Day 3 (Mon 9 Jul): Me, DH (Joe), DS (Matt), DD (Brooke). Monday was Epcot day!!! All planned out.. ready to go and we were beat from the first day in MK. To top it off.. it was raining and we needed to switch hotels. Decided to get bfast, do early check in and see how the weather situation was. The Golden Coralle was good the first day, but we decided to try something different and headed over to the Ponderosa's Buffet on 192. Not as good.. not as much to choose from and they mustve gotten their bread the same day as Chef Mickey's.. yik. We needed to find some camera film and hadnt made it to WalMart yet (bought our drinks at Publix and it saved us a bundle!!)... We stopped in the Bargain Mart.. ouch!! 14.99 for four rolls of film.. no way!! Still raining 
We checked into the Courtyard by Marriot in DD.. another $40 priceline hotel. Again, we were happy.. would stay here again for $40. If you ever stay here, be aware, it's the arctic freeze zone!! The air definately works at this place!! Took a few hours for our room to get above 52 degrees so I just crawled under the covers to await a decision on Epcot. No epcot.. Decided to save it for a non-rainy day (yes, we are a bunch of sissys!) Matt wanted to find the Character Warehouse so we started out about 11:00 with map in hand... too optimistic. Something about Orlando made me unable to read the compass in the corner of the map and my former Boy Scout DH and we turned the wrong way on International Drive. Brooke had to go to the restroom, it was raining, and DH couldnt believe we left the Disney Zone to shop! He also couldnt believe it when we spent only 10 minutes in the store, bought only a tshirt, a frame and a photo album. We all decided he MUST have a Grumpy shirt before leaving WDW.. now, if we could only find one that was grumpy enough! We got back to DD at 1:30 and decided to head over to Disney Quest.
DQ: Got a good deal on ticket through guest services at the Marriott. They offered us the Shades of Green price so we wouldnt have to drive to SOG
We finally made it to DQ at 3:00.. in the rain. It takes a real genius to get lost going in this place.. walked all the way around and DH insisted the entrance was in front... ugh.. trip back around in the rain to see the dumpsters! Im tellin ya, someone ate his navigation system on the flight down. We had to wait in a line outside.. DQ was standing room only and they werent selling more tickets to get in. We stood there for 15 mins and finally got in. It was loud! We started out with the design your own Space Mountain. Great fun! I wish we had purchased the videos. DH and I hung around and watched the kids do some of the video games and I just couldnt take it anymore. Still tired.. headache.. me and DH left to walk around DD and get some dinner.
Was my first time to see the Lego Imagination Center. Way too cool!!! The walk was a hike, but we had plenty to see and it was nice to have some time alone. We looked at all the menus and decided on the RF Cafe. No wait at all for the two of us. We loved the atmosphere. It was Monday and not crowded at all. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and decided it was a must do for the kids too. Great Salads and we were sitting right next to an aquarium.. very relaxing. Three people next to us had the Volcano for dessert.. looked yummy, but intimidating! Total was @$40. Headed back to the stores for a bit, desperately looking for Piglet stuffies... he was very hard to find, even at the World I couldnt convince DH that the kitchen cabinets needed his head as door knobs, so we left without buying a thing.
Met the kids back at DQ at 8:00 and the place just felt different. I was ready for some fun, so we did the Buzz Lightyear Bumper Cars (DD cannot drive.. will NEVER get a driver's license..hehe), the Raft Ride (loved it.. did it twice!), Human Pinball (ouch, my legs), Alien Encounter (believe it or not, DH was the pilot and we didnt get lost once!), Alladin's Carpet Ride... tooooo cool. Was hard to get used to the VR helmet though and I kept leaning forward and banging my head on the vehicle.. DH got lost and stuck somewhere in VR (good thing all he had to do was take the helmet off to find his way back) Brooke and I saved the day and Agraba! We went upstairs for a drink and Matt and I got a Mud Pie.. yuummmmm.. was huge and reasonably priced. The kids said they liked the food they ate there for dinner too. I didnt want to leave, but I knew tomorrow was EE at Epcot.
