeper. We debate whether itâÂÂs a bunny or floppy eared dog, but never really decide. Thanks, Virginia!
During naps, K-man takes the car back to the car care center and gets a fresh one. I rest.
We walk back to Epcot after naps. I love the YC.
We catch the Japanese drummers, the Chinese acrobats, then eat diner at Yakatori House. I really enjoy mine. K-man thinks his is just so-so. They have what may be the best kidâÂÂs meal value in the World. 2 big chicken nuggets (real chicken, no processed junk), cooked mixed veggies, rice and a drink for $3.25. They eat the chicken, pick the green beans out of the veggies, and skip the rice.
By then itâÂÂs time for ToN. We practice ahead of time, with me walking past the strollers, reaching down to touch the kids. WeâÂÂre parked right outside the gate in Morocco where the puppets and drums come out.
The music rises, the Sage of Time appears, excitements mounts, the Beast gets scared and needs comforted. Finally, by the end of the parade, heâÂÂs touching puppets, but it took a while!
At the US pavilion, we stop to watch Barrage. ItâÂÂs a group of 7 high energy, singing, dancing, violinists with attitude. The were really good. But it was getting cool, and J-boy starts whining.
We retire to the Tangierine Cafe for pastries. Ooohhhh.... were they good. K-man got a crescent shaped pastry that was stuffed with almond paste, covered in slivered almonds, and the ends were dipped in chocolate. I got one that was a phyllo dough spiral wound around chocolate chips and walnuts, then drenched in honey syrup and topped with a cherry. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
We think that weâÂÂd top them off with French pastries as well, so we proceed to France, and caught the last half of a Living Statue performance. Living Statues are hard to describe, but really cool . The Beast says, â I want to touch that girl.â Naturally, IâÂÂm surprised since heâÂÂs been scared of everything, but we make our way to the front of the crowd. Unfortunately, she leaves before he can get his turn.
The line out of the pastry shop is about 100 people deep (I wanted to scream to them all, skip the Eclairs, you can get eclairs at home, go to the Tangierine Cafe. You canâÂÂt get Moroccan pastry at home! Go! hurry!) We skip French pastries, but donâÂÂt really think weâÂÂve missed much.
None of us have ever seen Impressions de France, so we go in. ItâÂÂs warm. ItâÂÂs sitting down. ItâÂÂs fabulous -- the movie, I mean. J-boy has been studying castles in preschool, so he really enjoys all the helicopter shots over and around castles. His face is just beaming.
Whew! ItâÂÂs been a long day. We go back through International Gateway, and walk back to the YC. I fall asleep about 2 seconds after getting into bed.
Tomorrow -- a day of relaxation to recover.
Cast:
Me, DH K-man, DS J-boy (age 5), and DS The Beast (age 2, almost 3)
5:55 - hit snooze. 6:07 -- crawl out of bed. Shower -- good time to think.......
At least a Pee Incident isnâÂÂt an Exploding Octopus....MK EE in the morning, Epcot in afternoon....lime green ribbon on all packs....leave room by 7:00....PS at 10:30 at TonyâÂÂs....donâÂÂt forget birthday badge for J-boy....weather sunny and low eighties, so wear shorts....pop tarts, juice boxes and fruit snacks packed in backpack....put the Beast in a pull-up. Ahh....IâÂÂm awake.
After a quick breakfast in the room, we catch the bus, with a wait of less that 5 minutes. We arrive at MK at about 7:20. The turnstiles arenâÂÂt open yet. I say the unthinkable, âÂÂMaybe we got here too early.â I never thought IâÂÂd say that!
At about 7:29, the CMâÂÂs at the turnstiles begin a countdown....10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... a crowd cheers! We rent a stroller without a line and proceed to get the birthday badge. Then, like all parents of preschoolers, we make a bee-line to Fantasy Land.
We ride Dumbo with no wait. The elusive no-wait-Dumbo is ours!! Not all the DumboâÂÂs were filled even. Cool stuff.
Then Pooh, no wait. No FP required. I love EE.
Tea Cups down for rehab! Hooray!
Speedway next. Blech for parents. A PreschoolerâÂÂs dream. I glance at my watch as we enter the queue -- its 7:55. I love EE.
