Disney Pirates Adventure 10/22-30 MNSSHPx2!! (Pics, too!)

[DisneyMom23Boys]

Cast of Disney Pirate Characters:
Mel (41) a.k.a. Captain Jack Sparrow
Deb (36) a.k.a. Elizabeth Swann
Cameron (11) a.k.a. Captain James Hook
Codey (9) a.k.a. Mr. Smee
Conner (5) a.k.a. Peter Pan

Dates of our Adventure:
Traveling 10/21 - 10/22/04
Contemporary Resort 10/22 - 10/23/04
Old Key West Resort 10/23 – 10/30/04
Traveling 10/30 – 10/31/04

Pre-Trip Planning:
I made all PS’s 90 days out back in July for Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Liberty Tree Tavern (called for PS in April?), 1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian, & Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom. Ordered MNSSHP tickets for Tuesday, 10/26 back in June.
On Friday, 10/15 I e-mailed the following room request to the Contemporary’s Concierge staff:

Ahoy, Maties!
I be Captain Jack Sparrow. Me & me hearties will soon weigh anchor from the English main of Pennsylvania & sail on our ship, the Black Pearl, to pillage, beggin’ ye pardon, to enjoy some leave at ye fine Contemporary Resort of Master Disney – a fine brethren who is dearly missed, ‘specially as creator of “The Pirates of the Caribbean”!! Me crew be made of me proud beauty of a wench, Elizabeth Swann & three other scallywags – Cap’n James Hook, his first mate, Mr. Smee & a fine swordsman of a lad, Peter Pan.
Argh! We be sailing smartly all through the moonlit night on our tri-quarter of a day’s journey to be reachin’ ye port just aft twilight. It be smart of ye to best have quarters prepared for our early arrival, unless ye be lookin’ to walk me plank. We be humble pirates, none the less, and will forgive thee if ye be disinclined to acquiesce to our request.
If me crew’s quarters be not prepared, it be might fine of ye to permit me crew to be smittin’ for ye waterside retreat. We ‘so desires to splice the mainbrace & enjoy the grub ye hast prepared on ye quarantined deck. Drink up me hearties yo-ho!!
Me lads be highly anticipatin’ ye cabin on ye poop deck of ye resort & Peter Pan desires to be able to spy Tinkerbell from ye crow’s nest at the hour of 9 & 15 that eve’n. Last tour me lads kept watch over ye castle’s “goodnight kiss” fromst their own down, upon which they slept – ‘twas a magical thing, if e’en for a lone night.
Me lads be eye’n to feast on grub prepared by ye Chef Mickey at the hour of 5 & 30 that eve’n & aft to trade their booty of gold trinkets.
Alas, our tour be short ‘fore we scurry to our next port of call at ye Key West of Old for our retreat until the day of the 30th. Aye, if ye desires, our crew will raid, rather visit, thee in thine own resort lobby on the day of the 26th to show ye me crew in their finest garb ‘fore fillin’ ourselves with a grand feast at the Tavern of the Liberty Tree at the hour of 5 & 15. We be also lookin’ to spy a loot at the Nay So Frightful All Hallow’s ‘Eve Party Sir Mickey hast prepared for me & me crew. Leave a message on the talking machine of me cabin, if ye dare desire to see us for whom we really are – pirates!!

Fair winds ‘til then!
Captain Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, Captain James Hook, Mr. Smee, & Peter Pan
a.k.a. Mel, Deb, Cameron, Codey & Conner (C.J.) F
******
If you had a hard time understanding that pirate garb, here it is in laymen’s terms:

Hi!
I’m Mel F (I’ll be dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on the 26th). My family & I will be leaving PA Thursday afternoon to enjoy our first night’s stay at your Contemporary Resort. My family includes my wife, Deb (Elizabeth Swann) and our 3 sons Cameron (11 – Captain Hook), Codey (9 - Mr. Smee) & Conner (5 - Peter Pan).
We will be driving all through the night for 17 hours and hope to arrive around 8-10 am on Friday. If it’s possible, we’d appreciate if our room would be ready so we could take a quick nap in our beds. But, I know that you are booked solid with the Funai Classic & Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival (we’ve been trying to reserve a lower rate room at the Contemporary for the past several months, but are just grateful to have a room there at all), so we understand that you may not be able to accommodate us that early.
If our room isn’t available, is there somewhere we could freshen up & change into swimwear to relax & nap by the pool? Also, would we be able to get some snacks & drinks on the Tower Club Concierge Floor? (we’ve never stayed in any type of Concierge before, so this is new to us).
Our sons are looking forward to staying in the Tower Club & are asking if they may please have a room with a view of Cinderella’s Castle. They hope to see Tinkerbell (we know it will be the witch on that evening) during the fireworks at 9:15 from our balcony. On our last visit (May, 2003) our sons were able to see the Magic Kingdom’s “Kiss Goodnight” from their bed pillows – a truly magical first night to a wonderful family vacation! – Thank you for the Pixie Dust!!
We are looking forward to eating at Chef Mickey’s and then some fun at the pin trading event there at the Contemporary from 7-9pm.
Unfortunately, we will only have 1 night with you. In the morning we will enjoy some time at the Magic Kingdom & breakfast at Cinderella’s at 9:55 am. Then we’re off to check-in at Old Key West for the remainder of our stay (until Saturday).
If you would like to see us in our costumes before we head to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on Tuesday, the 26th, please leave a message on our room phone & we’ll try to stop by around 4:30, or so. I only hope that we look better in our costumes than we do in person!!
Thank you, in advance, for making the first night of our magical Disney vacation truly filled with pixie dust!! We know that wherever we are & whatever we do, Disney magic happens if we just believe!!

Goodbye & see you then!
The F’s – Mel, Deb, Cameron, Codey & Conner (aka CJ)
a.k.a. Captain Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee & Peter Pan
P.S. I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it (and that it made sense)!!
******
The fax was a lot of fun to write & the concierge staff replied via e-mail that they, too, enjoyed it. I know that there’s no guarantee on requests, but it was definitely fun to write this one!!

Look for daily posts of our detailed 9-day Walt Disney World Adventure!!

Deb & Crew

 

[Minniespal]

Can't wait to read more.

 

[DisneyMom23Boys]