We left full and happy and ready to tackle Epcot the next day. I guess the quote for this day was "Are we lost?.. again"
Lessons Learned: Again, good map, patience, sense of humor. If the weather looks really bad and you dont want to waste a day of our hopper.. find some other fun. If you start feeling less than happy... move on. Be flexible, expect lines, take some time for your Sig Other too.. do fishy kissy lips next to an aquarium.. it always gets a smile
Sheila
We checked into the Courtyard by Marriot in DD.. another $40 priceline hotel. Again, we were happy.. would stay here again for $40. If you ever stay here, be aware, it's the arctic freeze zone!! The air definately works at this place!! Took a few hours for our room to get above 52 degrees so I just crawled under the covers to await a decision on Epcot. No epcot..
Decided to save it for a non-rainy day (yes, we are a bunch of sissys!) Matt wanted to find the Character Warehouse so we started out about 11:00 with map in hand... too optimistic. Something about Orlando made me unable to read the compass in the corner of the map and my former Boy Scout DH and we turned the wrong way on International Drive. Brooke had to go to the restroom, it was raining, and DH couldnt believe we left the Disney Zone to shop! He also couldnt believe it when we spent only 10 minutes in the store, bought only a tshirt, a frame and a photo album. We all decided he MUST have a Grumpy shirt before leaving WDW.. now, if we could only find one that was grumpy enough! We got back to DD at 1:30 and decided to head over to Disney Quest.DQ: Got a good deal on ticket through guest services at the Marriott. They offered us the Shades of Green price so we wouldnt have to drive to SOG
We finally made it to DQ at 3:00.. in the rain. It takes a real genius to get lost going in this place.. walked all the way around and DH insisted the entrance was in front... ugh.. trip back around in the rain to see the dumpsters! Im tellin ya, someone ate his navigation system on the flight down. We had to wait in a line outside.. DQ was standing room only and they werent selling more tickets to get in. We stood there for 15 mins and finally got in. It was loud! We started out with the design your own Space Mountain. Great fun! I wish we had purchased the videos. DH and I hung around and watched the kids do some of the video games and I just couldnt take it anymore. Still tired.. headache.. me and DH left to walk around DD and get some dinner. Was my first time to see the Lego Imagination Center. Way too cool!!! The walk was a hike, but we had plenty to see and it was nice to have some time alone. We looked at all the menus and decided on the RF Cafe. No wait at all for the two of us. We loved the atmosphere. It was Monday and not crowded at all. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and decided it was a must do for the kids too. Great Salads and we were sitting right next to an aquarium.. very relaxing. Three people next to us had the Volcano for dessert.. looked yummy, but intimidating! Total was @$40. Headed back to the stores for a bit, desperately looking for Piglet stuffies... he was very hard to find, even at the World
I couldnt convince DH that the kitchen cabinets needed his head as door knobs, so we left without buying a thing. Met the kids back at DQ at 8:00 and the place just felt different. I was ready for some fun, so we did the Buzz Lightyear Bumper Cars (DD cannot drive.. will NEVER get a driver's license..hehe), the Raft Ride (loved it.. did it twice!), Human Pinball (ouch, my legs), Alien Encounter (believe it or not, DH was the pilot and we didnt get lost once!), Alladin's Carpet Ride... tooooo cool. Was hard to get used to the VR helmet though and I kept leaning forward and banging my head on the vehicle.. DH got lost and stuck somewhere in VR (good thing all he had to do was take the helmet off to find his way back) Brooke and I saved the day and Agraba! We went upstairs for a drink and Matt and I got a Mud Pie.. yuummmmm.. was huge and reasonably priced. The kids said they liked the food they ate there for dinner too. I didnt want to leave, but I knew tomorrow was EE at Epcot.
We left full and happy and ready to tackle Epcot the next day. I guess the quote for this day was "Are we lost?.. again"
Lessons Learned: Again, good map, patience, sense of humor. If the weather looks really bad and you dont want to waste a day of our hopper.. find some other fun. If you start feeling less than happy... move on. Be flexible, expect lines, take some time for your Sig Other too.. do fishy kissy lips next to an aquarium.. it always gets a smile
Sheila