Next is Buzz. The boys have been acting out Toy Story 2 scenes ("I have your eye on a blaster" -- they've never heard of an "ion blaster" -- too funny), so I thought theyâÂÂd be excited. J-boy was too scared to ride in Sept-Stress, but the Beast rode. This time was reversed. J-boy got right on, but the Beast balked. But he got on with DH only after he saw big brother do it. I swear, if J-boy was poking out his eye with a sharp stick, the Beast would too. K- man got about 6-zillion points to my measly 5000 or so. Why is Buzz so hard?
We then head back to Fantasy Land to pick up Peter Pan and Small World. Again, no wait for either.
Warning: Do not leave any food on stroller trays. While parking our strollers, we saw a black, beady eyed bird chomping on a 1/2 eaten blueberry muffin. We later saw a toddler in the stroller happily chomping on the same muffin. I didnâÂÂt have the heart to stop the family and tell them.
By the time we finish Small World itâÂÂs about 8:40 or so. Since Jungle Cruise was down during Sept-Stress trip, we decided to do that next. The only wait there was waiting for enough people to arrive to fill a boat. We tried to get our guide (Jason, I think) to sing Happy Birthday, but he wouldnâÂÂt.
ItâÂÂs now only about 9:15. Have I told you how much I love EE?
We back-track to Toon Town. There are still lots of characters that havenâÂÂt yet made their way into the greeting area. We were next to see Minnie, when she led us to the greeting area. After about a 10 minute wait, we had some time with Minnie, Donald & Goofy in the greeting area.
After visiting Min & MikâÂÂs houses, onto GoofyâÂÂs Barnstormer -- about a 5 minute wait. The Beast was acting like this was pretty cool stuff -- that is until we started down the first hill. Immediately I heard, âÂÂI no like this. Take me away this place!â Luckily the Barnstormer is very short!
Since itâÂÂs about 10:00, we load the strollers to head for Brunch at TonyâÂÂs. ItâÂÂs 10:00 and weâÂÂve done all the preschooler highlights. I love EE.
Walking down Main Street at 10:00 made me feel like a salmon swimming upstream. Yikes! It looked like the entire population of Orlando is streaming up Main Street. We are the only people going toward the entrance.
On the terrace to the south of TonyâÂÂs, K-man spots Pluto. Good eye, since Pluto is the BeastâÂÂs fave. After about a 5 minute wait. We have some quality time with Pluto. He steals the BeastâÂÂs Mouse Ears and makes him retrieve them. On the way home, the Beast cited this as his best part of vacation.
At TonyâÂÂs we check in for our 10:30 PS at about 10:20-ish. There is a short wait, but Scamp is on the TV in the lobby. Everyone rests.
When weâÂÂre seated, our table is decorated for a Birthday Party. It has Mickey-shaped mylar confetti and colored streamers. Neat.
After a good breakfast (Italian toast w/ berries for grown ups and Mickey waffles for kids), the main event started to unfold. A server (Paul, if I remember correctly) got J-boy to stand on a chair. J-boy balked a bit since he knows heâÂÂs not supposed to stand on chairs! Then Paul got the âÂÂattentioneâ of the restaurant got them to twirl their napkins, shout Happy Birthday, and then deliver a big âÂÂItalian KissâÂÂ. It was cute.
Then Paul told J-boy, very confidentially, that out of the 6000 employees at WDW, he was one of the very few who knew GoofyâÂÂs personal, private phone number and that he would call Goofy and get him to sing HBD to J-boy. He acted like this was like a big conspiracy.
We went to the lobby, and sure enough, Paul got Goofy on the phone. IâÂÂm not sure what was going on on the other end of that phone line, but J-boy was grinning and glowing.
On our way out of TonyâÂÂs, K-man spotted Cruella DeVille sitting on the porch (smoking in a non-smoking area... at least pretending to smoke).
K-Man: Boys, do you want to say hi to Creulla DeVille?
Me: No, sheâÂÂs mean.
Cruella: (removing cigarette holder, and drawling) Just like Mommy, daaarling.
Too funny. This is so much more fun than the September-Stress trip.
ItâÂÂs about 11:30 or so. The stroller line is about 20 people deep. So I just take our rental stroller to the end of the line, and say loudly, âÂÂWeâÂÂre getting ready to leave. HereâÂÂs a single stroller for anyone who wants it.â Two ladies very nicely discussed it, and one took it.
We monorailed to Epcot. Our priorities for the day are to pick up things we missed in September, see ToN (my and boyâÂÂs favorite), and take it easy. We are even considering skipping naps.