Uh-Oh!! Various Annoyances the Week Before Our Trip!!
Dilemma #1: Saturday 10/16 we went shopping to finish up any last minute needed items. On the way home we had to stop at Mel’s work & locked our keys in the van! It was 10:30pm and we needed the van the following day at home for Mel to put the luggage carrier on, because he was busy every evening that week!! We recently purchased this pre-owned 1999 Pontiac Montana in July. We only received 1 key & unfortunately it was in the ignition!! I though that I read that the Montana’s doors would not lock if the key was in the ignition, but found out later that this safety feature only worked if the key was turned to aux. or on. Mel was not happy at all. We called BIL who’s a police officer & he cautioned against using “whatever it’s called that officer’s use to break into vehicles”, because it may mess up the computer info in the door. He said that we could go to a Pontiac dealer & have them make a new key from our VIN #. Unfortunately, we needed the van the next day! DH used a work truck to take us home. I tried going onto the internet to find any Pontiac support info, but couldn’t find any. I realized that the owner’s manual was in the kitchen & looked in there. I found a 24/7 support #!! Called, but was concerned that they wouldn’t help, because we’re not members. The woman was VERY NICE & was able to find us a certified GM Lock Smith who would be able to come out within 45 minutes that night!!! The gentleman called when he was close to Mel’s work & when Mel got there (we only live 5 minutes away) the man was standing there holding the keys!! $75, which is the amount that was estimated!!
Dilemma #2: I spent all evening Sunday setting up AOL & Kodak EasyShare info. onto our laptop computer, so that I’d be able to download pics from my new Kodak EasyShare camera Mel bought for me the previous Christmas. I even set it up to automatically inform all of our friends of the new daily pictures that could be seen on www.Ofoto.com !! While I was working on the computer, it would just turn itself off!! I would turn it back on a few times & then it was time for bed. When I tried to reboot it the following morning it went to a black screen saying, “Windows was not shut down properly…” – no duh! It shut itself down improperly!! Anyway, I couldn’t get to the Windows startup screen or my desktop!! Took it to Best Buy (still covered under warranty) & they said that I’d need to restore it. Unfortunately, for some stupid reason, I never received any restore discs & had to call hp to overnight them to me!! $80 Received discs the next pm & the stupid laptop kept shutting itself off in the middle of the restore process!! Took back to Best Buy & they found that the CD Rom drive wasn’t working (guess that’s why I was intermittently getting “No Disc in Drive” and “Drive is Busy” errors!) & obviously something else was causing it to shut down. It had to be sent off to Chicago!! Fortunately, BIL also had a portable DVD player so that the boys could watch a few movies during our trip. (Tip: When using a laptop computer or any other portable entertainment device, you can plug a cassette adaptor – the same used with portable CD Players – into the headphone jack on your device to play the sound through your car’s stereo system!! We didn’t know this on our previous trips & it was difficult to hear the movies only through the laptop).
Dilemma #3: Took the van in for a tune-up on Tuesday (first one since purchased in July) & asked mechanic to prepare for our trip. When we picked it up the bill was almost $250!!! The mechanic said that the transmission fluid was black (obviously it’s not supposed to be?? ) & they had to flush the system. I’m thankful, because something really bad could have happened during our trip.
Thank God that the rest of our trip went relatively smoothly & we didn’t encounter any other unforeseen expenses!!

 

[declansdad]

A fun read so far. I would love to see your photos.

declansdad

 

[DisneyMom23Boys]

Travel Day Thursday, 10/21/04
I was hoping we’d be able to leave home between 3 & 4pm from eastern PA so that we could stop somewhere south of DC to eat at Chuck E. Cheese for an hour or two to let the boys release some energy. Unfortunately, Mel called at 3:00 to say that there were some problems at work & that he’d probably be working until atleast 5. I was very proud of myself, because for the first time we’d had just about everything packed & in the van the night before! I even thought enough to turn all of our clocks back an hour to account for the change the following week!! It was a damp & dreary week & we were looking forward to the beautiful 80 degree weather at WDW. The #1 thing that I was most concerned about our vacation was the return trip home. I knew I would be depressed if we came home to rainy & cold weather the following Sunday morning, but you’ll have to wait to hear about that outcome.
We were on the road at 6pm. The temperature was 50 degrees F with intermittent misting rain. (On our last trip 5/03 there was heavy rain all the way through North Carolina!) We started a movie on the DVD player & said we’d stop to eat when the movie was over. We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a McD’s around 8pm & let the boys play on the playground for a few minutes. We entered MD at 7:35 with no change in weather. At 9:20pm we entered VA to 56 degrees & it was starting to clear. We tanked up ($2.02/gal) in NC at 11:50 – Temperature was now 59 degrees. Gas appeared to be the cheapest in SC in the $1.80’s/gal, a little over $2/gal in GA & just outside WDW gas was only $1.97/gal! Traffic lessened greatly after DC & the drive was smooth the rest of the way until we hit Orlando rush hour around 8am, which wasn’t all that bad.

Coming Soon - Day #1 with link to pictures!!

Deb

 

[DisneyMom23Boys]

Day 1 Friday 10/22/04
We arrived at the Contemporary Resort around 10am after a smooth, straight through drive from eastern PA. When I pulled up I parked in the 3rd row of 4 to check-in. I was told by a CM that that particular lane was used for something special & was asked to pull ahead (I didn't remember any sings noting this?) Mel pulled our van further front & to the left. No one approached me, nor really even asked to help with our luggage, which was o.k. anyway, since we only had 1 bag. After waiting around for a few minutes outside at bell services, someone was finally able to help me. I was told that our room was not yet ready, but we could use a special access key to go to the 12th floor to check-in, stow our luggage & enjoy concierge treats available. Elevators were not working properly (overheard someone mention that there were problems with electricity?) & after a little running around we found an elevator that wouldn’t let us off at the 12th floor, but somehow let us gain access to the 14th floor. We were told by staff that that particular single elevator’s key access wasn’t working for the 12th floor & the 14th floor staff had someone take us to the 12th floor on another elevator. We were greeted by nice concierge staff, who were wondering why it took so long for us to get there (they were notified of our arrival by Bell Services when we arrived about ½ hour earlier??). We were told that our room was, indeed, available, but the concierge breakfast was put away – we “just” missed it (but they knew we were coming??) I explained that we were really hungry, since we drove all through the night 16 hours (left at 6pm on Thursday) & we were looking forward to breakfast. I asked if it was possible to have something delivered to our room, but the staff said that they would put out the afternoon snacks early to accommodate our appetites. We went to our room & were pleasantly surprised that we had MK view. I took some gorgeous pictures from our balcony. The Fenjui Classic blimp could be seen hovering over the golf course & Cameron spied The Tree of Life & Expedition Everest off in the distance!! We didn’t get an odd # room with the beds facing the castle, but Codey & Conner slept on the hide-away so they could see MK’s “Kiss Goodnight” from their pillows.
After snacking on cookies & rice krispy treats we changed into our swimsuits & headed for the pool. It was very nice outside. The boys were there for only about ½ hour, before they were ready to head to the MK. We went back to change & then took the monorail over. We had to exchange our pre-purchased AP vouchers at the ticket booth. (Can anyone explain why hard plastic tickets are used for room keys, but flimsy paper tickets are used for AP’s??) When we received our tickets, Cameron’s name was misspelled & had to be corrected & Codey requested a different ticket, also (he preferred not to have Minnie Mouse).
The first use of our tickets through the turnstiles went smoothly & Cameron found that he now had to use the finger reading, since he’s officially an adult (10+). We headed straight for Space Mt. This was Conner’s first opportunity to ride, since he’s over the 44” mark. He was so excited about the experience that he wanted to ride it again right away. The line wasn’t long at all & we granted his favorite ride request.
We then headed over to Frontierland per Cam & Codey’s requests to ride Splash Mt. & Big Thunder. On the way we rode Pooh (which didn’t have A/C for the first ¾ of the ride, so it was rather toasty, but still enjoyable) & then we hit the Haunted Mansion (during our visit in 2002 we opted not to ride our first day & then found that it was shut down for refurbishment for the rest of that trip!). Those rides had little waiting (10-15 min). The boys asked about Peter Pan’s Flight, but we’ve found that ride to always be long (one day it was up to a 55 min. wait!!) & always Fast Pass when we can.
We enjoyed Space Mt & BTMRR & headed by Pirates of the Carribean for a ride. This was several hours after we entered the MK & we found the first & only character we saw that day in MK – Peter Pan. A slight disappointment, because we’re always excited to see the characters out, but knew we’d see characters at Chef Mickey’s.
It was then time for a quick ride on Cinderella’s Carousel before heading to the Contemporary for our 6:00 PS at Chef Mickey’s. We arrived just before 6 & were told it would be a 15-20 minute wait. We got our family photo & met with Donald. Just then our beeper announced that our table was ready!! I was very glad, because we were all very hungry. We were seated in the glass room, as during our previous visit. The boys ate very well. Cameron & Codey enjoyed the peel ‘n eat shrimp & Mel greatly enjoyed the Seafood Linguini (??). He had two helpings & commented that he hopes that I make something like it some day. I asked our waitress if it would be possible to receive the recipe. I gave her our address & hope to receive it in the mail soon. We had our entire family in all of the photos with the characters (something I was looking forward to having done, instead of just the boys with all the characters, because I’d lost 50 pounds since March of this year!!
After our wonderful dinner it was time to head back to our room to get the boys’ pin bags to take to the children’s pin trading event held every Friday from 7-10pm in the Contemporary. This time there were two huge boards to trade from. One had all Limited Edition & Cast Member pins & the other had a mixture. Cameron, Codey & Conner had a lot of fun trading their 5 pins (maximum). We hung around for the drawings at 8 & 9pm where 3 children’s tickets are drawn to receive special LE pins. Cameron got to pick a ticket during the 9pm drawing & picked Conner’s!! Conner received a 1500 LE Chip & Dale April Fool’s 2003 pin (I believe from Disneyland)!! It was almost 9:15, the time the MNSSHP fireworks would go off at MK. I asked where we could go outside to view the fireworks with music & was told to go outside on the 4th floor (right where we were). Unfortunately, there was no music & it was terribly windy in that area (due to the contour of the Contemporary, I suppose). Had we known this we would have gone back to our room to view the fireworks from our own balcony (which wasn’t windy, at all!!) (I’ve heard since then that the music can be heard during the fireworks on Channel 20). The fireworks were absolutely spectacular & the perimeter fireworks were unbelievable!!
It was almost 10pm and time to get some well needed sleep. We left the curtains open so Codey & Conner could see Cinderella’s Castle change colors throughout the night. MNSSHP was going on that night until midnight & it was neat to see the Halloween colors throughout MK from our balcony!!
To view our pictures from Day 1, Friday 10/22, go to:
http://www.amazon.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=prfpjzt.4r5i15f5&x=1&y=3zm9br