In September we missed the Wonders of Life pavilion all together. So we head there first. We played a bit, and then watched Cranium Command. The Beast got scared near the end, âÂÂtake me away this place.â So I carried him out. A terrific CM (I didnâÂÂt see her name badge), help console the Beast and even managed to produce a Pluto sticker for him.
Then we walked through Ice Station Cool. I didnâÂÂt expect the snow. Of course it scared the Beast. HeâÂÂs lived through snow for the past 4 months, and what scares him at WDW? Snow. The boys enjoyed getting their own drinks, thinking they were so grown up. And believe it or not, I like Beverly. ItâÂÂs good (but I also drink my coffee black.)
Imagination Pavilion is next. We ride Journey to Your Imagination. The puff of air scares the Beast. We all agree itâÂÂs a pretty feeble ride. But the displays at the end were really fun. We stayed there a while, and I started noticing the boys were getting a bit tired and cranky.
On our way toward International Gateway, I spot Mary Popping in England. The kids are not interested at all. This assures me that the boys are indeed tired.
Right at International Gateway, thereâÂÂs a character bonanza:
The Tweedles, Smee, a bad guy in purple who looks a bit like Captain Hook (who is this guy?), a mean looking rat in Medieval garb (whoâÂÂs this guy too?), and (believe it or not!) Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy Cricket. Too cool. IâÂÂm from the generation that watched all those safety movies, âÂÂIâÂÂm no fool, no sir-ee, IâÂÂm going to live to be 103, IâÂÂll play it safe for you and me....â Love Jiminy. Since boys are tired, we just walk past.....
The room is made up and a floppy eared towel animal appeared thanks to Virginia, our mousekeeper. We debate whether itâÂÂs a bunny or floppy eared dog, but never really decide. Thanks, Virginia!
During naps, K-man takes the car back to the car care center and gets a fresh one. I rest.
We walk back to Epcot after naps. I love the YC.
We catch the Japanese drummers, the Chinese acrobats, then eat diner at Yakatori House. I really enjoy mine. K-man thinks his is just so-so. They have what may be the best kidâÂÂs meal value in the World. 2 big chicken nuggets (real chicken, no processed junk), cooked mixed veggies, rice and a drink for $3.25. They eat the chicken, pick the green beans out of the veggies, and skip the rice.
By then itâÂÂs time for ToN. We practice ahead of time, with me walking past the strollers, reaching down to touch the kids. WeâÂÂre parked right outside the gate in Morocco where the puppets and drums come out.
The music rises, the Sage of Time appears, excitements mounts, the Beast gets scared and needs comforted. Finally, by the end of the parade, heâÂÂs touching puppets, but it took a while!
At the US pavilion, we stop to watch Barrage. ItâÂÂs a group of 7 high energy, singing, dancing, violinists with attitude. The were really good. But it was getting cool, and J-boy starts whining.
We retire to the Tangierine Cafe for pastries. Ooohhhh.... were they good. K-man got a crescent shaped pastry that was stuffed with almond paste, covered in slivered almonds, and the ends were dipped in chocolate. I got one that was a phyllo dough spiral wound around chocolate chips and walnuts, then drenched in honey syrup and topped with a cherry. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
We think that weâÂÂd top them off with French pastries as well, so we proceed to France, and caught the last half of a Living Statue performance. Living Statues are hard to describe, but really cool . The Beast says, â I want to touch that girl.â Naturally, IâÂÂm surprised since heâÂÂs been scared of everything, but we make our way to the front of the crowd. Unfortunately, she leaves before he can get his turn.
The line out of the pastry shop is about 100 people deep (I wanted to scream to them all, skip the Eclairs, you can get eclairs at home, go to the Tangierine Cafe. You canâÂÂt get Moroccan pastry at home! Go! hurry!) We skip French pastries, but donâÂÂt really think weâÂÂve missed much.
None of us have ever seen Impressions de France, so we go in. ItâÂÂs warm. ItâÂÂs sitting down. ItâÂÂs fabulous -- the movie, I mean. J-boy has been studying castles in preschool, so he really enjoys all the helicopter shots over and around castles. His face is just beaming.
Whew! ItâÂÂs been a long day. We go back through International Gateway, and walk back to the YC. I fall asleep about 2 seconds after getting into bed.
Tomorrow -- a day of relaxation to recover.