 

[declansdad]

Great reports and photos for your first day.

I love the scenic views from your room.

Declansdad

 

[DisneyMom23Boys]

Day 2: Saturday, 10/23/04 – Check-out CR, MK, Check-in OKW & MGM:
I woke around 6:30 am, showered & headed to check the concierge breakfast selections. I picked some yummy donuts, pastries, fruit & drinks for our crew. It didn’t take long for the boys to wake up to enjoy the selections.
At 8:30am we were packed, checked-out & headed to our van to load our luggage & take the short walk to the Magic Kingdom for some more fun. We got there just after 9:00am & rode Buzz Lightyear. Mel always wins!! I asked CMs about the possibility of a Soft Opening to ride Stitch several times that week, but no luck. No biggie, because we’re going back in May, 2005! We then headed to ride Space Mt. again. It wasn’t working & neither was Pooh (the only 2 rides we saw that were effected during our entire stay). We rode on Indy Speedway, which took a little longer than we expected, but still only about 15 min (if there are two lines, check to see how many lanes are going on each – the first lane had 2 lines & the second only had 1, thus the second line (the one we were in) took twice as long. We also ran into this at the ToT – first line had 1 elevator & 2nd had 2 elevators operating).
By now it was time to head to Cinderella’s for our 9:55am PS. We visited with the Fairy Godmother & showed her our HUGE Disney Autograph book. She enjoyed it & I wish that there were opportunities for CMs & characters to look at it more, because it really is cool & they truly enjoy it.
Breakfast was fantastic & even though I’ve been going low carb, I rewarded myself with the Stuffed French Toast. Excellent!! We were visited by Belle, Mary Poppins, Snow White (who gave the boys a big smooch on their foreheads!), Cinderella & Princess Aurora (the first time in several trips that we saw her in her pink gown!)
We took the monorail to the Contemporary to say our goodbye’s around 11:30. We drove to a Winn-Dixie for some groceries & headed to Old Key West to check-in. I requested 3rd floor of #23 or #26, but #27 was available on the 3rd floor, so our home for the week was #2730. A nice view, except for the overgrowth on the one side - #2731 would have a nicer view – note for next time. The stay at the CR was nice, but it was wonderful to be “home”!! We unpacked everything & put all in their proper place in our new home. We had a quick snack & then headed to MGM. We always found it more convenient to leave our vehicle parked for the week & use WDW transportation (although, we always have horrible luck with buses & may change this on future visits).
Instead of catching the bus at our stopwhich we realized the hard way was the first stop @ OKW), we found it better to head directly to the Hospitality House for one (the last stop before leaving for the parks). We walked across the bridge & Conner was in the lead. I yelled for him to stop at the crosswalk. A bus was heading in & Conner did stop, but as soon as the bus passed Conner darted to cross the street!! I screamed to him & my heart almost stopped!! There was another bus going the opposite direction & was hidden by the first bus!! Conner almost got hit!! A horrible feeling, but thankful that Conner was safe & learned a very valuable lesson the hard way.
We arrived at MGM around 2:00pm. That day we met Mr. incredible & Elastigirl at Animation. We loved the new drawing room with Mushu!! We also met JoJo & Goliath on Mickey Avenue & Lilo & Stitch in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat. At 6:15 we headed for the 7:30 performance of Fantasmic! We arrived just before 6:30 to find that there were a few single benches available in the very front!! I asked a CM who said that they were available. It was really nice having that bench, because it was just big enough for our family alone & the view was fantasmic!!
We did some shopping & headed home to OKW.
There weren’t many on the bus to OKW & the bus driver kept asking if anyone was getting off at Peninsular Road. We didn’t answer, because we thought that our stop was second. Well, he was just about to go past when we yelled, “Stop, please!!” We knew to be prepared to say, “yes!” to Peninsular Road the rest of the week!!
Coming up - Day 3 – Sunday 10/24 – off to Epcot – A wise choice to go to Epcot on a weekend during Food & Wine Festival??? – Stay tuned!

To view our pictures from Day 2, Saturday 10/23, go to:

http://www.amazon.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=prfpjzt.5qpxuybl&x=1&y=-s739bx

 

[jeancbpugh]

Originally posted by DisneyMom23Boys
Coming up - Day 3 – Sunday 10/24 – off to Epcot – A wise choice to go to Epcot on a weekend during Food & Wine Festival??? – Stay tuned!

To view our pictures from Day 2, Saturday 10/23, go to:

http://www.amazon.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=prfpjzt.5qpxuybl&x=1&y=-s739bx

Fun report and great pictures! How cool that you got to pose with Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl before the movie came out.

Where is day 3?

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

I noticed on our trip too that Princess Aurora has switched from her blue dress to her pink. Perhaps so that people don't mistake her for Cinderella? (Hey, you never know!).

 

[Robinette]

Hey Deb

It was great talking to you at MNSSHP! I still laugh when I think about how we actually meet. Your costumes were really neat. I don't know if I said this then but your husband really looked like Jack Sparrow. Good job on the makeup and hair!!!

Hope you had a wonderful vacation. The report is great, looking forward to reading more (hint, hint).

 

[DisneyMom23Boys]

Hi!

Sorry it took a little while to get this day posted! Thank you for your interest & hope this helps you remember your Disney memories or memories you will make some day!

Robin! It was great meeting you & your family, too! If you have a report and/or pics to share, please let us know! I love reminiscing Disney through other's reports & pics!! I will let Mel know that you enjoyed his costume, too! A few weeks before our trip we were watching POTC & I was practicing the makeup on his face. You should have heard the boys (who were anything, but encouraging!), "Eeeew, Dad! You look like a girl!!!" Mel started questioning the makeup, but I talked him into the fact that the makeup completed the CJS look.

Hopefully it will only be a few days until I finish Day 4 & get that posted. Thanks for your interest & reminders that you're looking forward to more. Now....

Day 3: Sunday, 10/24/04 – Epcot & Fantasmic!:

We awoke early & tried to get to Epcot for rope drop, but just missed our bus & thus, that didn't happen again! (This will be the only thing consistent all week! – We HAVE to check into possibly driving to the parks if we’d like to get there early!!)
We decided just after we were in that Cameron should take all of our APs & Fast Pass MS, so that we could go there right after TT. We got to SE & I reached for the APs, but couldn’t find them!! The routine is that I hand everyone their APs after baggage check & they return them to me immediately upon entering the turnstiles. I remembered receiving them, but they weren’t where they were supposed to be!! I frantically went back to where we entered & tried to find them. A CM said that it would be no problem to re-issue new ones at Guest Relations. Cameron came running & said that Mel found them (IN the stroller!!) That was unfortunately the start to a very stressful day. It was hotter today, too, but not overly humid.
We enjoyed TT & were on our way to MS. Cameron & I took Dramamine in the am to prepare. Since there were 5 of us we discussed how we should split up. We’d been told about the importance of sitting with your head back & looking straight ahead. Mel took Cameron & Codey & I took Conner, since he would need help with reaching the panel, etc. I took note of the “barf bags” & where to reach for them, if needed. The boys were excited about this ride!! I helped Conner with the first button, but he was able to initiate the second on his own. I did have to help him pull the joystick closer to him so he could hold it to play along. I missed some of the effects, because of helping Conner & wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, or not. We had a great time & I thought there was more to it. We went to Mission Control & the boys saw the huge game room. We were a little familiar with the game from playing online many months before. This was when Mel said that he was leaving, because he wasn’t feeling too well. There was room for 4 to go up front for a team & the CM asked if the 3 boys & I wanted to do it. Conner wasn’t cooperating at the front, so we asked for someone else to take his spot. I was hoping that Conner would help me & didn’t want him to wander off. We were about half-way through the game when I realized that Conner was no longer seated underneath me & was AWOL. Mel was still recuperating & I was hopeful that Conner was playing in the tubes, since I couldn’t leave my position. Since we were distracted, we didn’t do as well as I think we could have. As soon as it was over we boogied over to the tubes & Codey was sent on his next mission – MC – Mission Conner – to find his brother, retain him, & return him to Mom for correction. Those tubes were long & I wonder how many children have to be hunted down daily. After SEVERAL minutes of waiting, Codey finally emerged with Conner. I asked Conner where his shoes were & where were they??? IN the tubes somewhere!! I told him to get his shoes & return to me pronto. It seemed like we were in there forever & we would have stayed much longer, but Mel wasn’t feeling well & Conner was misbehaving.
We left & found Mel, who had a little snack to try & settle his stomach. I thought that we should try to stay out of the sun & just sit for a while so I suggested we go to Ellen’s in Energy. Mel was testy & said that we should go on, because he just saw a large group enter & that we’d probably have to wait through Ellen’s whole Jeopardy nightmare beforehand. We stood there discussing this for several minutes, but as soon as we decided what we were doing the boys would always want to get a snack and/or drink (WHY didn’t they ever think of that the times we were just standing around doing nothing??)
According to the schedule the Character Bus would soon arrive at Showcase Plaza so that's where we headed next. Got pics taken with Max, Prince John & Robin Hood. I found a CM to call the Chip hotline to inquire about my list, but no such luck in finding many that we needed to meet that were on our list, except for the fact that Nemo would be out soon.
Sooo, we went over to the Living Seas! There we found Coral & Nemo! Got some pictures & headed in. This was the first time we were here since the change & liked it. It was difficult to keep track of everyone between the 2 floors. Mel said that he & the boys were going to the next floor. I went down several minutes later, walked around & after searching a while I figured they’d left & went outside. There was no one back at our stroller & I waited for about 30 minutes, figuring they’d return to the stroller soon. I wanted to go back in bud didn’t want to enter the same way & the doors said not to enter through the exit. I finally asked a CM what to do & they said to enter through the exit. I found Mel & the boys & he was upset, because they couldn’t find ME!! I was just wondering how much longer he would’ve stayed in there!! After spending WAY too much time doing nothing but stressing it was time to move on.
Mel said that it was time to get something to eat. I really didn’t want to eat at the Land, because with our picky eaters I knew that I’d have to go to more than 1 counter service to get our food, but we were right there & I knew that now was not a good time to argue with dh. He wasn’t feeling good, he was stressed because of wasting time looking for me & he was hungry.
I had a Chicken Caesar salad & got the boys chicken fingers, Mel a burger & fries to share. I’d lost almost 50 pounds through Curves & the Curves low-carb diet, so I was trying to watch (not diet) while at WDW. I was absolutely sick of chicken Caesar salad, pizza & chicken fingers by the end of the week! – I HAVE to do better at finding more variety, but Codey & Conner are the picky eaters & I don’t like the hassle & time lost going to several counter services because of it. I’d love to enjoy more sit-down restaurants, but why when the youngest two wouldn’t like anything? UGH!!
We got done & since the line was 30+ for LWTL we decided to leave & head to the countries. Future World seemed like a jumbled mess, because we zigzaged a lot.
I didn’t feel that there was very much for children at F&W, except for milking the cow at the USA pavilion. I would have loved for the boys to try the "Buzz about Honey", but everyone was testy & I knew not to suggest it at this time.
We rode Mexico & Maelstrom & visited each country where Cameron & Conner worked on masks. We decided to have the boys finish the masks that day so we wouldn’t have to bring them back.
We found Mulan at China (wonder why she isn’t listed on the character meet & greet??), Genie at Morocco, Beast & Belle at France (Belle even remembered us from Cinderella’s breakfast the day before!), & Pooh, Tigger & Eeyore (posing together in ONE photo!) at UK. It was nice to see many of the characters grouped together like that!!
At 6pm Pal Mickey suggested that we get a spot for Illuminations (which wasn’t for another THREE hours!!!) We’ve seen Illuminations many times & decided to finish up World Showcase & hit Test Track beforehand. At 8:30pm we staked out our usual spot between the African kiosk & Germany. It was only in the late afternoon that we really noticed World Showcase filling up with adults coming to enjoy the F&W festivities & Eat To the Beat concerts by the Commodores. I was looking for a pastry to enjoy while we waited & went to the Australia F&W booth right next to us. I had the Macadamia Nut Tartlet & asked for the wine that would go best with it (sorry, I don’t remember which one it was). It was small, so I took little bites to make it last longer since it was very good & the wine was excellent, too (I probably have about 1-3 glasses of wine per year!!) Mel & the boys enjoyed a few nibbles & the snacks that we had brought that day.
It wasn’t long before I noticed that several people had jumped the railing & were on the lagoon side so they could see better, because we were under the tree (we were nearest the rock & our view wasn’t too bad). We were enjoying Illuminations for about 3-5 minutes when a boat with 2 MIB (Men In Black) came screaming over & yelled for everyone (mostly adults) to get on the other side of the fencing!! Despite the little disturbance Illuminations was spectacular & always makes me cry. At one point during the beginning sequences, though, I thought that there was much more fire than usual. Does anyone know if the barge in the middle caught fire at the beginning that night?
Oh, I almost forgot! Earlier in the day as we were walking over the little bridge from China to Africa we arrived just before the drawbridge went up!! In all the years we’d been there I’d never seen this before! The bridge went up to bring out the barges used for Illuminations later (see pics).
Illuminations had come to an end & it was time to sing, “Aaa-ya, A-a-e, Aaa-ya, A, A, A-ye, O, A-e-yaaa,” everybody join in!
When we left Epcot our OKW bus was prompt in taking us back to our home at OKW. (Atleast we didn't have to wait long at the end of the day for our OKW bus!!) Right to bed.
Tomorrow, Monday, 10/25, we head for early entry to Animal Kingdom, or will we??

To view our pictures from Day 3, Sunday 10/24, go to:
http://www.amazon.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=prfpjzt.414rob1d&x=1&y=-gw1vii